Pregame: Illinois vs Minnesota, Monday, February 20th, 8:00pm CT, BTN
- Status
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
Only problem is that while this team can beat any team, it can also lose to any team.
I don't see any way the double bye happens unless we run the table. Obviously there will be upsets, but if the favorites win every game, we would finish in a 5 way tie for 4th at 12-8, and we will be the 8 seed. Not getting to play Iowa, Maryland, and MSU twice is going to really hurt us.
The only team that's a lock for the double-bye right now is Purdue. Everything else is up in the air and right there for the taking.
Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
This. I just said the same thing in the IU postgame thread.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
I just looked at the tie breakers. There is a 0% chance they get a double by at 12-8 unless there are 3-4 major upsets. Unless I made a mistake, _every_ other team that may finish 12-8 wins the tie breakers vs. IL.
What do you define as an upset? Basically every team other than Purdue and the current bottom 4 can beat each other and we wouldn't be surprised about it.
Northwestern is 10-5 but nobody would be shocked if they finish 12-8 or 11-9.
If Northwestern loses 4 games, that means that other teams in front of us are picking up wins (Iowa, Maryland, Rutgers).
If you play around with the BTT bracket generator, you'll see how difficult and unlikely it really is for Illinois to finish top 4. It's not mathematically impossible, but it's close.
Let's just beat Minnesota then worry about who's next at that point. Looking too far down the road hasn't worked out well for us. Just win tomorrow.
Dan
Admin
BTN (Connor Onion & Brian Butch)
fightingillini.com
Illini Return Home Monday vs. Minnesota - University of Illinois Athletics
Illinois has a two-game homestand this week, beginning Monday night vs. Minnesota.
fightingillini.com
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I'll take a stab, though I've had no coffee yet this morning: if it turned out that they (RJ, Luke) were who we thought they were (i.e., they played every game with lock-down D draining threes from the 200s in AH.)
Alas, messy reality intervened.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Win or I cry.
Wouldn’t even need them to be anything special. If they each averaged 6-8 ppg and shot the 3 at 35% or better we are a completely different team. Even without Goode, with that version of RJ we beat Texas and UCLA when we were kind of a hot mess on both offense and defense.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
FWIW, RJ only scored 3 against UCLA and was 1-4 from 3 against Texas.
if you've ever golfed you know the most difficult thing to watch is a regular golfing buddy who gets the yips. You feel for them. You can see and feel their struggle physically but far more mentally. You watch them practice trying to shake free. You watch them approach short puts with the doubt in their eyes and their body language. You watch opponents making them put everything out and at times bringing it up hoping to reinforce it in your buddy's mind to gain the advantage. You also fear and know if you let it creep into your mind it will happen to you. Arnie said, "Golf is a game of inches, the most important are the six between your ears". Having been there done that, it will end for no apparent reason and just as it descended down upon you it will be gone. Hopefully before the season has ended.
I just made a similar comment to a friend. Just got through a one month bout of the shanks and it's like the harder you try to correct it, the worse it gets until you're just a shell of yourself. That must be how RJ feels except, you know, he has hundreds of thousands of people watching him.
Would love to see RJ out there looking like he’s having fun with a smile on his face
My kingdom for RJ to hit that 3 at the end of the IU game, solely for the major confidence boost.
I think the tough part is this shooting slump is effecting his entire game. Getting going on defense will help.
Required a lot to go right. Just a little to go wrong.
RJ is just so off. The threes were obviously bad, but it affects the rest of his game.
The missed layups around the hoop.
The breakaway dunk that the rim stuffed him. (Thank goodness the ref called a garbage shooting foul otherwise RJ would have had no points)
The only thing he has going is his FT shooting.
Whatever poise he has while he shoots FTs he needs to capture for the rest of his game. He could be SO good.
The missed layups around the hoop.
The breakaway dunk that the rim stuffed him. (Thank goodness the ref called a garbage shooting foul otherwise RJ would have had no points)
The only thing he has going is his FT shooting.
Whatever poise he has while he shoots FTs he needs to capture for the rest of his game. He could be SO good.
- Status