How important is tomorrow's ILL game?

[SayHawkKid]

After seeing 2 weeks of "light" with the Lick System, Saturday's UM game seemed like a disaster. ILL is 14-8 & 6-3 with an RPI of 80 and SOS of 70 so if Iowa plays a decent game, it should at least keep it close at home. With Payne and Cole rested, I expect to see Iowa within striking distance no later than at the 2 minute mark of the 2nd half. This would, at the very least, give some young players much needed crunch time experience.

On the other hand, if the game resembles last Saturday's game in any way, the "light" will be growing ever so dim.

As always, JMHO

PS sorry about the attrition, just saw Freddy's "turning point" thread

 

[storminspank]

I honestly, at this point, think it's the biggest game of the year for Iowa.

Then it will be the BTT for next biggest game.

 

[HawKCP]

On a scale of 1-100 I would give it about a 3.

Iowa basketball has reached the point of irrelevancy. A win or loss will not make much of a difference either way.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

I honestly, at this point, think it's the biggest game of the year for Iowa.

Then it will be the BTT for next biggest game.

Just curious as to why you say that?

The only reason this game is big for me is that I want to see how this team comes out after the BEATDOWN they were given Saturday.

I especially want to see
1. How Cully Payne performs.
2. How Jarryd Cole performs.
3. How John Lickliter is utilized.
4. What kind of tricks will see from Coach Lickliter. Who on the team is limited this week. That is one thing that always intrigues me. IMO he has no continuity.

con·ti·nu·i·ty (knt-n-t, -ny-)
n. pl. con·ti·nu·i·ties
1. The state or quality of being continuous.
2. An uninterrupted succession or flow; a coherent whole.

 

[BSpringsteen]

I agree with Stormin but for this reason...

If 10,000 orange clad morons come into CHA, and we get embarassed on the court, it will be the end.

If they come out without fight in them and let Illinois mop the floor with them and let their fans take over the arena, I truly believe that Lickliter will nver recover from that and he will be fired at the end of the year.

On the other hand if they try to take over the arena and Iowa shows fight and wins or loses a hard fought heartbreaker, it solidifies another year in my mind.

I think this is the most important game of Lickliter's coaching career.

 

[ICHAWK]

I agree with Stormin but for this reason...

If 10,000 orange clad morons come into CHA, and we get embarassed on the court, it will be the end.

If they come out without fight in them and let Illinois mop the floor with them and let their fans take over the arena, I truly believe that Lickliter will nver recover from that and he will be fired at the end of the year.

On the other hand if they try to take over the arena and Iowa shows fight and wins or loses a hard fought heartbreaker, it solidifies another year in my mind.

I think this is the most important game of Lickliter's coaching career.

Will Illinois bring that may fans to a Wednesday game? It is a big game for Illinois as it's a game they need to win to keep NCAA hopes alive. I know game day is coming to Champaign this weekend for the Illinois vs. MSU game so maybe their fan base is looking past Iowa and prepping for the big game day appearance on Saturday.

I will be at the game, I expect some Illinois fans but not sure how many? If it were a Saturday game, I could see the fear of a ton of Illinois fans.

The only thing big about the remaining games this season is 1. Stay healthy (no injuries that carry into next year... aka ACL type injuries) and 2. getting the core group as many minutes as possible to develope.... Gatens, Payne, May, Cougs, Cole, Fuller, Brommer (might as well see if you can develope Brommer)....

There are no big games with the current state of the program. I figured they would win 4-maybe 5 games in the Big 10 this year, which is still really bad. I don't know if it matters much is Iowa wins 5 games vs. 3 games at this point.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

It almost seems to me like this is a game where the winner doesn't necessarily gain a whole lot, but the loser will see this as a bad loss. Illinois has got to figure this is a game they can't afford to lose, while Iowa desperately needs to get back on the right track following the Michigan debacle.

Which team needs to win this game more?

