Pregame: Illinois vs Southern, Friday, November 10th, 7:00pm CT, BTN Plus

Status
Not open for further replies.
#26      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Brad Underwood previews Southern

[YOUTUBE]ZVH5w8x6vf4[/YOUTUBE]

https://twitter.com/JWerner247/with_replies

Underwood: Game One. It's finally here. Exciting. Southern U will present some challenges.

Underwood: Southern capable of scoring a lot of points. But I'm excited to throw it up and have it mean something. It's time.

Underwood: Are we a finished product? We are not. We'll be better a month from now.

Underwood: Still haven't decided on starting lineup but likely will have a freshman or two.

Asked #illini Underwood about practice after EIU loss: "Probably a better question for them. It was great for me."

Underwood: We have to find a competitive drive to win. Can correct Xs and Os. Simple hustle plays not made bothered me.

Underwood: Bailed out of five charges. So small but they completely change games.

Underwood: Ecstatic with Mark Smith's play at EIU because he hadn't been that great in previous scrimmages. "Has been off the charts since."

Like how team has bounced back.

Underwood: "Te'Jon has been tremendous this week in practice."

Underwood: Matic "has every opportunity to play." One of our best passers.

Underwood: Mark Alstork "pressing a little bit." Still looking for leadership. Had tremendous energy early.

Underwood: Right now, Alstork might be his own worst enemy. Wants everything to be perfect. Extremely coachable. Trying a little too hard.

Underwood: Alstork "will be fine." He's an older guy. He's struggled before.

Underwood: I cannot wait to walk out onto that court the first time. I will have goosebumps.

Underwood: I get much more nervous as a coach than as a player. To do this, at your dream job, extra special.

Underwood: There's nothing like having your son in practice every day. Tyler is ineligible. Can't play this year.

Underwood: Only saw him play one quarter of a middle school game for two years. I watch everyone else's kids play. Now I get to see him every day.
Click to expand...
 
#27      

Spoon House

Spoon House
Spoon House
Asked #illini Underwood about practice after EIU loss: "Probably a better question for them. It was great for me."
Click to expand...
Good heavens did I lol at this. We still have a coach who can win the press conference, but this one can win games, too. :D
 
#28      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
[YOUTUBE]mqVKSPQG9YI[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]DsHhO_4j8ao[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]MJa57ntGVbg[/YOUTUBE]
 
#30      

Captain Bubbles

Captain Bubbles
Fairfield, IL
Captain Bubbles
Just get the first win. More wins will come. Winning is contagious. Hoping the team will be hungry and improved following last week.
 
#31      

whovous

W
Washington, DC
whovous
Mark Tupper‏ @MarkTupper 15h15 hours ago
Kipper Nichols and 4 walkons beat a "varsity" #Illini team in a 1-hour scrimamge on Monday. Samson Oladimeji was the best of the walkons player with Kip.
*
Uh-oh.
 
#32      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Te'Jon took responsibity for offense breaking down in 2nd half. Showing leadership if he took public responsibility and gave teammates hell in the locker room.
 
#35      

LarryGotFouled

L
Plano, TX
LarryGotFouled
westcoastillini said:
Hmmm...

https://twitter.com/marktupper/status/928372682869092352
Click to expand...

The easy reaction is 'yikes...'. However, I have been on the Kipper bandwagon for a while now. I think he has a skillset destined to shine in the BU system.

Also - (not trying to say they're the same) I do recall clearly how Weber would always stick Deron with 4 scrubs against Dee, Luther, Augie and Powell - just to piss him off and trigger his competitive fire. Deron won some of those scrimmages too...

Kipper is no joke. If Alstork struggles out of the gate, maybe the starters are:

Smith
Lucas
Kipper
Leron
Finke

I'd actually prefer

Lucas
Smith
Alstork
Kipper
Black


Let's play small ball with 4 guys between 6'5-6'7 out of the gate. Maybe that will light a fire under Finke to get a rebound or two when he comes in!
 
#39      

goillini30

goillini30
goillini30
FeelTheLovie said:
Yeah, not too worried. If you look at Kipper he has the build and athleticism to be an NBA 3. I'd guess BU is trying to push him to be a leader.
Click to expand...

Also, the walkons include the player with the best knowledge of the system in the whole program in Tyler Underwood. Has to help at least a little.
 
#40      

TownieMatt

T
CU Expat
Chicago
TownieMatt
I love the freak-outs that tweet elicited. Everyone seems to acknowledge that we're a young team that will have it's ups and downs.

'But, wait, we didn't play well in practice!?? PANIC!!!!'
 
#42      

TheLegendaryOne24

T
TheLegendaryOne24
whovous said:
Mark Tupper‏ @MarkTupper 15h15 hours ago
Kipper Nichols and 4 walkons beat a "varsity" #Illini team in a 1-hour scrimamge on Monday. Samson Oladimeji was the best of the walkons player with Kip.
*
Uh-oh.
Click to expand...

I dont care care Kipper plays in a scrimmage. He scored against EIU as well and we lost by 16pts. I love his idea of wanting to get to the NBA but there are a lot of tangibles that go into being guy at the top of scout lists in the B10. Hes a good player but has his moments as do they all......

Tomorrow will say a lot....
 
Last edited:
#43      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
When was the last time an Illini player lead the team in scoring, rebounding and assists like KN did at EIU. Somebody research that one!!
 
#44      

icengineer

I
Southern Illinois
icengineer
:confused:
TownieMatt said:
I love the freak-outs that tweet elicited. Everyone seems to acknowledge that we're a young team that will have it's ups and downs.

'But, wait, we didn't play well in practice!?? PANIC!!!!'
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
#47      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Alstork has a lot of pressure on him as he is trying to improve his NBA chances with a new team, new system and new surroundings. He needs to focus on the defense and let the offense come naturally. All five shots at EIU were 3 pointers and that is not BU's game. Kipper has earned the start over him.
 
#49      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
LarryGotFouled said:
The easy reaction is 'yikes...'. However, I have been on the Kipper bandwagon for a while now. I think he has a skillset destined to shine in the BU system.

Also - (not trying to say they're the same) I do recall clearly how Weber would always stick Deron with 4 scrubs against Dee, Luther, Augie and Powell - just to piss him off and trigger his competitive fire. Deron won some of those scrimmages too...

Kipper is no joke. If Alstork struggles out of the gate, maybe the starters are:

Smith
Lucas
Kipper
Leron
Finke

I'd actually prefer

Lucas
Smith
Alstork
Kipper
Black


Let's play small ball with 4 guys between 6'5-6'7 out of the gate. Maybe that will light a fire under Finke to get a rebound or two when he comes in!
Click to expand...

Kipper is pretty much locked into the 4 spot because our depth at PF/C is so thin. Can't risk playing Black, Kipper, and Finke together more than a few minutes/game.
 
#50      

Takeittothehoop

T
Takeittothehoop
I like the idea of starting Kipper at the 4 with Black at the 5 and Finke coming off the bench. Unfortunately, we are just so thin at the 4 and 5 at least until Greg and Martic are ready for some serious minutes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.