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It’s not fading, the lines just get juiced. It’s gambling, you go off, eye test, gut etc. Illinois had won 9 of 10 coming in, won the B10, had the hottest scorer in the nation. Getting close to 10 points is hard for people to turn down sometimes. Suckered me in. I respect the hell out of UConn, have rode them all year. Thought Illinois would give them a game. They played their worst offensive game at the wrong time. Credit UConn, they are really good and the favorite for a reason. There’s an outlet to beating them. A team just has to play their A/B+ game. Very little margin for error against them. |
Moneymaker923 | 11 |
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This one is cooked. Illinois might have had the worst offensive game plan of all time. Just back down Domask the whole game or drive into Clingan’s chest. There’s wide open shooters all over and they have zero ball movement. Could have easily beat this team. UConn is not unstoppable. They have weaknesses and Illinois defense exposed those in first half. But when you don’t have any offensive flow or game plan it will be tough. We’ll see if another team can give them a game. Underwood sucks. |
Bitcoin777 | 40 |
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Quote Originally Posted by haymo:
Winever you seem to know Illinois pretty well. Do they shoot free throws good, have depth on the bench and anything else which they’ll need to complete? Thanks Sorry just saw this. They have a few good bench players, Dainja and Goode have been solid for them. Harmon came in with a lot of promise but has turned to dogshit. FTs have been a problem the last few games. We’ll see if they can correct it. Might want to stop driving straight into the 7’2 center every time. It isn’t working. Defense played well that half, offense was abysmal. If that was the offensive game plan Underwood came up with, this game will be over very quickly in the second half. |
chicubs09 | 39 |
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Quote Originally Posted by MedicalMaryJay:
Illinois is 87th in defensive adjusted efficiency. With basically only a day and a half to study film on this complex offense, good luck! The offense can sometimes be a product of the defense. They score at such quick pace sometimes, it leads to a lot of fast breaks. But when they slow the game down, and run more half court sets, they have many very good defensive players and rebounders on this team. A lot of length that can cause problems. If you blindly look at defensive numbers regarding this team you’re doing yourself a disservice. Opponent, tempo, game flow etc, there’s many factors when analyzing how this team has defended. |
chicubs09 | 39 |
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replied to
***Macweesties * Fri. Mar. 29, 2024 * NCAA * Tournament - Round of 16 * College Basketball Plays***
in College Basketball Good luck Mac! Always rooting for you. |
Macwestie1 | 24 |
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Quote Originally Posted by mrusso:
@Win4Ever McCain and Roach are a very formidable backcourt, they can get theirs. Duke will be ready. Agreed. Big fan of both. McCain has a beautiful jumper. Roach has a ton of experience. The back court matchups will be a great battle to watch. |
ayoforyayo | 13 |
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Absolutely they do. Houston plays bully ball and when you punch them in the mouth they struggle. A&M dominated them on the glass, 26! Offensive boards. And they drove at will on them. So there’s an immediate blueprint on how to attack them. They have zero depth on the front line. Tuggler going down hurt them. He was a good bench big who could come in and give tough minutes. If Taylor doesn’t shoot 5 for 26, A&M was the better team and wins. Duke needs to rebound well, have guards play tough and they are the better team imo. Houston is a lot like Iowa State last night. They rely on bully ball and pushing teams around. If you don’t wilt to it, then you got a chance. Duke is kind of soft though. Flopokowski and the fake court storming outburst on the made up injury is tough to unsee. He’ll likely get dominated on the interior by this physical defense. So we’ll see if someone else can step up. |
ayoforyayo | 13 |
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I’m trying to find the angle to back Gonzaga. I’ve watched them all year, went to Gonzaga. Faded them early in the season, was on San Diego St ML beating them. They made some adjustments to starting lineup midway through the year and offense has been much better. I’m trying to figure out how they’ll keep Purdue off the offensive glass. Ike is 6’9, Watson 6’8. They’re giving up 6 inches to Edey. Huff comes off the bench is 6’10. He’s interesting because he can shoot from distance (albeit horrifically a lot of the time), but he could at least keep Edey out of the paint at times. Gonzaga is going to have force 13+ turnovers, shoot at a decent clip from 3, and extremely high % from the floor to win this game. It’s not impossible. I don’t love the matchup. But they should be much better in the back court. Nembhard has a lot of experience, and Hickman has been playing very well. One guy to keep an eye on is SF Ben Gregg. He’s 6’10 and ever since he moved into the starting lineup the team has been a lot different. He’s been great at getting hustle boards and doing a lot of dirty work. I’m guessing they’ll use him as a double on Edey which is going to leave Lance Jones and Loyer getting some open looks. They’ll need those guys to not be shooting light outs. |
dustmiester | 7 |
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I’ll be on Illinois +8.5, and a little bit on ML. Illinois is a team I circled very early in the season as a club I felt would win the national title. They don’t have the rich pedigree of some of these blue bloods. But they have a team full of experience. Whole starting lineup is over 22, and 6’6+. This is a big ass team, with a ton of experience. They will not be intimidated like a lot of teams facing UConn. I’ll wear it if they get blown out. But I fully believe if Illinois doesn’t turn the ball over 12+ times and doesn’t go 45% from the FT line again, that they will give UConn an absolute battle. Shannon Jr. dropped 29 in 22 minutes last night. He’ll be the best player on the floor tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. Should be fun game. |
