Pregame: Illinois at Michigan, Thursday, January 18th, 7:30pm CT, FS1

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#31      
Got to hit shots.
Always the case. Ball movement and player movement lead to open shots that you want. Booty ball may have to be diminished in order to get all involved and become unpredictable.

Notice, I said diminished, not eliminated. We have not seen MD hit any fadeaways in the lane lately. Instead, many backdowns have resulted in blocks and forces.
 
#33      
Juwan better not say anything, errrrr, slap anyone in the handshake line, cuz TA will light him up!
Dave Chappelle Snl GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
#43      
I hope Dra, Amani and Nico are healthy and able to contribute.

I recognize that Dain isn’t a good fit for how we want to play and so his minutes will have to be limited. But we can’t go through an entire BIG season playing only 6 guys.

We just looked tired vs Maryland.
I was upset that we didn't play Dainja more during some of the scoring droughts. That being said one of the shots he routinely makes looked way off the mark early on in the game. Still, he's shooting 70% and I wish we could have rotated him in and out more frequently. He's been playing a lot better when he keeps the ball moving. IMO, he's one more off-season away with Fletch to be pretty damn good if we can manage to be patient and hold on to him. I'm guessing he's 30 lbs away from being in ideal shape. Easier said than done though..
 
#45      
I was upset that we didn't play Dainja more during some of the scoring droughts. That being said one of the shots he routinely makes looked way off the mark early on in the game. Still, he's shooting 70% and I wish we could have rotated him in and out more frequently. He's been playing a lot better when he keeps the ball moving. IMO, he's one more off-season away with Fletch to be pretty damn good if we can manage to be patient and hold on to him. I'm guessing he's 30 lbs away from being in ideal shape. Easier said than done though..

I actually agree with you, I thought Dain should have played more against MD. Both for his scoring, seeing as how we couldn’t make a layup, and the fact that Coleman really seemed to struggle with Reese’s physicality. That, and MD’s lack of outside shooting made it a prime candidate for a Dain game.

For other matchups I think Brad is finding it hard to get him on the floor given it changes how we play so much. But we can’t keep rolling Coleman and Quincy out there 35+ mpg. Even 10 good minutes from Amani would be huge.
 
#47      
Dain won't get many minutes until he improves defensively. Underwood is a defense guy. Dain routinely gets beat on switches and drop coverage. He really needs to work on his defensive footwork so he can guard the pick and roll.

I'm sure Brad looks at it like it gains him nothing if Dain scores three buckets but gives up that many or more on the defensive end.

I'd also like to see him work on his body language. It's....not great.
 
#48      

altgeld88

Arlington, Virginia
Maryland is just a putrid stain for us right now. If someone told me a few years ago BU would potentially go undefeated against Juwan Howard, win 4 straight against MSU & win 3 straight in Madison but somehow go 2-7 against Maryland in that time I'd say no chance in hell
I agree heartily with you that Maryland is a putrid stain. Period. Not simply for us.

I saw this quote over the weekend that someone posted after Purdue crushed them in College Park earlier this month and, having enjoyed the friendly confines of the Xfinity Gulag Center many times over the past decade, upvote it enthusiastically:

“Maryland’s crowd is a mean-spirited bully, and Purdue gave them a two-hour, well-deserved wedgie.”

I don't see a pattern of puzzling losses to Maryland during BU's tenure. Here's the stat sheet:

2017-18: We were awful. They were medicore. Played them once, @ home, lost by one point and in OT to boot

2018-19: We were slightly less awful. They finished three games out of first. We played them once, they were ranked #13, and we upset them in MSG by 11.

2019-20: We were dramatically better by the end of the season, ~ even with them, but inferior to them early. We finished a game out of first. They shared the title. In the BT opener we led them in College Park for 39:55 and lost by one on Cowan's dagger. They were #3 and we were unranked. Then we lost to them @ home. They were #9 and we were #20.

2020-21: We were much better than they were. Lost at home, ranked #12, by three. This is the only loss in the entire string, besides last Sunday's, that is puzzling.

2021-22: Were were much better than they were. Beat them at home. Lost two weeks later at College Park, with Kofi on the bench (having been beaned by Edey several days earlier), several guys ill, and the team having exhausted itself in that preceding, epic OT loss to Purdue on MLK Day.. Despite that, we were right there with them until the final five mins.

2022-23: We finished dead even with them. Played them only once. They (#22) beat us (#16) by a nose in the BT opener in College Park, when Epps missed a three that could have put us ahead in the final minute.

2023-24: Let us not speak of it henceforth.

In this entire 2-7 string I see precisely two losses that we should have avoided: this past Sunday and @ home in Jan '21. And two shocking Illini upsets that we missed by one point each.

Back to that earlier quote: let's Purdue them on February 17.
 
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