I’ve seen enough of Duquesne
Fun hits on the Illini.
Excluding Rutgers (Who is terrible)….Illinois is 2-6 vs teams rated top 20 in defensive efficiency on Ken Pom. The two victories were a 3 point win over Michigan State at home and a 5 point win over Maryland on the road. Granted they didn’t have their star player TSJ for a few of those games due to rape allegations….but it’s still worth noting.
They also don’t really have a freaking point guard but are serviceable with Domask. They are capable of getting laser hot from 3 and can score in bunches. In my opinion it’s the most potent offensive team we have played but not by far. They love to push pace and flow on offense, they FEAST in the fast break, something we excel at eliminating. They will not like our physicality at all.
TSJ is going to score, no stopping it. They will turn the ball over, especially not having a true point guard. I think we can cause havoc for them with our style of physical defense and by continuing to run smart patient offense. Illinois doesn’t defend well 90% of the time (Rated 92nd in Ken Pom) and historically that doesn’t bode well for teams trying to go deeper in the tournament. They have defended a little better of as of late, but not by much, they are inconsistent on that end of the floor.
That said it’s going to take one of our better defensive and offensive games to win this. If we show up like we did in Kansas City, we are Elite 8 bound.
Fun hits on the Illini.
Excluding Rutgers (Who is terrible)….Illinois is 2-6 vs teams rated top 20 in defensive efficiency on Ken Pom. The two victories were a 3 point win over Michigan State at home and a 5 point win over Maryland on the road. Granted they didn’t have their star player TSJ for a few of those games due to rape allegations….but it’s still worth noting.
They also don’t really have a freaking point guard but are serviceable with Domask. They are capable of getting laser hot from 3 and can score in bunches. In my opinion it’s the most potent offensive team we have played but not by far. They love to push pace and flow on offense, they FEAST in the fast break, something we excel at eliminating. They will not like our physicality at all.
TSJ is going to score, no stopping it. They will turn the ball over, especially not having a true point guard. I think we can cause havoc for them with our style of physical defense and by continuing to run smart patient offense. Illinois doesn’t defend well 90% of the time (Rated 92nd in Ken Pom) and historically that doesn’t bode well for teams trying to go deeper in the tournament. They have defended a little better of as of late, but not by much, they are inconsistent on that end of the floor.
That said it’s going to take one of our better defensive and offensive games to win this. If we show up like we did in Kansas City, we are Elite 8 bound.
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