Hublot | 67 |
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replied to
The coaches did Auburn and Arizona are terrible to lose every year in the tournament
in College Basketball To bring in another coach to do the exact same thing? There’s 1 winner and 300+ losers each year in college basketball. Who they going to hire to do better? Let’s hear it since you got all the answers. |
buffer | 6 |
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Quote Originally Posted by NoFlyZone:
@Win4Ever That was the game UConn was only laying 2.5 and I got smashed . Creighton couldn’t miss from 3 . Ever since then UConn has been unstoppable They’ve lost 3 times. Theyre an elite team, I’m not arguing otherwise. I’m simply stating they aren’t some unbeatable force. I think they’re getting crowned a little too early here. This path to the elite 8 has been cake. For as much as Hurley bitched and moaned about getting screwed they face 3 cupcakes. The 16 obviously wasn’t going to do anything, a battered down Northwestern team, and a small poor shooting San Diego State team. They smashed 3 teams they should smashed. And yes, they smashed others in the regular season. Seton Hall beat them by 15, they had other very narrow wins. People are sleeping on Illinois. These teams are not far off talent wise. If Illinois plays the type of defense they did tonight, they’ll be right there with UConn. |
chicubs09 | 39 |
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When in doubt, fade Rick Barnes generally works well. Very interesting matchup as Tennessee’s height caused Texas a lot of issues. But Creighton has Kalbrenner who’s 7’1 and can stretch the floor so he’s a very dynamic matchup. Creighton just doesn’t buckle, they should have lost to Oregon about a dozen times but they just kept their composure and didn’t buckle at all. That experience and composure goes a long way in march. In a close game, I’d favor the team that’s been there and closed these type of games out. Tennessee almost gagged the game away against a very mediocre Texas team. |
TurdFerguson555 | 4 |
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Quote Originally Posted by Vic-Vega:
What I don't understand is they scored at will against one of the best defenses in the country. Tonight they wanted to be Virginia. Let's all understand something...Illinois does not play defense. That team is in for a bad night when they go against Uconn. I think the narrative that Illinois doesn’t play defense is overblown. They can play defense when they want to. Game pace generally dictates it and they lose focus a lot. But they played great defense tonight. They have very good defenders who when they want to defend they can. I’m guessing in a win or go home game, that defense will show. And they can board. Don’t be shocked if they give UConn a game until the bitter end. This team is legit. |
shadowmagic808 | 19 |
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They are rough to watch. It’s not pretty basketball. Their shooting percentages are awful. Just a bunch of overachieving try hards who are gritty and play great D. Good for them for overachieving this year. It’s a blue collar team. Not sexy, but they had a great year. Illinois was the superior team. UConn would have waxed Iowa St by 20+. So at least Illinois can crash glass and has some big time scoring talent. So maybe they can give them a run. |
shadowmagic808 | 19 |
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Must be Alabama’s vaunted 341st ranked defense….just gagging. Need to feed the post. Big game Bacot loves these moments. |
OO7CRUSHER | 19 |
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Creighton gave teams a blueprint. They got destroyed by 20 just a month ago. This team is not unbeatable. They shot 44% that game, which isn’t horrific. But Creighton was = on glass with them, hit 50% from 3, and took care of the ball - only 7 TOs. FTs were fairly even, UConn only turned it over 9 times. But Creighton guarded the perimeter well, rebounded well, and controlled the ball. Those are the 3 things you need to do to beat them. The issue a lot of times is Clingan is 7’2 and great in the post so teams with poor bigs who have to double him, end up getting killed from perimeter. So teams with quality interior D who don’t have to double have best chance. |
chicubs09 | 39 |
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Quote Originally Posted by LVTruck:
Who they playing and what's the line I’m guessing no matter who, either Iowa St or Illinois the line will be around -7.5. |
chicubs09 | 39 |
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Surprised you went back to Zona today. After the USC game we both kind of singled out how inconsistent love is and how bipolar this club is. They can tantalize you at times with the athleticism, but wildly bipolar team. |
Puerta2Puerta | 35 |
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Bad matchup for them. They’ll have to shoot lights out, or play the game at their pace. A lot of garbage shooters on this team. In a half court set they can go 5-6 minutes without scoring with all the 38% shooters and 30% from distance shooters they have. We’ll see how it shakes out. Good luck! |
GeoDawg | 2 |
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UConn is great don’t get me wrong. But they got 3 great matchups in a row here. So it’s tough to take a ton away. They got the worst 16 seed. Northwestern is garbage with 6’7 PF and some loser 6’9 slug at center with Nicholson out. And San Diego St doesn’t have a lot of size either. Leedee is a tank but the other big they start is a twig and sucks. I feel like Illinois would match up well against them. Hawkins is 6’10 and an athletic defender. Dain Dainja is a tank inside. A lot of athleticism on that team so I feel like they’d be able to at least compete harder on the boards. |
chicubs09 | 39 |
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