As Niels Bohr put it:
"Prediction is very difficult, especially when it involves the future."
Of course, Yogi Berra predicted Bohr would say that.
Pregame: Illinois vs Texas Tech, Tuesday, November 11th, 7:30pm CT, FS1
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"Prediction is very difficult, especially when it involves the future."
Of course, Yogi Berra predicted Bohr would say that.
Is it Tues. yet? Please tell me it is Tues. Anyone? Pru, Narrow J, 0440......anyone? I will not live another day if I cannot see the Illini play tonight!!! Help!!! Gotta be Tues.
Oh....wait....I have the FGCU game on tape....so....maybe?
Oh....wait....I have the FGCU game on tape....so....maybe?
illinifan31
Former Krush Cow
- South Bend, IN
I'm just glad this game isn't on espn.
If that's true, then I see no way that we lose this game. We're bigger than TTU at every position - I'll preface this with I know that height and weight aren't necessarily the most accurately reported, but if we take both of our teams' respective total heights and weights, our average height this year on KenPom is now #2 in the country at 79.4" (6'-6.4"), compared to TTU's 76.7" (6'-4.7"), giving us a 2.7" average advantage.
We aren't just taller, we're also bigger. By weight, we're 21.4 lbs heavier on average and at least 10 lbs heavier at every position. At the 4 and 5, we're 27 lbs heavier. I made the table below using the % played by players at each position (for example, at PG, we play KB 46%, Fagbemi 26%, Stoj 21%, and Jake Davis 7%).
In terms of how this has been translating to more measured stats, we're +31.5 on the glass through 2 games, good enough to be ranked #2 in the nation. TTU is tied for 97th in the nation, with +10 per game against relatively similar competition.
I will be absolutely shocked if we lose this one on the glass because we should easily big-brother them in rebounds.
New Orleans, High Point and Northwestern getting some love!
Yes, Illini will be expected to win the battle of the boards. But let's not lose track of the game that is being played.......Basketball. Ya gotta put it in the basket more than the other teams. The Illini would appear from games played that they can do that at will....but we know better. The keys to me are:
1 . Keep Z out of foul trouble
2. Rebounding
3. Keep the confidence and execution up for the freshmen.
Do those all well and this will likely be a double digit win at home. Of course, TT is no slouch and they will try to max their advantages in experience and quickness. SFC should be rockin' !!!
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
Tomi being out is really bumming me out because it comes at such a horrible time, when we have 4 OOC potential Final Four teams on the schedule. If we come out of this upcoming stretch of 7 games at 5-2, I'll be thrilled.
Obviously I'm not alone here. It's just so frustrating.
Obviously I'm not alone here. It's just so frustrating.
M Petrovic will likely get a little bit of run tomorrow. Expect Lee back in the next week or so as well.
Goal for Tomi is the end of the month.
Goal for Tomi is the end of the month.
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Tomi being out might favor us because Z will get more time on the floor to help contain the three guards/forward (Anderson, Atwell, Watts) on the drives because they shoot well from 3 and get to the free throw line.
Mirk going to need to rebound - TT is good with OR. Also help contain the dump off passes on the drives when Z goes for the block.
Take care of the ball (Bos and Keaton) - TT has nearly 4x the steals; but we have nearly 3x blocks (Z!). Funnel into that!
We shoot way better from 2, and significantly from 3. Relax. Be ready to shoot. Get the OR.
Steady diet of rhythm 3’s (Hum, Jake, Bos, Keaton, Mirk, Z); drive around the close out and dish to the cutter for a flush.
Play our game and we win. Make Toppin work hard for his 21+ points and keep him off the offensive boards.
X factor: We see who Stojakovic really is (I predict 15+ points).
Might be a hard game to incorporate Mihailo so hopefully this isn’t forced to the detriment of chemistry and flow.
Mirk going to need to rebound - TT is good with OR. Also help contain the dump off passes on the drives when Z goes for the block.
