Trains get derailed from time to time....I would expect JD tracks to be cluttered with Illini come Weds night
Pregame: Illinois vs Wisconsin, Wednesday, February 2nd, 8:00pm CT, BTN
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Please don’t throw things at me I’ve had a rough day some A hole pissed on my rug and it really tied the room together
How about us thinking how other teams want no part of Illini?
Stay at the I Hotel and request snow shows upon arrival.Stay in town overnight. We need you
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Nice marmot, man.
A midseason poll by the Athletic had Davis as NPOY. It's not that far fetched if he keeps it up.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
I actually think we match up pretty well with them.
Davis and Davidson are their key, and our two best on ball defenders happen to play their spots. We have a little size disadvantage (forgot Davidson is 6’4) but we should be able to hug them at the 3 pt line and force them into contested 2’s. Davis is a great player but he’s not quite as long as McGowens or Mathurin and I don’t think he’s quite as quick either. DMW should at least be able to slow him down and make him work to get his.
In the front court, bigs that can dribble and stretch the floor give us trouble (see Pete Nance last game. Crowl does stretch the floor but is not a volume 3 pt shooter, at only 2.5/ a game and just over 30% on the year. He may knock a few more down that he typically does but not probably not enough to make up for the mismatch with Kofi on the other end.
Biggest X factor from a matchup perspective IMO is Hepburn. Really really good player and I think he will be a thorn in our side for the next 4 years. Had good size wt 6’2, 210 lbs and looks to be physical. These types of guards have bullied Plum in the past. We just need Plum to contain him and hold him reasonably close to his average.
Of course having Belo back would be a huge help, but love what the freshman have done, and I think any of the 3 as a bigger, shooting wing has the potential to go off based on matchups. As long as we shoot reasonably well from 3 and they don’t go out of their mind hitting a bunch of contested shots I like our chances.
Davis and Davidson are their key, and our two best on ball defenders happen to play their spots. We have a little size disadvantage (forgot Davidson is 6’4) but we should be able to hug them at the 3 pt line and force them into contested 2’s. Davis is a great player but he’s not quite as long as McGowens or Mathurin and I don’t think he’s quite as quick either. DMW should at least be able to slow him down and make him work to get his.
In the front court, bigs that can dribble and stretch the floor give us trouble (see Pete Nance last game. Crowl does stretch the floor but is not a volume 3 pt shooter, at only 2.5/ a game and just over 30% on the year. He may knock a few more down that he typically does but not probably not enough to make up for the mismatch with Kofi on the other end.
Biggest X factor from a matchup perspective IMO is Hepburn. Really really good player and I think he will be a thorn in our side for the next 4 years. Had good size wt 6’2, 210 lbs and looks to be physical. These types of guards have bullied Plum in the past. We just need Plum to contain him and hold him reasonably close to his average.
Of course having Belo back would be a huge help, but love what the freshman have done, and I think any of the 3 as a bigger, shooting wing has the potential to go off based on matchups. As long as we shoot reasonably well from 3 and they don’t go out of their mind hitting a bunch of contested shots I like our chances.
He's a fantastic player, but guys like Davis often get infatuated by players who burst onto the scene. People see that kind of progression and extrapolate it past what their stats show. If we're talking about the best college basketball player, it isn't him.
I think he's rightfully in the conversation, but he isnt crazy efficient and I think his numbers are inflated by being around a mediocre wisc team which forces him into taking the lead 90% of the time.
illinihawk16
- Chicago
I'm conditioned to believe that this means he will now have a career day from deep.
They are absolutely not better than MSU (who beat Wisky by double digits). Wisconsin is an absurd 10-1 in games decided by six or less points. Good on them for collecting the W’s, but these guys are not world beaters.
More importantly, we are possibly the worst matchup for them in the B10. Kofi will feast (as he has done every time he has faced Wisconsin), and their interior D and experience is somehow softer this year than it was last year when Kofi averaged like 9 dunks a game against them.
My only concern for the game is who checks Wahl. Hopefully a combination of Coleman and Grandison can do the trick.
I agree with you but I think it's hard to argue against a guy who leads a top 10 team in every major statistical category.
It should be Kofi, in my biased opinion. But I dont think the voters will even give him a chance. They tend to like players who "do it all". And while Kofi is absolutely dominant at what he does, he does not "do it all".
Kofi's best bet is for Illinois to go on a run, finish the season in the top 10 and average something like 24 and 14 in that span. It's not fair, but as has been an unfortunate theme of his career, Kofi is held to a different standard than other mere mortals.
Defend home court gets us to 13 wins.
Get Rutgers and UM roadies and there’s a share.
Agree schedule is nasty (7 quad one games remaining).
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Did Frazier guard Murray at IC? Because Davis loves bully ball when guarded by a smaller guy. Rather have Damonte spend the majority of his minutes guarding Davis.
That’s fair. It’s just funny — JD is 6’5” 190 and Davison is 6’4” 200. Either way, Trent will be guarding a bigger dude (and it won’t be Hepburn). Agreed on the style of play factor, though. Davis much more likely likely to back you down in the post where Trent can shut the water off of a guy who primarily shoots and drives.
If I recall correctly, it was mostly Hawkins and Jake.
Davis has had unbelievable games against some of the top teams in the nation. Kofi can't really say that right now.
That's been the separating factor so far.
frozenrope9190
- Aurora, IL
This drives me insane. We beat the #10 team in the country without our two best players. We stifled them defensively. 'Ice cold from distance' has a bit to do with our defense, don't you think?
The only goal for the team is to win the game. Not to earn style points for the fans. This is a signature win for their resume, their best win of the year to date. Not the prettiest win, but the best win for our tournament and seeding chances.
You mean a defensive stopper like that guy from Iowa who won it last year?
The schedule gets really difficult just in time for us to be fully healthy. This is an opportunity to see if we are just another tourney team or a squad that can win it all. We haven’t really seen our team at full strength all year. I’m pretty excited to see what an injury-free Illini team can do down the stretch.
Unbelievable games? The only one that fits this is the Purdue game. If you want to throw in Houston, I guess if you consider them a top team. As for Kofi, he's had one opportunity against a top team and that was when he was semi-concussed.
We all know that defense barely factors into their decision.
And FWIW, Garza's defensive plus/minus was 1.8 last year. Kofi's is 1.9.
Yeah..I would consider Houston to be a top team since they are ranked in the top 10. He's also had 25+ pt games against MSU and Marquette.
Kofi has plenty of time to get back into the conversation.
He had 25 exactly in both games, not 25+. One of those games, MSU, was a double digit loss where the game was never in doubt. Neither of those are unbelievable games.
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