altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Pregame: Illinois at Maryland, Saturday, December 7th, 4:00pm CT, ESPN2
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Everyone keep an eye on Travis Valmon for Maryland! 6'1 Senior Guard!
I expect for him to erupt against us Saturday! Could be a BIG time game for him. Hope we can find someone to put the clamps on him!
If you don't want to do the work for my joke, he is a career scrub on the team who is 1-1 on 3s this year. I believe he's only played in a handful of games.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I believe he's notched nearly three minutes so far. Was in for 90 secs last night and IIRC quickly launched a badly-considered deuce.
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
Sadly, we've seen some heretofore unknown go off on us so many times that it wouldn't even surprise me if the person in the turtle suit drops 30 on us.
So if he has a career night....that means they are way up early and he is part of the Turgeon compassion lineup that finishes the game. Not a good scenario....
My bad. I should have picked a better backup to have a career game...as a joke. I missed the boat. Darn it.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
I think the 3 guard offense is hurting us much more than the GB/Kofi discussion. Dre is not an 'assist first' guy, Ayo wants the ball in his hands and the new guy is coaching Ayo to be less risky in his passes (no jump passes, no over the head, no look hook passes, etc). Which I think is causing Ayo to think too much.
Three guards who are not playing every well together is a big problem.
Illinois 117 Maryland 43 -- that ain't pot, that's LSD.
Reports are that Tevian is dressing for Maryland. Hope he can stay on track!
It'll be interesting to watch his defensive game. I think if he can be an average defender for us, he easily sees the floor. If he struggles as hard as he did last year, he's gonna be far down that bench.
Also, what a tough game to come back from suspension for.
Also, what a tough game to come back from suspension for.
A turning point in this season.
We have 1 pure shooter, and 2 downhill dribblers. Heads down, over penetrate, put yourself in a tough, bail out situation. I would simply love a floater from Ayo and a kick out from Feliz when possible moving forward.
Tough game for Tevian to return but we need a more fluid player at the 4. I love what Kofi/Georgi do but at times we need I big. Verdonk will be a good player hut not mobile enough against better teams.
On the floor with Ayo, Frazier, Griff, Tev and Kofi spreads the court with shooters, slashers, and a true big.
On the floor with Ayo, Frazier, Griff, Tev and Kofi spreads the court with shooters, slashers, and a true big.
How would you all rank the current Illini players in terms of defensive ability at their respective positions?
If we limit our turnovers we will have a chance. To me that has been a huge issue for our team . We seem to be shooting and rebounding better but we cant give opponents extra possessions and will consistently. If we can limit turnovers we will have a chance in the game.
The Dave
- CA
I know I'm not the first to suggest something like this, but why don't we try to get a solid "second team" that can practice more together and act as a more cohesive "unit" that what we're doing now?
I realize this isn't Kentucky from a few years ago where you just sub-in 5 new players because you have 10 5* AA on your team and maybe we can't do this at all without Tevian playing, but assuming he gets back soon (he's suiting up tomorrow, right?)
Starters
Maybe all the sadness is just getting to me. We've gotta try SOMETHING different at some point.
I realize this isn't Kentucky from a few years ago where you just sub-in 5 new players because you have 10 5* AA on your team and maybe we can't do this at all without Tevian playing, but assuming he gets back soon (he's suiting up tomorrow, right?)
Starters
- Ayo
- Trent
- Damonte (for a little more defense)
- Alan
- Kofi
- Feliz
- Giorgi
- Tevian
- BBV / whoever / holdover from 1st string
- Whoever
Maybe all the sadness is just getting to me. We've gotta try SOMETHING different at some point.
Nail meet Hammer, cannot agree more. Love the novelty of KOFI/Giorgi, but coaches are scheming against some of the limitations (outside shooting, speed at the 4, perimeter defense). Most teams play a max of 9 players, "Whoever" is likely a holdover from first team (Ayo/Frazier split those minutes).
Who ends the game? Likely Ayo, Frazier, Feliz, Kofi and "whoever" is hot or provides best match-up.
Not very high unfortunately. I think Ayo and Williams maybe the best relative to position? Sadly, I think back to Alstork as being a lock-down defender.
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