Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan State, Monday, January 22nd, 8:00pm CT, FS1

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#26      

SKane

SKane
Tennessee
SKane
I won't say the team is regressing unless there are similar performances against Indiana and Rutgers. Michigan State looks like a beating.

The concern that I have is that Coach Underwood talked the team and many of the players up quite a bit before the season and what he said would happen has been the opposite of reality.
 
#30      

JoeJ

J
JoeJ
RedRocksIllini said:
After watching the MSU-IU game right before our game, this is a brutal matchup for us. Ward, Bridges and Jackson Jr. are gonna be a lot to handle. Good game to test our mettle.
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We have mettle?
a person's ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way

I guess anyone still reading/posting has mettle.:mad:

GO ILLINI!:illinois::chief::illinois:
 
#31      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
JoeJ said:
We have mettle?
a person's ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way

I guess anyone still reading/posting has mettle.:mad:

GO ILLINI!:illinois::chief::illinois:
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Aside from wiscy, I would say that we've shown mettle

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#32      

the Castle on Daniel

T
the Castle on Daniel
Been very busy, so I haven't been able to watch many games. Why are we 0-7? I know our opening B1G schedule was not favorable and there were a few close ones, but 0-7???
 
#34      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
the Castle on Daniel said:
Been very busy, so I haven't been able to watch many games. Why are we 0-7? I know our opening B1G schedule was not favorable and there were a few close ones, but 0-7???
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Most of th 0 and 7 stretch we were in the game until the end, except wiscy. we should have won NW and Maryland game in December, Iowa and Neb this Month and NMSU in late Dec.

had a heartbreaker at Nebraska last week by a contested leaner 3p play (Palmer) at the buzzer. Wiscy is the only blowout....coming on the heals of that Neby heartbreaker.

On the good side....Ebo and TF are developing and improving significantly as Freshmen.

hope this helps get you up to speed.


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#35      

Calvin

C
Calvin
RedRocksIllini said:
After watching the MSU-IU game right before our game, this is a brutal matchup for us. Ward, Bridges and Jackson Jr. are gonna be a lot to handle. Good game to test our mettle.
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Agree completely on the brutal part. I think the guys are demoralized as well. That !@#$ show in Madison was a sign to me that Underwood doesn't have them fighting, and this is a ridiculously bad match-up for us. Their strength is our weakness. We will lose, and the spread is just a matter of how much MSU is taking us for granted.

If our guys can't play with pride, I honestly don't care if the weaker guys see no tick at all. Clone Trent Frazier if you have to, but I want guys who don't hang their head when it gets tough. To me, this game is the closest thing to a guaranteed loss you could get. Play for pride, and keep working on improving. Sad to say it, but IMO the only chance here is for a moral victory that we do some things right and keep the game within double digits.
 
#37      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
Calvin said:
Agree completely on the brutal part. I think the guys are demoralized as well. That !@#$ show in Madison was a sign to me that Underwood doesn't have them fighting, and this is a ridiculously bad match-up for us. Their strength is our weakness. We will lose, and the spread is just a matter of how much MSU is taking us for granted.

If our guys can't play with pride, I honestly don't care if the weaker guys see no tick at all. Clone Trent Frazier if you have to, but I want guys who don't hang their head when it gets tough. To me, this game is the closest thing to a guaranteed loss you could get. Play for pride, and keep working on improving. Sad to say it, but IMO the only chance here is for a moral victory that we do some things right and keep the game within double digits.
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so if Cayce plays over MS...your ok with that?

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#38      

Deleted member 651864

D
Guest
Deleted member 651864
Underwood is trying to instill grit and passion in these guys. Frazier and Black have it naturally, but the rest don't. I believe in this coach, but the players need to make it happen. You have to have a fighting instinct, and for the most part, our guys don't have it. I feel bad for the coach because I know he is trying to get this into them. Our talent level is there, but some natural smarts and grit aren't.

Searching for answers, searching for wins, it comes down to willpower. In my opinion, Coach Underwood, Frazier and Black have it. I wish the others did but they look confused at times and lose focus.

Ayo Dosunmu has the willpower. The future is bright. But this could be our 1st winless big 10 campaign.

But how cool would it be to go 0-18 in conference, then win out in the Big 10 tournament and go to the dance?! They could make a Disney sports movie out of that! Ok ok one can dream.
 
#39      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
Dont agree all od the post but do agree that TJL is a positive force on court. My favorite lineup is TF, TJL ,AJ/MA, LB and GE.

