Pregame: Illinois vs Northwestern, Thursday, February 23rd, 8:00pm CT, BTN
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illini80
- Forgottonia
Guessing Brad won't release that info until the last minute.
I meant it more as a knock on UNC than a knock on Nance. (I hate Carolina.
)altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
This^^
Up by 15 with under a minute to play. We give up a long three ~ 40 sec left. Then a long, contested, banked-in three with under 10 remaining.
The answer to that has unfolded before our eyes and is undeniable. NW is pretty competent at playing basketball.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
The nearby Mayo Clinic successfully lobbied to ban it during winter after establishing a causal link between locals regularly watching the Gophers play basketball and premature aging and death.
illini80
- Forgottonia
That is an interesting point.
To be honest with ourselves we have to consider that what we’ve seen from the Illini this Season might actually be their ceiling of ‘performance’.
While potential always exists for a player and a team to get better (and they can)... that potential means nothing if it’s not realized. And with the talented freshmen who leave and the Portal rearranging the deck chairs of every team each season there just isn’t time to let ‘potential’ blossom much beyond what’s been shown in the short window of a season.
As the famous saying goes... You are what your record says it is.
The performance of the Illini this Season is a group of players of character who have often not carried over their personal floor performance from one game to the next. Most games they ‘show up’ and get right into it with energy but a couple times they did not. They suffer from occasions of not scoring a point for four to seven minutes in a game. Defense has been the most consistent floor component of this group, while shooting has been all over the map.
In short... maybe this is just what these guys are.
Look, we love these guys and want the best for each of them and the team. But we also have to acknowledge what the games on the floor have shown us.
Next year the Illini will look different and the whole process starts over again. But that also makes each season exciting to see just what will develop from a new group.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Truth is, it's a pretty good team but with flaws. The biggest impairment to enjoying the season fully may have been over hyping them.
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Another interesting issue you raise here.
While the factor of ‘luck’ is considered a part of the Game (and it is)... it is not what wins or loses most games.
When a close game comes down to the final possessions it is NOT really those game-ending possessions that make the most difference but all those 39 minutes that came before that you did or did not do something. You had all that time to get up by 12 points and you did not. That was due to execution.
The other guy gets the rebound and you don’t? That’s because he had position on you. Maybe a bit lucky, or maybe because he read the release of the ball on the shot better and quickly got into prime position. Or hustled down the floor better.
You miss the game-tying free throw? That wasn’t luck, but execution in the moment. Or maybe you didn’t shoot enough free throws in practice enough and the guy who makes his free throw at the end, did.
You miss your last game shot? That wasn’t magic. That was because your shot wasn’t good enough. Or the other guys played better defense on you.
Wins and losses come down more on two things... Talent, and Hard Work. And when you have talent and when you work hard... you are GOING TO MAKE good luck. Because you actually ‘made’ luck go in your favor. And hard work is a feature of having Character.
If I’m putting a team together I want guys with talent and a great work ethic. And I won’t need ‘luck’.
In fact, I don't WANT to win because I was lucky. I want to win because I earned it.
RS, I think this is an oversimplification. Anyone that has played a sport at pretty much any level above high school acknowledges that wins and losses don't always come down to just hard work and talent. They are the two major components, but you cannot discard completely the randomness of luck. And you can state that you make your own luck, random s**t does happen that is completely out of your control that can impact a game. When two equally matched teams go head to head for forty minutes, negative acts (missing a free throw, missing a rebound, missing a shot, making a foul, etc.) may not be the difference. It could come down to one instance where neither talent nor hard work have the slightest impact on the result. My $0.02 (and if any one paid that much for this post - ask Dan for a refund 'cause you overpaid!).
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
If you have a cable account you should be able to stream via the Fox Sports app/website
If you get a bad call earlier in the game and you're down one instead of up one, that's luck. You might not like thinking that's the case, but it had an impact and you can't dismiss it.
I don't know why people are so insistent on dismissing that when you talk about close games, and I probably shouldn't care. Just gonna leave it by saying that I don't think I'd enjoy going to your church on Sunday morning, but you can believe whatever you want.
Maybe a touch of 22 Badger magic combined with not hitting their stride until conference season.
And I’m in agreement on those that atribute improvement to Chris Lowery coming on board.
Also I think there’s an element of luck on whether you are playing a team/player when they are on or off.
Tony Perkins shoots his average % from 2 or ft line we win at Iowa.
Pickett goes 10-20 (still a great game) instead of 15-20 we beat PSU
Hakeem Hart shoots his average from 3 and we beat Maryland
Execution, effort etc all play a part but sometimes the guys just make them and sometimes they just miss them.
illini80
- Forgottonia
I did not think of that. Thanks!
Well said. You've described a huge factor in most BB games.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Watch it on the Fox App and cast it to the TV
illini80
- Forgottonia
I don’t think the tv has that capability. I have my laptop but didn’t think to put an hdmi cable in the bag.
They have 7 juniorrs and seniors. Makes a difference. an a strong bench
Do you have time to get to the airport?
I'm going with the Sage on this one. Yes, luck is a thing. But good teams don't leave outcomes to random chance.
You do make a good point that when playing an evenly matched team, it sometimes comes down to the random, unexplainable, and uncontrollable weirdness of sport.
But, by definition, if you are a GOOD team, you won't be playing evenly matched opponents very often. So good teams usually don't need luck. Because they're good.
Average teams do play evenly matched opponents more often so luck will be more of a factor. But the reason they rely on luck is because they're not good enough not to.
Um. "The answer?" Competent isn't an answer to the question. There are a lot of "competent" teams in the top 50 or so. Points per possession is a very powerful analytic tool. Yet somehow they defy it.
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