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Illinois vs. Tennessee Game Preview and Predictions!

📅 Published on: 2024-12-13 17:40:22

⏱ Duration: 00:32:47 (1967 seconds)

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The Sleepers preview the Illinois vs. Tennessee game!

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🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

this season our preview and recap videos are brought to you by dimer Pro the go-to research platform for serious college basketball fans dimer Pro combines expert sports betting data and predictions with easy to ous tools to elevate your game whether you’re looking for today’s Best Bets totals player projections unique prop insights or betting Trends using a powerful simulation model built over the past 15 years diemers pro has you covered for every college basketball matchup plus their parlay generator is changing the making it easy for betters to generate an instant parlay for today’s games at the push of a button and we have a special offer for sleepers viewers you can use promo code Sleepers at sign up for 20% off your first month that’s all caps sleepers and join diers Pro today to bring your college basketball experience to the next level get Illy get Illy get Illy get Illy get now get now get okay Illinois at home Tennessee you’re the only 10 I see oh good God man we are less than 40 seconds in Illinois big spot for Benham Rick house uh he’s up wow sorry I thought we were just doing stupid puns the whole oh you want to do bits the whole video yeah like when we talk about Rick Barnes I was going to go into a little Rick Roll little little thing right there you know there’s a couple things I could go this way um what’s is there any sort of like casparis song probably some probably some Lithuanian rap why do I feel like kasparis listens to that uh that one that one plane song that I fly like py get highlight playing like I feel like casparis bangs that before he goes out and just drops triple doubles I could definitely see that yeah uh I was goingon to say I feel like he might be a central SE guy like he listen to Sprinter yeah or DOA 100 EAS want SUV SOS all right that’s fire I hope he does Illinois is at home against Tennessee the number one team in the country fun game what an opportunity for Illinois uh this this is a great great opportunity really because it’s one of those games where I think if Illinois loses this game there’s not really anything negative that can come out of it respectfully Tennessee is really really good so barring like a total no show where you lose by like 40 I think it Illinois could lose comfortably to Tennessee and I’m not going to think that differently of Illinois it may just reaffirm some suspicions I have that like against old strong physical teams Illinois will have some problems but like I almost expect some of that to happen Tennessee is really really good in my opinion they are the best team in college basketball I know a lot of people like Auburn but if you haven’t watched Tennessee this is really the exact same team that they were last season but with Felix akara blocking shots who arguably has been better than Jonas Adu was last year and with Chaz laner in the Dalton connect role lanir has lived up to everything people thought he was in the portal he’s been the best transfer in the cycle and uh I mean he Brian Ralph did a Ralph report on it he is as good if not better in the early season than Dalton connect was one month into the season so are you with me like th this is not a game Illinois should even really fear because you’re not supposed to win this game if anything it’s just a massive opportunity to put the world on notice about who some of your freshman are and what this team’s capable of a huge opportunity and uh I think you kind of hit the nail that they’re playing with house money in this one because they’re at home and look if you have not been able to watch Tennessee this season this team is the BET like they are the best team in the country like they’re number one in the country for a reason I think they’re the best team in the country I think they I think as of recently they were my pick to actually win at all and I feel really good about that given what this team does they are incredible defensively as always uh they’re top 10 offense currently as well on Ken pal offensively they just have so many things to love they’re shooting they’re number one shooting team from twoo percentage in the country uh I mean they’re just there’s a lot to like about this team and what they do offensively and defensively like always with Rick Barnes teams and Chaz laner is incredible like incredible uh eigor Milotic as well has been really good another transfer I believe they got him from Charlotte if I’m not mistaken kind of like a 610 fourman uh he’s really good scoring the ball rebounds really well as well and then Sakai eagler is just like the the drink Stir of the team um I’m still not the