Tracy Abrams named Big Ten Player of the Week

[Dan]

Player of the Week
Tracy Abrams, Illinois
G – 6-1 – So. – Chicago, Ill. – Mount Carmel

• Posted career highs with 27 points and eight rebounds to lead Illinois to an 81-79 win over Auburn at the United Center in Chicago
• Tallied game highs of five assists and four steals
• Played all 35 of his minutes at the point with only one turnover
• Earns his first career Player of the Week honor
• Last Illinois Player of the Week: Brandon Paul (Dec. 10, 2012)

http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskb...123112aaa.html

[ericac]

TA a big reason for this years early success, congrats

[kingmal]

I thought Tracy had 29 points

[lstewart53x3]

Originally Posted by kingmal

I thought Tracy had 29 points

The ESPN box score was wrong lol.

Congrats TA! You deserve this.

[hometeam]

Well earned. Love when TA pounds that ball into the floor. He's a tough dude!

[Symmooth]

Originally Posted by lstewart53x3

The ESPN box score was wrong lol.

Congrats TA! You deserve this.

Yahoo had 29 in their headline also for most of the day on Sat. :laugh:

I expected TA to be better this year, but deeammnn!
I guess Groce actually knew what he was doing early on benching him at times.

Congrats TA, and keep playing aggressive, please.

[lstewart53x3]

Originally Posted by Symmooth

Yahoo had 29 in their headline also for most of the day on Sat. :laugh:

I expected TA to be better this year, but deeammnn!
I guess Groce actually knew what he was doing early on benching him at times.

Congrats TA, and keep playing aggressive, please.

Agreed. Agreed. Agreed!

[hermie1985]

Congrats TA. Let's take it to the B1G!!

[Groundhogday]

I don't expect TA to score 27 points a game, but if can remain aggressive with the ball that would really help balance out our dependence upon Paul.

[HeartofaChampion]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

I don't expect TA to score 27 points a game, but if can remain aggressive with the ball that would really help balance out our dependence upon Paul.

As long as defenses extend out beyond the arc to contain our 3-pt attack, he should have a lot of room to drive.

[Trifecta23]

Everyone complains about his shooting, but his field goal% is higher than BP now and his ft % are basically the same.

[blmillini]

TA showed much more quickness with the ball in that game than he has ever shown before. If we can get him, BP, DJ and JB all taking the ball to the hoop in that way, we are going to open things up a bit more. We could use a little help from the bigs but at least it is an option to counter teams trying to take away the 3 from us.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by Trifecta23

Everyone complains about his shooting, but his field goal% is higher than BP now and his ft % are basically the same.

Player____3P%____2P%
Paul____36.5%__50.6%
Abrams__29.8%__51.1%

Abrams has a slightly higher shooting % overall because he takes fewer shots from the arc (33% of his shots vs. 52% for Paul) and (b) he has a slightly higher % on layups.

Paul is clearly the better outside shooter, though his 3 point shooting has really dropped off.

[Trifecta23]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

Player____3P%____2P%
Paul____36.5%__50.6%
Abrams__29.8%__51.1%

Abrams has a slightly higher shooting % overall because he takes fewer shots from the arc (33% of his shots vs. 52% for Paul) and (b) he has a slightly higher % on layups.

Paul is clearly the better outside shooter, though his 3 point shooting has really dropped off.

True, for every 18 shots from the 3 BP makes one more... Still not the disparity people would like to think.

[TEYPAY]

or you could say BP shoots 22% better from distance.....

[Ransom Stoddard]

Tracy's the big surprise for me this year, and I think his play is central to the success of the team.

A great honor for him, and hopefully one of many more to come.

[HeartofaChampion]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

Player____3P%____2P%
Paul____36.5%__50.6%
Abrams__29.8%__51.1%

Abrams has a slightly higher shooting % overall because he takes fewer shots from the arc (33% of his shots vs. 52% for Paul) and (b) he has a slightly higher % on layups.

Paul is clearly the better outside shooter, though his 3 point shooting has really dropped off.

BP's love affair with the 3 needs to end. Someone with his ability to attack the paint and create his own shot should not be shooting 52 pct of his shots from beyond the arc. I know he was hitting his 3s more consistently early in the year, but a guy with his skill set and athleticism should be using his greatest strengths more often. Too often he likes to settle for the easy route, this being the long jumper. Plus he's been getting back into his old habit of fading backwards on his jump shot lately. Hopefully he corrects both these things starting Wed.

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Well, BP is 2nd in the conference and 16th nationally in FTA, so he is doing more than just shooting 3s.

[HeartofaChampion]

Originally Posted by WesterveltVictoryCigar

Well, BP is 2nd in the conference and 16th nationally in FTA, so he is doing more than just shooting 3s.

In UI's last 4 games, 28 of his 54 shots were from 3, and he shot 25% from 3 over that stretch. That's too high of a ratio of 3s to 2s for a guy whose main responsibility on O in JG's system is to penetrate and create for himself and others, imo. And a lot of his 3s of late have either been contested, 3-5 feet beyond the arc or not in rhythm.

