Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan, Wednesday, January 11th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#101      

whovous

W
Washington, DC
whovous
Groce: We wrinkled a couple things pertaining to Michigan. There will be changes to lineup. It's nothing personal.

He says "changes" and not "a change." A literal reading suggests more than one new starter. Am I overthinking this? "Lineup" must refer to starters, especially given that Groce played twelve in the Indiana game.
 
#103      

Illini1221

I
Peru,IL
Illini1221
rtbritt said:
Groce said there will be changes to line-up....Obvious one is Mav for Thorne. Any others anyone sees as likely? He talked up Kipper, so maybe he gets a start? Don't know who he'd replace.
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I'd guess everything stays the same, except for Mav. I think Tejon and Kipper might be the first guys off the bench. Then Finke, Thorne, DJ, Tate, and AJ.
 
#105      

Bear8287

B
Bear8287
Second and Chalmers said:
Maybe you could go a little Flying Illini with Hill, DJW, Kipper and Black all as long athletic guys around the same size? Could Lucas handle that assignment to make the shooting and ballhandling aspect work? That's a fun message board fantasy, but putting a true freshman at the helm of a quirky experimental young lineup could be a recipe for a ton of mistakes in a real game.
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Too bad that Kipper had to sit out the first half of the season, but Groce is probably going to really regret not getting T'JL more minutes earlier in the season and instead playing JT.

Part of the problem with coaches who are on the hotseat is that they often become more risk averse which can lead to further lowering their odds for success. This was painfully evident in Weber's (playing not to lose) last season at Illinois.
 
#106      

Jkat00

Jkat00
Champaign, IL
Jkat00
Bear8287 said:
Too bad that Kipper had to sit out the first half of the season, but Groce is probably going to really regret not getting T'JL more minutes earlier in the season and instead playing JT.

Part of the problem with coaches who are on the hotseat is that they often become more risk averse which can lead to further lowering their odds for success. This was painfully evident in Weber's (playing not to lose) last season at Illinois.
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I don't know if there is another coach in the country that would've mismanaged Tejon and Tates minutes the way Groce has. The fact that it takes your team being down 20 points to play Lucas over Tate is a head scratcher. Makes me very worried he would somehow screw up Tilmon and Fraziers minutes next season if he's still here. Can totally see Groce getting a 5th year transfer C and playing him over Tilmon all season and stunting his development.
 
#107      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
FeelYourPaign said:
That last line from the presser summary surprises me. To quote
Thorne is great conditioning wise and health. Efficient offensively but must improve defensively.
Not seeing it.
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Are you talking about the "efficient offensively"? Season totals, he and Mav are pretty comparable there. If you look at just conference data though, Mav is way, way ahead.

If you meant the conditioning statement, I agree that he doesn't look 100%.
 
#108      

Bear8287

B
Bear8287
Second and Chalmers said:
Wow, Vegas has quit on us
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Has Vegas quit on us, or have the Illini quit on Vegas? ;)

Hmmmm.... well, let's see:

Overall: 6-7-1
Home: 5-4-1
Away: 1-3-0

Actually the Illini are really close to being even at home. Numbers only add up to 14 games and the Illini have played 16. Two weren't given a spread?
 
#110      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
Are you talking about the "efficient offensively"? Season totals, he and Mav are pretty comparable there. If you look at just conference data though, Mav is way, way ahead.

If you meant the conditioning statement, I agree that he doesn't look 100%.
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I meant conditioning and health. Just doesn't look like the same guy as last year to me. Coulda / woulda / shoulda used bold font. oops
 
#112      

jjh22003

J
Maricopa, AZ
jjh22003
Jkat00 said:
I don't know if there is another coach in the country that would've mismanaged Tejon and Tates minutes the way Groce has. The fact that it takes your team being down 20 points to play Lucas over Tate is a head scratcher. Makes me very worried he would somehow screw up Tilmon and Fraziers minutes next season if he's still here. Can totally see Groce getting a 5th year transfer C and playing him over Tilmon all season and stunting his development.
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I love how Groce talks about Tejon's lack of minutes has to do with him not have the defense down, as if any of the guys playing have the defense down. Our whole team sucks on defense. He is runnin out of reasons to not play Tejon and Kipper.
 
#113      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Greensboro said:
Thanks, definitely losing experienced bigs when they were already thin at big is a problem. I still think it puts a good perspective of what to expect from our 2017 class, when MSU brings in Bridges (12 -247 ranking), Langford (20), Winston (33), & Ward (41). As good as we like to think our 2017 class is, it isn't close to this level and MSU isn't taking the B1G by storm on the backs of 4 freshman. No doubt they will be much better by end of year.
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Jackson coming in will be huge.
 
#114      

jjh22003

J
Maricopa, AZ
jjh22003
Does everyone remember when Groce was talking about his 2016 class and he said he thinks Tejon is one of the best PG in the country? Lol. We have one of the best PG in the country and he barely plays. Good job Groce. I wonder if Allen Iverson would get any minutes on this team. He wouldn't grade out high in practice and then not play. He would be at the presser saying " we taking about practice".

Practice isn't everything coach. Frank Williams never looked great in practice, but when the lights came on he was the best on the court.
 
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#115      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Asking: Are the rules changes having more affect on us than the rest. Thought the officiating in the IU was more wimp than BIG. Not sure what the stats are but seems like scoring is higher for all.
 
#116      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
[YOUTUBE]vXITcBGh3iE[/YOUTUBE]
 
#117      

Illini1221

I
Peru,IL
Illini1221
Ga65 said:
Asking: Are the rules changes having more affect on us than the rest. Thought the officiating in the IU was more wimp than BIG. Not sure what the stats are but seems like scoring is higher for all.
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I think everybody is impacted, but the rules are clear. Players need to start moving their feet on defense and keep their hands off. That being said. I can't stand a game with constant whistles, so I'm okay with some slight leeway.
 
#118      

Ga65

G
Ga65
whovous said:
Groce: We wrinkled a couple things pertaining to Michigan. There will be changes to lineup. It's nothing personal.

He says "changes" and not "a change." A literal reading suggests more than one new starter. Am I overthinking this? "Lineup" must refer to starters, especially given that Groce played twelve in the Indiana game.
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MM for Thorne for sure but would not be surprised to see KN for Black. Bring energy from the bench and he was a non-factor at IU.
 
#119      

whovous

W
Washington, DC
whovous
Ga65 said:
MM for Thorne for sure but would not be surprised to see KN for Black. Bring energy from the bench and he was a non-factor at IU.
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If there are to be changes, Mav for Big Mike seems like the obvious first choice. Thorne just hasn't been the same since his injury. Kipper still has almost no game experience. He looked decent against Indiana, but Groce does not strike me as someone who changes a starting lineup based on a single half. I agree that LB has been a surprising non-factor of late. He looked so good earlier in the year.

Is there any chance of TJL starting with Tracy moving to the 2? I think it would make a lot of posters happy, but my guess is that it won't happen.
 
#121      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
I think Mav for Thorne to start the game. Eventhough Abrams is struggling and JCL has had defensive lapses I don't him making the switch to put in TJL or Kipper in. I do see those two and possibly more DJW.
 
#125      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Illini1221 said:
Not our best rebounder?
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TOTALLY blanked on Black. Holy crap, it's been a long day at work, haha. Put him in instead of DJW, of course. Just sick of watching Tate, Thorne (looks like he's moving at half-speed compared to anybody else) and Finke (I like the kid, but ... not the solution). I like Abrams, but he should come off the bench.
 
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