Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan, Friday, February 27th, 7:00pm CT, FOX
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Maybe our Illini should watch this last shot defense
I remember that MSU goose egg very well
I would think just as big an issue would be for Cadeau on Wagler.
Illini in Indiana
- Indiana
IDK, this game - I'd give us the slight edge
- Neutral floor - advantage Michigan
- Home game - changes to advantage Illini - wish we had a more dominant home court
- Who needs it more - advantage Illini - Big 10 & NCAA tourney seed
- Neutral floor - advantage Michigan
- Home game - changes to advantage Illini - wish we had a more dominant home court
- Who needs it more - advantage Illini - Big 10 & NCAA tourney seed
It's a loser's mentality to even begin to think that the refereeing would be a benefit/detriment.
I don't care if it's 2 to 1 in Michigan's favor, when you get to the line, MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS! That is of MUCH bigger concern that the refs.
We've lost two games recently (not even taking the Alabama game into consideration from earlier in the year) because when we did get the call, we didn't convert.
Think about the amount of absolutely critical free throws that we've missed the last few weeks. Heck, think about all of the front ends of 1 and 1's that we've missed. That's taking potentially two points off the board. Those free throws that we don't get by missing the front ends don't show up in the stats.
If you're not converting from the line when the refs do send you there.....that's 100% on our guys.
Control what you can control. We'll get to the line plenty. Make them. Don't settle for as many threes and we'll see an uptick in trips to the line. Make them.
Let me add this. Over the last couple of games where we haven't secured rebounds late, which led to a foul on us....those fouls are never called if we're doing what we're supposed to be doing on the glass.
I love Keaton, but this focus on him not getting calls and it's leading to our demise is ridiculous. We've gotten more than enough whistles to have beaten MSU, WI and UCLA. We didn't get the job done in crunch time.
We have to accept that Michigan is probably going to demolish us on points in the paint. Part of that will be second chances, finishing or getting to the line. We have to minimize that as much as possible. We have to find a way to get something easy and that is going to be easier said than done. We don't have Uber athletic guards that can break a defense down and finish STRONG at the rim and we don't have a great post presence. We have bigs that go up soft and in this game, those shots will end up in the fifth row. If Keaton going up soft, he'll get his shot erased. Michigan has grown men in the paint.
I'm sure Brad will touch on this in his media session, but this one is all about toughness, both physically and mentally. That's where Michigan gets people. They will bully you. The only way to stop a bully is to bully back. If we stand behind the three point line and put up 45-50 threes..... we're done unless we hit 18-20 of them.
Spoken like a true Illni fan.
The next time an official truly impacts the outcome of any game we have had since the 2005 NCAA championship game will be the first.
Great teams overcome whatever slight they feel from officiating.
MSU, Wisky, UCLA are all games we should have won regardless of the officiating. Let's not blame officials for missed FTs, lane violations, three shot fouls and missed defensive rebounds that would have won all 3 games.
But I have to admit - the "true" Illini fan complains about the officiating before the game even begins.
To win (championships) we need to lose that mentality... so does our coach.
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Cadeau?….. did you forget Boswell? Wagler covers Burnett.
Plus 22 is a gigantic number. What a team averages on their own for fast break points is different than their +/-. No team comes close to averaging plus 22 fast break points. I don't know where to find the number, but im sure the #1 team in the +/- category is close to upper single digits. So when you more than double the number of the #1 out of 360+ team, thats huge.
But like you said, it was an outlier. Im not concerned about when weird things happens @ Michigan St. I expect it.
Yes, Coach said they had the day off on Monday but then they were going to implement new wrinkles on Tuesday and full throttled practices on Wednesday and Thursday. It looks like we’re in a great position for a win.
I’ve decided this game is giving me 2021 vibes. Sure Michigan gets to hang the banner, but we had some bad injury and in game luck (vs the 2021 shenanigans Michigan pulled) and so I think we come in with a chip on our shoulder and prove Michigan is just a paper champion.
Big Z should get as many lobs as he wants in the dunker spot, so long as we're shooting anywhere near average from 3.
Why are most of the U.S. players on the Illinois team heads down during the national anthem when Brad has his hand on his heart? (Picture on the illiniboard post) Interesting...
Michigan -1.5
Go Illini!
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Curious if Illinois will double the post ups, or where they’ll come from. Also how much zone they’ll play. They only usually play a couple possessions of zone a game but there’s a lot of tape after the Minnesota game. Although, Michigan can be hot or cold on threes and zones can be susceptible to giving up offensive rebounds to Morez.
I know nothing (nothing!) but here are my takes:
On offense, can we successfully hunt matchups, leading to Keaton having another Purdue-like game. (Having gotten some extended rest, how about a fifty-ball if we can get Mara trying to guard him?
).
On dribble drives, I want a 1:1:1 ratio of layup attempts, drop offs, and kickouts. If we force too many layup attempts (which I think we have a tendency to do), their bigs could have a field day.
On defense, I wonder if it boils down to whether we continue to go over all screens, even for guys who don't like to take threes.
And rebounding. (Duh.)
On offense, can we successfully hunt matchups, leading to Keaton having another Purdue-like game. (Having gotten some extended rest, how about a fifty-ball if we can get Mara trying to guard him?
).On dribble drives, I want a 1:1:1 ratio of layup attempts, drop offs, and kickouts. If we force too many layup attempts (which I think we have a tendency to do), their bigs could have a field day.
On defense, I wonder if it boils down to whether we continue to go over all screens, even for guys who don't like to take threes.
And rebounding. (Duh.)
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