Pregame: Illinois at Purdue, Sunday, March 5th, 11:30am CT, FOX

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#26      
grantlab
Mayer gets up for games like these. I expect him to roll into Mackey red hot. Need Ty on the floor for 30+ MPG. I actually think our “position-less” basketball brand with no one shorter than 6’6” on the floor could give guys like Smith and Loyer fits IF AND ONLY IF we attack and don’t settle for contested 3s, the same way we did against Michigan.
 
#27      
splitter
Ransom Stoddard said:
And work the refs hard on Edey's hook and hold and aggressive bodying in the post. He's one of the roughest players I've ever seen, yet seems to get the refs on his side way more than Kofi did.
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And the refs can't let Edey get away with that in the NCAA games. Hunter too. It is called a dance, and they don't dance in Pizza Hut parking lots.
 
#31      
EyeoftheIllini
DAM1298 said:
Anyone else hoping we stick with tonight’s starting five for the Purdue game and into March even if Epps comes back and is healthy?

In my opinion..
* RJ is finally playing well enough to start
* the length of the lineup with RJ over Epps is so good, and it’s a much more defensively sound lineup.
* We have enough ball handling between Shannon, Mayer and a little CoHawk that we don’t really need a traditional PG, and in fact a wing shooter is a better natural fit and helps us have clearly defined roles
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Who starts is way overrated. I’d keep starting Epps if for nothing else for the good of his psyche. BU subs out guys quick enough when things aren’t working and goes with the hot guy/lineups throughout the game. Not saying Epps will or should play “starters’ minutes” across the course of the game, but we’ll need him to have a positive impact if we expect to go deep in tourney. So I’d keep starting him to help keep/get his confidence up.
 
#34      
Second place is 1st loser
FlotownIllini said:
I've been thinking to myself that Purdue doesn't really look all that intimidating, especially of late. They haven't really passed the eye test of an elite team, in most of their recent games, with last night at Wisconsin certainly being no exception.

Stating the obvious, it will really come down to which teams show up - for both PU and for us. My point is we can win this game, and I don't think it's as unlikely as some seem to.

Plenty for our guys to play for. It could mean an extra day of rest and preparation for the BTT. Let's go get it! I-L-L!
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"Great chance of winning", no. "A chance of winning", sure. We haven't had one significant true road game all season. Now, we're playing a #1 NCAA caliber seed, on the road, vs a team that has cleaned our clock, even when we had Kofi in there to battle the big guy.

I'm all about drinking the O & B Kool aid, but this one is a major, major stretch.
 
#35      
Second place is 1st loser
ILLFAN67 said:
I highly doubt Epps plays. I betting he won’t have passed concussion protocol. I hope he does but my expectations are low. Like to have him back for Big Ten Tourney.
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I will say that this has been one of the most talked about and medically concerning concussion situation that I can remember and nobody knows what happened. It's none of our business obviously, but from hearing Mayer's comments, TJ wearing an Epps shirt during warm-ups.....this doesn't seem like a short term thing. Hope I'm wrong. Maybe insiders have more insight?
 
#36      
oldman
Our success last night was due in large part because we attacked a large, not all that mobile center. Tomorrow we play another one, just larger. I also think Purdue’s recent struggles have been because teams have figured something out about the way they play. I have to believe BU has seen whatever Purdue flaw was identified by other coaches.
 
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#37      
DAM1298
EyeoftheIllini said:
Who starts is way overrated. I’d keep starting Epps if for nothing else for the good of his psyche. BU subs out guys quick enough when things aren’t working and goes with the hot guy/lineups throughout the game. Not saying Epps will or should play “starters’ minutes” across the course of the game, but we’ll need him to have a positive impact if we expect to go deep in tourney. So I’d keep starting him to help keep/get his confidence up.
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Sure, that’s fair enough. If we start him I’d early sub both him and Dainja for RJ and Ty.

Closing lineups are what really matter, and ours should be TSJ-RJ-Mayer-Rodgers-Coleman, imo
 
#38      
Illinifan55
Keys: 1) Attack the basket. Yes, Edey is gonna be there, get him in foul trouble (he hasn't experienced that yet this season). This team is also continentally better going down hill to the basket, than they are when we are jacking threes from 25+feet. That being said 2) The threes we shoot, we obviously gotta hit. Road wins, especially against highly ranked teams rely on making the big shots. TSJ/Mayer/RJ (NOT COLEMAN) gotta make several big 3's. 3) Double Edey on post touches. He's not mobile, he's not a "great" passer, unlike TJD, who is mobile and has some guard tendencies. 4) We are miles more athletic than this team, play to that. Once again, jacking up 3's from 25+feet is not how you do that. Get to the basket, it will be at will, finishing will be another issue with Edey down low.
 
