Pregame: Illinois at Penn State, Wednesday, February 21st, 5:30pm CT, BTN

Status
Not open for further replies.
#26      
Fighter of the Nightman
21ChampaignSt said:
Our defense on the road has been really bad. Tonight's game at Maryland was our worst defensive performance of the year according to Torvik.

In B1G play, our AdjD at home is 93.8 which is equivalent to a top 10 defense.

On the road however, our AdjD is 104.8 which is the equivalent to being ranked ~150th.

Our B- game should be enough to win this game, but with two crucial Q1 road games coming down the stretch, I'd love to see us come out with something to prove on the defensive end.
Click to expand...
I love seeing stats like like this to recontextualize everything and contrast it with my “gut feeling” as a fan just watching. Of course, I think the truth involves a combination!
 
#27      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
BRucks said:
I must have missed it. Why have they changed venues for this game?
Click to expand...

Based on what I can find online, it seems to be a way to appease some within the Penn State fan base. While the Bryce Jordan Center is a perfectly good arena, a lot of the Penn State fans don't like how far some of the seats are from the court and what the arena's atmosphere is like during games. While the Rec Hall is a decent enough venue, it hasn't hosted a men's major conference game like this since 1996 and would have to undergo pretty significant upgrades to host games again on a regular basis.
 
#28      
lstewart53x3
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Based on what I can find online, it seems to be a way to appease some within the Penn State fan base. While the Bryce Jordan Center is a perfectly good arena, a lot of the Penn State fans don't like how far some of the seats are from the court and what the arena's atmosphere is like during games. While the Rec Hall is a decent enough venue, it hasn't hosted a men's major conference game like this since 1996 and would have to undergo pretty significant upgrades to host games again on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
I hate that this is a gimmick game for PSU.
 
#35      
blackdog
21ChampaignSt said:
Our defense on the road has been really bad. Tonight's game at Maryland was our worst defensive performance of the year according to Torvik.

In B1G play, our AdjD at home is 93.8 which is equivalent to a top 10 defense.

On the road however, our AdjD is 104.8 which is the equivalent to being ranked ~150th.

Our B- game should be enough to win this game, but with two crucial Q1 road games coming down the stretch, I'd love to see us come out with something to prove on the defensive end.
Click to expand...

One the other side though, just crazy how good the offense has been.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1759070859111645574
 
#37      
ChiefGritty
blackdog said:
One the other side though, just crazy how good the offense has been.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1759070859111645574
Click to expand...
2005 got 10/10 looks all the time by being such amazing passers and in sync with each other in the offense. Pretty to watch.

But this team so long as nobody turns it over or chucks up something stupid it's an 8/10 look every time down the floor. Really hard to play against for 40 minutes.
 
#38      
21ChampaignSt
blackdog said:
One the other side though, just crazy how good the offense has been.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1759070859111645574
Click to expand...
Absolutely!

Our offense is the 23rd best offense since KenPom started doing his thing in 2002. It's championship caliber.

That's why I keep picking on the defense. I'm not trying to be negative or whatever, but I'd hate to see a perfectly good offense go to waste because we can't guard anyone.
 
#39      
Fighter of the Nightman
21ChampaignSt said:
Absolutely!

Our offense is the 23rd best offense since KenPom started doing his thing in 2002. It's championship caliber.

That's why I keep picking on the defense. I'm not trying to be negative or whatever, but I'd hate to see a perfectly good offense go to waste because we can't guard anyone.
Click to expand...
Exactly. And without looking at the numbers, use a game like at Rutgers where the defense was there … we looked unstoppable.
 
#42      
rtbritt
LvilleILL said:
Clearly is done with Penn State most likely
Click to expand...
Clary?

And that's crazy. Quick search says he got hurt and came back and was coming off the bench? Is he that butt hurt that he came off the bench that he's outta there?!
 
