Illinois matchup

keepngoal

OKA: keepingoal
Staff member
Bookie
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jun 20, 2006
38,305
22,592
113
#1 offense vs. #1 defense

Illinois reminds me of the Miami team we lost to in the Sweet 16 two years ago.

That said.. I think we win by 3
#1 offense in the country from a suspect conference. #1 defense from the best conference. I’d say they are not equal comparisons.

It will be close, and back and forth. I think we wear them down like others before them and win by 4.
 

LincolnSwinger

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 10, 2008
468
1,083
93
The more I see other teams/conferences play, the better I feel about ISU's chances. No one defends the perimeter like ISU. It's truly a thing of beauty. If we hit 50% from 3 on reasonable volume, we're unbeatable. And a tough out when we don't.
 
Oct 30, 2023
50
88
18
I've found common ground with Illini fans for thier similar hatred of Iowa.
I've been to a couple ISU football and basketball games this year... have lived in Eastern Iowa for over a decade... always have gotten along well with your kind.

Girlfriend and I already agreed that we're watching the game Thursday in separate houses. It is nice to know that I'm going to be rooting like hell for a final four on Saturday no matter what.

I hate we're playing each other but I'm very intrigued by the match-up.
 

ClonerJams

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Sep 26, 2022
4,474
9,945
113
I've been to a couple ISU football and basketball games this year... have lived in Eastern Iowa for over a decade... always have gotten along well with your kind.

Girlfriend and I already agreed that we're watching the game Thursday in separate houses. It is nice to know that I'm going to be rooting like hell for a final four on Saturday no matter what.

I hate we're playing each other but I'm very intrigued by the match-up.
Matchups like this is part of why we love March Madness. Part of why I didn't want BYU is because I've seen that game twice, I want to see something new. Two different styles, should be fun to watch. Kind of sucks the winner likely plays UConn in their backyard.
 

jsb

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Mar 7, 2008
30,454
33,149
113
Well the entire Illinois board thinks they'll blow us out of the gym.

Hell sometimes I watch our team and think we'll lose. Like I watched our two games this week and I wasn't super impressed on Thursday. But we won by almost 20 and had an amazing start to the game and an amazing 2nd half. And yesterday I thought our bad offense was back and yet we had the largest margin of victory of the 3 two seeds.

We are a weird team who is much better than we look. You look at this Iowa State team and you think 'that's a nice team'. You don't necessarily think 'that's the #4 team in the country'. But that's exactly what they are. Illinois can think what they want, but they might end up surprised.
 

SEIOWA CLONE

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2018
6,712
6,915
113
62
Been saying that for weeks. He doesn't win games by himself but we struggle when his part is missing. I don't know what it is, but we can compensate for off games just about anywhere else in the lineup. Maybe it's a freshman thing where if one thing isn't going well everything is off where others turn their efforts to what's working where they're struggling. Maybe he is just unique enough that we don't have a second option for what he does.
I think it comes down to the fact that Lipsey and Gilbert are going to score one way or another, but we need that 3rd scorer to step up, when we get it, we are very difficult to beat. But when it does not happen, we struggle. I figure we are going to get the same number of points from the post position, but Milan is the key to us playing well unless someone just goes off.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HOTDON

bawbie

Moderator
Staff member
Mar 17, 2006
52,862
43,080
113
Cedar Rapids, IA
Hell sometimes I watch our team and think we'll lose. Like I watched our two games this week and I wasn't super impressed on Thursday. But we won by almost 20 and had an amazing start to the game and an amazing 2nd half. And yesterday I thought our bad offense was back and yet we had the largest margin of victory of the 3 two seeds.

We are a weird team who is much better than we look. You look at this Iowa State team and you think 'that's a nice team'. You don't necessarily think 'that's the #4 team in the country'. But that's exactly what they are. Illinois can think what they want, but they might end up surprised.
A huge part of that is that the defense is so consistent and relentless. We just wear teams down and make it so hard to score that a 3 or 4 minutes scoring drought seems like nothing
 
  • Like
Reactions: cyclone87 and jsb