It’s that Bears fan gene for me. I’m bipolar towards my sports teams and players.
Pregame: Illinois vs Alabama, Wednesday, November 19th, 8:00pm CT, FS1
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LouHenson
- Naples Florida
Yea, maybe that has to do with BU (like many coaches) being very vague and evasive on the injury news?
USAFILLINI
- Florida
Purdue dominated Bama on the boards. Think we do the same thing
94-80 Good Guys
94-80 Good Guys
Has anyone ever played after Underwood said they’re a game time decision?
Andrej did... last week lol
If we can get ~35ish minutes combined from the Ivisics, I like our chances. Fill the remaining 4-5 minutes with some combo of Mirk/Ben/Jaskstys.
I think people are kind of missing the fact that we're better than Purdue and this is essentially a home game (will have a homer crowd and likely officiating).
There's a scenario where Alabama gets hot and hits 40%+ of their 3s and Illinois can't take advantage of what should be a lop-sided rebounding effort, but I doubt that happens.
I agree, Illinois by 10
Wow....after watching the first four games....I am not sure anyone on the planet is qualified to call any member of this roster "our best player" ...or even most valuable. We have a roster with 6 or 7 guys that can be "our best player" on any given night. But that is the type of roster it takes to compete for a national title.
It is quite if you ask the players and coaches you would likely get about 4 different answers to "our best player?" I really like the value of them all....and they all can stink or be world elite on any given game day. Tomi is certainly one of those guys though. Can't wait to see a full roster ready to play a top 10 team but who knows if/when that will happen?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
As far as I can tell, these are the regular season games at the UC where the Illini have had a top 10 ranking:
2004-2005 - #1 Illinois 83, Oregon 66
2001-2002 - #5 Illinois 94, Arkansas 91
2000-2001 - #5 Illinois 81, #7 Arizona 73
Let's not pick up the first loss now!
P.S. If you expand it to the BTT, we add a 1-1 record from the 2001 BTT and a 3-0 record from the 2005 BTT. So all in all, we are 7-1 all-time as a top 10 team in that building. BEAT 'BAMA!
2004-2005 - #1 Illinois 83, Oregon 66
2001-2002 - #5 Illinois 94, Arkansas 91
2000-2001 - #5 Illinois 81, #7 Arizona 73
Let's not pick up the first loss now!
P.S. If you expand it to the BTT, we add a 1-1 record from the 2001 BTT and a 3-0 record from the 2005 BTT. So all in all, we are 7-1 all-time as a top 10 team in that building. BEAT 'BAMA!
I'm pretty sure it was something like 191.5 and it was a random Virginia/Providence game in 2005. I remember seeing it last year because Bama/KY was like 180 and it was shown against a list of other highest totals ever.
Unquestionably, the shooting factor from the arc will likely decide this game. Bama is better by a wide margin, IMHO, than the Illini. If they go hot for long, we could be down by 15+ before you know it. That will once again challenge this team to find a way when there seems to be a lid on the basket.
Yes, the Illini should dominate on the boards. That coupled with strong perimeter/transition defense will provide the path to victory. Mirk has got to bring it all game and an Illini win is likely if Ben can hit some threes and Stoja score in the paint.
Can Z get a double double and a handful of blocks without getting into foul trouble? We win if he does.
As we saw when Bama played Purdue, this will be a battle of contrasting styles with the winning one very difficult to predict due to the mysteries of the three point shot. Bam needs to be Braden Smith 2.0. without turnovers.
Unsure about “wide margin”
Alabama is shooting .330 from 3 on the season, Illinois is at .362
Andrej might have been called a game time decision against FGCU maybe, but not last week.
My point is, I think it’s some gamesmanship from Underwood. He lists them officially as Questionable, but throws in that ‘game time decision’ to the press, when I think he fully knows who’s going to play and who isn’t.
back in the day (88-91ish), Loyola-Marymount would have had some really high O/Us - games often in the 100s for both teams
Yes FGCU, so 10 days ago. So the answer is yes, he does play players who are listed as questionable.
To your point, every coach does that.. Texas Tech did not even put out an injury report at all (for instance).
2000-2001 is the same year I believe Lute Olsen/Arizona whined about how physical we were in the press all week and the refs called a million fouls on us in the NCAA’s. I think we had 4 players foul out if not more.
I'd like to see them move to a more realistic injury report like we see with NFL/NBA. Seems to be every league has their own standards/guidelines for injury reporting.
With billions of dollars being wagered on the sport and millions being paid to players... it just seems strange that getting a legitimate injury report hasn't been higher on the NCAA's priority. ---Or moreso the sportsbooks haven't pushed harder for that.
I'm assuming they haven't touched it because they want space and plausible deniability from that industry while also racking up millions in commercial revenue...
Seems like one of the last bastions of "amateur athletics".
With billions of dollars being wagered on the sport and millions being paid to players... it just seems strange that getting a legitimate injury report hasn't been higher on the NCAA's priority. ---Or moreso the sportsbooks haven't pushed harder for that.
I'm assuming they haven't touched it because they want space and plausible deniability from that industry while also racking up millions in commercial revenue...
Seems like one of the last bastions of "amateur athletics".
