Illini Basketball 2019-2020

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#476      

BMoreIllini

Baltimore, MD
Think we only have a pony at PF. Kofi for 20 mins at center and Giorgi at the other 20 leaves us short at PF.
It's not that cut and dry. Giorgi averaged over 26 minutes a game as a freshman. He'll play at both the 4 and 5 this coming season, I could see his time split there pretty evenly (13-15 minutes each). Kofi will get significant minutes at the 5 (20+ if he can stay out of foul trouble), and I think Samba will see 5-10 minutes as well now that he's had time to learn the schemes and develop. I think we need a solid 4 to fill 20-25 minutes there, Holyfield would be ideal, but another transfer who can play the 4 would work as well.
 
#480      
I think it's premature to expect Kofi to come in and play 20 minutes a game right away. Hopefully he learns early how to defend without fouling and can lose 10 pounds by the time the season starts, but I think a more realistic expectation is 12-15 minutes a night. If we add a 4 that can step out to the 3, this team will be very dangerous next season.
 
#481      

201154JC

Rockford, IL
Anyone hear anything about our three commits signing?
 
#482      

Deleted member 236589

D
Guest
Get a suitable PF and this team will win 22-25 games. Shouldn't be hard to convince someone now with Ayo coming back.
A 10-13 game turnaround from 2018-19 is a bit of a stretch, though anything is possible. 18-20 wins, sneaking into the NCAA's is not out of the realm of possibility....let's see what the non conference schedule looks like.
 
#483      

Deleted member 236589

D
Guest
I think it's premature to expect Kofi to come in and play 20 minutes a game right away. Hopefully he learns early how to defend without fouling and can lose 10 pounds by the time the season starts, but I think a more realistic expectation is 12-15 minutes a night. If we add a 4 that can step out to the 3, this team will be very dangerous next season.

You are 100% correct. Based on what I've seen, he's not ready to be much more than a guy coming off the bench to eat up some minutes. He's got a long way to go before he'll be asked to log 20+ minutes.
 
#485      
For the last three seasons we have had just six players each season play +20 mins. Next season we know that four of those players will be Giorgi, Ayo, Trent, and Dre. IMO the other two will need to be Kofi and an as yet unknown PF possibly called Holyfield. The remainder of the mins can be covered by the bench if we have that solid core. If we don't get that PF we are depending on a huge improvement from Samba or a Giorgi like surprise from Kourma.
 
#486      

BMoreIllini

Baltimore, MD
You are 100% correct. Based on what I've seen, he's not ready to be much more than a guy coming off the bench to eat up some minutes. He's got a long way to go before he'll be asked to log 20+ minutes.
I disagree, I don't think there's any reason why he can't average 20 a game over the course of the year. I was trying to find decent comps to a player of his caliber and his size at another P5 school recently and the best one I could come up with was Kaleb Wesson at Ohio St. Wesson was listed at 6'9" and 316 pounds on ESPN's Top 100 recruits of 2017, Kofi is listed at 6'10 and 280. Wesson averaged 10 and 5 in a little over 20 minutes per game in his freshman season. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we need Kofi to be on the floor more than OSU needed Wesson his freshman year. FWIW, Wesson is now down to about 270 pounds.
 
#487      

illini55

The Villages, FL
It's not that cut and dry. Giorgi averaged over 26 minutes a game as a freshman. He'll play at both the 4 and 5 this coming season, I could see his time split there pretty evenly (13-15 minutes each). Kofi will get significant minutes at the 5 (20+ if he can stay out of foul trouble), and I think Samba will see 5-10 minutes as well now that he's had time to learn the schemes and develop. I think we need a solid 4 to fill 20-25 minutes there, Holyfield would be ideal, but another transfer who can play the 4 would work as well.

Giorgi has PROVED he has the ability to get better. Much better. Personally, I bet my 4th nicest beach house that he shows up with a much improved jumper from 12-15 feet. Maybe even a better three point shot. Would you bet against him?
 