biggest a Kai zagler fan to be honest with you but they overcome what what his shortcomings are no pun intended they overcome him is a crazy thing to say about a guy who has uh been a fantastic player for Tennesseee this year he yeah he’s been good he’s been Fant like he’s in line to be an all SEC player maybe an all American we’re talking about they overcome him yeah personal thing for me yeah why why is it personal with you and zakai Ziggler um I don’t know I think he I to be honest with you I think he gets like a bump all the time um and I don’t think he’s necessarily deserving of that bump in what way like he’s graded on a scale like a curve in what way what’s the scale what because I don’t I don’t think see people running around saying Zak K eagler is like the best point guard in the country oh I do where Brian Ralph did he’s really good I I I’ve seen like first team all- americ talk I mean he’s averaging eight assists a game card how many turnovers he averaging three it’s over a two to one assisted turnover ratio okay Danny wolf eight assists a game to three is a ratio you can live with cart two steals listen I talk about the the HR meme all the time let’s just say I can put the same status as a Kai zagler has up against somebody else and one is sexual harassment and one is oh my God he’s so cute H I don’t know that I agree with that but we don’t gotta get hung up on it we’re not we’re not getting past it and I I feel very very strongly about this yeah all right all right I guess we’ll see um so there’s they don’t have the best point guard in the game there’s a well yeah kasparis has been great okay just makeing sure kasparis has been great uh I don’t think kasparis and zagler are going to match up on each other by the way oh who you think is getting kasparis I think I think mhack will get the casparis assignment which is a scary thing for Illinois because mhack may be the best perimeter defender in the country with size yeah uh and I think respectfully I think they will put Boswell on zegler and try and hide casparis on somebody who doesn’t do much you think you don’t think Boswell goes on lir they try to go with Trey white on lir I mean I guess if you go Boswell on lanir then you’re going Trey white on Z well I guess you could put KJ on you could put you you could put KJ on zegler if it’s me I’m not putting KJ on zegler or uh year do we just have KJ hang out at half court and wait for the defensive possession to be over maybe maybe that maybe just cherry pick today I don’t know so all right small little thing I want to raise to you and you tell me if I’m just cutting up numbers in a way that uh paints a narrative that doesn’t exist or if this is something you’re a little worried about going back to the beginning of last season we agree Illinois was a great basketball team last year right yep great basketball team just regular season games last season Illinois had four opportunities against teams that I would consider the best of the best they played Four Ken top 15 teams last season they went 0 and four in those games they lost at home to Marquette they lost on the road to Tennessee they got swep by Purdue now put yourself back in our last year Time Capsule here they were in all of these games they had chances to win all of these games they didn’t noow they didn’t get blitzed they were in it they go 0 and four didn’t tsj miss one of those too uh tsj played in the Tennessee game he played in the Marquette game I don’t think he played at Mackey tsj did not play at Mackey and Illinois almost won okay so yeah maybe maybe three and0 with an as or 0 and three with an asterisk go and four in the record books uh this year had a good start to the season for sure only played one quote unquote elite team they got outplayed by Alabama so going back a full calendar year at this point you haven’t won a regular season game against the top 15 team in the sport am I making a narrative that doesn’t exist here or am I right to point out that when Brad Underwood teams go up against the best of the best they usually lose but you’re only doing regulars like don’t they get credit for beating iow will St though beat Iowa State if you want to if you want to drag this out and add postseason play in the last year to it they become one and six I’m just one though one and six the narratives are meant to be broken Gregory I mean if you if you feel better about one and six then you do 0 and five at a three-point win over Iowa State and a 25o loss to Yukon then you can make your own conclusions from that I I I I do think it’s a very real thing uh I do I do think that but the only part that I would push back on why maybe it doesn’t fit in this game is because they can truly play like the no one expects us to win card like Underdog house money card I don’t know if any of those four games you stated they really had that like those were games I think they should have they should have beat Marquette at home I think last year at Tennessee was similar like