Illinois Game
- Thread starter saratogashaw
- Start date
Our defense better be locked in because they will torch us from deep.
iu won't be a gimme so we need to be up for it. Make no mistake that is their national title game because should they lose, the current iu class will go out as never beating Purdue at home. I think anyway. Their crowd will be loud and it most certainly will be 5 on 8 and not in our favor.
But we also can't overlook Nebraska either.
ILL is a tough matchup and will be a measuring stick for where this team is. Based off current play the rankings should be flipped IMO. The only reason they're where they are is Purdue was hot out of the gate and ILL had a slow start with key guys missing some big games.
Hoping this bye week UM gifted us is the silver lining that gets this Purdue team going again.
You hope Tre/Zach vs Kofi is a wash, or maybe even advantage Purdue with 10 vs 5 foul discrepancy. The play of Morton and hopefully Newman will be a huge key as I see IT and Hunter struggling with the physical pressure the 4 guard lineup ILL plays will bring, especially on the road where they will get away with more. Ivey will need to bring his cape too to get a W.
Hoping this bye week UM gifted us is the silver lining that gets this Purdue team going again.
You hope Tre/Zach vs Kofi is a wash, or maybe even advantage Purdue with 10 vs 5 foul discrepancy. The play of Morton and hopefully Newman will be a huge key as I see IT and Hunter struggling with the physical pressure the 4 guard lineup ILL plays will bring, especially on the road where they will get away with more. Ivey will need to bring his cape too to get a W.
I don't know why Sasha always has to be in the limelight to start. He has struggled a lot at times too with streaky shooting and defense.
I could see fouls being a big issue in the head to head matchup with the 5. Kofi could get into foul trouble or he could get us into foul trouble. I think that is the key matchup.
easy schedule, how about RU, they don't play a ranked team for another month.
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Not sure about the streaky part. For the season Sasha is shooting 88% from the line and 42% from 3. He needs to play a lot and shoot more.
Of course, IT is shooting 48% from 3, but you wouldn't guess that from some of the really ridiculous comments here.
I tend to agree that the week off might be a good thing, at least in the short term, although I liked the effort at Penn State.
Illinois will be tough. Their defense is ahead of Purdue’s and their offense is very good, as well. Beating them on the road would be huge.
I wonder what the crowd will be like for a Noon on a MONDAY game.
Purdue needs to do a better job of getting him shots at times...I don't think there is any reluctance necessarily to shoot. I have not looked admittedly...in the past, a pretty discernible home/away split...I am not sure that is/has been the case this year...it does not seem as dramatic at least.
Rutgers made a conscious effort to slow him, and, was largely successful...Wisconsin did as well, and, were very successful...PSU singled him out in an effort to slow him, but, did not succeed to the point that Rutgers or Wisconsin had...Iowa may have, but, in that they don't generally believe in defense, no real way to know if they did or not.
Maybe for the MLK holiday. I don’t have that day off but good thing I can WFH. Might have to watch in the background of a planned meeting that day for the first hour.
I better mute the mic while I am yelling at Kofi getting away with murder underneath.
Might be a groggy group, but it’s sold out.
Agree that their press killed Purdue, but, I am talking about the idea of actually playing defense...and, in turn, doing it...not something Iowa has subscribed to.
I will say that I felt like on that night, it was a better effort than normal by/for them.
Their press has long been a strength...back to before Fran...it can wreak havoc at times, and, has for Purdue a couple of times...but, true half-court defense...not so much for the Hawkeyes.
It will be a good environment I would suspect...maybe weather will be a factor and keep some of those in Orange home or from getting there for a crazy early start on a Monday.
Did you watch the game? I watched all 40 minutes with my husband and Iu got off to a great start again. Yes, they ended with 22 turnovers and that is pathetic. They are gonna be mighty hungry for us.
Eh...that had way more to do with Indinia than it did Iowa...I mean, they gave up 50 in the first half (further affirmation of their indifference to defense). Regardless, nice that they somehow managed to overcome that, and, the inexplainable foul trouble of their best player for the vast majority of the night, and, were able to keep Indinia winless away from home (where opponents are 10 points in the hole before the game even begins).
I get your point, and that's nearly everyone Purdue plays right now. It's why Rutgers won, why Penn State and others have played us so well.
What does their expected hunger have to do with anything? They can be as hungry as one could be (and, likely will be...but, that is no different than any past year), but, if you can't shoot...can't make FTs (especially when your best player inexplicably lives at the FT line)...can't get stops...and, turn the ball over at an incredibly alarming rate, it is irrelevant...and, that is in large part why it has been irrelevant for as long as it has at this point.
Purdue will have its work cut out for itself for sure, but, at least they have the benefit of Indinia trying not to lose to Purdue AND to themselves.
It's a rivalry and if you remember right we are playing in "THe Hall of Calls" where we will get no help at all and it will feed their hunger even more if they see things are going their way.
Yep. That game will be their super bowl. Make no mistake about it.
When the train was rolling, I had the game at Illinois as Purdue's first L. Now, it will be their third L. I think Illinois is the team to beat in the B1G. (I'm just hoping it's not one of those historical drubbings that Purdue suffers in Champaign on occasion--at least play tough and make the home team sweat it out.)
I agree. Purdue has dominated Indiana for the past five years, but that isn't going to last forever. Purdue better bring an A-level defense to Champaign and Bloomington or both could end in losses.
It's gonna be tough. I am hoping we can wear them down a little. They play 6 guys the bulk of the minutes and the seventh guy had just 7 minutes. Key will be to not letting them get up so big, that we don't have that opportunity to wear them down .
Totally agree this is a game I've circled all year as a likely loss.
That being said.......I kind of like how we are playing them at their place sets up. Noon on Monday. They're on a winning streak, but haven't played their best ball the past 2 games. Purdue's playing better and has the built in motivation factor of being back 2 games in the B1G race. Painter always talks about playing on "edge", and with this veteran group I 100% expect Purdue to come out hungry and give their best effort of the year. Purdue just might steal one Monday.
this also was the game I picked for the first loss. Since we lost to wisky, I think we win this one ( granted if our guards start shooting better.)
Curbelo has not played since Thanksgiving. He is making progress towards a return but unlikely he plays Monday.
We are everyone's superbowl right now, if you haven't noticed.
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