Pregame: Illinois vs Tennessee, Saturday, December 6th, 7:00pm CT, ESPN

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#201      
ptgrd23
Illinisnake said:
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.
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We have a lot of opportunity for improvement

Z shuts down the lane like UCONN Clingon
Andrej learns to pass when he drives to hoop making other players better. He was non factor vs UCONN.
Tomas regains inside post game
Keaton becomes lockdown defender
Mihuelo gets used to rest of team and starts to play like Steve Nash - giving us a fast break and breaking down defenses
Ty comes back and adds 8 rbg to David's 10 rbg making us best rebounding team in B10

This team is so deep and talented. Its up to Brad to find right combination as well as deliver on defense.
 
#202      
alaskaillini
21ChampaignSt said:
I think you're conflating criticism with lack of support. I'm almost positive everyone here supports this team in some form or fashion. In fact, criticism itself can be a form of support when delivered well.
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I leave criticism to the coaching staff whom I think are far more qualified to run the team and make the decisions than I am (I don't think you could find a post where I have ever criticized the coaching staff - even though continuing to pound the ball against Clingan I thought bordered on malpractice).
For fans posting to a forum, I understand that criticism is actually just the venting of frustrations because the coaching staff certainly isn't going to make decisions based upon a post on a forum. However, I think the better approach is to recognize that basketball fandom is about entertainment. You have to be able to take pleasure in the process of the growth of the team and success of the players regardless of result. I am not saying that Fighter is not an ardent supporter of the team - he definitely is. In fact, my original post was intended as more of a suggestion that he just take losses a little less seriously.
 
#203      
thefalcon5
Illinisnake said:
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.
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I wouldn’t call him elite. You point out his biggest flaw—biting too much.

I think what happens with a lot of guys who are good at blocking is they rely too much on it. I think if he cut down on his desire to block everything he could unlock another level defensively. He has surprisingly good footwork.
 
#204      
NarrowJ
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1997071400230682706
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marc jacobs fashion GIF by Made to Measure
 
#205      
21ChampaignSt
alaskaillini said:
However, I think the better approach is to recognize that basketball fandom is about entertainment. You have to be able to take pleasure in the process of the growth of the team and success of the players regardless of result. I am not saying that Fighter is not an ardent supporter of the team - he definitely is. In fact, my original post was intended as more of a suggestion that he just take losses a little less seriously.
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I think this tends to be the impass on this board. There are some who view it as entertainment which by definition is low stakes. Then some who get a little more emotionally vested in the outcome (for better or worse) leading to probably higher highs and lower lows.

I don't think there's anything anyone can say to move a person from one segment to the other.

To your point, the entertainment crowd probably does have a healthier, more rational relationship with sports. But I enjoy the emotional rollercoaster and prognosticating.
 
#206      
Fighter of the Nightman
21ChampaignSt said:
I think this tends to be the impass on this board. There are some who view it as entertainment which by definition is low stakes. Then some who get a little more emotionally vested in the outcome (for better or worse) leading to probably higher highs and lower lows.

I don't think there's anything anyone can say to move a person from one segment to the other.

To your point, the entertainment crowd probably does have a healthier, more rational relationship with sports. But I enjoy the emotional rollercoaster and prognosticating.
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I’d easily view it as nothing more than entertainment tomorrow if I could flip a switch, haha; that’s definitely how my dad enjoys Illini sports, and he’s the one who raised me to bleed orange and blue! However, for better and for worse, I care too much about us getting back to the Final Four and eventually winning it all. I love comparing programs historically, and I’m quite bitter that a couple near misses of an NC have led to most folks not giving Illinois its due for a very impressive history and proud tradition.

But at the end of the day, I’m cooled down and more than ready to be hurt again a couple days after a loss, haha.
 
#207      
jrichisamazing
I'm interested to compare the attendance between our game and the Kentucky Gonzaga game tonight. Tennessee might not be able to match Kentucky's numbers, even though it's in their own state. But we should have more fans than Gonzaga I would think.
 
#208      
illinifan1987
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I’d easily view it as nothing more than entertainment tomorrow if I could flip a switch, haha; that’s definitely how my dad enjoys Illini sports, and he’s the one who raised me to bleed orange and blue! However, for better and for worse, I care too much about us getting back to the Final Four and eventually winning it all. I love comparing programs historically, and I’m quite bitter that a couple near misses of an NC have led to most folks not giving Illinois its due for a very impressive history and proud tradition.