like with the style of the game well just Tennessee was like top five in the country by that point were they top five at that time kenpom they were fifth I don’t know what they were in the poll but okay I don’t know maybe I’m just making an and look I don’t mean to say they can’t win big games because a sweet 16 win over Iowa State obviously was big and go back a year to a team that was worse like remember they had the Madison Square Garden win over Texas they beat UCLA that year so I like I’ve seen Illinois teams beat great opponents um I don’t know I I I guess I’m raising this with this team for this reason the only fear that I currently have with Illinois basketball that isn’t just Benham Rick House’s defense is what is this team’s makeup against old teams that are willing to come in and punk you and to me the only teams capable of punking a team with a bunch of lottery picks on it are top 10 teams in the country country right like you’re not going to see anybody in the Big 10 there isn’t a team in the Big 10 that will come in and punk Illinois this year not worried about that yeah but we’ve seen them against SEC opponents already a couple times in my opinion Old Miss and Bama sort of took it to you beat AR what’s that SEC they beat Arkansas they beat Arkansas which again transited property that’s I have no room to talk my team didn’t beat Arkansas but also I even like I don’t think Arkansas punked Michigan necessar they’re not the most physical you know what I mean they’re like they’re shot making right Tennessee is the most physical team in the country so I don’t know am I just making [ __ ] up or is this a narrative you are a little bit concerned about because to me I think Illinois’s Talent rocks it’s just when they when they go up against a team as talented as them that’s also older and More Physical that’s where I feel like you start to see the extra stuff for come in they can be negative a little bit but but isn’t our is it more so a team that’s old and physical or a team that’s like athletes like te teams that have players that can just blow past slow-footed Illinois players or a combination of both I don’t really know I think like my eyes told me that Old Miss and Alabama had better athletes and phys and they were teams that they they used Illinois wanting the offensive rebound against them like they got the rebounds they got out and run and Illinois was too slow defensively too slow footed to stay in front of people and or get back right I don’t know I don’t know if Tennessee really has that profile but also Tennessee is just so good off like all the stuff they run offensively I like you said Ralph said it in his Ralph report everything they were doing for dton connect they do for Chaz ler right now and Chaz laner is doing it just as good yeah Chaz laner is ridiculous um we should pull up actual Chaz lineer numbers just for people to realize it if you don’t and and on on the same token we’ll get to it a little bit deeper but like matchup wise there’s not really a spot where I’m like oh you know there’s a there’s a massive Advantage except that Chaz laner I think that anybody on Illinois that checks him is gonna get cooked to be honest so laners 64 200 PBS 19 points a game shooting 49% from three on eight attempts game absolutely insane 48% from the floor 79% from the free throw line he doesn’t really do anything but score but that’s exactly what they want him to do like all they need that’s all they need him to do Ziggler creates the plays lanir scores everybody else defends their ass off it is the exact formula they did last year with connect and uh looking back at it connect had a good game against Illinois last season um pull up the box real quick just to actually cite it but I remember this being a back and forth game yeah connect had 21 Shannon had 22 they got a 22o game from Quincy garer but Tennessee ended up with Five Guys in double figures and I don’t know just kind of was the better team even with star performances from Shannon and which is my concern right how does Illinois go out and beat a better team that’s what I feel like they haven’t done in over a year how does Illinois go out and beat a better team I don’t mean to sign Doom and Gloom I don’t know if this is the the game to beat a better team I don’t know if they can beat Tennessee you don’t know if they can beat him I see I think they can beat him at least I personally don’t no no I but that’s but that’s me that’s how I feel about Tennessee okay like I I just think that Tennessee is is right now well oil machine they’re really good outside of lanir also if this comes down to like a four matchup too eigor milic will absolutely eat benun Rick house alive you think so legit eat him alive maybe what do you like about milic I’m not all the way there on michic like you are well it’s not even me being high on milites necessarily I just think that if he has Benham Rick house on him it’s going to be pretty easy to get what he wants at 610 you think