Pregame: Illinois at Rutgers, Wednesday, February 16th, 6:00pm CT, BTN
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Dan was a fine announcer/analyst. My favorite quote after tying NW in football when NW was a joke, "if tying in football is like kissing your sister, tying Nortwestern is like kissing your ugly sister."
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Very thoughtful and accurate analysis. Thanks RU fan! I'm hopeful that your lack of depth at the 5 is the key to our victory Tuesday nite. We also can't afford to let both Geo and Ron Harper go off on us. (DaMonte and C. Hawkins should be able to prevent that.)
I've now lived in NJ three times over my working career and yours is the most thoughtful and intelligent comment I've ever seen/heard during those 10 years --- at least pertaining to college sports. I mostly recall the talking heads in NYC talking pro sports only (Yankees and Mets and Giants and Yankees and Yankees and Devils and Nets and Yankees and Islanders and Jets and Yankees and Rangers and Knicks and Yankees and Yankees and Yankees.)
Welcome to the board!
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
This game scares me to death, but I'm going with Vegas and Kofi:
75 Illini
70 Scarlet Knights
I really hope we have a 9-10 point lead with 3 minutes left in the game.
75 Illini
70 Scarlet Knights
I really hope we have a 9-10 point lead with 3 minutes left in the game.
Illinois 76
Rutgers 56
Book it
Rutgers 56
Book it
OurMottoisOskeeWowWow
- Illinois
Curbelo's outfit is fire here. Looking super fly!
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Illinois nailing down chemistry ahead of Rutgers matchup
Illinois still has new pieces emerging, so that means the rotation is having some tweaks later in the season.
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois coach Brad Underwood has a bit of a balancing act.
Because of injuries and the emergence of multiple freshmen later in the season that has shaken up the rotation, Illinois is still putting together its rotation and finding its best lineups.
RJ Melendez has become a fixture to play double-digit minutes off the bench recently while Underwood said he planned for Luke Goode to play before game flow changed the lineups Sunday. Andre Curbelo is also returning to form and getting minutes off the bench after being billed as one of the team’s stars in the preseason and playing starters minutes.
A lot of pieces are coming back together or emerging for the Illini, meaning they have had to rework what was a pretty set rotation for a lot of conference play.
“Now that we are somewhat healthy, closer to it, we’re getting a little more practice time under our belt, we’re starting to see some chemistry and develop some things and be able to work on lineups,” Underwood said. “We’re probably working on lineups and player placement on the court more than we ever have. ... We’ve had some challenges and you want to get your best players with the best chemistry on the court as much as possible.”
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good read..........................
Game day. Just keep winning boys. We could really take hold of the conference title chances with two wins this week. Starts tonight - Go Illini!!
Uh huh!!! I would classify myself as one of those. However, I have come to really appreciate a phrase that was used frequently in the show Billions. It goes: "What's supposed to happen always does". It's a great way to look at life. Some things you can't control, and you need to just except the outcome and move on with a great attitude. A loss tonight won't be the end of the world, or the end of the season. Play hard, boys!!!!We have too many scared fans.
alamocityillini
- San Antonio
Canada goose
texillwek
🔶🔹🔸🔷
Enjoy your day Loyalty! Gotta run to Mexico for the cartel!
See you in the second half!!
ILL!
This is where the emergence of RJ comes in. RJ gives us that 6'6"-7" height. I believe that is why BU brought in RJ to guard Ivey at Purdue. RJ has the height. And quickness, by the way.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Tell Pablo , Juan and lil Pepe I said hello ........................Also , tell them Taco Bell is offering a 2 for 1 Burrito delivery special .......They will know what I mean...Enjoy your day Loyalty! Gotta run to Mexico for the cartel!
See you in the second half!!
ILL!
Hey , have a great day flying the friendly skies of Ganga Airlines.......................
I know I am probably in the minority but I actually think Weber was a good coach. Couldn't recruit worth a lick and basically just chased stars after some of the misses instead of players that fit the scheme.Since we're opining, I'll add my 2 cents.
Was completely uninspired by the hire, but figured we'd had a good run of coaches with Kruger and Self, and no reason some relative unknown couldn't be the next one. Then he had that magical run and very, very few saw what was to come. Those that did got run off the message board.
BW Seems like a stand up guy, hard worker, and have nothing against him, but....strictly as a basketball coach, I had problems with him earlier than most. I'll grant you he had some bad luck. Several guys had great recruiting rankings at some point that never panned out, and he had his share of incidents. Most programs have those, though. What got me was the mediocrity combined with how he treated players. He kept that old school version of being the team boss right up to the end, even as he lost control of his teams. I could see him losing buy-in each year and it sucked watching it, especially with such a plodding style of offense.
From where I sit, Underwood is elite. Owns the process from start to finish, whether it's hitting the road and evaluating talent, or figuring out how to navigate the needs and relationships around recruiting. Loves his players. Collaborates. Accepts the business end of it without complaining. Sure, he makes mistakes, but he completely owns those and looks inward to improve. He kept his cool early on when the results were bad and trusted the process. How many coaches would stomach what he went through to build it right? Things change so fast and yet his roster construction has kept improving. Amazed at how it's turned around. I could go on --it's night and day better --glad I can appreciate it more as a fan given the prior 2 coaches. Love how the future looks, and being able to see good players become great. They'll be ups and downs, especially next year the team will be young, inconsistent, etc. But I'm excited because his teams have been fun to watch compete. Some truly amazing, amazing players. Feliz, Trent, and many others I think are better called warriors than players.
I think where Brad is different is that he better understands his own weaknesses and has assistants that not only fill that gap but are aligned with him in terms of who they are targeting. You can tell by the recruits coming in that Underwood has a "type". I don't think you will see one of his assistants pushing for a recruit that doesn't fit the system. Under Weber that definitely happened more than once. Knowing his weaknesses and having alignment throughout the staff on direction of the program is what makes Underwood a very good coach.
Been in this camp since the season started...or until Plummer showed what he can do. Every team goes to scramble mode when Kofi gets the ball. Unfortunately, though he has more size and power, he does not possess the recognition and passing skills of Larry Bird. He is surrounded by shooters yet has the footwork and strength to score more often than anyone. Learning to do the right thing in every situation, while getting hacked and grabbed every time, is an impossible task for anyone. Just hope he works hard at getting better in his awareness and passing skills. This team possesses a unique level of inside out potential on the offensive end.Sounds like we need to go to Kofi non stop. Maybe BU should make a rule. Each possession, nobody is allowed to shoot a jumper until Kofi gets a paint touch. Except Plummer. He can shoot whenever he wants.
If you're giving Rutgers twenty points, I may come out of Gamblers Anonymous and bet Pruman's Poppy Farm.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
That jacket costs about as much as the damage my daughter inflicted on the side of the car after she got her license last spring!Canada goose
I also appreciated Weber. Taking a team to a 37-2 record no matter who recruited the players or how good they were deserves acknowledgement and credit.
Also Underwood has stated the he recruits "players of character" rather than "characters". He also talks of Illinois being a development organization which requires more than one or two years with the program.
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