But at the end of the day, I’m cooled down and more than ready to be hurt again a couple days after a loss, haha.
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Not tomorrow, Dayman! I think we pull this off 82-77 (y)
 
#209      
OrangeKrush1981
alaskaillini said:
I leave criticism to the coaching staff whom I think are far more qualified to run the team and make the decisions than I am.
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Perfectly reasonable. Other posters prefer a different approach. I think a range of approaches is entirely acceptable. I do not think telling people how to think is helpful.
 
#211      
illinitiger
Tennessee is great rebounding and turnover margin...+2.9.
Our only losses...we lost rebounding battle.
I say if we win the rebounding battle...we win.
Let's get this!
 
#212      
Rebounding Dog
illinitiger said:
Tennessee is great rebounding and turnover margin...+2.9.
Our only losses...we lost rebounding battle.
I say if we win the rebounding battle...we win.
Let's get this!
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We lost the rebounding battle to Ucon. Only one loss where we were out boarded.
 
#214      
ImGonnaBeILL
Continued lack of team defense and marshmallow softness upfront shines. Brad again refuses to go zone

Tennessee 78
Illinois 64
 
#216      
Second place is 1st loser
ImGonnaBeILL said:
Continued lack of team defense and marshmallow softness upfront shines. Brad again refuses to go zone

Tennessee 78
Illinois 64
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Ok, I've just about rolled my eyes enough with this. You don't just "go zone". A GOOD zone takes months of dedication and commitment to learning it, the communication required to run it and everyone to be in unison to keep the baseline and lane clean. It's not just a matter of calling a timeout and deciding to go to a zone for the rest of a game.

Now, you can show a zone from time to take to change the pace and perhaps create some confusion, but ultimately you go back to your basic defensive philosophies. You don't necessarily have to be great at it if all you want to do is confuse the guards a couple of times and ride it for a bit.

I'm not sure how much ball that you've played, but there about a lot of different types of zones, all of which are unique. I think we rolled a 2-1-2 out there vs UConn and Z immediately got beaten baseline. It's a layup. He just didn't rotate quickly enough. That's all it takes....just one guy to not talk and it's an easy two, which preventing that is the point of the zone.

We've hardly had enough guys to string two weeks of practice together much less master zone concepts.
 
#218      
illinifan1987
After looking over your post history (briefly), I see that you just joined in March. A lot of your posts are talking :poop: about the Illini. Why are you on here, if not to "troll" us?
Imma bout to be
Adam Sandler Halloween GIF by Netflix Is a Joke
 
#220      
Barfolomew
I agree with what Will Warren wrote about tonight’s matchup:

Tennessee has been outstanding at forcing deep threes, with almost a third of all opponent 3PAs coming from 25 feet or deeper, per Synergy. If Illinois gets into modes where they're shooting from 27 feet, it feeds right into what Tennessee wants to do, and the Volunteers can move to 3-0 despite looking like the lesser team thus far.

I think the Illini win this one if they don’t fall in love with the drive and kick that results in a long contested three. We have enough crafty scorers around the basket. Just be ready to rebound.
 
#221      
Vinegarben
I think the Illini will once again come out of a bye week and look like they have never seen a basketball. They will start slow as usual and allow Tennessee to do whatever they want. The Vols will bury them in the first half and the Illini will never recover. They will come home 0-3 against the Vols and 0-4 against the SEC.
 
#222      
RollChief
Safe travels for everyone making the trip today. Which bar are we assembling at pregame?
 
#224      
GoodePodzMelendez
Lee needs more minutes as he along with Boz are our best on ball defenders. We can win but we need to not shoot over 30 threes but instead drive to the basket.
 
#225      
illinitiger
ImGonnaBeILL said:
Continued lack of team defense and marshmallow softness upfront shines. Brad again refuses to go zone

Tennessee 78
Illinois 64
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I kind of agree.. but I think it's going to be closer .

toughness wins..... and we have not won the toughness battles in our rated games.

Swagger is great...I believe we have that...but you must play defense and win rebound battles to be elite!

Hope I am wrong ...that we lose the toughness battle on this one and lose...but toughness is ingrained in Tennessee culture...not so much for us.

Illini Please Prove Me Wrong ...prove that
"We Are NOT Soft!"
 
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