Pregame: Illinois vs Northwestern, Sunday, January 26th, 2:00pm CT, BTN

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#126      
NashvILLe05
IIRC, Kalkbrenner had mono a couple years ago and only missed a few games, but it affects everyone differently.

Hopefully, TI can start to play some limited rotational minutes in the next week or two, focus on getting healthy, and hopefully we’ll still make the tourney as he’s getting back to full health.
 
#127      
SuperMetroid
Dan said:
Tomislav Ivisic out again vs Northwestern (mono)

per Brad Underwood's pregame press conference going on now link
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sadness GIF
 
#129      
Roundball Sage
Fighter of the Nightman said:
But we all know we have Final Four POTENTIAL. What is now rightfully being questioned is if we have the mental toughness to make such a run probable. If we lose tomorrow, the hole might be dug too deep for this squad.
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The Biggest Tournament is all about who is playing well and is hot going into it. Everyone starting out fresh at the same 0-0. Nothing that came before matters (except for seeding BUT you have to beat good teams anyway so you ‘Just Win, Baby’, period).

This game of roundball is all about attitude and emotion. It’s about having confidence in your shot... your team... believing you will prevail. Bringing it every night. (If you don't, you have no right to win anything anyway).

If you’ve made a Big Ten roster you’ve got skills. You made some of the toughest rosters in the Country to get in with. You have some part of your game (or several parts) that can contribute to the winning ways of your team.

The Big Ten is about the most rigorous test out there for all its members. Everyone beating up on everyone else. As a result, there are going to be numerous ups and downs. Won-Loss records may not be as pretty going into the Tournament as some other programs might show.

It is the Attitude part of the Game that must be there from game to game. You may (will) have injuries... your shots may not be falling the right way some night... the Other Guys might just be hot on that day... but your own Attitude must be there and be consistent in every single game.

This Game is mental way before it is physical. Mental toughness, yes. But 'Attitude' is just as much if not more important. Very often, less talented teams rise up and knock off the better squad. Not because they suddenly got more talented... but because they believed they could win and didn’t let anything else stand in the way.

The Illini need to step into a professional Winner’s Attitude. Every game. This sets the stage to allow this talented group to show what they have and play deep into the Dance. And this how they bring out the best in themselves as individual players... and also show the most respect to their most and passionate loyal fan base.
 
#130      
Oldskoolkoach
New Creation said:
It’s not an over reaction.

We just lost by 21 to Maryland at home and the game wasn’t even that close. They dominated us in the paint. 62 POINTS in the paint.

We already lost to NW. I don’t see a world where we beat NW with the bigs we have. KJ can’t do this on his own and right now, there is ZERO help.

The season is officially on life support now. We are going to lose every game that Tomi doesn’t play in. This is on Brad for not making sure we have proper big men depth.

What’s crazy to me is that his whole pitch last year was “get old and stay old” he makes the elite 8 and then goes and gets his youngest team ever… makes zero sense to me and it might cost us making the tournament all together at this point.

Reminder we have lost 3 of 4.

At some point we have to win, moral victories and close loses don’t get us into the tournament.

The excuses have to stop.. but that is all we are hearing the last 2 weeks are excuses of why the team isn’t winning versus just going and playing hard and earning the wins.

This team, because of their youth, is very inconsistent. This has the feeling of 21-22 team. Gonna lose in the first round of the B1G as the 5th seed and NCAA as a 8 seed to a 9’seed.
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Lol
Wow, thought i usually had a different viewpoint on things. Thank goodness we aren't 9-10 deep and much more prepared than we ever have been. Unfortunately 7'0" guys don't just grow on trees like 6'3" combo guards
 
#131      
Oracle21
HailtotheChief said:
We really need Ben, Morez, and Booth to step up while Tomi heals. Hopefully, Booth's experience as a starter at ND can help him show us something more than we have seen so far. Booth did have a couple good plays last game and could build on that and his experiences. He does have skill, ability, and length so we really need him to apply it asap! The physicality of the NW forwards concerns me.
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I don’t think Booth gives you anything. He’s a 6’10 stretch 4 that is allergic to rebounding much like Ben is.

