I'm not sure I've ever wanted to be friends with an Illini player as much as I do with Georgi. He seems like a fascinating guy would would just be an excellent guy to have as a friend.
Seems like a great scouting report. I'm going to be watching for all of this later today. Thanks !Long time lurker, first time poster. Living in Indiana and having two kids that went/go to Purdue, I have watched them a lot. While Williams and Edey are offensive threats (especially Williams), Purdue is absolutely terrible at making entry passes to them and their guards are not great at penetrating to break down a defense. These two will score, but Purdue is not good enough at consistently getting them the ball for them to beat you. Purdue wins when they have a good shooting game from the arc - period. The key to beating them is to defend the arc well and to not panic if you give up some points to the two bigs.
Defensively, Purdue struggles with big guards and with guards that can break down a defense with penetration. I look for Ayo and Belo to have big games. Williams can also be foul prone (he likes to reach), so if Kofi can stay out of foul trouble, we can have an advantage inside as the game goes on, as well.
All that having been said, if Newman, Stefanovich and Thompson go off shooting threes, Purdue is dangerous. Guard the arc!
Giorgi has been climbing trees and taken up woodcarving. I think Underwood said in a press conference at the start of COVID quarantines that Giorgi was teaching himself to walk on his hands. Definitely an interesting fellow, and very glad he's Illini for life.Illinois' Bezhanishvili navigates in Champaign with his family across the world
Forward uses FaceTime to stay in touch with his family in Austria.www.stltoday.com
Great article
Big Ten Network Illinois Classic today 1989 Illini vs Georgia Keith Jackson Dick Vitale
Current teams vs 1989 Team. Who would you take?
89 seemed to have the "killer instinct." They just kept coming at ya - relentless.The only team I would even consider against the 89 team is the 05 team. Both were worthy national champions that had the #1 ranking during the season, and came up just short on the last weekend.
89 seemed to have the "killer instinct." They just kept coming at ya - relentless.
No offense Eye, but I hope you are wrong, we will be a better with him available.Few weeks ago I said likely wouldn’t see Hutch this year (unfortunately came to be) and that BBV wouldn’t play more than 100 minutes this season. Still stand by that and wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t get to 60.
Only January 2nd and we already have 2 wins in 2021. I’ll take it!Happy gameday! I have been as excited for the next Illini game as I honestly have been since 2006, and this week felt like it took forever!! It would be SO nice to just blow Purdue out. If there is one thing that has consistently disappointed me about these last two teams, it's that we will just randomly let a team stick around, even when I think we're playing pretty well. In other words, it's not like we're just having an off day (which happens to everyone), it's that we seem to lack the extra energy to just punch them in the face and not let up, and also that our defense is just lagging enough to let the other team shoot well enough to stay in it. Some games that come to mind:
2020
#24 Illinois 75, Northwestern 71
#19 Illinois, Minnesota 51
Illinois 67, Indiana 66
2021
#8 Illinois 77, Ohio 75
#18 Illinois 69, Indiana 60
I know that doesn't seem like too many, but it psychologically sticks with me for this team. When we're feeling it and the energy/defense is there, we are just simply hard to beat! I hope we come out fired up today, because as I alluded to previously in this thread, we have the chance to go on a decently long winning streak and have some confidence/swagger headed into the gauntlet!
No offense taken. I just don’t see BBV making it too much into the rotation at this time. But if he can give us even a few productive 6-8 minute games during the remainder of the season, that could be big.No offense Eye, but I hope you are wrong, we will be a better with him available.
Gonna have to bust mine out!Throwback script whites today.
Me too! I got my hands on a free giveaway from last year’s Maryland game. Some krush member accidentally grabbed 2 and handed me one. I am forever in his debt.Gonna have to bust mine out!
Niiiiiiice...Nike missed out - the only size left on Gameday is the small.Me too! I got my hands on a free giveaway from last year’s Maryland game. Some krush member accidentally grabbed 2 and handed me one. I am forever in his debt.
I know it seems like it, but if you look at scores with just about every other ranked team playing unranked opponents, blow outs are not as common as you think.Happy gameday! I have been as excited for the next Illini game as I honestly have been since 2006, and this week felt like it took forever!! It would be SO nice to just blow Purdue out. If there is one thing that has consistently disappointed me about these last two teams, it's that we will just randomly let a team stick around, even when I think we're playing pretty well. In other words, it's not like we're just having an off day (which happens to everyone), it's that we seem to lack the extra energy to just punch them in the face and not let up, and also that our defense is just lagging enough to let the other team shoot well enough to stay in it. Some games that come to mind:
2020
#24 Illinois 75, Northwestern 71
#19 Illinois, Minnesota 51
Illinois 67, Indiana 66
2021
#8 Illinois 77, Ohio 75
#18 Illinois 69, Indiana 60
I know that doesn't seem like too many, but it psychologically sticks with me for this team. When we're feeling it and the energy/defense is there, we are just simply hard to beat! I hope we come out fired up today, because as I alluded to previously in this thread, we have the chance to go on a decently long winning streak and have some confidence/swagger headed into the gauntlet!
Only January 2nd and we already have 2 wins in 2021. I’ll take it!