[PillPusherSTL]

Originally Posted by HeartofaChampion

In UI's last 4 games, 28 of his 54 shots were from 3, and he shot 25% from 3 over that stretch. That's too high of a ratio of 3s to 2s for a guy whose main responsibility on O in JG's system is to penetrate and create for himself and others, imo. And a lot of his 3s of late have either been contested, 3-5 feet beyond the arc or not in rhythm.

+1. He's taken a lot of bad 3's the past few games

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Originally Posted by HeartofaChampion

In UI's last 4 games, 28 of his 54 shots were from 3, and he shot 25% from 3 over that stretch. That's too high of a ratio of 3s to 2s for a guy whose main responsibility on O in JG's system is to penetrate and create for himself and others, imo. And a lot of his 3s of late have either been contested, 3-5 feet beyond the arc or not in rhythm.

I get what you're saying and he definitely settled for a some bad 3s in the Mizzou game. However, he also has 36 FTA in those 4 games (47 in the last 5 games) and remember that if you're fouled on a 2 point attempt, it doesn't count as a FGA unless you make it. So there are probably some 2 point attempts not included in his FGA numbers. The high FTA numbers indicate to me that he is attacking the basket and penetrating. This is what we want, free throws and 3 pointers, less 17' jump shots that were favored by the previous coach.

I'm also in agreement with those suggesting he may be a bit dinged up the past few games and that may lead to more 3 point attempts.

[Trifecta23]

Could TA be a 4 time mvp for UI?

[HeartofaChampion]

Originally Posted by PillPusherSTL

+1. He's taken a lot of bad 3's the past few games

Judging solely by the eye test, I can't remember many open 3s he's taken in rhythm the last 4 games. Most were off the dribble, fading, some contested, some well beyond the arc. The old BP returned.

Originally Posted by WesterveltVictoryCigar

I get what you're saying and he definitely settled for a some bad 3s in the Mizzou game. However, he also has 36 FTA in those 4 games (47 in the last 5 games) and remember that if you're fouled on a 2 point attempt, it doesn't count as a FGA unless you make it. So there are probably some 2 point attempts not included in his FGA numbers. The high FTA numbers indicate to me that he is attacking the basket and penetrating. This is what we want, free throws and 3 pointers, less 17' jump shots that were favored by the previous coach.

I'm also in agreement with those suggesting he may be a bit dinged up the past few games and that may lead to more 3 point attempts.

My guess is you're right that being banged up is the primary reason for the overreliance on 3s lately along with his success from 3 against Gonzaga. Last year's 3-pt barrage vs. OSU seemed to convince him to rely more on the 3 after that game, and I wonder if the same is happening now. Hopefully he heals up some by tomorrow and gets good instruction from JG and JW on refocusing his offensive mindset. He's a high-usage guy in our O, so he's going to get more opportunities than most to take volumes of shots and make plays.

I know in past years he became known on the team as a guy who didn't like contact and who would fade away or shy away from defenders when he drove the lane; even in offseason scrimmages teammates would get physical with him knowing he would back down rather than attack the defender, so he tended to drive selectively and shoot from range more often. He's shown more willingness to initiate and take contact on drives this year to my surprise; some guys simply never get used to being bumped and hacked and I thought he would be one of them, so I'm glad to be wrong about it. His injuries of late may be why he was reluctant to take on defenders inside in the past. His willingness to keep doing it regularly and not sporadically will be a huge key to UI's B1G success.

[HeartofaChampion]

Originally Posted by Trifecta23

Could TA be a 4 time mvp for UI?

If we're to be an NCAA tourney entry and win a game or 2 in the Dance, it'll be because BP was our best player, imo. TA has more of the bulldog attitude, but BP is clearly our best talent and needs to play like it for us to be successful for the long haul.

[Trifecta23]

Originally Posted by HeartofaChampion

Judging solely by the eye test, I can't remember many open 3s he's taken in rhythm the last 4 games. Most were off the dribble, fading, some contested, some well beyond the arc. The old BP returned.



My guess is you're right that being banged up is the primary reason for the overreliance on 3s lately along with his success from 3 against Gonzaga. Last year's 3-pt barrage vs. OSU seemed to convince him to rely more on the 3 after that game, and I wonder if the same is happening now. Hopefully he heals up some by tomorrow and gets good instruction from JG and JW on refocusing his offensive mindset. He's a high-usage guy in our O, so he's going to get more opportunities than most to take volumes of shots and make plays.

I know in past years he became known on the team as a guy who didn't like contact and who would fade away or shy away from defenders when he drove the lane; even in offseason scrimmages teammates would get physical with him knowing he would back down rather than attack the defender, so he tended to drive selectively and shoot from range more often. He's shown more willingness to initiate and take contact on drives this year to my surprise; some guys simply never get used to being bumped and hacked and I thought he would be one of them, so I'm glad to be wrong about it. His injuries of late may be why he was reluctant to take on defenders inside in the past. His willingness to keep doing it regularly and not sporadically will be a huge key to UI's B1G success.

I think you spot on. I hope this years staff has the balls to show him some game film of how he trended last year and to not repeat.


Groce: "See this... this is how you make a lot of money at the next level."

Groce: "And this... Well, remember DMac?"

BP: "I see, I see... That is all I needed to hear."