Pregame: Illinois vs Baylor, Wednesday, December 2nd, 9:00pm CT, ESPN

Status
Not open for further replies.
#51      

DRS

D
DRS
From a size perspective this is an excellent match-up for us. The dreaded stretch 4 is not a part of this team. If they have a guy go off like Preston against of course we are in trouble, dude was fantastic all night long.

This is a veteran laden team with many upper class guards that have all gotten quality minutes for Baylor. Very good shooting team. But, down low we have a real advantage against their two bigs and our guards can match-up with this squad quite well. Vital will guard Ayo but if he gets 25+minutes or so that takes away one of their shooters for stretches of the game. From a strict match-up standpoint this is a favorable match-up. I'm expecting a tremendous game.
 
#52      

ChocolateThunder

C
ChocolateThunder
CubsIlliniFan said:
Baylor plays a 1-3-1 matchup zone and plays a zone offense with inside ball screens. Will be a good test on how to beat the 131
Click to expand...
Will need to improve our passing.
We did not pass well against Ohio University.
Will need better defensive communication, wont be many easy shots against Baylor
Will need to contain Jared Butler

Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19 last Sunday and remains in quarantine as of today.
 
#53      

altenberger22

altenberger22
South Carolina
altenberger22
Michael Myers said:
21, 17, 18 , 12, 17

These were the point totals for the Top 5 scorers for Baylor in game 1 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette.
These 5 players were the "only" ones in double figures, making up 85 of the 112 points Baylor scored.

Guess how many of those 5 top scorers are guards.

If you guessed ALL OF THEM, (if I'm understanding the box scores correctly), you would be correct!

(I'm not sure I've ever seen a box score like that.)

6'1 - 17
6'3 - 17
6'3 - 12
6'4 - 21
6'2 - 18

Baylor Box Score for Game 1
Baylor's Roster, for Reference
Click to expand...
Great info! I had checked the box score, but didn't bother taking that extra step. Should be extremely entertaining next Wed!
 
#54      

RML

R
RML
ChocolateThunder said:
Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19 last Sunday and remains in quarantine as of today.
Click to expand...
I hope we are really confident with Baylor's testing. If some of our guys get Covid from one of their players (or even just exposed), and end up missing the Duke game or the start of the B1G season, I'm going to be really ticked off. And in agony.

Tagony?
 
Last edited:
#55      

ChocolateThunder

C
ChocolateThunder
RML said:
So, pretty much by definition, all their players were exposed, right? I don't want our guys being exposed to Covid. I would love to play Baylor, but not if the price might be that we have players out for Duke and for the start of the B1G season.
Click to expand...
Baylor traveled to Vegas to play Louisana, Drew did not make the trip, only information I read.
 
#56      

Double ACL

D
Double ACL
Ga65 said:
Vital is their 6’5” defensive specialist but only played 15 mins, not sure why. From a roster make up they resemble our 2004-5 team. 6’10” Thamba, 6’5” Vital and 3 guards that shoot lights out. Doesn’t appear that our lack of size at the 4 should hurt us. As Vital not a shooter wonder if Ayo could guard him and put DaMonte on 6’4” Teague. Allows Ayo to play help defense and focus on offense. They lost their center from last year and Kentucky went inside to beat them even with him. Not sure how good defensively Thamba or JTT are. Just hope Teague doesn’t make Preston look like an amateur.
Click to expand...
Ayo can not guard Vital. The dude is 250 lbs and plays like he is 6'10''. DaMonte will get that role.
 
#59      

Ubermensch

Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Ubermensch
Pop'sBlackDog said:
You do see the irony in the two things you dislike at 1 and 2? When Kofi recieves the ball high and toward the rim , he can rattle with the best of them, when recieving back to the basket he appears much more uncomfortable, to me at least. This is probably due to him not playing basketball as long as many. Giorgi is great when recieving ball back to basket in contrast. I am hoping Hamlin is being held out to allow hand to heal for the games we will need him 8 to 12 minutes due to fouls, matchups, or fingerscrossed injuries.
Click to expand...
So, the theory is don't feed Kofi under the basket because he struggled at times with ball security in traffic?
 
#60      

Ubermensch

Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Ubermensch
Calvin said:
Gonna be a nice resume builder for the winner. We have less to lose than Baylor, given perceptions.
Click to expand...
As long as UI doesn't get run off the floor, there's no bad outcome. Baylor is widely regarded as a superior team. So, yes, there's really not much to lose. If the Bears win by 10 or 12, no one will be surprised. Roll the ball out there and let's see if we can turn it into a surprise. I don't expect UI to win, but if the 3 is dropping anything is possible.
 
#61      

AZHOHoops

A
Scottsdale, AZ
AZHOHoops
Ga65 said:
Vital is their 6’5” defensive specialist but only played 15 mins, not sure why. From a roster make up they resemble our 2004-5 team. 6’10” Thamba, 6’5” Vital and 3 guards that shoot lights out. Doesn’t appear that our lack of size at the 4 should hurt us. As Vital not a shooter wonder if Ayo could guard him and put DaMonte on 6’4” Teague. Allows Ayo to play help defense and focus on offense. They lost their center from last year and Kentucky went inside to beat them even with him. Not sure how good defensively Thamba or JTT are. Just hope Teague doesn’t make Preston look like an amateur.
Click to expand...
I'm not here to argue but when I suggested we could break the 1-3-1, I was met with " they at times can put NBA size out there" If so, it appears the majority of the scoring would have to be benched to do that.
 