#488      

BMoreIllini

Baltimore, MD
Giorgi has PROVED he has the ability to get better. Much better. Personally, I bet my 4th nicest beach house that he shows up with a much improved jumper from 12-15 feet. Maybe even a better three point shot. Would you bet against him?
I'm not sure if you're trying to counter a point I made or not, but I fully believe that Giorgi will come out with a much improved jumper from mid range and from 3, which is why I think he'll spend as much time at the 4 as he does at the 5 next year. I think Giorgi being able to stretch the defense next year will be huge for us regardless of where he's playing.
 
#489      
Kofi will be our starting 5 to start the season, and Giorgi will be our starting 4. Anyone else realistically taking those spots is crazy y’all. Holyfield would be our primary big off the bench, Feliz should be our primary guard off the bench. The only question is the 3 spot. Could see Williams, Jones, Kipper or Griffin in that spot. The depth on this roster is really nice.
 
#490      
Kofi will be our starting 5 to start the season, and Giorgi will be our starting 4. Anyone else realistically taking those spots is crazy y’all. Holyfield would be our primary big off the bench, Feliz should be our primary guard off the bench. The only question is the 3 spot. Could see Williams, Jones, Kipper or Griffin in that spot. The depth on this roster is really nice.

If we manage to land Tomas Woldetensae he would probably start at the 3. Otherwise I think its Kipper's job to lose. The question is whether or not he will be able to keep it.
 
#491      
Kofi will be our starting 5 to start the season, and Giorgi will be our starting 4. Anyone else realistically taking those spots is crazy y’all. Holyfield would be our primary big off the bench, Feliz should be our primary guard off the bench. The only question is the 3 spot. Could see Williams, Jones, Kipper or Griffin in that spot. The depth on this roster is really nice.

Not crazy. If Holyfield comes here, he's absolutely a starter day 1 alongside Giorgi in the front court. He's a proven producer at the D1 level and started for Underwood as a freshman.
 
#494      

jrod1286

Pat Chambers
Illinois
The word "IF" is being heavily used in this thread.
 
#496      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Whatever is going on in Kipper's head we may never know....he could have some demons and issues that aren't going to be shared....I love that the staff hasn't given up on him, and I love that he hasn't given up despite his struggles and reduced PT.

He's shown he can totally take over a game and dominate in the right match up. I hope the addition of some better puzzle pieces frees him up to do that again.

Big Orange Family. Keep plugging away Kip! We know you got it in you!
 
#497      
Whatever is going on in Kipper's head we may never know....he could have some demons and issues that aren't going to be shared....I love that the staff hasn't given up on him, and I love that he hasn't given up despite his struggles and reduced PT.

He's shown he can totally take over a game and dominate in the right match up. I hope the addition of some better puzzle pieces frees him up to do that again.

Big Orange Family. Keep plugging away Kip! We know you got it in you!

Staff knows, they went with Kipper for the entire OT against NW after Giorgi fouled out and defensively he held Pardon to 0 points.
 
#498      
I don't know what else you need to see from Kipper to know he's not a starter. I'd rather see Tevian in that spot and let him sink or swim.

I don't think he'll manage to keep the spot. I just think he'll get the first look.
 
#499      

201154JC

Rockford, IL
I don't know what else you need to see from Kipper to know he's not a starter. I'd rather see Tevian in that spot and let him sink or swim.
Couldn't agree with you more. I believe Tevian is potentially a game changer for our team. I say potentially because he can't change anything sitting on
the bench. He is long, has a great first step and can drain from deep. Start him day one next year.
 
#500      
I disagree, I don't think there's any reason why he can't average 20 a game over the course of the year.

That's a bet I would take. I expect Samba and Kofi to battle it out, and if either is far enough along, it has potential to free up Giorgi for a mismatch. My expectation though, is that Samba still needs to get stronger, and Kofi has too much to learn. Those two should allow us not to lose too much when Giorgi comes out, but I'm very skeptical on a 20 mpg average.

With Ayo announcing he'll stay, I'm excited for that alone. Guy made a lot of great moves for us, and you could see him getting better and better. He'll be stronger, and could be dominant --he had some fantastic games.
 
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