Pregame: Illinois at Washington, Sunday, January 5th, 3:00pm CT, BTN

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#76      
In some ways, this game might be tougher than the Oregon game. Washington will look to slow the game down and get our guys (especially bigs) in foul trouble. Could certainly see a short night for Morez. By looks of the Maryland box score, that’s what they did last night.

Don’t think they’re good enough to impose the style they want for the entire game, but they will manage to do it more than we’d like. Illini win, but not by as large a margin as some think based on the Oregon game.
I don't want to take anything away from Maryland because I think they are a good team but they are a very different team from the Illini.

1. Their two best players and bigs that basically strictly interior players.(They play a lot of minutes with basically only 2-3 shooters on the floor). 2. They don't have much depth outside of their starting 5(Harris-Smith has just not lived up to the prep ranking).

Expecting a blowout win visiting anywhere is asking for a lot and the Illini aren't going to shoot that well most games and while I think Sprinkle is a solid coach I don't think this team is that talented.
 
#78      
Really glad Ant broke this down because the play was executed so brilliantly that Ben received the ball exactly as his feet set. There was 10 feet between him and the nearest defender. Would have been a real shame to miss that shot.
 
#81      
Really glad Ant broke this down because the play was executed so brilliantly that Ben received the ball exactly as his feet set. There was 10 feet between him and the nearest defender. Would have been a real shame to miss that shot.
And up until this game, it would've been a brick
 
#83      
No, worried I have to watch low possession count grab fests to 60 pts like the TN and NW games, where the officials give up calling all the fouls. The games being then determined by whichever team muscles up a lead of more than one possession late, resulting in the final few minutes of the game being a free throw contest.
I don't know if you need to worry too much about this. I've seen comments from teams we've already played that our team is surprisingly physical. So if someone wants to muck it up with us, it sounds like we're capable of playing that way as well.
 
#85      
I don't want to take anything away from Maryland because I think they are a good team but they are a very different team from the Illini.

1. Their two best players and bigs that basically strictly interior players.(They play a lot of minutes with basically only 2-3 shooters on the floor). 2. They don't have much depth outside of their starting 5(Harris-Smith has just not lived up to the prep ranking).

Expecting a blowout win visiting anywhere is asking for a lot and the Illini aren't going to shoot that well most games and while I think Sprinkle is a solid coach I don't think this team is that talented.
I’d agree with all that. Definitely think we’ll win, but I think it will be a closer (and potentially much closer) game than Oregon. They like to muck things up. I think there is a strong likelihood that Morez fouls out or at least has his minutes limited because of foul trouble. But what do I know. I was touting Oregon’s Barthelemy in that pregame thread and he did nothing in the game. Still like him overall, but a complete nonfactor in that game.
 
#86      
For everyone that doesn’t believe our Illini are actually running sets here is a great breakdown of the Spain pick in roll which is 100% a called set.

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Really like the set breakdown and the love Ant's giving BU here. I also admire his modesty 'cause if he'd been coaching we'd have won by 52, not 32.
 
#88      
For everyone that doesn’t believe our Illini are actually running sets here is a great breakdown of the Spain pick in roll which is 100% a called set.

This is the exact play I raved about in the Oregon game thread where I talked about the pick and roll, drawing two defenders, and then finding a wide open shooter. Loved seeing the breakdown on this.
 
#90      
I'd like to see an experiment with:
* Offensive foul: turnover
* Defensive foul (any): 1pt and offense gets the ball out of bounds with a 20s shot clock.
If the defensive foul is in the last 5 seconds of the half, the offensive team gets 1pt, a fresh shot clock, and the game is over after the possession.
Another easy solution: give the fouled team the option of taking the ball out-of-bounds, rather than going to the line.
("But making free throws is part of the game!". Yeh, because that's how the rules are currently written. And if the rules required a chess match at half time, that would be part of the game, too. It wouldn't be a reason to KEEP it part of the game.)
 
#92      
Another easy solution: give the fouled team the option of taking the ball out-of-bounds, rather than going to the line.
("But making free throws is part of the game!". Yeh, because that's how the rules are currently written. And if the rules required a chess match at half time, that would be part of the game, too. It wouldn't be a reason to KEEP it part of the game.)
grue's solution of 1 pt and keep the ball is pretty interesting. The Elam Ending addresses part of the problem with the late game foulfests but grue's would potentially prevent the ugliness of a Tennessee / Purdue style approach from the opening tip.

If you look at what the NFL did for kickoffs for example or for lengthening the extra point, it shows that pretty novel and different approaches can be adopted. Heck - even the addition of a 3-point line was a pretty radical innovation and shift. Or the shot clock. I'm not sure the free throw hasn't outlived its usefulness and I don't think most fans would complain if it was eliminated from the game entirely.
 
#93      
I'm just glad that our performance vs Oregon now has our opponents thinkin "crap we got to play them!". Much, much lower level years of playing any sport, players already have an idea who will win before they step on the floor. It makes it easier to get the other team to fold once things go bad.
 
#94      
I'm just glad that our performance vs Oregon now has our opponents thinkin "crap we got to play them!". Much, much lower level years of playing any sport, players already have an idea who will win before they step on the floor. It makes it easier to get the other team to fold once things go bad.
Also happy with the performance against Oregon and especially the growth seen in overall development as a team. Let’s not fool ourselves though, these are some of the best players in the country we play against and none of them are saying “Oh crap, we have to play them.” I would argue it is the opposite, “I want a piece of them” is the more likely perspective.
 
#96      
I'm curious what team would be comparable to Washington in the conference? Would it be Northwestern, Penn State? Don't know much about them.
I’m no expert but maybe MINN? They really don’t have anything besides a really good big (Osobar). Different player than Garcia but pretty much all their output relies on him and the rest is not great.
 
#98      
I get what you’re saying, and I don’t like foul fests either, but I don’t want to see any changes to college game that make it more NBA-like. If I want to watch NBA basketball, I watch the NBA. And I don’t watch much NBA.
I totally agree. I watch a lot of 1A, 2A, 3A high school basketball in Illinois. There are people going gaga because at some point in time there will be a shot clock. I am going to start timing possession time, because it is my belief (with the 3 point line) shots are comimg much more quickly than most people would suspect.
 
#100      
I’m no expert but maybe MINN? They really don’t have anything besides a really good big (Osobar). Different player than Garcia but pretty much all their output relies on him and the rest is not great.
I watched Washington against Washington State, and the Huskies looked really good. I watched them against Seattle U and they were awful. Hard to know what to expect one day to the next (like most teams, but more so). Everybody knows about Great Osobar. He's great and fun to watch. Get ready for his spin moves and unexpected (wild, hopefully) passes. Zoom Dialo is very talented and good in the lane, while Harris, Mason and Davis can get hot from 3. Ihenacho is a solid, tough defender. You'll remember Wilhelm Breidenbach (goggled mountain man, who can forget him?) from his days at Nebraska. I'm hoping to see the ILLINI by double digits, but will be happy with a win of any kind! I...L...L...
 
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