#62      

Efrem Winters fan

Efrem Winters fan
Efrem Winters fan
Ubermensch said:
As long as UI doesn't get run off the floor, there's no bad outcome. Baylor is widely regarded as a superior team. So, yes, there's really not much to lose. If the Bears win by 10 or 12, no one will be surprised. Roll the ball out there and let's see if we can turn it into a surprise. I don't expect UI to win, but if the 3 is dropping anything is possible.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. I also think that pace of play will play a big role in this game and will also bring a second issue into play which is conditioning. I think we are well positioned here and have a chance if we can dictatate the speed at which the game is played.
 
#63      

Pop'sBlackDog

Pop'sBlackDog
Pop'sBlackDog
Ubermensch said:
So, the theory is don't feed Kofi under the basket because he struggled at times with ball security in traffic?
Click to expand...
No I said irony of saying Kofi has bad hands and guards are not getting him the ball. I was stating he is not as experienced at basketball as many. I hugely believe in feeding the post. Put the ball in a position for the player to succeed. Kofi needs to improve his back to the basket play IF the guards are going to feed him. I do not disagree with the premise, just noted the irony.
 
#64      

Michael Myers

Michael Myers
Michael Myers
Pop'sBlackDog said:
No I said irony of saying Kofi has bad hands and guards are not getting him the ball. I was stating he is not as experienced at basketball as many. I hugely believe in feeding the post. Put the ball in a position for the player to succeed. Kofi needs to improve his back to the basket play IF the guards are going to feed him. I do not disagree with the premise, just noted the irony.
Click to expand...
You are correct, IMO.

Kofi is not (currently) good with his back to the basket. His only real move is the baby hook (which is more than serviceable), but that can only be gotten to 30% of the time. When he doesn't get to the hook, it is an adventure. (some very wild and inexperienced attempts).

He is stellar when fed high (inducing the defender to erroneously go up for the ball as well)... and when fed off the drive (when help leaves him) opposite the drive. He is MONEY in both of those situations.

So... set him up for success in games... and get him B2TB work, in practice.

I don't think it's a slam on Kofi... I think it's a reality that he's a lifetime soccer player with 4 years of basketball. It will come with time, and he'll be an NBA basketball player. His B2TB game will merely determine if he's a 20-30 min player, or a 7-12 min player.
 
#65      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Michael Myers said:
You are correct, IMO.

Kofi is not (currently) good with his back to the basket. His only real move is the baby hook (which is more than serviceable), but that can only be gotten to 30% of the time. When he doesn't get to the hook, it is an adventure. (some very wild and inexperienced attempts).

He is stellar when fed high (inducing the defender to erroneously go up for the ball as well)... and when fed off the drive (when help leaves him) opposite the drive. He is MONEY in both of those situations.

So... set him up for success in games... and get him B2TB work, in practice.

I don't think it's a slam on Kofi... I think it's a reality that he's a lifetime soccer player with 4 years of basketball. It will come with time, and he'll be an NBA basketball player. His B2TB game will merely determine if he's a 20-30 min player, or a 7-12 min player.
Click to expand...
I just want to see that jump hook I saw on the practice video. It was so smooothh.
 
#67      

CDRUSN

CDRUSN
CDRUSN
What I want to see against Baylor is for the two announcers to be so awed by Illini scorers that all they can manage to blurt out is an occassional "Boom goes the dynamite!" That is, until we turn over Baylor and then score again.
 
#68      

logjam

logjam
logjam
Ubermensch said:
As long as UI doesn't get run off the floor, there's no bad outcome. Baylor is widely regarded as a superior team. So, yes, there's really not much to lose. If the Bears win by 10 or 12, no one will be surprised. Roll the ball out there and let's see if we can turn it into a surprise. I don't expect UI to win, but if the 3 is dropping anything is possible.
Click to expand...
You mean we're not going undefeated?
 
#71      

logjam

logjam
logjam
Looking forward to Baylor, I think we have a few new things we haven't shown....we win by 5.
 
#73      

ILLINI76

ILLINI76
Springfiled, IL.
ILLINI76
Baylor's first 2 games.

Louisiana
15-27 3pt
15 OREB

Washington
13-29 3pt
21 OREB

Need to stop 3pt shots and grab REBOUNDS to win this game.
 
#74      

altenberger22

altenberger22
South Carolina
altenberger22
IllinoisssssssVarsity said:
i mean, year it’s really hard to be undefeated. But in all honesty, you make it through these next 2, we have a fairly favorable big schedule. It’s definitely not likely, but not extraordinarily outside the realm of possibility.
Click to expand...
I've now watched nearly every Big 10 team play at least one game (thank you BTN!) and I do think it's outside the realm of possibility to go 26-0 and therefore 20-0 in the Big 10. Even if we happen to skate by Baylor and Duke, our conference schedule is going to be brutal!

By comparison, the Big 10 in 2004-05 was extremely weak -- and we did not go undefeated then, either. Only three teams were in the final 2005 rankings:

#1 - ILL
#15 - MSU
#20 - WISC
 
#75      

RockfordIllini

R
RockfordIllini
altenberger22 said:
I've now watched nearly every Big 10 team play at least one game (thank you BTN!) and I do think it's outside the realm of possibility to go 26-0 and therefore 20-0 in the Big 10. Even if we happen to skate by Baylor and Duke, our conference schedule is going to be brutal!

By comparison, the Big 10 in 2004-05 was extremely weak -- and we did not go undefeated then, either. Only three teams were in the final 2005 rankings:

#1 - ILL
#15 - MSU
#20 - WISC
Click to expand...
With all 3 winding up in the Elite 8 and 2 in the Final Four, and we won on the road both places. That's when I knew that team was special.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.