Even if Tomi doesn't play (which I don't think he will) I think we have enough to get through the game, Illinois 88-82. I don't think the shooting percentages will be great in the United Center.
Username checks out.
A few insiders were talking about December for him. Yes, that's major cause for concern. The guy hasn't played a meaningful minute to date. Let's see what happens. Same with Petrovic. I'll believe it when I see it. I'll be at the UC on Wednesday, so I'd love to see if.
Our history here of injury analysis hasn't been great. Ty is the case in point. 1)Out for the year, 2)Goal is to have him ready by the 1st of the year, now 3)AT BEST he comes back in late January and his minutes would be limited.
So, let's wait and see how it all plays out. Again, fingers crossed.
Our history here of injury analysis hasn't been great. Ty is the case in point. 1)Out for the year, 2)Goal is to have him ready by the 1st of the year, now 3)AT BEST he comes back in late January and his minutes would be limited.
So, let's wait and see how it all plays out. Again, fingers crossed.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
RE: Ticket sales, I posted a screenshot of what it looked like on whatever date, and here has been the progression.
Friday, October 24
Monday, November 10
Monday, November 17
So in the last couple of weeks, the "TV sections" have more or less filled up, and there has been quite a bit of positive movement in the lower bowl in general. I wouldn't be surprised if it LOOKS a lot more full than people might assume, but I do hope there is a surge in late buyers over the next two days. Hell, we are going for sure and still haven't decided what tickets we want to buy yet!
FWIW - and this is nowhere near as sophisticated as what our pal @IlliniInBuckeyeState can do - this is my SUPER back-of-the napkin estimates for the capacity of the UC by section from eyeballing that ticket site and messing around in Excel (which is why my estimates will appear as exact numbers even though they're guesses, lol).
6,690 Lower Bowl (100s)
- 2,848 "TV seats"
- 3,842 baseline and corners
3,318 Middle Bowl (200s)
- 1,008 "TV seats"
- 2,310 baseline and corners
9,278 Upper Bowl (300s)
- 1,828 "TV seats"
- 7,450 baseline and corners
That would put the UC capacity at 19,286 compared to its 20,917 actual capacity, so we'll goose up my guess.
Basically, I think we have sold out or will NEARLY sell out all "TV seats" in the 200 and 300 level, and the lower level looks like 85-90% full, which is a floor attendance of like 5,300 ... probably not coincidentally what the attendance was during our last dud outing here during the Groce years! We've pretty much sold out like 90%+ of the 200 level, and probably between 55-60% of the upper bowl, with the baseline seats being especially empty.
TL;DR
I plugged in a bunch of high-level guesses by section of the percent of tickets sold, and that possibly unreliable formula came to 13,964. Since my capacity to begin with was 8.5% low, adjusting my guess up by that proportion would give an estimate of 15,145 ... which would be respectable. It might be overly optimistic of me, but it's kind of nice that the VAST majority of the remaining seats are in less expensive areas, many below $40. I don't know who is expecting to attend a game in 2025 for cheaper than that, so hopefully just a bunch of procrastinators like me can swell the numbers up.
Friday, October 24
Monday, November 10
Monday, November 17
So in the last couple of weeks, the "TV sections" have more or less filled up, and there has been quite a bit of positive movement in the lower bowl in general. I wouldn't be surprised if it LOOKS a lot more full than people might assume, but I do hope there is a surge in late buyers over the next two days. Hell, we are going for sure and still haven't decided what tickets we want to buy yet!
FWIW - and this is nowhere near as sophisticated as what our pal @IlliniInBuckeyeState can do - this is my SUPER back-of-the napkin estimates for the capacity of the UC by section from eyeballing that ticket site and messing around in Excel (which is why my estimates will appear as exact numbers even though they're guesses, lol).
6,690 Lower Bowl (100s)
- 2,848 "TV seats"
- 3,842 baseline and corners
3,318 Middle Bowl (200s)
- 1,008 "TV seats"
- 2,310 baseline and corners
9,278 Upper Bowl (300s)
- 1,828 "TV seats"
- 7,450 baseline and corners
That would put the UC capacity at 19,286 compared to its 20,917 actual capacity, so we'll goose up my guess.
Basically, I think we have sold out or will NEARLY sell out all "TV seats" in the 200 and 300 level, and the lower level looks like 85-90% full, which is a floor attendance of like 5,300 ... probably not coincidentally what the attendance was during our last dud outing here during the Groce years! We've pretty much sold out like 90%+ of the 200 level, and probably between 55-60% of the upper bowl, with the baseline seats being especially empty.
TL;DR
I plugged in a bunch of high-level guesses by section of the percent of tickets sold, and that possibly unreliable formula came to 13,964. Since my capacity to begin with was 8.5% low, adjusting my guess up by that proportion would give an estimate of 15,145 ... which would be respectable. It might be overly optimistic of me, but it's kind of nice that the VAST majority of the remaining seats are in less expensive areas, many below $40. I don't know who is expecting to attend a game in 2025 for cheaper than that, so hopefully just a bunch of procrastinators like me can swell the numbers up.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Ah… the old “semantics is my friend” debate argument. Correct on a technicality, but still a losing strategy.
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