Pregame: Illinois at Wisconsin, Wednesday, January 8th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#26      
illini80
mattcoldagelli said:
Not a terribly hot take, but the way the B1G is going, every road game is a massive, massive opportunity to get a differentiating win for both the conf standings and the committee.
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I think we need 2 road wins to have a chance of dancing. NW should be one. Every other game will be a battle.
 
#27      
The Dave
This is a key game in judging the Illini. I wasn't down after losing to MSU. They were the far superior team, playing at home. We were ice cold.

I'm also not overly high about the win last night (although I'm psyched by holding them to only 37). IMO we have better players at pretty much every position. We SHOULD win that game. At home. By double-digits.

Wisconsin is a team a lot like us. Not in terms of players/skill/style, but they're a middling team trying to figure out what they are. They are going to win some games they shouldn't (see OSU) and lose some games they shouldn't (see Richmond & NM). Sound familiar?

If we can go in there and win in Madison for the first time in a decade (2010 was our last road win there?) or at least make it super competitive, I'm going to feel pretty good about us and a shot at the tourney (it at least tells me we're good enough to make it...focus/execution is another question).

If we lay an MSU-sized egg then it's NIT or bust for us most likely.
 
#30      
Ga65
We have more talent than Whisky, question is are we well enough coached. They have owned us with less talent but better development and coaching. We are not alone however as lots of BIG teams almost as dominated.
 
#31      
othawhitemeat
While, obviously Wisconsin plays a slow it down, grind it out style, I see one big strength we have in rebounding. We average 12-13 more rebounds more per game. I imagine they are going to try and take Kofi out of game by spacing it out or flopping on defense. If we can somehow get their big in foul trouble (hard at there) we have a chance. He has to go up strong without using elbows or shoulders to create space. If he somehow can be a force without foul trouble and we can somehow not let their big go off from 3, I think we win. If we do, than we lose. Griffin is the wildcard, but our advantage is size and rebounding.
 
#33      
Deleted member 746654
I think we need to go on a run here. The next 4 games are all very winnable.....

@Wisky- never easy, we have to beat them at some point. Why not now!!
Ruters- good team but we are better at home
NU- cannot lose this game
PURDUE- revenge game for them but one our guys should be confident in.

I will settle for 3-1 in this stretch.
 
#34      
illiniguy24
2Deep said:
I think we need to go on a run here. The next 4 games are all very winnable.....

@Wisky- never easy, we have to beat them at some point. Why not now!!
Ruters- good team but we are better at home
NU- cannot lose this game
PURDUE- revenge game for them but one our guys should be confident in.

I will settle for 3-1 in this stretch.
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I think we would all be more than happy if we went 3-1 during this stretch
 
#35      
jrichisamazing
We moved up to 38 in NET rankings. Basically switched spots with Purdue. There are 12 B1G teams in the top 50, which is insane. But that just proves that there won't be a proverbial "turned the corner" moment where everything clicks all of a sudden. We are probably going to get smacked around a few more times this year. Let's just hope we smack other teams more than they smack us.

Wisconsin moved up 2 spots to 26th.
 
#36      
illinitiger
LarryGotFouled said:
Yes...and our coach still won't start him over a guy that refuses to shoot...:unsure: I thought BW was too stubborn for his own good but BU is getting there.
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Interesting comment by crew announcers against Purdue...AG could be B10 6 man of the year.

I do like the energy explosion he gives off the bench. So be it if he misses the first 2 min of the game...I think the "starter" discussion is overrated. He is getting more and more well deserved tick...what matters.
 
#37      
BlueLeader
LarryGotFouled said:
Yes...and our coach still won't start him over a guy that refuses to shoot...:unsure: I thought BW was too stubborn for his own good but BU is getting there.
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I'm actually okay with that as long as he gets proper minutes. We run a longer bench so we can't afford to bring off a lot of offense at a time. He is valuable and balancing the 'lines' BU likes to run.
 
#39      
Truffaut
jrichisamazing said:
We moved up to 38 in NET rankings. Basically switched spots with Purdue. There are 12 B1G teams in the top 50, which is insane. But that just proves that there won't be a proverbial "turned the corner" moment where everything clicks all of a sudden. We are probably going to get smacked around a few more times this year. Let's just hope we smack other teams more than they smack us.

Wisconsin moved up 2 spots to 26th.
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We changed spots with Purdue on Sunday? Let's do the same with Wisconsin on Wednesday!
 
#41      
RedRocksIllini
mattcoldagelli said:
Not a terribly hot take, but the way the B1G is going, every road game is a massive, massive opportunity to get a differentiating win for both the conf standings and the committee.
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Did I calculate correctly that home teams are 20-3 so far in the B1G this season? I think Wednesday would be a good time to start regressing towards the mean on that stat.
 
#43      
illiniwil
We've been up and down this year. I'm not sure what to think about tonite, but
I do know that if this team is going to make the tournament games like this are
must wins. Against "middle of the big ten" competition and in a hostile environ-
ment. Plus, we are by far the more athletic team. If you've watched Wisconsin,
they look like a good YMCA team physically.
 
#44      
pizzaman
I watch the Badgers since I've lived in cheeseland for over 40 years. They are disciplined, good defensively and will likely frustrate the Illini. They don't shoot that well so I suspect if we don't let them get in our heads we won't get blown out. If we have a night shooting like at MSU we can't win.
 
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