Pregame: Illinois vs Rutgers, Friday, December 3rd, 6:00pm CT, ESPN2

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#1      

Dan

Admin
Illinois vs Rutgers, Friday
December 3rd
6:00pm CT
ESPN2
 
#5      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
Rutgers is to BU as Penn St was to Weber. They may be down now, but don't take them lightly. As Gritty says, it will be a fist fight.
Punch You Oh No GIF by GritTV
 
#7      

Captain Bubbles

Fairfield, IL
First time I've commented on Loyalty in three years. Hope everyone is doing good.

Reflecting back on the Notre Dame game, Illinois did a good job of passing the ball around and we saw good ball movement. Didn't let the ball stick, as the assist numbers showed. Would like to see that continue going into Friday against Rutgers. Seems like Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. have been there 50 years. Can't overlook them.

Given how Goode and RJ played against Notre Dame, I expect more tick out of those two. I'm impressed with those guys. Future looks bright with the length and athleticism they bring to the table.

Go Illini!
 
#8      
Past few weeks have been a blessing in disguise. The blessings will show up in the near future.

One cannot coach the game the kids played today
 
#12      

Tacomallini

Washington State
What's up w/ Hutch? Never heard why he was out today. Any word if he'll be available for Rutgers?
 
#15      
Rutgers has a true circle-the-wagons game tonight at home against Clemson. If you think we've had a disappointing start, imagine us also losing to UTRGV. They've lost at home to Lafayette, sub-250. Their three wins came in home games against teams that were sub-250 in Kenpom last year. One went to overtime and in another they scored 48 points. They've also lost to sub-250 Lafayette at home. Add in road losses at DePaul and UMass and the program has been stunned in a year where there was unprecedented excitement with the RAC nearly being sold out for the season beforehand.

That being said, they always play us tough and I expect nothing different on Friday, but if they don't show up against Clemson, they'll be dealing with a couple of very bad days before getting on the plan to CMI.
 
#17      
First time I've commented on Loyalty in three years. Hope everyone is doing good.

Reflecting back on the Notre Dame game, Illinois did a good job of passing the ball around and we saw good ball movement. Didn't let the ball stick, as the assist numbers showed. Would like to see that continue going into Friday against Rutgers. Seems like Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. have been there 50 years. Can't overlook them.

Given how Goode and RJ played against Notre Dame, I expect more tick out of those two. I'm impressed with those guys. Future looks bright with the length and athleticism they bring to the table.

Go Illini!
Please, more posting from you, and often!
 
#19      
First time I've commented on Loyalty in three years. Hope everyone is doing good.

Reflecting back on the Notre Dame game, Illinois did a good job of passing the ball around and we saw good ball movement. Didn't let the ball stick, as the assist numbers showed. Would like to see that continue going into Friday against Rutgers. Seems like Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. have been there 50 years. Can't overlook them.

Given how Goode and RJ played against Notre Dame, I expect more tick out of those two. I'm impressed with those guys. Future looks bright with the length and athleticism they bring to the table.

Go Illini!
Baker was hurt and might not play tonight against Clemson. We'll see what happens on Friday.
 
#22      
Wow, it's going to be a long wait for this one. 6-2 and 1-0 in the Big Ten would feel infinitely more comfortable than today's situation (at least to me), and then we can kind of get back to a "no lose" situation at Iowa. We might even both be ranked if we beat Rutgers and Iowa at least gives Purdue a game in West Lafayette ... either way, a loss in Iowa City isn't looking as "bad" as it did when the season started, and a win would be huge.

Bottom line? Winning these next two and getting some momentum before Arizona comes to town could completely turn this season back around. We would be 7-2 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten, likely ranked again, on a five-game winning streak and welcoming a top 10 (??) Arizona team to town for a primetime Saturday home game and a chance at a signature win. I am not NOT taking this one game at a time, but I see these next two as essential. I fully expect us to be playing better basketball come (the rest of) conference play, and it would frankly be a steal at this point to start 2-0 in the Big Ten and get to 7-2.
 
#23      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
I had a vague impression that we've been pretty bad in our Big Ten openers for awhile now, and it turns out I was right. Going back to the beginning of the John Groce era (previous 9 seasons), we are 2-7 in our first conference game. Yikes.

I really want this win against Rutgers. A steady diet of Kofi, Plummer, 3-pt shooting from others, and good ball movement should do the trick.
 
#24      
I had a vague impression that we've been pretty bad in our Big Ten openers for awhile now, and it turns out I was right. Going back to the beginning of the John Groce era (previous 9 seasons), we are 2-7 in our first conference game. Yikes.

I really want this win against Rutgers. A steady diet of Kofi, Plummer, 3-pt shooting from others, and good ball movement should do the trick.
I’m sure it’s exaggerated over time, but my memory is that under both Lou and Bruce we so often rolled during the pre-conference season just to flop in early conference games and put ourselves in a hole. I recall at least one late Lou year where we may have even been undefeated in noncon and then missed the tournament.
 
#25      

illini.culture IG

Grand Rapids, Michigan
I really want to see some fast passing around on our offensive possessions. When I watch teams like Gonzaga, they are passing right after they receive the ball until they get an open three or the big man is open down low, and I feel like our offense would be even better if we could add that to our team.
 
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