Take care of the ball (Bos and Keaton) - TT has nearly 4x the steals; but we have nearly 3x blocks (Z!). Funnel into that!
We shoot way better from 2, and significantly from 3. Relax. Be ready to shoot. Get the OR.
Steady diet of rhythm 3’s (Hum, Jake, Bos, Keaton, Mirk, Z); drive around the close out and dish to the cutter for a flush.
Play our game and we win. Make Toppin work hard for his 21+ points and keep him off the offensive boards.
X factor: We see who Stojakovic really is (I predict 15+ points).
Might be a hard game to incorporate Mihailo so hopefully this isn’t forced to the detriment of chemistry and flow.
Obviously no injury would have been ideal but after the post game press conferences on Friday i was assuming this would have been a 6-8 week injury so end of month is good news to me if that is the case
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
While I agree in the sense that their unprofessional bias gets more obnoxious by the year and is unbearable to listen to ... our conference's networks are dropping the ball big time as far as allowing our premiere basketball programs to get good ratings and exposure. Games on ESPN draw WAY more viewers than FS1 and BTN, and our big three networks are picking up shockingly few cool basketball games.
Wake Forest plays #7 Michigan in Detroit tomorrow, followed by #10 Texas Tech at #17 Illinois ... both games are on FS1. And what is FOX airing? Family Feud during literally both games. What is on NBC? Nightly news, local programming and an NBA game at 8:00 pm. CBS?? Entertainment Tonight, followed by NCIS: Origins.
#13 Arizona and #12 UCLA are playing at a neutral site in LA this Friday on Peacock ... while NBC broadcasts Happy Place, Stumble and then Dateline. Our possibly top 10 matchup with Alabama in our return to the United Center will get a crap rating on FS1 next Wednesday while NBC replays Wicked, FOX broadcasts 99 to Beat and CBS broadcasts Survivor. People act like basketball is just meaningless as far as TV ratings go, but that isn't true when the networks actually prioritize a big matchup. Our game vs. Arkansas last year on CBS had a higher rating than we have literally ever had in a football game, lol. It's really annoying that ESPN is finding a way to CLEARLY prioritize football way more and yet still get their teams they care about on at the very least ESPN2, even on weekdays ... FOX / CBS / NBC need to step it up for our basketball programs.
No Bama
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
Do we know how good Petrovic is?
Because if he's good, holy s--- this is the most talented team in the country.
Yes, theoretically we should win the rebounding margin. What it also comes down to is forcing them into tough shots to be able to rebound. Also how much zone do we play? tougher to rebound out of that and how many of our own misses do we get? If we hit our OREB % the last couple years then I like our chances as long as we aren't abysmal shooting.
Tomi, Big Z and Mirk all played in the same league (and actually all 3 played for the same team) and had the following stats:
Tomi - 7 ppg 4 rpg
Big Z - 4 ppg 3 rpg
Mirkovic - 8 ppg 6 rpg
So I feel like being an MVP candidate in said league is a good tell on the quality of player he is... he is also nearly 23 years old
Former ABA players include: Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, Ivica Zubac, Dario Saric, Bogdan Bogdanovic and many more
He is pretty pretty good
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
If we keep Toppin under 30, I'll be surprised. That's fine if we keep everyone else fairly contained.
Mihailo will probably play limited minutes the next two, but he should be fully back for Alabama.
That is kind of hard to believe.
I don't know if anyone has seen this, but here's a good resource:
Men's Basketball History University of Illinois Athletics
Men's Basketball History University of Illinois Athletics
fightingillini.com
No. Not even close.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I think at this stage of the season, ANY team that makes this claim is going to have someone raising a reasonable objection that this is an overly bold claim. The better question is, is it reasonable to claim we are in the top 10 at full strength? I would say yes, and since it's only November ... it's not QUITE as crazy as saying we are the most talented in February or something.
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