UConn vs Illinois (Final Four)

[Umami Zen]

Another couple of days for Silas and Stewie to get healthier. Our shooters to get some shots up. I believe our motion offense presents defensive challenges for their team. We are a mismatch problem for them when we're getting our shots out of our sets and Reed is doing his work in the paint. If we can start converting our threes at a higher percentage - It will be a long night for them. Solid D/ team rebounding /deflections-steals to start some transition fast break opportunities
will be there for us.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

We have a very good chance .

Go Huskies !

I have to think that there has to be trauma from that 30-0 run from 2024. It can only help. lol

 

[Gurleyman]

I have to think that there has to be trauma from that 30-0 run from 2024. It can only help. lol

I don’t think they have any players left from that team. We have AK of course (and Solo-Stewie-Ross, who didn’t play much).

Coaching staffs and fanbases still have the memories burned into their brains of course.

 

[storrsroars]

We're four pages in, yet none of you thought about posting this yet?

 

[RuffRuff]

I don’t think they have any players left from that team. We have AK of course (and Solo-Stewie-Ross, who didn’t play much).

Coaching staffs and fanbases still have the memories burned into their brains of course.

I don't think they had any players from that team last year. The roster diff between then and now is night & day. The one thing this Illinois team is missing is what they lost in Johnson going to Michigan - a big athlete. Taking a look at the Illinois MB quickly, they are pumped for this one. Lot's of recent history with the Illini.

 

[TroyHall98]

I don’t think Illinois can handle our physicality for an entire game and/or can keep running to keep up with our actions.

 

[superjohn]

Illinois is the tallest team in the country and they now have their defense matching their offensive execution in the tourny but they've had a pretty easy road up until this point in the tournament. Slow Wagler down and keep Stojakovic from scoring on his drives to the rim. I like this matchup for us. Despite their size I don't think they can deal with Tarris. The shots are bound to start falling.

 

[Marat]

I don’t think Illinois can handle our physicality for an entire game and/or can keep running to keep up with our actions.

Physicality will be key. Once we turned up the volume on the defense and aggressiveness in 2nd half vs Duke the game became ours to take.

One thing we'll have to tighten up is the physical defense vs Boswell as he was taking it to us in that game in Nov. Lesson learned.

After Duke defeated Michigan last month , Yaxel was saying that UM was not prepared for their physicality since they didn't face that in the B10 and were not prepared. I think Zona will out-physical UM and therefore win - but hopefully in a battle of attrition.

 

[uconngb]

And in that game Tarris was coming off the injury and extremely limited playing 15 minutes, scoring only 2 points. Mullins also was a non factor off injury with 10 min and 2 pts. So, ...... we are doomed .

Wagler is also a VERY different player now. It's a different matchup. That said, we will still win.

 

[jake14mw]

So, of course I heard all of the hype after we got Braylon Mullins, I was excited like everyone. In the early games, even coming back from injury, you could see the talent and potential. Then of course he had that end of the season where he just couldn't get his shots from distance to fall. I think maybe he's playing with house money from here on? I think this might free his mind and allow him to just let it fly from this point on. We shall see. His mid range game has been amazing, and this might make a guy who becomes a real problem for opponents in the final four.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The thing about killing a few seconds is that you basically ensure that UConn doesn’t get two more possessions. If we fouled Cam Boozer right away (as we probably should have), we’d have had an outside chance even if he made both. We had a timeout - so we could score try to quickly and foul again with 4 or 5 seconds left. Then get the ball a second time, with a timeout in hand for a missed FT. But by Duke moving the ball, we would have fouled little Boozer with about 6 seconds left and it would have basically ended if he made both. And we ended up leaving two guys wide open, so if that hit ahead pass connects, it’s over, and they avoid shooting pressure foul shots.

The big mistake was they had Sarr (a terrible FT shooter) inbound and be the relief pass after the initial trap, while Evans (85 percent) released into the frontcourt and never touched it. Ross tried to foul Sarr but didn’t get there in time. And Sarr avoided the foul and found Cayden alone in the middle of the floor with a zero risk pass (no defender near the passing lane). At that point, it honestly looked like we screwed up clock management by letting too much time melt on offense (17 seconds before Demary was fouled) and defense (4-5 before fouling Cayden).

But we got the deflection and made a 40 footer.

If Demary is a split-second later in getting to Boozer, he passes to Ngongba who dunks it and we lose by 4, and we rue having screwed up the previous possession (wasting 20 seconds before getting free throws) and the trap/foul at the end.

 

[BFieldHusky]

We have played better teams in this tournament than Illinois. I don't think they can say the same to this point.

We destroyed them in the Elite 8 in 2024, and obviously beat them this year. Their fans should want to kill us.

Having almost a week off is huge. We give ourselves today to celebrate and rest up. Back to preparation tomorrow. Has Illinois been playing a lot of zone in this tournament?

 

[uconn_jack]

Thank god this game happened in the Final 8 and there is an entire week until the next game. I would have been very worried about them turning around a game two days after such an emotional game.

 

[Marat]

Thank god this game happened in the Final 8 and there is an entire week until the next game. I would have been very worried about them turning around a game two days after such an emotional game.

Today is like media day with the post game interviews. Let them have their celebrations, and rest today.

Tomorrow back to business.

 

[IndyLives]

UConn has played way too many close games this year in the BE for the predictives to be good for UConn. That said, I also think the BE and UConn are a bit at odds in how UConn plays and how the BE is called - or the predictives are not a great metric to measure this UConn team. There are now three teams UConn has beaten above UConn in predictives like Kenpom (and MSU is right behind UConn).

