Pregame: Illinois vs Penn, Thursday, November 5th, 7:30pm CT, FS1

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#51      
In 2025-2026?these teams played 2 bigs regularly
Florida
Michigan
Arizona
Duke
Purdue
I think that’s some pretty good teams

We can play 2 bigs if we need to, especially once Mirk comes back. Most teams are not going to be able to play 2 guys who are effective inside at the same time.
 
#52      
A sigh of relief. This is not going to be beating. The great thing about how we play is that if we're hitting the three, we can beat anyone. If we're not and the opponent has the ability to slow things down and be methodical..... it'll get uncomfortable. Hoisting up 50 threes can't be the norm.
It definitely was a beating in the NCAA tournament.
 
#53      
A sigh of relief. This is not going to be beating. The great thing about how we play is that if we're hitting the three, we can beat anyone. If we're not and the opponent has the ability to slow things down and be methodical..... it'll get uncomfortable. Hoisting up 50 threes can't be the norm.
We averaged 31 3s a game last year on 63 shots a game…..we put up 83 shot attempts last night
 
#54      
We averaged 31 3s a game last year on 63 shots a game…..we put up 83 shot attempts last night
Not only that, but because we rebound half the 3’s we take, we can have an incredibly efficient offense with only average 3 point shooting.

This screenshot is taken from Robert’s postgame article:

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That’s two Illinois possessions. In those two possessions, we had 4 missed 3’s and a turnover. Yet we still scored 1.0 PPP, which is average. So in two possessions, we shot 0% from 3, 20% from the field, and had a 50% turnover rate. Yet our offense was still average. Because we had 4 offensive rebounds on 4 missed 3’s.


Against FDU, we shot 37.3% from 3, which is good, not great. But we scored 1.6 PPP, which is likely the most efficient offensive performance in Illinois basketball history. Because we had more offensive rebounds than FDU had defensive rebounds along with just 7 turnovers on 75 possessions.

We could have missed 100% of the 3’s we took and still would have won the game by 18.
 
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#57      
I think we need to come ready to play, esp. since we don't have Mirk or Jake or (evidently) Lincoln. These Ivy League teams are usually disciplined at both ends of the floor.
 
#59      
We averaged 31 3s a game last year on 63 shots a game…..we put up 83 shot attempts last night
That's a good point. Same percentag/larger amount.

27/32 inside the point(from 2) is hard to ignore. That's an offense that you can count on to show up. If we have the size, use it more. Let's pin this and see how we feel on a 6 for 33 night. Some games went half to half with the production. 5-12 in one half, but 1-14 in the next.

We shall see when the competition ramps up.
 
#60      
It definitely was a beating in the NCAA tournament.
Agree and it was mainly in the second half, but I digress. We can't live in the past. Last year was great, especially the tournament (duh comment of the year). Without Mirk for a while and leaning on a handful of freshman(versus having a lottery pick established Wagler)-.....it could be a bumpy ride early.

However, who knows. Coleman and Vaaks can be absolutely devastating from the jump. I'm not saying we're not going to win by 20, but we will have to be sharp to keep this from getting uncomfortable.
 
#61      
I would like to see a lineup of Tomi, Zens, AS, QC and Brown. Vaaks, Z, Williams, Morillo with JJ sparing the Twins a couple of minutes. I am happy we can finally run 9-10 deep and wear teams down. This is Illinois best freshmen class since Dee and Deron. I expect Mirk back by Thanksgiving. If we are going to run even faster than last year, we are going to need to have a deep bench. This is going to be a fun ride.
 
#62      
3 true freshman starting in our 2nd regular season game is wild.

I too think Zens is next up with the commitment to Vaaks coming off bench. LOVE Zens and such a great fit as a complimentary player on this offense
I like how he fits. A Davis type glue guy. He has good court vision. For such veteran team, we are going to play 4 freshmen significant minutes.
 
#63      
Looking forward to hopefully getting a Jake Davis update today during the pregame press coverage... Hope he's doing alright
 
#69      
out indefinitely aka done for the year. Big blow

. For a high-level athlete to return to full-contact competitive basketball, the absolute minimum recovery time is 6 months, though 7 to 9 months is the standard timeline to ensure joint stability and prevent reinjury
 
#71      
Suspected separation as opposed to dislocation as soon as it happened. The contact did not suggest dislocation. I have dislocated mine several times over the years but unsure if one is quicker to recover from than the other.

Separation is typically less severe, but he had surgery so there must have been a tear in addition to just separation. Expect him to be out for 3 months or so.
 
#72      
His reaction to the injury tells me there is a tear. Hope for a speedy recovery!

Lincoln Williams is going to get some major minutes in Jake's absence.
 
#73      
Yes, this is not going to be a runaway. The top of the Ivy League has some pretty fair teams and Penn is one of them. We better be ready to play. This is not a game to just feel like we can flip a lineup out there and it'll be a runaway. We still have games like that on our schedule, this just isn't one of them.
The score from the NCAA tourney, last year, was 105-70 in favor of the good guys. We return (healthy) 27 of those points. Penn returns 57.
 
#74      
Lets not get carried away here, the analytics sites give us 95-98% chance of winning.

Illinois will be a 20+ point favorite, even with the injuries.
 
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