so yes interesting and then I think and then I think defensively oara can be good on Big T okay even though there might be the situation where Big T is able to drag Oar out a little bit I just think akar has the quickness to stay with him are you worried about Big T at all given what he did against Wisconsin I I do have questions of if the stuff that Big T does like he’s great he’s been of the one of the best bigs in the conference I do think that he person personally is one of the players that can struggle with guys that are his size and are as and can be physical with him so big T um he’s got some he’s got some soft Tendencies the one thing I would say he’s an elite rebounder so I’m I’m not even that like if you’re soft and an elite rebounder to me you’re not soft um he spit out 11 rebounds against Wisconsin 12 rebounds against Northwestern 10 rebounds against Arkansas so he’s rebounding double figures every single game right now he’s blocking shots he’s a guy the one thing I am concerned about with him if he’s not making his threes is he scoring and the Wisconsin game he went one for five from three three for seven from two-point range only nine points but it is a trend his last three games against quality opponents you go through this uh against Wisconsin Northwestern and Arkansas he is seven for 18 from two-point range that’s not good enough and I do feel like his offense is really predicated on just like getting hot from three ah Tennessee very good at taking away the three Tennessee also very good at guarding the rim too so like also very also the best team in the country right somebody’s got to just step up and like make plays and be awesome you know what I mean yeah State Farm Center needs to show up yeah um can I torvic you again you don’t have to ask to Tor you have consent to torvic me small sample size e this is the smallest sample size you’ll ever be toried with but I’m gonna torvic a small sample uh two games two games I want to look at uh Illinois so basically since conference play started how is Illinois performed and obviously you lose to Northwestern that span not exactly uh great performance and then you don’t cover against Wisconsin so back toback games you’re 0 and2 against the spread you have underperformed relative to expectation in the last two games we all agree Illinois is a good team except the AP pole doesn’t have them in it which is crazy but all the metrics say they are uh just in conference play though since it’s started sorting just by the last week where do you think Illinois is nationally just by sorting in the last week just their last week of basketball what have they played like if they normally play like a top 20ish team according to the metrics what have they been in the last week is that just is that how many games that include just the Wisin two Western Wisconsin um so I they weren’t that bad defensively against West they’re just bad offensively I’m going to say say I still think they’re top 20 I’m G say 19 49th what first week of big 10 play Illinois has been the 49th best 49th that’s I’d like to throw that small sample size out it is a small sample size I think the correct response would be to throw it out Big 10 plays here are you playing your best or not not a big 10 team not a big 10 team quality opponent do they nor play their best against a quality opponent you tell me no I don’t know I’m just I’m trying to do some math here uh what minutes wise what’s going to happen with Illinois here there’s been so much discussion of you know is Ben Gonna Keep playing 30 is Will riy gonna play more Off the Bench does MZ get a chance are we gonna see more Jake Davis do you think Brad’s just going to do all the same [ __ ] as always I think it’s going to be the same unless uh I think the one difference will be is if Trey White’s not playing as well as he played last game I think there’ll be more of a shift towards uh will Riley I think the reason Trey white played because he played so well is why maybe will Riley’s minutes were down because will riy did not play well or did not shoot well okay um but Benjamin’s getting his 30 on me yeah who who all plays 30 minutes in this game casparis will Boswell will we think HRI house and a visic will uh Visage won’t Visage won’t they’ll be in foul trouble really yeah okay can we go back to the defensive matchups quickly if you’re Illinois who do you put on who uh I would go I go Zigler on Boswell go mhack on casparis so you’re you’re doing who Tennessee would have guarding Illinois players oh do you want to see I guess I want both if you’re let’s start by your Rick B oh no no I’ll I’ll go Illinois who guards Tennessee that’s what you’re asking um I put kasparis on on Zigler I’d put Boswell on lanir go Trey white on see now you could go Trey white on like a miliage but the height Advantage I I might go Trey white on miliage and then hide home rickos on MK and then go Big T on akara okay so this is it’s going to be fascinating to see what Illinois decides