LETS GO ILLINI DEMOLISH BRUCE PEARL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow. really early to start game thread. besides should go in march madness forum...

I feel bad for Pearl...

Oh please, who cares, we all know who's gonna win tomorrow anyways. You should all be Bogutorized.

Let's keep one thing straight here people -

 

This game is NOT about Bruce Pearl

 

It's about our Illini moving on to the Elite 8

 

Yes, i know the whole Pearl story, and i'll be booing intensely when he appears tonight with every other fan there, but afterwards it's all over. This thing has been beaten like a dead horse already. It's not bigger than the game.

 

Certainly i won't feel happy tonight with a win 'because of Bruce Pearl.' It will be because we are moving on.

 

That being said, let's do this

 

I-L-L

Like they were saying on PTI yesterday, basically all the students and players were between the ages of 2-6 when it happened. So it better not be all about Pearl.

I don't think that's the main argument that should be used though. Though i was only 6, i still know what happened and it effected a program i love dearly. Whether or not you experienced it is irrelevant, to a degree...if you know what i mean.

 

It would probly mean more to someone who was in college during those years or was a bigger illini fan than i was that year when i was 6, but i still think it's fair to say take a hatred to Pearl if you wish

 

Just don't make it the game story tonight

I don't think that's the main argument that should be used though. Though i was only 6, i still know what happened and it effected a program i love dearly. Whether or not you experienced it is irrelevant, to a degree...if you know what i mean.

 

It would probly mean more to someone who was in college during those years or was a bigger illini fan than i was that year when i was 6, but i still think it's fair to say take a hatred to Pearl if you wish

 

Just don't make it the game story tonight

 

If it is the game story tonight, Illinois is in trouble. They are the ones who have something to lose. If they are preoccupied with this, they are vulnerable. Weber better have them focused better than the media is.

Go Illinois, represent the B10.

 

I think Weber does have their collectively head screwed on straight.

 

Augie said they don't even talk about it unless the media asks them about it, and then they are done with it.

 

It's definitely more of a fan obsession, the players are fine. I would never, ever use that as an excuse if we somehow lost, and nor would they.

I'm taking the panthers on the money line.... My $100 pays $725 ... or loses $100

Alright, time for some actual game talk. Kenny's keys to tonight's game:

 

1. Stay out of foul trouble. I'm not cocky, but if we can keep everyone on the floor, it will be very, very tough for UWM to pull off the upset. The most important guy to keep on the floor is Deron. The instant we have guys like McBride handling the ball in our own end is the instant we get in trouble. Also, how about Powell Jr doesn't get in foul trouble early AGAIN tonight? He could be a key player as well with them trapping the guards constantly.

 

2. Luther handles the ball well. My guess is Bruce will try to trap and double team Dee and Deron as often as possible and force Luther to bring the ball up court and make a lot of passes. He needs to step it up (and hopefully be healthy)

 

3. Guard the perimeter (Duh!). It's been a weakness for us all year. Hopefully we don't trap too high tonight. UWM will have a shot at us if they start hitting threes like i watched them do in their first game vs Alabama. Don't let them get hot. And when they take them, get a hand in their face. We should be able to dominate the boards on their misses.

 

4. Last one - Don't let up. We got up big on Nevada and let them sorta back into the game with a few minutes left. Don't stop pouring it on, i don't care what we're up. With their ability to shoot the three, you want the biggest lead possible. Don't get into a lull at the end of the game. Play a full 40 minutes and i think we'll be fine.

 

Also - this includes good possessions inside the ten minute mark. We've been running the clock a bit too early the past few games and then taken s***ty shots at the buzzer. That isn't all the productive with only a 8 pt lead or so. Run the offense, keep getting buckets.

 

Less than 10 hours til gametime, 7 hours til i leave

Alright, i'm leavin for the game in an hour.

 

Enjoy the games folks. Zona/OSU should be a sweet game after ours

The one thing that boggles my mind about the media coverage of this game is that they keep focusing on the crowd. To be honest, it probably won't come into play. The neutral fans will do this, the Illinois fans are large in number, yada yada. Who cares? The players win the games, and all I keep hearing about is who the fans will be cheering for.

The one thing that boggles my mind about the media coverage of this game is that they keep focusing on the crowd. To be honest, it probably won't come into play. The neutral fans will do this, the Illinois fans are large in number, yada yada. Who cares? The players win the games, and all I keep hearing about is who the fans will be cheering for.

 

because its going to heavily favor Illinois, which DOES have an effect.. believe it or not..

Ahhhh I wanna f***ing be there so bad.

The one thing that boggles my mind about the media coverage of this game is that they keep focusing on the crowd. To be honest, it probably won't come into play. The neutral fans will do this, the Illinois fans are large in number, yada yada. Who cares? The players win the games, and all I keep hearing about is who the fans will be cheering for.

 

plus read an article about uwm/pearl. he made the very obvious yet good point that most likely uwm will be backed by most zona/okie state fans cause they'd rather play uwm than illini...

Edited March 24, 200521 yr by Goldmember

because its going to heavily favor Illinois, which DOES have an effect.. believe it or not..

I'm just saying it's a disproportionate amount of time spent on a tertiary aspect of the game. Talk about the players and the teams more than the fans. All I keep hearing is the fans.

plus read an article about uwm/pearl. he made the very obvious yet good point that most likely uwm will be backed by most zona/okie state fans cause they'd rather play uwm than illini...

 

Also, UWM does travel well, and they are actually closer to Chicago than the Illini are.

I'm just saying it's a disproportionate amount of time spent on a tertiary aspect of the game. Talk about the players and the teams more than the fans. All I keep hearing is the fans.

 

Yeah your right about that.

Also, UWM does travel well, and they are actually closer to Chicago than the Illini are.

BUT...they had no idea they were going to be there thus, not buying tix early.

 

Whereas Illini fans have been gobbling them up for a while.

Awesome game from the Illini tonight.

 

I am a little worried about our next game against OK State or Zona, for the main reason that I am a little worried about those little lapses that we seem to have. Happened against Nevada and happened tonight, if it happens agasint the Cowboys or the Cats we will be watching the final four from Champagin.

Lapse against Nevada?

 

That was only because we were killining clock because we were up like 25, that won't happen in the Elite 8

The Zona and OSU fans didn't seem to root for UWM over the Illini.

 

During the second game, it seemed like Illini fans favored OSU over Zona, but not by a great deal.

The Zona and OSU fans didn't seem to root for UWM over the Illini.

 

During the second game, it seemed like Illini fans favored OSU over Zona, but not by a great deal.

 

You guys wanted the whole place to be orange Saturday.