I think what Brad should do is just play small and tighten the rotation to 7 guys.

KJ
Boswell
Riley
White
Morez

Bring Ben/DGL off the bench. Put your most talented guys on the floor (and at this point maybe that means more DGL in there and more Boswell bench time) and go to work.

KJ finding something else to run other than the pick n pop with Tomi is going to be the challenge.
 
#132      
Noblesville Illini
zentrails said:
I had mono my last year at UIUC, made it real tough to study all semester, can't imagine playing any sports in that condition. Hope he gets well quicker than I did.

'course that was many moons ago, I assume they have effective treatments now, they had nothing for me way back then.
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It’s caused by Epstein Barr virus. No medications known to help
 
#133      
New Creation
Its a discussion board... That's what you do here. Discuss. You could just mute me.. The point is to talk about the current status of the team. Just because you don't agree doesn't mean I shouldn't post.. That is very left-ist of you. "I don't agree with you, so you shouldn't speak"
 
#134      
New Creation
Oldskoolkoach said:
Lol
Wow, thought i usually had a different viewpoint on things. Thank goodness we aren't 9-10 deep and much more prepared than we ever have been. Unfortunately 7'0" guys don't just grow on trees like 6'3" combo guards
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9-10 deep?

Yes we have 9-10 bodies to put on the floor, but the talent drop off is very obvious.. Now at our CEILING.. we can be unstoppable.. Neversaid we can't be great, I'm saying right now, we are touching our floor, which is very low..

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Without tomi on the floor The bigs on the floor become obsolete. We run a lot of pick and pop.. That is officially out of the line-up with Tomi out.

Morez steps in for Tomi.. Now, we don't have a back up for him and we become Coleman Hawkins at the 5 without the shooting and passing ability.

Can't keep Bam on the floor as the ball dominant play maker. We have all seen how that isn't a good idea. So now KJ has to be on the floor.

Ben is a gamble need the other starts to draw attention for Ben to be affective.

Tre is only better with Tomi & KJ on the floor.

Jake Davis can't guard anything below a 3 on the floor as demonstrated against Maryland.

Carey Booth.. well is Carey booth, looks like he is afraid of the weight room.

This team with KJ and Tomi and at full strength is a potential Final Four Team.. However, with out Tomi AND KJ we are a first weekend team as our ceiling.. All the stats point to this..

again just discussion. Not looking at the team with Orange glasses on.
 
#135      
HailtotheChief
Oracle21 said:
I don’t think Booth gives you anything. He’s a 6’10 stretch 4 that is allergic to rebounding much like Ben is.

I think what Brad should do is just play small and tighten the rotation to 7 guys.

KJ
Boswell
Riley
White
Morez

Bring Ben/DGL off the bench. Put your most talented guys on the floor (and at this point maybe that means more DGL in there and more Boswell bench time) and go to work.

KJ finding something else to run other than the pick n pop with Tomi is going to be the challenge.
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Anything is a bit harsh. Booth can fill some roles more effectively as needed. He is taller, longer, more experienced, 215lb not 185, should be able to defend the post players much more effectively than Will at 6'8" 185. Morez can only guard one guy out of NWs 3 physical guys. Riley will likely play more but I hope it's Ben, Davis, White or Booth not WR trying to stop Barnhizer or Martenelli. Will gives up way to much to begin to try and stop those two inside.
Now if we are going to load up on offense and let those 2 NW stars go off then your line up may be in play
 
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#137      
WyattEarp
BretMyBeachHouse said:
Who knows when he'll be back and how effective. I had already thought about a starting lineup of tomi, white, dgl, Dylan, and KJ. Now that idea makes even more sense.
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Bob Dylan Sunglasses GIF

I’m not sure about his eligibility. But what the hell. We do have a strong music program. How is our creative writing program looking these days?
 