to do we’ve seen Illinois deal with some very unique things with who guards who in the past uh obviously also Illinois’s switching a lot defensively so it might not matter who they really stick intentionally but um you know you think back to the past like how they deployed Ty Rogers positionally like weird [ __ ] can happen with matchups you and I would do very different things on paper which is going to be interesting to watch from what Brad actually decides uh to me you hide casparis on mhack I don’t really think you like like mhak is still too quick for him Rick house I don’t really think you can hide Rick house anywhere um I also I would not want casparis on zegler to me like you have to guard for 40 minutes if you’re guarding Zer he’s kind of the heart of the offense I get LAN does everything but like there’s a risk kasparis gets into foul trouble there’s just that’s a big assignment so to me Boswell’s perfectly designed his size can frustrate Ziggler I think if you frustrate Ziggler actually you frustrate Tennessee you gotta worry more about frustrating Ziggler I think than you do uh lanir lanir you’re gonna live and die with if he makes shots um and Trey white size I think could possibly do well on lanir so that’s what I would do I put Trey white on lanir I put Boswell on Ziggler make sure your best two Defenders are on Tennessee’s best two players then put kasparis on masak put him Rick house on milic big tan aara that’s what I would do let’s flip it Tennessee on Illinois who draws the casparis assignment here I think it’s gonna be mayack I think it’s gonna be mayshack too okay but Ziggler’s also a pass so where where do they put Ziggler do they just put him on Boss they honestly might they might do they might switch you know what I’m saying like both players get a shot at like mhack on for a little bit Zigler on for a little bit they might switch it up on him because Zigler could probably get like up in kasparis a little bit yeah um May maybe make things a little bit uncomfortable but obviously mayhak size and quickness he’ll be able to stay with casparis um uh see I I think Tennessee matches up pretty well with Illinois they do the one editor note on Tennessee right now they’re banged up they only had seven available players against Miami so if you’re looking opportunity wise not a deep bench if you can get somebody in foul trouble if you can wear him down a little bit could be an opportunity be a great opportunity for the deepest most talented I’m sorry be a great opportunity for the deepest most talented team in Illinois history I have one more note please people want us to believe that Felix oara is a huge upgrade for ten see right um sure this the Felix Sara that you and I saw college hoops to go a couple years ago yeah this the Felix aara that left a lot to be desired with his performances at Ohio State the Felix aara that is top 25 in Block percentage it’s the Felix aara that had zero points and five rebounds two turnovers and no blocks in 20 minutes against Miami last game yeah that Felix oara that fix is one of the best Rim protectors in college basketball yes if Big T is who I think Big T is he should destroy oara he we’ll see if Big T is who I think Big T is which I’ve said at times Big T has been the best player on this team he should destroy Felix hakar just want that on record I feel like aar’s getting a lot of credit for being some great upgrade he hasn’t scored in double figures in four of his last five games he has uh five rebounds seven rebounds 11 rebounds three rebounds and six rebounds in those games he has two games with zero blocks in his last five he not some crazy special player Tennessee’s defense is really good because they’re perimeter Defenders AAR is a good shot blocker who I still think is a little soft we’ll see Big T should be able to do what I I hope Big T can do um feel like I had one more thing here but I’m forgetting it now oh I want quick uh stat projections what’s kasparis is line in this game sparis is still on a roll right now and I think it I think it continues at home he’ll get the I think he’ll have 18 186 and four six and five okay um will Riley’s gonna have double digits in this basketball game he’s going to hit some shots o yeah dare I say the bench favors Illinois pretty sizeably here yeah I think will riy gets right at home think so he get right one time get right one time William it would be like on brand and a nice note for will Riley the very special scorer to just like torch the best defense in college basketball randomly yeah this would be massive for his draft stock too because people will reference how he had zero against a bunch of teams but to always lean back on the fact that against one of the best defensive teams in the country he went for whatever he goes for yeah no agreed okay what’s Chaz Lan’s line uh I think Chaz lanir scores 24 in this game nothing else 24 one and one I like that call I’m with you on lanir I think casparis matches it though I’ll