Pregame: Illinois vs Maryland, Wednesday, January 21st, 6:00pm CT, BTN
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The top 5 teams: IL, PU, NEB, MSU, scUM
….
Purdue has to go on the road to only one of those teams and plays none of them twice.
Illinois to go on the road to THREE of those teams and plays Nebraska twice.
I don’t care what the metrics are, that’s clearly an advantage
(As a side note: Michigan has to go on the road to three of those teams as well, and plays Duke in February…. so I’d agree they have a challenge coming up)
I think what will happen is that we will go big with Andrej at two guard and Ben at SF. Based on Brad's history, this is the remedy I see him implementing.
Agree.
At first blush, I thought the defense would suffer more, but Kylan's greatest asset on the offensive side is his drive-and-kick playmaking ability. AS definitely is not that guy... yet. Here's an opportunity for him to expand his repertoire (and draft stock).
It will be interesting to see what happens to efficiency numbers on both ends over the next several games.
I think it's a bigger opportunity for Andrej to show defensively.
He has the tools to be a good defender including guarding Anderson during the Tech game. Just needs to consistently show up on that end.
Will add my two cents. I do not expect Petrovic to become a big factor. His recent play on offense is encouraging, but watching him closely on defense I saw a guy who could be easily beaten and was always a minus. Lee provides a bigger contribution on both ends. Also BL's recent scout team role of playing the other team's star and doing well gives him some confidence. As far as being a contributor at both ends, Lee is the better option.
But the biggest step up IMHO could be Jake. If he could develop some way to take the ball to the rim, he could be a huge contributor. I have no idea if he can do that as he has never tried. But an effective finish, ala a quick flip (the Ty Rogers specialty), a jump hook, or a fade-away could all be used to make him a threat...as well as his vision to get the ball to cutters and open spot up shooters beyond the arc. He is an extremely smart guy who may be able to do any of those things over and over....and yet never have we seen him try. Sure does not mean he can't as he is a reasonably good athlete and just needs to be coached and encouraged. He will never be able to finish like AS, but he does not have to do that as those suggested finishing touches are not difficult...he just needs to be encouraged and trained a little. I hope we get the chance to find out if he can play the Marcus Domask role in the paint.
But the biggest step up IMHO could be Jake. If he could develop some way to take the ball to the rim, he could be a huge contributor. I have no idea if he can do that as he has never tried. But an effective finish, ala a quick flip (the Ty Rogers specialty), a jump hook, or a fade-away could all be used to make him a threat...as well as his vision to get the ball to cutters and open spot up shooters beyond the arc. He is an extremely smart guy who may be able to do any of those things over and over....and yet never have we seen him try. Sure does not mean he can't as he is a reasonably good athlete and just needs to be coached and encouraged. He will never be able to finish like AS, but he does not have to do that as those suggested finishing touches are not difficult...he just needs to be encouraged and trained a little. I hope we get the chance to find out if he can play the Marcus Domask role in the paint.
Depends on how bad the groin is… mild strain can be a week off… serious strain, several weeks.. tear, months.
A. We don’t know how close he was to seeing his first game before the groin thing.
B. We don’t how long his recovery is for the groin.
Could we get some luck? Meaning he returns in the near future…. a few weeks? Dunno but it would sure be nice!
We will rally around Mihailo Petrovic and will play good basketball.
Ben is playing enough already,Andrej lacks ballhandling skills at the 2.Kylan was a 2/ PG,lets go with proven PG ( petro) ,Lee combo favoring who is favorable matchup.When Lee is in game there's KW to play primary PG.Wagler will have the ball in his hands plenty regardless of running mate.
Dan
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#11 Illini Battle Maryland Wednesday at State Farm Center - University of Illinois Athletics
Fighting Illini on seven-game win streak heading into matchup vs. the Terrapins.
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Hey I'm with you. But, when asked about Petro today Brad deflected. I don't think he's going to get a ton of those minutes, maybe a few. Brad will play who he trusts, so most minutes will go to Ben and Jake. Hopefully the latter gets more but I have my doubts.
Last report was that Ty was getting closer to being back. If that could somehow happen while Bam is out...I would feel better.
Dammit. Just read the post in the MD thread that Ty pulled a groin. Bleck.
If he can be back in early February he totally raises our ceiling come tournament time. Keaton-Bos-Ty-Z-Tomi is a Natty champ level 5 in my opinion.
