Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
#351      
More3s
Piotyr said:
Soembody's got to be the 12th best player on a good major team, night as well be Nico.
Click to expand...
Young Sheldon GIF by CBS
 
#357      
More3s
Regarding Booth compared to Amani, can anyone comment on whether Booth is a meaningfully better perimeter defender than Amani? If the concern with both of them is that they don't quite have the size to really excel as a 5, I'm wondering if being a better on-ball perimeter defender becomes more of an issue since they need to match up with big athletic wings. If Booth is appreciably better in this regard, it might be part of why the staff likes him a bit more.
 
#359      
illiniwil
Goillinikobd said:
Ok, first, let’s call it what it is, a set of professional basketball leagues, like baseball, e.g., major league with AAA, AA, A, etc leagues.
Unlike baseball, currently free agency rules are non existent; anyone can declare free agency at any time. The whole concept of student athletes and using the value of a college degree as a recruiting tool is dead.
Seems to me, the solution is to have these newly minted professionals sign contracts.
Currently, the NIL funding organizations are the only ones with any, albeit limited leverage; NCAA is dead.

It will get worse until the insanity isn’t tolerable.

The king is dead, long live the king
Click to expand...
I've tried to argue this point with friends...Remember that before the portal/NIL all of this was under the table and only the blue
bloods got by with it. Everybody else ended up on probation. In a way, albeit perverse, we've leveled the playing field for the schools
who want to compete with those blue bloods every year. money talks. The mid majors get hurt the most unless they have one of the
billionaire alums or they team with a big spender and become their minor league..
 
#360      
RockfordIllini
More3s said:
Regarding Booth compared to Amani, can anyone comment on whether Booth is a meaningfully better perimeter defender than Amani? If the concern with both of them is that they don't quite have the size to really excel as a 5, I'm wondering if being a better on-ball perimeter defender becomes more of an issue since they need to match up with big athletic wings. If Booth is appreciably better in this regard, it might be part of why the staff likes him a bit more.
Click to expand...

That’s fair. I actually thought Amani showed great instincts and really good, active hands in drop coverage to the point where I think he would have taken Dain’s minutes had he not gotten injured. But maybe we didn’t want to rely on a below the rim player who is probably generously listed at 6’8 to be our primary option in drop. I have no idea if Booth is a better perimeter defender or more versatile than Amani but that seems likely.

Still think Amani is going to be a heck of a college player. One of those guys who doesn’t do anything to wow you but all of a sudden you look up and he’s got 17 and 11 and his team won the game.
 
#361      
Illini231
Future Insider said:
Not hating here but if those clips were from the mid season then I’m confused by everyone’s reaction by SH play in practice. Everybody and their brother was doing that to the Illini defense so why wouldn’t he in practice.
Click to expand...
One thing I have learned over the years, take every practice clip with a grain of salt
 
#362      
Goillinikobd
illiniwil said:
I've tried to argue this point with friends...Remember that before the portal/NIL all of this was under the table and only the blue
bloods got by with it. Everybody else ended up on probation. In a way, albeit perverse, we've leveled the playing field for the schools
who want to compete with those blue bloods every year. money talks. The mid majors get hurt the most unless they have one of the
billionaire alums or they team with a big spender and become their minor league..
Click to expand...
That’s fine, many levels makes sense, a natural evolution, but none of the team based professional athletic organization allow open ended, no limits free agency/portals.
 
#363      
TheodoreRex
LvilleILL said:
Booth is going to be really good.

Amani is going to be heading out soon, Chester leaving was pretty much the final straw. The staff really likes Amani, but it came down to not being able to add a 5 if Amani stayed. Also was a clunky fit with all 3 of those guys
Click to expand...
Clunky fit as in, trying to have Booth play the 5, Amani the 4, and Rodger the 3?
 
#365      
Emerson Bigguns
Goillinikobd said:
That’s fine, many levels makes sense, a natural evolution, but none of the team based professional athletic organization allow open ended, no limits free agency/portals.
Click to expand...
It's the wild west right now. The court injunction allowing immediate transfer threw a bunch of rules out the window. There has been no time to react. Eventually, the NCAA or the developing Super Conferences will step in and restore order, but they first have to establish what parameters of oversight would be permitted and standup in court. April will continue to be crazy until something changes...
 
#366      
My2Cents
Amani and anyone else had/has to understand, If Illinois didn't recruit another player at his position and Amani was out weeks because of his back. People would immediately wonder how we were not prepared with Amani already experiencing back issues causing him to miss multiple game. A back injury is not an injury I would want to have to hold out hope on every game. I think he has all the potential and seems like a great kid, hope it works out for everyone!
 
#367      
Illiniindian
SuperIllini34 said:
It absolutely sucks.

College basketball is the only sport in the US that has been reduced to the entire roster being on 1 year contracts.

MLB, NBA, NHL dont operate like this
College football, baseball technically could but you don’t see the movement like in college basketball

Dare I say the NCAA is killing the Golden Goose. If only Charles OBannom could have gotten paid for being in a video game, and that was it…

NCAA could fix a lot of this if they only allowed non-sit out transfers for players whose coaches leave
Click to expand...
But wouldn’t this bring on major lawsuits?
 
#368      
Bogey99
Emerson Bigguns said:
It's the wild west right now. The court injunction allowing immediate transfer threw a bunch of rules out the window. There has been no time to react. Eventually, the NCAA or the developing Super Conferences will step in and restore order, but they first have to establish what parameters of oversight would be permitted and standup in court. April will continue to be crazy until something changes...
Click to expand...
Not to mention the concept of ’athletes as employees’ becoming a bigger issue with Dartmouth and other pending cases.
 
#369      
DAM1298
More3s said:
Regarding Booth compared to Amani, can anyone comment on whether Booth is a meaningfully better perimeter defender than Amani? If the concern with both of them is that they don't quite have the size to really excel as a 5, I'm wondering if being a better on-ball perimeter defender becomes more of an issue since they need to match up with big athletic wings. If Booth is appreciably better in this regard, it might be part of why the staff likes him a bit more.
Click to expand...
I haven’t watched Booth much defensively, but based on the way he attacks closeouts and drives to the rim, he certainly looks more mobile than Amani in a perimeter-oriented way.
 
#371      
illiniwil
Goillinikobd said:
That’s fine, many levels makes sense, a natural evolution, but none of the team based professional athletic organization allow open ended, no limits free agency/portals.
Click to expand...
the limit will be 5 years for grad students or +-1 year of redshirt /injury as soon as covid is over. id love to say this gives kids a better
chance for a degree....
 
#374      
21ChampaignSt
BIG_G2332 said:
I like Amani, but Booth is very easily a better shooter than Amani was ever going to be. Booth has a quicker release, and a better catch and shoot game. I would also say he's bouncier than Amani was. Besides that, athletically, they're about the same. Amani has more strength but Fletch can work on that with Booth. Think Booth just has more of a ceiling too.
Click to expand...
I agree. Amani for Booth is a good trade for us.

Frankly, I never saw from Amani anything that made me think he'd be a future starter. He always looked extremely slow to me (possibly due to injury). And he seemed to fit the glue guy, dirty work, role player mold better. But clearly, and understandably, he's looking for more than that.

I'll be rooting for him as I do all our guys not named Skyy. But Booth has more potential and seems to be a better fit for us.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back