 

[ShadasRevenge]

It almost seems to me like this is a game where the winner doesn't necessarily gain a whole lot, but the loser will see this as a bad loss. Illinois has got to figure this is a game they can't afford to lose, while Iowa desperately needs to get back on the right track following the Michigan debacle.

Which team needs to win this game more?

Illinois. They're a potential tournament team, and loss to Iowa would probably keep them out.

See: Penn State last year; the difference in them making it as opposed to not was their overtime loss @Iowa late in the year.

For Iowa, it's a chance to shake off what happened on Saturday and show everyone (and more importantly, themselves) that they can compete in this conference. From a mental perspective, this is a huge game for Iowa.

 

[NewMexHawk]

For one thing, Illannoy fans have to find Iowa City first. That in of itself will be a huge challenge for most of them. Most won't know what direction they should go on I-80 and then they will have to cross the Mississippi and that will frighten most of them away.

Tomorrow's game will be quite important to see how the team reacts after the beatdown from MI. If they play Illannoy head to head for a full 40 minutes, which I fully expect then they will be ok. I think the MI game was just a blip or hope it was anyway.

If however, they get behind and things don't go well and they have trouble catching up and they end up folding the tent, then it will get even more interesting to see what they do in the following games. You just never know...if they come out cold and can't hit the backboard and Illannoy comes out red hot and doesn't look back, that could spell real trouble for this team for the rest of the year? On the other hand, if Iowa comes out red hot and Illannoy does not...

Either way, Iowa has to give it their all for a full 40 minutes to win the game...a 10-minute drought could doom them. Another loss at home? Hard to tell what that could do to their confidence the rest of the year? to keep losing just keeps taking a little more out of you.

I don't know what to think about tomorrow night to be honest...I do think they are going to play hard, whether that turns into a win or not remains to be seen...

 

[storminspank]

Reasons:

- Rivalry game
- MUST WIN Road game for Illinois
- Iowa at a crossroads after looking good for 5 games, then putting up a stinker.

 

[HawKCP]

The only thing on the line for the Hawkeyes is the difference between a 10 or 11 seed in the BTT...I would say that makes this game less important than any game from a legitimate season.

 

[FreddyBrown]

I'd say that at least it's the most important remaining game of the year. Win, and things may look a little brighter and we may set the tone for better things ahead. Lose, and given all that is swirling around right now, things could get really ugly.

However, unless there's some more off court stuff (particularly transfers or defections among signed recruits), I think we could lose every game left on the schedule and Barta would still bring Lick back for next season. That wouldn't be my personal preference if that scenario (losing all remaining games) actually came to pass, but it's what I believe Barta would do.

 

[JHHawk]

Reasons:

- Rivalry game
- MUST WIN Road game for Illinois
- Iowa at a crossroads after looking good for 5 games, then putting up a stinker.

Ditto.
I would think if you polled Iowa fans, Illinois is our biggest rival in bb.
To me personally, this is clearly the biggest remaining game.
Driving a stake thru the illini's tourny hopes is all I have left for real joy in this season...living in Chicago,it would sooth the wounds of the season a bit.
Psychologically, I think it is huge for the team,and a fanbase on the brink.
Having a big contingent of orange clad morons dancing in the aisles the second half would strike a blow to all breathing Hawk fans psyche.
I think Iowa will respond tonite and pull out a 62-61 old timey,old school,Lute vs Henson barnburner. Go Hawks!!

 

[BA96MA99]

Reasons:

- Rivalry game
- MUST WIN Road game for Illinois
- Iowa at a crossroads after looking good for 5 games, then putting up a stinker.

There are not just two roads meeting in a yellow wood at this crossroads. I see several paths ahead. If Iowa is at a crossroads, what will happen if...

1. Iowa wins tonight, and gets at least one more win this season?

2. Iowa wins tonight, but loses badly the rest of the season (think the Michigan game, all the way out)?

3. Iowa gets a "moral victory" tonight by playing well, but loses? Rest of the season we look halfway decent, but don't get any more wins.

4. Iowa falls apart tonight?