if I have a bold prediction casparis outscores lanir in this game o and scor how many points and adds the rebounds and assists with it I see sassy sassy are you are you getting to where I think you’re getting no because if kasparis is doing that no no you’re not you sure you don’t want maybe you’re trying to get there might be trying to get there let’s get to our predictions uh diers Pro Predictive Analytics model is our partner for all previews and Recaps this season diers Pro will give you a projected score player props stat projections probabilities of every possible outcome for every college basketball game before it happens they simulate every game 10,000 times it’s a great tool I’ve been using it for years truly and uh big reason why I’ve had success historically in past years with my daily Pick Series has been the diers pro model promo code sleepers you can get 20% off your first month of dimer pro go check it out for now dimer Pro’s line is not out because we’re recording this a day early but tune back in Friday night the line should come out when the sportsbooks line comes out we will use Ken pom’s line kenpom has Tennessee winning this game by three on the road in champagne and State Farm that makes Illinois a a home dog and when home dogs aren’t dogs what are they Gregory they’re wolves C they’re the most dangerous species we might have to have an animal talk as far as most dangerous species um they are dangerous not the most dangerous uh that’s why I’m picking Tennessee to go on the road and win this basketball game because Tennessee is like a tiger yeah like if they’re a wolf um then Tennessee is Rick Barnes with a 12 gauge just like animal tranquilizer and they he just he picturing Rick Barnes running around with a gun like just Rick Barnes just like would quick like you know saying a little tranqu it cuts to like a 70 linear run to start the game it cuts to Rick Barnes on the sideline he’s got a triler ridiculous uh okay what was your final score projection uh I’m gonna say Tennessee wins this game 80 82 to 70 82 to 72 okay like I said it’s a big opportunity I do see some parallels here between Illinois hosting Tennessee and what Purdue did to Alabama like I think Alabama’s very clearly a better team than Purdue but home court and the crowd kind of overcame them they got some special stuff from the bench and you just won the game I won’t be surprised at all if that’s what happens for Illinois here but as far as making a prediction goes um a lot of the concerns I raised in this video I think are somewhat real I don’t think that in the last year when Brad Underwood has had his two best teams in a very long time I don’t think Illinois has been at their best in their biggest games for whatever reason I don’t know what that is but I just I I think this team this specific season’s version of a team the only time we’ve really seen them struggle have been when when they faced teams that can hunt switches and beat kasparis H Rick house uh Northwestern did that and then the FC schools will miss and uh Alabama just sort of overwhelmed them with athleticism and size and speed Tennessee is going to do that in this game laner and and others zegler can definitely get switched on to the the matchups they want they can hunt they can get downhill and then defensively they’re just going to make it really tough I anticipate an incredible casparis [ __ ] to him performance like I said I think casparis will outplay lanir in this game and I think it will still be in a losing eff effort because of Tennessee’s Supporting Cast their physicality and I think uh honestly if I have a prediction here outside of casparis I don’t think Illinois is gonna get much from anybody Ah that’s not good that’s my fear we’ll see we’ll see if we’re right we’ll see if we’re wrong for Illinois fans hopefully we are wrong we’ll recap this after the weekend good luck this video is brought to you by my bookie the presenting sponsor of all things sleepers media and our favorite sports book on the planet cart why do you love my bookie because they make it easy to play your way and get paid Greg I’m a simple man at heart and my bookie makes it very very easy for me to place all types of bets on all sporting events player props whatever you need my bookie has it if you ever found yourself having having that little thought bubble above your head I want to bet like sleepers media look no further it’s with my bookie and they have a massive insane deposit bonus right now available tell the folks about that Gregory promo code sleepers Link in the description of every video on the Channel with promo code sleepers as a firsttime depositor you can double your first deposit by creating an account with my bookie entering the promo code if you put a $100 in you’ll end up with $200 in funds that’s very exciting for people that want to win bets just like us go to my bookie use promo code sleepers to take advantage today


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