#39      
urbanite
If Purdue's defense allows an open lane like Michigan did last night, then we should by all means exploit it. But if it doesn't, our strategy can't be focused on forcing drives. Purdue has the lowest opponent FT rate in the country, and Edey's averaging ~1.5 fouls at Mackey this year.
oldman said:
Tomorrow we play another one, just larger.
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Just in case you're making plans for tomorrow, the game is Sunday. ;)
 
#40      
Fighter of the Nightman
I have zero idea what will happen, just like everyone. :ROFLMAO: However, if both teams play like they did last night (Purdue winning at Wisconsin and Illinois beating Michigan at home), I honestly think we win. It will be all about containing Edey without getting in foul trouble and us DRIVING like we did against Michigan to open up for better shot selections. If we get frustrated on offense and hope to *get hot from three* in that arena, it'll get ugly.
 
#41      
ILLFAN67
I hope we keep driving the ball but TSJ it’s going to have to finish more layups. We are not going to get the foul call at Mackey. We are going to have to make some mid range and three-point shots. Hopefully good three-point shots
 
#42      
727ill
ILLFAN67 said:
I hope we keep driving the ball but TSJ it’s going to have to finish more layups. We are not going to get the foul call at Mackey. We are going to have to make some mid range and three-point shots. Hopefully good three-point shots
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Well the good news is Edey does not try to block too many shots.
 
#43      
ptgrd23
I would be interested to see what our tall trees defense could do vs Purdue. Maybe even throw in some zone. Nobody expects us to win at W Lafayette

RJ 6'7"
TSJ 6'6"
Cohawk 6'9"
Dainja 6'9"
MM 6'9"

Purdue has lost at home to Rutgers and Indiana. They have lost on road @ Maryland Indiana and NW. They are beatable if we play like we did against UCLA, TX, MSU, NW (at home) Rutgers (at home) @ Wisconsin

"There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you all very dangerous people!"
Gene Hackman - The Replacements
 
#45      
IlliniCub 16
It will be interesting to see how Purdue approaches this game in terms of intensity and minutes distribution. They have the Big Ten locked up, but a win might help hold off UCLA from swiping the final 1 seed in the NCAA.

The biggest question will be how long they play their starters in a game they don't need to have. The Purdue freshman guards especially look like they have hit the wall so I wonder if they will try to rest them more to help get their legs back for the tourney. Edey doesn't look fatigued, but you don't want him to get worn down either.

Assuming Epps is able to recover from his concussion sooner rather than later, it could be a blessing if the time off the court allows his body to recover in time for the tourney as well as his three point shot has really declined the longer the season has gone on.

I was thinking a fast start would really help and possibly incentivize Painter to pull back on the reigns a bit rather than put forth major effort trying to get back into the game, but we just never seem capable of jumping out to a big early lead.
 
#46      
St Michel
grantlab said:
Mayer gets up for games like these. I expect him to roll into Mackey red hot. Need Ty on the floor for 30+ MPG. I actually think our “position-less” basketball brand with no one shorter than 6’6” on the floor could give guys like Smith and Loyer fits IF AND ONLY IF we attack and don’t settle for contested 3s, the same way we did against Michigan.
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People have been saying this the entire season. Unlikely things ae going to change at this point.
 
#47      
STATS GUY
How about a Diamond and one concept vs Edey. Always front him, diamond the defense. This will leave the corners open. Have to rotate someone out while dropping someone down, think in terms of switching man to man. Backside skip will be open but back guy is splitting the potential 2 players. If Edey wants to be ball side we have a 131 look.
 
#48      
chrisRunner7
I hope we just keep attacking the basket. Hawkins, Shannon, and RJ definitely got the memo.

Heck, Ty can't shoot jump shots, opponents know he can't shoot jump shots, and yet somehow he gets to the rim anyway more and more each game. He has been so impressive.

On defense, Edey is going to score 25+ points no matter what we do, but I think we just mix it up. Try to front him, sometimes double him, sometimes let him shoot his hook shot with his elbow clear-out and hope he misses. We've been doing a decent job rotating lately on shooters after a double team. The big question I have is what role Dain will play in this game and how he will do... I just fear Dain will either get blocked by Edey or throw up some wild-looking shots on offense while simultaneously being OK-to-ineffective on defense.
 
#49      
Fighter of the Nightman
The return of these types of posts was good luck for the Michigan game, so here we go! Until being swept last year, we were actually on a nice little 3-game winning streak vs. Purdue - our longest since a 4-game streak from 2004 to 2007. Underwood's record in West Lafayette:

2022: #3 Purdue 84, #13 Illinois 68
2021: --- No Game ---
2020: #21 Illinois 79, Purdue 62
2019: Purdue 91, Illinois 68
2018: --- No Game ---

My money is on a loss in 2018 and a win in 2021, so nets out, haha. Let's even that up on Sunday!
 
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