Pregame: Illinois vs Texas/Xavier

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#176      
Noblesville Illini
Donald Trump GIF

Hamer…….. 👆
 
#179      
Illiniguy13
illinifan1987 said:
This is the best possible draw for us! It's Final 4 or bust now.
All the big brain board members...:cool:
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90 Day Fiance Goodbye GIF by TLC
 
#182      
BfosterL
illini510 said:
Ticket purchased. $188 before fees...280 after fees and tax but for two games, it's $140 per, which for the NCAA tournament is very digestable and tolerable. First NCAA tournament ever. This is a bucket list for this college basketball fanatic and Illini fanatic. Looking forward to it. The stars aligned for a close destination and the Illini at that close destination despite being a non top 4 seed. I don't know if it would've made more sense to wait but with Kentucky fans being rabid and our fans being rabid, I imagine that tickets will be at a premium and will be overinflated so hoping I made the right decision to just purchase now and not wait until later in the week
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Congrats and enjoy!!
 
#186      
nyc_illini
Ironically, is this one of the healthiest teams under Brad before the tournament, despite all the injuries and illness we have sustained this season?

2021: Ayo's nose broken and had to wear a mask
2022: Trent's eye and Jacob was out completely because of his shoulder
2023: I think we were mostly healthy but who knows, team was a mess
2024: mostly healthy, besides Coleman whose knees may be bothering him?
2025: team actually appears to be almost 100% at this moment
 
#188      
jrichisamazing
My advice to any Illini fans going...

Please show up for the first game and root for Troy! The crowd getting behind a mid major makes for a really fun atmosphere and is part of what makes March Madness so special. And it is extra special when it's against a blue blood. A loud crowd rooting for an upset adds even more pressure on Kentucky.
 
#191      
AZILL
illinifan1987 said:
This is the best possible draw for us! It's Final 4 or bust now.
All the big brain board members...:cool:
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No clue how I made this list, lol. Or even what it means btw. But I'm down with it!! I-L-L.....
 
#192      
mysterio2525
DeonThomas said:
John Beilein: "I worry about the Illinois defense. This is the worst Brad Underwood defense I've ever seen."
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He's right. The first sign I knew Illinois was gonna win at Michigan was in the first half the defense rotation and movement was back and the strategy to attack wolf with Boswell was evident.

We are who we are on offense.... Which is pretty darn good and can be great if we hit our 3s

The defense and rebounding need to be the given and the backbone of this team. With those in place we can miss a bunch of 3s and still win. Big ten tourney gave me pause to think if all of our defense inefficiency was due to sickness/injury..... Well we are at the end of the season. Best time to defend and rebound and leave it all out there
 
#193      
Illinijoe
AZILL said:
No clue how I made this list, lol. Or even what it means btw. But I'm down with it!! I-L-L.....
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It’s who voted we would get a 6 seed. We need to post the people who thought we would get an 8. Those people are not informed - we ended as the second 6 so closer to a 5 then an 8.
 
#194      
aaeismacgychel
I think most teams would think we have a fairly favorable draw a our pod has a whole lot of highly inconsistent teams in there, plus the location is practically a home game for us, which is weird because generally 6 seeds don't get that type of bonus. We play good ball we have a very good path to the Sweet 16. We show up playing lethargic and sloppy and don't crash the boards, we have a very good chance of going home on the first day. You really can't complain about the draw- the teams in our pod (us included) are teams aspiring Sweet 16 teams should beat though they have high ceilings when they're playing well.

That said, a thing that worries me that nobody has mentioned yet is that by playing a First 4 team, we won't be able to put 100% of our time developing a gameplan against our opponent until Wednesday night as before then we'll be splitting 50/50. And for a young team like ours, cutting down prep from 4 or 5 days to 2 against a specific team who has already shaken off their tourney jitters isn't as favorable as it would be if we had a more experienced team.

As such, I see this game being a tough one for us regardless of who we play. We need to make sure we don't come out nervous and fall behind early with turnovers leading to easy buckets. We give teams like Texas or Xavier confidence early and we're asking for trouble. Gotta play smart, hard, controlled basketball. And so if we want to actually take advantage of our draw, we're going to need a more mature KJ than we've seen recently. He ends the game with 3 or less turnovers I like our chances. 5 or more I don't. Play smart and hard and that's how we move on. Time for our baby birds to grow up.
 
#195      
Se Il Illini
BWA said:
Anyone else get the feeling we’re gonna win some games in the tourney, but when we lose it’s gonna be ugly
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One of the hallmarks of this team is the lack of consistency at times. As a result I am a buyer of your comments.
 
#196      
AZILL
How different are the playing styles of Texas/Xavier? No idea myself. Just looking for something to wrap my mind around....
 
#198      
Tacomallini
lstewart53x3 said:
In 2021, we played Loyola. They were an 8 seed, but finished the season at #10 in KenPom, a 3 seed equivalent. Then in 2022, we played Houston. They were a 5 seed, but finished the year at #2 in KenPom, a 1 seed equivalent.

Doing that same math, this year, we'll play Texas or Xavier in round 1 as an 11 seed. Xavier is 43 in KenPom and Texas is 44. Both 11 seed equivalents—right in line with where they're seeded.

Then, we'll likely play #16 Kentucky as a 3 seed, a 4 seed equivalent.

That's a pretty good path to a sweet 16, no absurdly under-seeded teams in our way.
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Too lazy to go back and look, but I hope you were acknowledged for your big brain
 
#200      
fatboyslim
Oracle21 said:
I don’t like playing an #11 that has already won a game in the tourney. Those teams usually carry over momentum
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They don't. #11 seeds are 18-17 since the first 4 started. Most of that success was 2011 VCU and 2021 UCLA.
 
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