They are not as good as 2023, or 2024 but they are still damn good.

I like UConn's chances against any team that doesn't press like MU/SJU and can't mug UConn for 40 minutes.

Our KenPom metrics must have skyrocketed after beating MSU & Duke over the weekend.

 

[bendm]

Illinois’ size don’t concern me. They have length sure but they aren’t as good defensively as Duke was. The ivisic twins cannot handle reeds strength/mass. Mirkovic is not close to the player Boozer is as an inside scoring threat. And Stojakovic is not a physical mismatch for Mullins like yaxel or even Sarr.

 

[Woof]

I had the same thought. I bet this lifted a ton of weight off his shoulders.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Illinois’ size don’t concern me. They have length sure but they aren’t as good defensively as Duke was. The ivisic twins cannot handle reeds strength/mass. Mirkovic is not close to the player Boozer is as an inside scoring threat. And Stojakovic is not a physical mismatch for Mullins like yaxel or even Sarr.

The things that give us trouble on that end of the floor, they don't do.

On defense, I'd expect a lot of Ross in this game to deal with their size.

 

[IndyLives]

If Demary is a split-second later in getting to Boozer, he passes to Ngongba who dunks it and we lose by 4, and we rue having screwed up the previous possession (wasting 20 seconds before getting free throws) and the trap/foul at the end.

Another point being missed is that possession arrow belonged to UConn on that last play. Very risky for Ngongba to hold the ball in the middle of the floor like that with that much time left. I guess you would literally have to bearhug the ball and risk not getting called for 5-seconds or getting a tie-up call. Not an instinctive play by any means. I just bring this up because everyone is saying all he had to do was hold the ball. Not so simple. He was put in a bad position.

 

[noelle]

illinois playstyle just isn't going to bother this team. euroball teams don't matchup well

 

[alexd]

 

[TroyHall98]

Physicality will be key. Once we turned up the volume on the defense and aggressiveness in 2nd half vs Duke the game became ours to take.

One thing we'll have to tighten up is the physical defense vs Boswell as he was taking it to us in that game in Nov. Lesson learned.

After Duke defeated Michigan last month , Yaxel was saying that UM was not prepared for their physicality since they didn't face that in the B10 and were not prepared. I think Zona will out-physical UM and therefore win - but hopefully in a battle of attrition.

I think Silas and Malachi are better defenders now than they were in late November.

To add to my original post, our mental fortitude is a huge advantage over most teams.

Every team we have faced in this tournament has been gassed in the second half by the physicality and constant action. If you combine that with the mental edge that I think we have, we are very tough to beat.

 

[AdamaNation]

you'd hope this was the game that lifts the psychological burden off of the team. they've been shooting terribly for the past month, and still made it to the final 4 against the toughest bracket.

W/out our snakes head. Silas is like 60%. Jaystew 50%. Let’s Go!!

 

[Mr. French]

At this point I’ve placed my bet on us to win it all.

Let’s have fun this weekend no matter what on what has been a very successful season!!!

Let’s get 7!!!!

I have a couple going.

I did 2 brackets too, and I did one with us losing E8 and one with us winning it all which I almost always do it that way. My bracket with us losing is by far my best one, so I guess the Karma gods got me.

 

[thekollieman]

We beat Illinois by 13 at a "neutral" site earlier this season. How are they a 1.5 pt. favorite? I guess the bookmakers expect it to be an Illinois home game.

I’m sure they’re also baiting the masses who will emotionally (and correctly so) place money on UConn to cover that in the context of this week and recent history.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think Silas and Malachi are better defenders now than they were in late November.

To add to my original post, our mental fortitude is a huge advantage over most teams.

Every team we have faced in this tournament has been gassed in the second half by the physicality and constant action. If you combine that with the mental edge that I think we have, we are very tough to beat.

Fall game with them was funky as Wagler did very little, but Boswell went for 25. Illinois shot it poorly from 3, we outrebounded them. Reibe had a nice game, and I think he matches up well here again.

 

[TroyHall98]

Fall game with them was funky as Wagler did very little, but Boswell went for 25. Illinois shot it poorly from 3, we outrebounded them. Reibe had a nice game, and I think he matches up well here again.

I might be wrong about this but Wagler does not seem to have the profile of someone who can give us trouble. I’m not saying Illinois can’t beat us. I just don’t think it’s because of Wagler. I think it’s probably the guys who can switch as 5s to 4s.

 

[RuffRuff]

I might be wrong about this but Wagler does not seem to have the profile of someone who can give us trouble. I’m not saying Illinois can’t beat us. I just don’t think it’s Wagler. I think it’s probably the guys who can switch as 5s to 4s.

With you - he's not the kind of profile that presents issues. I think Silas can get in his grill.

 

[superjohn]

I might be wrong about this but Wagler does not seem to have the profile of someone who can give us trouble. I’m not saying Illinois can’t beat us. I just don’t think it’s Wagler. I think it’s probably the guys who can switch as 5s to 4s.

Wagler can give anyone trouble, he's one of the best players in the country. He doesn't scare me like Boozer did matchup wise though.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Wagler can give anyone trouble, he's one of the best players in the country. He doesn't scare me like Boozer did matchup wise though.

This. He’s really good but Boozer was a matchup nightmare. We have really strong defenders in Ross and Demary that we can throw at Wagler.