Agree 99% with this statement....but must add if they want to learn to play defense. With all the talent this roster will or may end up with, wanting to defend like a banshee will likely decide the level of minutes played.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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During the Cuonzo Martin years at Missouri State, a kid transferred in from Boston College after his frosh season. It was indeed quite fascinating to see this kid, listed at 6'9', develop into an all MVC caliber player who likely could hold his own in the B1G as a senior when MSU won the Valley title, their only one ever. In his first season I had my doubts he would ever be a plus player, but watching the steps up in his game on a monthly basis was quite captivating for me.
ILFaninFL
- Nature Coast in Florida
Kasparas would be a fantastic pickup. By mid-January, he could be killing it.
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
Huge difference. Nojus is a good player, Kasparas is an excellent player, and probably League bound
blackdog
- Champaign
Half those highlights are picking pockets and it seems like he plays with a lot of tenacity. Those types of guys have games that translate well going up levels.
I see the lineup right now as Boswell, Ty, Tre, Hum, and Ivisic. Ty can guard a 2 is surrounded by shooters. Sure they are looking for a SG but don’t think it as a black hole.
Respectfully disagree. Tre and Ty are not good enough shooters to play together.
I saw where Kasparas was the MVP of the ANGT tournament over there ( equivalent to our NCAA tourney) so he’s the real deal.
IMO, the point to riding pine for a year or two at a place like Illinois is to take advantage of the facilities, coaching, relationships, etc., all of which are probably all better than at Mercer, Evansville, etc.
I'm not convinced that in every case, or even in most cases, that playing time at a small school is better for development than practicing against the likes of TSJ, CH, MD, etc.
If this is our starting 5 I'm going to church daily & praying that Ty's seeing a shooting coach, a sports therapist, & 10k shots daily.
Whatever it takes for him to get confidence outside of 8 ft, b/c that is not a top quarter big 10 team if he doesn't.
Everyone is going to develop differently. I think being the focus of the other team & relied on as 'the guy' has developmental value you won't get in practice.
We saw that with Podz and it will be an interesting thing with Ty this year to see if he takes the next step without that pressure.
Putting Ty and Tre in the same offensive category?
I'm not sure what "the same offensive category" means. Neither of them are threats from beyond the ark. This means their combined presence on the floor for us would enable two of our opponent's defensive players to clog the paint and prevent our other players from getting points in the paint.
He's going to be better in college than Egor...imo. You also might get 2 years out of him. He is a legit nba talent
I've learned my lesson. I'll wait to get excited until I see the "BOOM!"
Ty may be able to guard a 2, but he's certainly not a 2 on offense and neither is Tre.
He seems to be our main target at the moment. If he doesn't work out in the next week or so...
how much of an option is getting a commitment from Will Riley and him reclassing...? He's the other "int prospect" that's been brought up here...
how much of an option is getting a commitment from Will Riley and him reclassing...? He's the other "int prospect" that's been brought up here...
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Fair enough, tho I will point out 1 year of redshirting at Illinois includes Body by Fletch, and also, the coach at the P6 school can see your development every day in practice.
If you develop, you stay and play. If you dont, you get recruited over. I could be wrong, but I dont think developmental prospects are completely gone. The system will level out at some point. And rather quickly I believe. I mean Illinois is already bringing in transfers with multiple years of playing time left. If development was done at P6, we would just bring in a new round of seniors every year.
Thats my very uniformed opinion anyway.
Per usual, definitions aren't really clear. What's developmental?
So one problem is that you can develop on a P6 and still get looked over because you aren't getting the PT. Seems like this was the case with Podz.
If we're talking projects, I just don't see the advantage for the kid of practicing against the best and getting Fletched vs. putting up some super nice numbers at a lower school and getting NIL deals from schools desperate to fill roster holes.
Personally, I'd like to see us develop a rep where we turn 25-60th ranked players into NBA players. Ayo. Shannon. That's the kind of development that I think attracts players.
Right now, if you're on the bench at P6 school, I'm not sure if you ever get off it. Heck, we have guys relegating Ty to fewer minutes.
i assume the staff believes improvement is possible. His stroke looks fine. They didn’t hesitate to bring him in.
army or navy uniform?? ;-) or maybe... Illini basketball uniform?
Seriously, I believe that Coach bread develops his players throughout the year and that they're much better players by February. Physically they start developing during the summer and continue throughout the school year with nutrition, weight training, basketball skills and endurance. Last year's team looked way more coordinated and with superior stamina by the end of the year, and they were an "old" team too.
Seriously, I believe that Coach bread develops his players throughout the year and that they're much better players by February. Physically they start developing during the summer and continue throughout the school year with nutrition, weight training, basketball skills and endurance. Last year's team looked way more coordinated and with superior stamina by the end of the year, and they were an "old" team too.
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Nice writeups (1st full article is $) on Kasparas Jakucionis here (2nd article craps on Demin as well):
www.noceilingsnba.com
www.noceilingsnba.com
The World Tour: A Travel Guide to Kasparas Jakucionis
Recently named MVP at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Belgrade, the Lithuanian guard is a name to know for the 2025 NBA Draft.
www.noceilingsnba.com
The World Tour: Yet Another Barcelona vs. Real Madrid battle
Four of the top international 2025 Draft prospects shared the floor last weekend. How did they fare in the finals of one of the biggest U18 invitationals in Europe.
www.noceilingsnba.com
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Underwood has shown he will recruit over a starter if he has someone better willing to come. I would be amazed if Rodgers starts next year. In fact, if we bring in 2 more guys, he could be outside the rotation.
We're going to bring in 9 or 10 guys. We're not going to play a 9 or 10 man rotation. Underwood never has. So, someone is going to transfer in and ride the pine. Do you think that guy(s) is going to stay after that? Do you think Underwood is not going to look for another crop of transfers next year?
I believe Humrichous will be the only Sr. We've already got Fears coming in for that scholarship. We could leave one open, but do you think Fears will be the only guy we bring in next year? There's going to be turnover again. Probably a fair amount of it.
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