The one thing I will say is that there will be a lot of orange no matter what.
Pregame: Illinois vs Tennessee, Saturday, December 6th, 7:00pm CT, ESPN
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You might be surprised at how much orange there will be in the stands. (too late!)
Seriously, though, the Illini side sold a lot of tix very quickly once they were released, but the stadium looks asymmetric and gets much "higher" #s of rows on the Vols side
I think that Tennessee will have a way above average game for them in shooting and will ride the crowd to a 78-74 win. We will be a in back and forth game but take about 3-4 stupid shots straight in the last 5-6 minutes and let the game slip away. (I am usually not a pessimist, but I just don't feel very good about this game).
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
There are a few "ah ha" games that make you realize the team is something special
1984 56-54 home loss to #2 Kentucky (Sam Bowie, Mel Turpin) - snow game referees came out of stands-- lost elite 8 on KY home court to KY
1989 Bragging Rights vs Missouri when we came roaring back from 18 points down to win - Flying Illini
2004 91-73 demolition win over #1 ranked Wake Forest (Chris Paul) - NCAA finals
2021 76-53 blowout win at Michigan when Ayo was out injured - we became #1 seed
Interesting the 2023 TSJ elite 8 team had no signature wins until the BTT and run to elite 8
1984 56-54 home loss to #2 Kentucky (Sam Bowie, Mel Turpin) - snow game referees came out of stands-- lost elite 8 on KY home court to KY
1989 Bragging Rights vs Missouri when we came roaring back from 18 points down to win - Flying Illini
2004 91-73 demolition win over #1 ranked Wake Forest (Chris Paul) - NCAA finals
2021 76-53 blowout win at Michigan when Ayo was out injured - we became #1 seed
Interesting the 2023 TSJ elite 8 team had no signature wins until the BTT and run to elite 8
True - as a Champaign local I found time to go to Nashville and but couldn't make Chicago happen. I fully expect to be in hostile territory for the entire game
Seems when I looked this up awhile ago it said if you go through the Illini website for tickets, it’ll give you the right options for seating. Hope that’s the case!
If we can go 2-2 against elite teams (I'm not including Mizzou here, although it will probably be a tough game). I'll be happy. The key to the game IMHO will be how much Petrovic plays. He makes our other players better. And his defense (so far) has been solid. He does all the basics right.
Dan
Admin
ESPN (Karl Ravech & Jimmy Dykes)
fightingillini.com
Music City Madness Pits #14 Illinois vs. #13 Tennessee Saturday Night in Nashville - University of Illinois Athletics
#14 Fighting Illini face fourth top-15 ranked nonconference opponent in #13 Tennessee.
fightingillini.com
Not until about 24 hrs prior (usually)
But yea I'd have to guess -2.5, -3.5 or around there, given it is essentially a road environment
I think Z is the defensive key, for this game AND the season. Boswell does a real good job of neutralizing the other team's featured piece, but Z is the only Illini player who makes other teams totally change their offensive flow when he is in. Breakdowns biting on shot fakes at times is a weak spot for sure, but if I had a dollar for every time an opposing player got a paint touch with Z in the area and they didn't even look to finish, just kick out to the perimeter, I would have several dollars. He's the only player on the team that just eliminates an offensive phase for opposing teams.
DK has Tenn -2.5; o/u 150.5
FightinIllini30
Future insider
Gold star for you. This is not sarcasm, you nailed it
Indeed... leads the B1G in blocks (6th nationally) and guy doesn't even play half the game (19 min avg)
The Z-raser
Seems to me like this game will be a wash for the front court guys and depend heavily on our guards to give the Illini some advantage on both ends. With two of those being freshman but very talented with skills, it looks to me to be a tossup that should be close all the way.
My fondest hope is that these kids have found a new focus on playing defense. There future and the season depends upon that....and has been the biggest question to be answered since the roster was finalized. Likely 99% of college players are offense driven and get their thrills from scoring and helping their teammates to score. But that is only half the game. Embracing an attitude of they can't beat us if they don't score any points is not at all realistic, but makes all the difference when games are on the line. These kids have the athleticism to play excellent defense, but I am not sure if they have the attitude to do it every night. But I hope they do....it is the tough little things that are not fun that make a huge difference in the success of all. Getting healthy and devoted to defending has always been the first need of this team since the opening tip. For their sake, I hope that happens....sooner rather than later.
My fondest hope is that these kids have found a new focus on playing defense. There future and the season depends upon that....and has been the biggest question to be answered since the roster was finalized. Likely 99% of college players are offense driven and get their thrills from scoring and helping their teammates to score. But that is only half the game. Embracing an attitude of they can't beat us if they don't score any points is not at all realistic, but makes all the difference when games are on the line. These kids have the athleticism to play excellent defense, but I am not sure if they have the attitude to do it every night. But I hope they do....it is the tough little things that are not fun that make a huge difference in the success of all. Getting healthy and devoted to defending has always been the first need of this team since the opening tip. For their sake, I hope that happens....sooner rather than later.
splitter
- and not Nebraska
"A garbage truck worker convention, the puke inside of a pumpkin orange"if you want to call that orange
aaaaand considering most of the time when he is in, somebody drives into the lane and immediately stops and looks for a perimeter outlet. I wish some stats nerd would figure out the percentage of actual attempts that he faces that he blocks.
he gets head faked a lot which gets him off his feet but I think he is an elite defender and should continue to get big minutes. When he stays two feet on the ground and guards he can be pretty darn good.
Fighter, wasn't trying to pick on you. The longer you are a fan, the more you realize that every program goes through ups and downs. No standard is ever permanent. We make fun of Indiana fans living in the past. By now UCLA fans have probably come to terms with having lost the magic of the John Wooden years. We are one of probably 100 teams starting the year that had some glimmer of hope of making a final 4 this year - I mean Florida Atlantic was in the Championship game three years ago - they are ranked about #135 now. We are #14 - a top 4 seed at present. That is pretty pretty good.
Your claim that our strategy is "eventually" starting to making threes is kind of flawed. We have made threes - 32.1% overall, even after the poor performance in the last game. Our effective field goal rate has been good - 50% or above for all but UConn and Colgate. Consistency would be nice, but avoiding variance is hard.
I understand the disappointment in not dominating every team and getting the perfect setup in the tourney. But this isn't the 1989 or 2005 team - we have been starting 2 freshmen. That is OK. We are competitive with the best teams in the country, we have a fun year to look forwards to, and I think we will have our shot in the tourney regardless of seed.
You have to assume that we are going to have losses. And I don't want the moral victory losses because those are ones where we have good performances against better teams. If you have a talented team, no loss should look or feel good. So, yeah, like you, I will feel a lot better if we beat TN.
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