Pregame: Illinois vs Penn State, Thursday, March 9th, 5:30pm CT, BTN

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#102      
Illini in Italy
Mistakenj said:
Unfortunately, we haven’t beaten anyone of substance since Texas. Not seeing a change in that anytime soon.
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too good to be true disney GIF
 
#106      
CDRUSN
I'm glad we drew PSU in the first round. There is no way our coaching staff and this team get humiliated for a third time this season by the same team. Look for Harris, Rogers, Melendez or more likely a rotating combo of these tenacious defenders to make life miserable for Jalen Pickett. He will not get the repeated open looks from 3 that have killed us in previous meetings, nor will he have an open road through the lane on a regular basis. We have too much talent and pride to let the Nittany Lions steal a third game from us.
 
#108      
Aldy1955
CDRUSN said:
I'm glad we drew PSU in the first round. There is no way our coaching staff and this team get humiliated for a third time this season by the same team. Look for Harris, Rogers, Melendez or more likely a rotating combo of these tenacious defenders to make life miserable for Jalen Pickett. He will not get the repeated open looks from 3 that have killed us in previous meetings, nor will he have an open road through the lane on a regular basis. We have too much talent and pride to let the Nittany Lions steal a third game from us.
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Goode is a beast
 
#110      
Bacon Butkus Swanson
CDRUSN said:
I'm glad we drew PSU in the first round. There is no way our coaching staff and this team get humiliated for a third time this season by the same team. Look for Harris, Rogers, Melendez or more likely a rotating combo of these tenacious defenders to make life miserable for Jalen Pickett. He will not get the repeated open looks from 3 that have killed us in previous meetings, nor will he have an open road through the lane on a regular basis. We have too much talent and pride to let the Nittany Lions steal a third game from us.
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Just a quick question. If there was "no way" this coaching staff and team could get humiliated again, how did the second PSU game happen?

This team has talent, but I haven't seen a team based pride yet..... Hopefully they ditch the me first attitude and pull together as you speak of.
 
#112      
danielb927
I know Penn State has had our number, but I'm honestly a little happier drawing them rather than the winner of Nebraska/Minnesota. The Huskers have been hot lately and, assuming they beat Minnesota, they'll have a game under their belt at the UC. Penn State is objectively a better team, so maybe I'm just grasping at straws... but I have a feeling I'd be sweating the Nebraska opener a bit if I were MD.

I'm also curious about the old adage that "it's hard to beat the same team three times in a season". It's an interesting one because in a literal sense, it's almost certainly true: there are three ways to go 2-1 and only one way to go 3-0. But the adage is usually used after you're 2-0 or 0-2 against a team, to imply that the last game is more likely to go the other way - and I'm curious whether there's any data to support that. I'm guessing not.
 
#115      
727ill
I’ve watched a lot of Penn State this season and here are my thoughts on how we should play defensively:

1. No Dain - it’s become apparent now we stink defensively when he is on the court. I think Sencire should start and you bring on Dain in spurts.

2. On-ball screens should be switched automatically. With a smaller lineup we can switch everything and Penn State wants us to try to get through screens because it gives them an advantage since Pickett is such a good navigator of screens. If Pickett is on the ball and getting a screen, just switch. If you are getting screened off the ball, then blow the screen up or switch if not possible.

3. Pickett is going to find ways to back down his man in the post no matter who it is. I think when that happens you need to bring a baseline double so he can’t see it. He’s too good of a passer to double him with a defender that he can see. I really liked the hard double RJ had on Edey where he came from the baseline and Edey didn’t see him. More of that please.

4. More of the full court press. Penn state is really good in half court offense. Taking 7-10 seconds off the shot clock by employing a token press will help release some pressure.
 
#116      
Birdus
IlliniFandom said:
sorry to be such a negative nancy, but unless Trent Frazier is able to come out of retirement to shut down Picket, I've got no confidence going in that they can shut them down.
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Really? Lets see how it goes and then revisit this discussion.
 
#117      
IllinialuminAZ
CDRUSN said:
I'm glad we drew PSU in the first round. There is no way our coaching staff and this team get humiliated for a third time this season by the same team. Look for Harris, Rogers, Melendez or more likely a rotating combo of these tenacious defenders to make life miserable for Jalen Pickett. He will not get the repeated open looks from 3 that have killed us in previous meetings, nor will he have an open road through the lane on a regular basis. We have too much talent and pride to let the Nittany Lions steal a third game from us.
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Agree with this. We've played them twice and have a 3 day prep. Hopefully the coaches can get a better plan in place and we come out with some energy from the tip.
 
#118      
hodgesonfire
This is a question not a statement hiding in a question. I honestly don't understand why Illinois rarely hedges or traps screens. Can someone who understands basketball better than me (pretty much anyone) explain if this is a strategic decision and the disadvantage of hedging/trapping screens or if the players are supposed to be hedging and trapping but are not following he game plan.
 
#119      
727ill
IlliniFandom said:
sorry to be such a negative nancy, but unless Trent Frazier is able to come out of retirement to shut down Picket, I've got no confidence going in that they can shut them down.
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Pickett torched us that year too in case you forgot.
 
#120      
AyoDos11
chrisRunner7 said:
Side note, it's incredible how old Penn State is. Funk, Pickett, Wynter, and Dread are all using their extra COVID years. Lundy is just a regular senior. Their backup center, Michael Henn, is on his fifth team in five years and I don't even know how that's possible in the NCAA. :unsure:
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Michael Henn was the one who randomly put us in his top 3 even though we had never recruited him.
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#121      
Mike1976
danielb927 said:
I know Penn State has had our number, but I'm honestly a little happier drawing them rather than the winner of Nebraska/Minnesota. The Huskers have been hot lately and, assuming they beat Minnesota, they'll have a game under their belt at the UC. Penn State is objectively a better team, so maybe I'm just grasping at straws... but I have a feeling I'd be sweating the Nebraska opener a bit if I were MD.

I'm also curious about the old adage that "it's hard to beat the same team three times in a season". It's an interesting one because in a literal sense, it's almost certainly true: there are three ways to go 2-1 and only one way to go 3-0. But the adage is usually used after you're 2-0 or 0-2 against a team, to imply that the last game is more likely to go the other way - and I'm curious whether there's any data to support that. I'm guessing not.
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According to STATS LLC., there have been 981 similar matchups across Division I college basketball over the past 10 seasons. The teams entering the third game 2-0 are a combined 710-271 (.724 winning percentage) in the third meeting.



So over a 10-year period in college basketball including almost 1,000 games, the team that won the first 2 games won the third meeting 72.4% of the time. So it clearly doesn’t follow that it is hard to beat a team 3 times.
 
#123      
OrangeJacket
blackdog said:
The thing is it's not on MSU because they actually tried to get the game rescheduled. MSU fans are pissed at Rutgers for not being willing to move their game against Minny to help accommodate and then losing the game anyway.
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Definitely hard to fault MSU this season given various circumstances. Also, their one missed game was home vs Minny correct? Likely would have been a win anyway, though Minny was playing better late.
 
#124      
goillini30
hodgesonfire said:
This is a question not a statement hiding in a question. I honestly don't understand why Illinois rarely hedges or traps screens. Can someone who understands basketball better than me (pretty much anyone) explain if this is a strategic decision and the disadvantage of hedging/trapping screens or if the players are supposed to be hedging and trapping but are not following he game plan.
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It forces more rotations on the backside of the play and it seems that BU wants to avoid rotations whenever possible. I personally wish that it was a tool that we had in the toolbox for when our drop coverage isn't working.
 
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