I Honestly may get emotional seeing him on the court again in a game haha
Without a doubt will be epic and emotional when Ty checks in. Love that guy.
Ty and Z starting over Andrej and Mirk?
Wow...quite a statement about a guy who has not played in 2 years and offered no scoring last time he did. I love Ty as much as anyone, but based upon what has happened to him as well as the skills he brought, he is a defensive specialist at best. I can think of no reason to sit AS and/or DM just to get him on the floor. Likely, Ty would agree no matter how much he wants to play and contribute.
But we all have our favorites. Personally, I don't see this team getting to the second weekend without Boswell and AS making big plays on both ends. And as much as I want Z to bring his A game and become an All-American, that will not happen until he stops bringing the ball down below his head where Brayden Smith and the like will pick his pocket or tie him up every time. He should have learned that a decade ago. Yet I love his shot-blocking prowess when he doesn't leave his feet at the first head movement of some fan in row 22. He is my favorite player when he gets his "puppies organized"!!!
Some tough times are likely coming without Boswell, but as my college coach said many times, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". Likely there isn't a single collegiate athlete who does not consider himself/herself to be one of the "tough". I think Coach Boswell...not to mention Underwood....will try their best to make certain that is the case. This team has talent and a plethora of it we may not have seen yet.
But we all have our favorites. Personally, I don't see this team getting to the second weekend without Boswell and AS making big plays on both ends. And as much as I want Z to bring his A game and become an All-American, that will not happen until he stops bringing the ball down below his head where Brayden Smith and the like will pick his pocket or tie him up every time. He should have learned that a decade ago. Yet I love his shot-blocking prowess when he doesn't leave his feet at the first head movement of some fan in row 22. He is my favorite player when he gets his "puppies organized"!!!
Some tough times are likely coming without Boswell, but as my college coach said many times, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". Likely there isn't a single collegiate athlete who does not consider himself/herself to be one of the "tough". I think Coach Boswell...not to mention Underwood....will try their best to make certain that is the case. This team has talent and a plethora of it we may not have seen yet.
I like it, but we’d have to play zone given we wouldn’t want either Ivisic chasing shooters on the perimeter- but I think we’ll have to get creative and mix up the defensive looks without Kylan, hopefully Crocker pulls out something good
Our pace has gotten slower as the season has gone along. And lately Bos has been the only guy that would attack in transition. I wouldn't be surprised if we slow it down even more now. Keep the ball in Wagler's hands and lean on this offense to be surgical. The fewer possessions, the less likely our defense implodes.
IllinistuckinGopherland said:
The major concern of this season was: after winning the Natty, will Petrovic leave us do to lack of playing time.
Brad strategically breaks Bam’s hand, giving Petro a 6-week preview of next year running the show.
Illini still win the Natty. Petro leads us to B2B next year.
Trust the process.
I think I’m in love
The major concern of this season was: after winning the Natty, will Petrovic leave us do to lack of playing time.
Brad strategically breaks Bam’s hand, giving Petro a 6-week preview of next year running the show.
Illini still win the Natty. Petro leads us to B2B next year.
Trust the process.
I think I’m in love
While I agree that turning to more time for Petro and Lee makes sense (since Kylan is a #2, not #3 thru #5), but looking at this season's stats so far:
1. Petro has 80% higher TO/min than Lee this season
(based on 3.00X more total TOs for Petro, but 1.67X more total mins for Petro, where 3.00/1.67=1.8 -> 80% higher TO/min for Petro)
2. Petro is shorter than Lee by 1 inch (6'3" vs 6'4, which, of course, are both inflated, but likely by about the same amount)
3. Petro has averaged the same PPM as Lee this season
(Petro: (29 pts) / (87 mins) = 0.33 PPM)
(Lee: (17 pts) / (52 mins) = 0.33 PPM)
4. When asked whether Petro steps into a bigger role with Kylan out, Underwood immediately mentioned "Lee" and the "whole team" as well as Petrovic.
5. Regarding defense, I'd guess Lee might already be a better defender than Petro, despite Lee have much less experience than Petro. Speaking of experience and age, here are how those look:
Petro's experience: Equivalent. of 4 years (~senior, despite 3 more years of college eligibility)
Petro's age: about 22
Lee's experience: Equivalent of 1 year (freshman)
Lee's age: about 18
Overall, I wouldn't be surprised if Lee stepped up into a large role as Kylan's main replacement, and Petro played the smaller role, supporting Lee. Obviously, other guys will also help fill the major void left by Kylan's injury.
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