#139      
BrownTown
DGL deserves Kylan's starter minutes. This team needs a jolt. DGL can create his own and is elite at the rim. Nobody on NW can guard him.

Screw your homer takes. BamBam continues to be an easy guard. Ty like but trade low 30% from 3 for 50 % at the rim.
 
#140      
Keisersose
Scoregasm said:
We are a poor shooting team that jacks 3s....a lot. Bad combination.
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And it’s not the first Underwood team that fits that description. This was supposed to be the year we had shooters everywhere.

I’m very nervous about tomorrow’s game. NW bullied us at their place. They were very physical and were allowed to body us pretty significantly.

Our interior depth is non existent. We need this one.
 
#141      
sacraig
New Creation said:
It’s not an over reaction.

We just lost by 21 to Maryland at home and the game wasn’t even that close. They dominated us in the paint. 62 POINTS in the paint.

We already lost to NW. I don’t see a world where we beat NW with the bigs we have. KJ can’t do this on his own and right now, there is ZERO help.

The season is officially on life support now. We are going to lose every game that Tomi doesn’t play in. This is on Brad for not making sure we have proper big men depth.

What’s crazy to me is that his whole pitch last year was “get old and stay old” he makes the elite 8 and then goes and gets his youngest team ever… makes zero sense to me and it might cost us making the tournament all together at this point.

Reminder we have lost 3 of 4.

At some point we have to win, moral victories and close loses don’t get us into the tournament.

The excuses have to stop.. but that is all we are hearing the last 2 weeks are excuses of why the team isn’t winning versus just going and playing hard and earning the wins.

This team, because of their youth, is very inconsistent. This has the feeling of 21-22 team. Gonna lose in the first round of the B1G as the 5th seed and NCAA as a 8 seed to a 9’seed.
Click to expand...
42c7bd1c-1136-42be-bc6b-60fea82f378a_text.gif


Still lots of season left to recover. And if Tomi really will be out for a while, that's incentive for Brad to change things up. If he's only out a game or two, then ride it out. It's clear the initial thought was "ride it out." Now we'll see how we adjust.

Or not. For all I know the whole team will get mono and we'll be playing the managers.
 
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#146      
Vinegarben
I look for Martinelli to power his way to the basket and lead the Cats to another win over the hapless Illini. I just watched MSU and Rutgers. Illini can't beat Rutgers on the road.
In order to be a great team, you have to play with a fire in your belly every night. Look at Auburn, Alabama, Duke, Iowa State. The Illini have just a flickering flame that is going out.
 
#148      
statefarm
Noblesville Illini said:
It’s caused by Epstein Barr virus. No medications known to help
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Correct. A lot of co-eds miss a whole semester when they get it. Sleep 16-18 hours a day, loss of appetite and guaranteed weight loss. You only get it once and then have life-long immunity. 80 percent of us get it during elementary school years and at that age and it plays like a common cold - most don't even know it's mono. However, the 20% who contract it later suffer for weeks to months. The older you are when you get it, the harder and it hits and the recovery is long. Hate to be a Debbie Downer, but if he somehow makes it back onto the court it will be in a very weakened state with little reserve and endurance. Why can't Illini fans have nice things?!
 
#150      
sacraig
statefarm said:
Correct. A lot of co-eds miss a whole semester when they get it. Sleep 16-18 hours a day, loss of appetite and guaranteed weight loss. You only get it once and then have life-long immunity. 80 percent of us get it during elementary school years and at that age and it plays like a common cold - most don't even know it's mono. However, the 20% who contract it later suffer for weeks to months. The older you are when you get it, the harder and it hits and the recovery is long. Hate to be a Debbie Downer, but if he somehow makes it back onto the court it will be in a very weakened state with little reserve and endurance. Why can't Illini fans have nice things?!
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I mean, I got it at his same age and was down for 2 weeks max and really had to fight to NOT resume physical activity until the doctor said I was cleared. Not everyone gets floored long term. It can happen, but that's not necessarily typical.
 
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