#43      
altgeld88
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Based on what I can find online, it seems to be a way to appease some within the Penn State fan base. While the Bryce Jordan Center is a perfectly good arena, a lot of the Penn State fans don't like how far some of the seats are from the court and what the arena's atmosphere is like during games. While the Rec Hall is a decent enough venue, it hasn't hosted a men's major conference game like this since 1996 and would have to undergo pretty significant upgrades to host games again on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
I saw the national champion PSU women defeat the Illini in volleyball in RecHall in Sept. 2008, immediately before the Illini played PSU in football that evening. I remember thinking to myself "Thank goodness the Illini don't ever have to play basketball here. If PSU had a halfway decent team, and the fans packed this place, this arena would be an absolute nightmare for a visiting team."

All season long since I learned we were playing here in Feb this game has worried me. The guys have got to put the MD win in the trunk, summon focus, and approach this one with furrrrrrious anger. Take the crowd out of it from the outset, as they did at the RAC in December jumping out to a 14-2 lead.
 
#44      
LadyLoyalty
1970 John said:
There will be no Orange in that dinky little “arena” other than what the team brings. Penn State will allow no one but season ticket holders in rec Hall. What is Rec Hall? Think Huff Gym with more seats. It’s quaint. Built 1921 or such. I’ve been there for volleyball.

But I had bought tickets via SeatGeek—presumably from a season ticket holder—and SeatGeek took them back. I asked what the deal was, and SeatGeek said the seller was told he couldn’t sell them.

So the only way Illinois fans might be able to get tickets would be directly from the ticket holder.

All that said, Rec Hall seats 6,000, which is more than Penn State has averaged in the Bryce Jordan Center this year. And that includes single game tickets, season tickets sold on resellers, and whatever.

But I have Penn State fan friends, even with connections, who couldn’t get tickets. So it will be interesting to see how Penn State fills that arena. Dragoon students off the street?

My Penn State fan friends agree it’s not a good look for PSU.
Click to expand...
Packing a small, historical gym to the rafters with their own fans, rather than having a 1/2 empty, charmless arena against a ranked team with traveling fans is a pretty smart move on their part. As Maryland showed last night, even the most fickle and disloyal fans will turn out when facing a ranked in-conference rival.
 
#45      
blackdog
21ChampaignSt said:
Absolutely!

Our offense is the 23rd best offense since KenPom started doing his thing in 2002. It's championship caliber.

That's why I keep picking on the defense. I'm not trying to be negative or whatever, but I'd hate to see a perfectly good offense go to waste because we can't guard anyone.
Click to expand...

True, we don't want to be Iowa. Offense alone is not going to get the job done in March. The good thing is we know this team is capable of playing the kind of defense they need to unlike Iowa. The potential is there just need the execution.
 
#46      
Wrightandjohnstreet
How we feeling about our D? I know we held UMD to 34% shooting in 2nd half, which was an improvement, but we fouled a ton and we also had the gift of UMD being the worst shooting team in the conference. All in all, I was hoping to not see us give up 80 to a sub 150 offense.

PSU could be a tough guard with us as they have 2 really good, shifty, quick smaller guards. Offensively Im sure we'll see a lot of booty ball, but covering their guys might be a challenge. In my opinion, our D really needs to just be good enough for us by March, but that would be playing at a top ~50ish level rathe than the 95ish level we've played at the past 6-7 weeks.
 
#47      
IllinialuminAZ
altgeld88 said:
I saw the national champion PSU women defeat the Illini in volleyball in RecHall in Sept. 2008, immediately before the Illini played PSU in football that evening. I remember thinking to myself "Thank goodness the Illini don't ever have to play basketball here. If PSU had a halfway decent team, and the fans packed this place, this arena would be an absolute nightmare for a visiting team."

All season long since I learned we were playing here in Feb this game has worried me. The guys have got to put the MD win in the trunk, summon focus, and approach this one with furrrrrrious anger. Take the crowd out of it from the outset, as they did at the RAC in December jumping out to a 14-2 lead.
Click to expand...
Pulp Fiction And I Will Strike Down Upon Thee With Great Vengeance And Furious Anger GIF


Not gonna lie, the venue change does concern me. I'm glad we have some motivation in this one after last year. As an Illini fan, I'm always a little concerned, especially on the road, but I think we are the much better team and will pull this one out fairly comfortably, by about 10 or so.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back