I disagree on the individualists. I think our offense has regressed in general a little.

for whatever reason we seemed to have scrapped 7 sec offense and the ball doesnt move very fast. I noticed when Liss/Cayce were in I felt the ball movement was quicker and crisper than the starters. The ball movement speed may be the most important aspect in determining whether shot is contested or not.

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#40      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
[YOUTUBE]-jG87ouJs4U[/YOUTUBE]
 
#44      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Branson53 said:
That line seems rather low... what do they know that we dont?
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Maybe they realize the B1G is a crazy conference where anyone can beat anyone. Or that we have lost a bunch of close games and are actually better than our record. Or that B1G road games are usually really tough, and the Orange Krush is back for the first time in 6+ weeks.

The only way we get blown out in this one is if we shoot 1-15 from 3 again (which is definitely possible). It won't be for lack of effort.
 
#45      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Calvin said:
Agree completely on the brutal part. I think the guys are demoralized as well. That !@#$ show in Madison was a sign to me that Underwood doesn't have them fighting, and this is a ridiculously bad match-up for us. Their strength is our weakness. We will lose, and the spread is just a matter of how much MSU is taking us for granted.

If our guys can't play with pride, I honestly don't care if the weaker guys see no tick at all. Clone Trent Frazier if you have to, but I want guys who don't hang their head when it gets tough. To me, this game is the closest thing to a guaranteed loss you could get. Play for pride, and keep working on improving. Sad to say it, but IMO the only chance here is for a moral victory that we do some things right and keep the game within double digits.
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Ridiculous. It was one game. This team plays so hard, and just doesn't have the guys to make plays yet. Right now Trent and Leron are the only 2 who can do anything offensively. Everyone else throws the ball all over the place. And we always talk about having no size, yet we lead the B1G in offensive rebounding. We've never gotten killed on the boards, and many times we actually out rebound teams. That's all effort. We also lead the B1G in turnovers, because effort.

This team fights, which is the main reason we have been in all games except 1. But it takes more than effort to win.
 
#46      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
jrichisamazing said:
I'd love to here how BU announces that one. "Hey Kipper, you're playing terrible and you make me want to pull my hair out...you wanna start?" Makes sense.:confused:
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It makes a lot of since due to size of MSU. Love to have a line up which would allow more of Black and Kipper at the 3. We just don't have enough bigs. Black and Kipper can also hit the mid range jumper near the free throw when we are zoned.
 
#47      

RedRocksIllini

RedRocksIllini
Morrison, CO
RedRocksIllini
JoeJ said:
We have mettle?
a person's ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way

I guess anyone still reading/posting has mettle.:mad:

GO ILLINI!:illinois::chief::illinois:
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Yeah, I didn't mean the team's mettle. I meant ours. Have yet to see anything remotely close to mettle from the team.
 
#48      

BlindLoyalty

B
FartNoiseMotivation
BlindLoyalty
Some lowlights from the Lansing State Journal preview, link to full text:

“The bad news for Illinois is that it’s 0-7 in Big Ten play and this season isn’t going to get better. Unlike some other Big Ten teams, the Illini are not underachieving. This is the league’s least talented team offensively and, defensively — while they do speed teams up and take them out of their comfort zones — they have very little rim protection...


Illinois has shown it can play with good teams. Ask Nebraska, which should have lost to the Illini at home and then turned around and thumped Michigan. If the Spartans are unfocused or not ready for Illinois’ defensive style, this could be a game for a while. My sense is the timing is bad for Illinois. MSU has been punched in the mouth a few times and is out to reestablish itself.”

MSU 82
Illinois 70


https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/college/msu/mens-basketball/2018/01/21/michigan-state-illinois-basketball-tipoff/109684692/
 
#50      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
Black and frazier are the only B1G players worthy of B1G consideration for post season accolades

we are struggling with a new coach and system....we have many freshman who have been given the task of elevating the performance of the team ...we are being raped in the middle with no one being able to be a force in the paint...Ebo is showing sighs of being that player and warrants more tick...

This has been a very depressing season full of losses that really boggle the mind as far as inbounds plays , goal tending non calls and general bad luck....

we could easily be 4-3 in the B1G but we aren't....we could easily be talking about a ticket to the dance, but we aren't....


Are we a good team...record says NO
are we a team better than our 10-9 record.....YES

what do we do ?

what do we need ?

when will we get back to relevance in cbb ?



I WISH I KNEW THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS AND I FIRMLY BELIEVE BEFORE THE SEASON IS OVER THERE WILL BE OTHER QUESTIONS NOT EVEN THOUGHT OF NOW THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS...

this has been a year of exasperation and disappointment....BUT, as a diehard Illini fan I will persevere with my support for the Illini come hell or high water...

I see another Beam and 7 in my future...
 
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