Beat writer Scott Richey is courtside again this afternoon for Illinois-Iowa in the Big Ten tournament semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Be sure to follow along for comprehensive Illini coverage:
***
One last update before we get started. Let’s just say Iowa has thought a bit about its five-point loss in Champaign at the end of January.
Jordan Bohannon: “Illinois is a very well-coached team. A lot of talent on that team. It was a really good game with them at Illinois, but we have some revenge to do. We felt like we played pretty well over there and just didn’t come out with the win.”
Joe Wieskamp: “Illinois is a great team. We’ve got a lot of respect for them and what they’ve accomplished this year, but at the end of the day we’re not satisfied with the outcome the first time. We’ll be ready.”
Fran McCaffery: “They have a lot of weapons. They can hurt you in so many different ways, but they also defend. A lot of really good offensive teams don’t, and they do. You put a game plan together. There’s a lot of things you have to look at. We’re a team sometimes that’s hard to guard as well. We’ve had three great games with them in the last two years. Hopefully we’ll have another one.”
***
This is Illinois’ first Big Ten tournament semifinal appearance since 2010. That used to be the standard. The Illini, in fact, reached the semifinals in 12 of the first 13 Big Ten tournaments.
“It means we’re headed in the right direction,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “I think it’s fantastic. It’s where Illinois should be. It’s a step. It’s not the ultimate step, but I think we’re a program that should be toward the top of this league year in and year out. It’s a great league. I’m excited to check that box and get rid of that one, too, on the negative side.”
Illinois is 6-6 all-time in the Big Ten tournament semifinal round. The Illini’s last win came in 2008.
***
We’ll start this update with what Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon had to say about today’s rematch with Illinois in the Big Ten tournament semifinals after the Hawkeyes dispatched Wisconsin on Friday night.
“It’s just going to be another Big Ten battle,’ Bohannon said. “We feel like this game might decide a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. People say Illinois might be a lock, but we’re going to go in thinking we still want that one seed and our résumé is still good enough to get that last No. 1 if we win this thing. I think our talent and experience gives us a chance to do that.”
Now let’s really dive into the situation Bohannon is discussing.
First of all, Illinois is, in fact, a lock for the No. 1 seed. The worst case scenario in terms of dropping from that top line involved a tournament quarterfinal loss to Rutgers. The Illini … won by 22.
It’s also no guarantee that the NCAA tournament selection committee will put much (or any) weight on the final two days of the Big Ten tournament. Especially the last day. The Big Ten tournament championship game rarely plays any role in the selection process given its the last game to happen before the bracket is announced. Decisions have been made by then.
I’ll just leave it at this. Of the five teams perhaps in line for the four No. 1 seeds (I’ll include Iowa for argument’s sake), here’s how the number of Quad I wins breaks down. Considering the NCAA created the NET rankings of which the quadrants are based on, it’s rather informative to the selection process.
Illinois: 11-5 in Quad I; 5-1 in Quad II
Iowa: 8-6 in Quad I; 6-1 in Quad II
Michigan: 8-3 in Quad I; 7-0 in Quad II
Baylor: 8-2 in Quad I; 2-0 in Quad II
Gonzaga: 8-0 in Quad I; 6-0 in Quad II
So Illinois has more Quad I wins than any of its fellow No. 1 seed contenders, and a Big Ten tournament title would give the Illini 13. That’s ridiculous.
***
The narrative around this year’s Iowa team has been pretty similar to the last several seasons. The Hawkeyes play great offense and couldn’t defend their way out of a paper bag.
That narrative has changed a bit, though, in the last month or so. Iowa has climbed to the No. 51 defense in the KenPom adjusted efficiency rankings. The Hawkeyes have allowed more than 70 points just twice in their last 10 games with 79 to Michigan in a Feb. 25 loss and 73 to Wisconsin in a regular season finale win.
Iowa was even better against the Badgers in Friday night’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal, allowing just 57 points in a five-point victory.
“I think they scored one basket in the last 9 minutes of the game,” Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon said. “You’ve got to give credit to our defense. We’ve really locked down this last month or so. We really battled our butts off every single day in practice to be considered one of the best teams in the country defensively. Our defense has shown the last month we can be like that.”
***
Illinois is chasing bigger goals than it can achieve this week in Indianapolis (although they won’t have to leave town to do it), but winning a Big Ten tournament title is still on the Illini’s to do list.
“I think we showed what type of talent we have,” Illinois junior guard Ayo Dosunmu said after Friday’s quarterfinal win against Rutgers. “We really don’t have room for error. We’re two games away from accomplishing our goal that we set months ago. All in to try and win a Big Ten championship.
“I feel like at this point of the season we’re so laser focused. We’re nowhere near done yet. We just showed we want to win a Big Ten championship very bad.”
***
Let’s just get this out of the way at the start. Today’s Big Ten tournament semifinal between Illinois and Iowa is scheduled for a TENTATIVE 2:30 p.m. start at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The schedule actually reads that the second semifinal (Michigan and Ohio State tip off at noon) will begin 25 minutes after the conclusion of the first. Does anyone really expect a Big Ten game to be concluded in just over the 2 hour mark?
I certainly don’t. Not with the way the tournament games have been officiated. And the time the referees have spent at the replay station. Like the lengthy review from Friday’s quarterfinal to determine what exactly Rutgers’ Caleb McConnell did when making contact with, uh, Andre Curbelo’s downstairs. Or the freshman guard’s “future” as former Illini and BTN analyst Stephen Bardo apparently said during the broadcast.
So we might have to wait just a little bit longer for the Illinois-Iowa rematch everyone wanted in the tournament semifinals. Especially if it leads into an Illinois-Michigan championship game. That scenario come under fire with Michigan playing without Isaiah Livers today and the fact it’s no guarantee the Illini take down the Hawkeyes.
Every Day Guys pic.twitter.com/2rvrrGp0fw
— Illinois Basketball (@IlliniMBB) March 13, 2021
The matchups to watch this afternoon between Illinois and Iowa, of course, are Kofi Cockburn vs. Luka Garza and Ayo Dosunmu vs. whoever the Hawkeyes think they can throw at the Illini guard.
Cockburn got back on track last night in the quarterfinal win against Rutgers. His 18 points and 12 rebounds marked his first double-double in nearly a full month. Of course, Garza was his typically dominant self with 24 points and nine rebounds in Iowa’s quarterfinal win against Wisconsin.
Here’s the deal, though. Illinois can survive a typical Garza night. What the Illini can do to counter that is lock up the Iowa guards. That’s especially true on the perimeter. The Hawkeyes shot just 2 of 20 from three-point range last night. They do that again and it doesn’t matter what Garza does. Advantage Illini.
Illinois is a great team. We’ve got a lot of respect for them and what they’ve accomplished this year, but at the end of the day we’re not satisfied with the outcome the first time. We’ll be ready.
from WordPress https://ift.tt/3ct9Fui
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment