Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan State, Friday, January 13th, 8:00pm CT, FS1

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#153      
The Galloping Ghost
DICKnaggie said:
The messaging from CH in this interview is night and day from two weeks ago. Lots to read between the lines but also lots of stuff that is up front. Good interview! CH talks about where we are at.
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Every time I listen to Hawk speak, I come away impressed. He's very cerebral and thoughtful about the game and his place in it. I really do think an announcer's chair is waiting for him when he hangs it up, hopefully after 15 years or so.
 
#155      
blackdog
sacraig said:
I'd guess that the last two games have convinced bookies and bettors that we are currently the November Illini who could beat anyone rather than the December Illini who didn't belong on a basketball court.
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Even better this is the January Illini who have seemingly taken the raw talent of the November group and started to actually bring it together to play like a team.
 
#156      
USAFILLINI
  • The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Illinois' last 7 games.
  • Illinois are 11-5 SU in their last 16 games.
  • Illinois are 10-1 SU in their last 11 games at home.
  • Illinois are 13-7 ATS in their last 20 games when playing at home against Michigan State.
  • The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Illinois' last 8 games against an opponent in the Big Ten conference.
  • The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Illinois' last 5 games played in January.
  • Illinois are 13-3 SU in their last 16 games played on a Friday.
  • Illinois are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games played on a Friday when playing at home.
 
#159      
SCMART Illini
Big Jack said:
Lol I got told to sit down at the start of the Bethune game by some one behind me a few rows.. Had to inform him that you don't sit after tip off until the opponents score... He should learn the rules
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Retractable seats would take care of this issue. lol. It would teach him when he is allowed to sit down.
 
#160      
CentralILLini
Cash me @ The Esquire Lounge pounding whiskeys pre game 😂
Funny Memes Viral Moments GIF by Identity
 
#161      
ChiefGritty
sacraig said:
Imagine telling your team not to shoot anymore. Best case scenario is the next game lasts literally forever in a 0-0 tie.
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On the substance of it though, our 2019-20 team was a very shooting-challenged team, and Underwood didn't respond to that with a mantra of "bombs away, they will go in eventually". We built that offense in a way that got Feliz and Ayo in places where their shot diet helped the team. And then Griffin was there to stretch the floor, Trent to an extent, etc. We made it work and didn't chuck to our detriment.

This year Underwood really just sincerely believes in TSJ, Mayer, and especially Hawkins as shooters and wants them to damn the torpedoes and let fly.
 
#162      
ChiefGritty
The Galloping Ghost said:
Every time I listen to Hawk speak, I come away impressed. He's very cerebral and thoughtful about the game and his place in it. I really do think an announcer's chair is waiting for him when he hangs it up, hopefully after 15 years or so.
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You can kinda see where the "thinking too much" aspect of his game comes from. He's really understands what's going on out there, gotta keep that from curdling into Brian Randle Disease (another guy with a bright future on the sidelines of the game).
 
#163      
dbeverly26
Hold your shape on d and stay at home on their shooters, run the offense and get good shots for your teammates, and dunk on some fools. MSU isn’t really a team that bullies you anymore, so take advantage of it and just stuff these guys in a locker. Let’s go.
 
#165      
urbanite
Mayer and TSJ are career 35% 3P shooters, and Hawkins is 30%. I believe they can shoot better when they take good shots, but at some point you have to accept the reality of what you're working with.

When the team is 13th in the country in 2P% and 192nd in 3P%, yet 24th in 3P rate, it suggests a strategic disconnect.
 
#166      
lstewart53x3
urbanite said:
Mayer and TSJ are career 35% 3P shooters, and Hawkins is 30%. I believe they can shoot better when they take good shots, but at some point you have to accept the reality of what you're working with.

When the team is 13th in the country in 2P% and 192nd in 3P%, yet 24th in 3P rate, it suggests a strategic disconnect.
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I’m definitely not a basketball strategist, but is it kinda like football where passing can open up the run?

Does our willingness to shoot from deep open up the lane for better 2PT%?
 
#167      
dbeverly26
urbanite said:
Mayer and TSJ are career 35% 3P shooters, and Hawkins is 30%. I believe they can shoot better when they take good shots, but at some point you have to accept the reality of what you're working with.

When the team is 13th in the country in 2P% and 192nd in 3P%, yet 24th in 3P rate, it suggests a strategic disconnect.
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I think that it’s got as much to do with the team being more willing to take bad threes than bad twos as anything. When they stop the flow of the offense it almost always results in a forced three. They generally never take long twos and only occasionally force a bad shot in traffic.

It wasn’t a coincidence that the two stretches against Nebraska when they went dry (the beginning of the game and Nebraska’s second half run) came when they stopped the flow of the offense, and they took a lot of threes off the dribble and under duress during those stretches. I don’t think an open two was waiting for them in those cases since they’d done nothing to earn a good shot.
 
#168      
RockfordIllini
lstewart53x3 said:
I’m definitely not a basketball strategist, but is it kinda like football where passing can open up the run?

Does our willingness to shoot from deep open up the lane for better 2PT%?
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Well another thought is the value of the shot, the old you need to shoot 60% from 2 to be equal to 40% from 3. Which I checked, and the math works.

So if we are shooting a higher percentage from 2, but it’s not at least 50 higher than our 3 point percentage, I think the math says you still get more bang for your buck from 3
 
#172      
IlliniShelt
21ChampaignSt said:
Personally, I never thought Izzo's mispronunciation was that disrespectful. It's a name he probably only has to say a few times a year and it's not like it's phonetically obvious for an English speaker.

My own grandpa spelled my name wrong for years on my birthday cards. 🤣

It happens.

So, no, I doubt it's intentional by BU. But if it is, I'm here for the Elite pettiness.
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Coaches know everything about their opponents, I think they would know their names. Plus he had to have heard Ayo's name called with as many buckets as he had when we upset them his frosh year.
 
#174      
21ChampaignSt
IlliniShelt said:
Coaches know everything about their opponents, I think they would know their names. Plus he had to have heard Ayo's name called with as many buckets as he had when we upset them his frosh year.
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Maybe. It would surprise me if BU asks our assistants to include player pronunciations in the scouting report. And coaches don't watch the TV broadcasts when they scout so they're not hearing player names repeated over and over.

But who knows. If you think Izzo was intentionally taking a shot at Ayo to get in his head or something, I won't say you're wrong. It's fun to vilify our opponents. I personally just have a hard time believing it was anything other than an ignorant mistake by a coach who scouts about 250 different players a year.
 
#175      
Pennsy
sacraig said:
Imagine telling your team not to shoot anymore. Best case scenario is the next game lasts literally forever in a 0-0 tie.
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Not to fixate on 3's that is. There are plenty of other ways to put the ball in the hole.
 
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