Illini Basketball 2019-2020

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#402      

Retro62

North Bethesda, Maryland
I know counting on a freshman is dangerous, but Kofi is a big fella, and should be able to hold his ground. Georgi seemed to have limited his silly fouls as the year went on, while wowing with his offense. Losing Samba is not optimal, but Kouma might just be able to pick up some glue minutes to keep things together. Kofi and Georgi are a nice pair to change things up.
 
#403      

SKane

Tennessee
I am not Samba Kane.

I picked my name a long time before Samba joined the program.

Now I will forever be known as the poster who picked the wrong name.

I am going to have to increase my self-esteem - maybe a new pair of sunglasses would make me look better.
 
#404      
Wasn’t there talk about Samba transferring at the end of the year but he reconsidered and decided to stay? So now he’s reconsidered again for whatever reason. I think all this speculation about being Creaned is a bit silly.
Yea....BU was recently raving about him. If you enter transfer portal...does that guarantee exit?
 
#405      
I can verify this.
I am not Samba Kane.

I picked my name a long time before Samba joined the program.

Now I will forever be known as the poster who picked the wrong name.

I am going to have to increase my self-esteem - maybe a new pair of sunglasses would make me look better.
 
#407      
I think there might be something to this. Samba might have Crean'd
Maybe he just wants to go somewhere and play to get better, rathe than sit rather than sit on the pines and watch. Personally, think he sees Kouma as surpassing him on the depth chart. Bigger/Stronger. Typical recruiter over. And don't get me wrong, I think Samba will ultimately be a good player. I think it's just 'Players wanna play'. And maybe he just wants to explore, I guess you can enter the portal, and you can withdrawal. in any event, we should wish him well.
 
#409      

Deleted member 643761

D
Guest
The problem, as I see it, is the portal. Creaning existed, so that is not new. However, schools did not practice creaning, I think, because it was not easy to crean. The portal provided that plausible deniability that did not exist before. Now a staff can provide enough info to nudge a kid. The URL for the portal, that is the easy part.
Do I need to turn on my sarcasm meter?
 
#411      
I don't know how the "Queen of Reckless, Optimistic Takes" can laugh about a post guessing that Kipper will a decent wing that's starting going into B1G play. We don't have anyone proven at the wing yet and while Tevian is likely the favorite, I'd give Kipper ~20% chance of putting things together. I feel bad for Kipper, I honestly think he'd been a much better player on other teams where he could have grown and developed as a wing. He came here and got stuck playing out of his natural position as a 4 and 5. He's shown flashes of great talent, but could never string enough flashes together to build confidence that he needs so desperately. We all talk about Kipper and his mentality and how it's holding him back. Do any of you know how hard it is to play out of position against guys who are equally or more talented and playing their natural position? It sucks. It's mentally and physically draining when you get beat over and over again and it's not really your fault because your coach didn't put together the correct team composition. I'm really, really rooting for Kipper this year. I hope he has a solid year and has an opportunity to get solid playing time as a grad transfer somewhere(if he's eligible).

I'd rather be the queen of "whatever you said" than a lot of the babble on here. Maybe he did get a raw deal, but I'll have to see it to believe it if he's progressed above last year.
 
#412      
So still only speculation. Thankfully, the board does that well.
 
#413      
I'm hopeful that the staff got word that Donnie Tillman is going to commit to the Illini and this isn't a creaning as much as it was the staff being honest with Samba. With Tillman, Giorgi would split his time between the 4 and 5 next year and there wouldn't be many minutes available at the 5 with Kofi (assuming he's not a one and done) and Giorgi. The staff, knowing that Samba was on the fence at the start of the off-season, wanted to do right by Samba and let him know right away so he could land somewhere before it's too late to find a spot.

Edit: Tillman has to sit out a year so it wouldn't make an impact this year, but Tillman would eat into Samba's minutes his junior year. So Samba may want to look elsewhere.
I would be very surprised if any staff anywhere informed a current player that "we have a guy who says he's coming and after his sit out year, he'll probably take your minutes".

That just doesn't sound right. Unless I misread? I've done that plenty
 
#414      
I don't like this. We need front court depth. One reason the team wasn't very good last year was the lack of size in the post. Kofi, changes that, however, what if he were to get hurt? What if he's in foul trouble a lot? If GB is the biggest guy on the court for extended minutes again this season then the Illini are in trouble. Samba's 7 foot frame and athletic ability can make guys think when he's in. Cn't say anything about Kouzma cause i haven't seen him.
 
#415      
Samba was never going to be the difference-maker next season. Generally, teams play 7 deep when it matters. Our top 7 are going to make or break this season. So unless you think Samba was one of our 7 best, then I’m not convinced his transfer will change much next year.

IMO, next season success will depend on.

1. Chemistry. Can they execute the gameplan and compliment each other
2. Schedule strength. Need some easy Ws this year.
3. Health
 
#416      
Last year Ebo, this year Samba, what seems to be a sound strategy of bringing in big athletes and developing them isn't working. Most of us thought that both guys would have made some contribution their second year. Is it a lack of patience by the players or the staff? Down to three bigs, one more than last year, but two short of ideal.
 
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#417      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
I don't like this. We need front court depth. One reason the team wasn't very good last year was the lack of size in the post. Kofi, changes that, however, what if he were to get hurt? What if he's in foul trouble a lot? If GB is the biggest guy on the court for extended minutes again this season then the Illini are in trouble. Samba's 7 foot frame and athletic ability can make guys think when he's in. Cn't say anything about Kouzma cause i haven't seen him.

I don't like it either, but this may be a case where the kid foresaw meager minutes for the next 2 years. So, he decided to cut bait.
 
#418      

breadman

Herndon, VA
What about Fletch?
I know this is a very, very secondary consequence of the Samba situation, but from the video, it sure looks like Samba has more definition in his physical presence as well, I'm sure of his nutritional presence. It would have been really nice to see Fletch's off-the-court results translate to on-the-court results in front of Illini Nation for all to see instead of where the portal transports him to. This could also be applied to Higgs and Ebo.

In any event, sorry to see him go, if in fact that is the future for him.
 
#419      
Last year Ebo, this year Samba, what seems to be a sound strategy of bringing in big athletes and developing them isn't working. Most of us thought that both guys would have made some contribution their second year. Is it a lack of patience by the players or the staff? Down to three bigs, one more than last year, but two short of ideal.

I would say lack of patience on players part due to writing on the wall....which is written by the coaches.

The coaches will always look to add players with potential, but also look to add players with ability. The writing is that Kane will sit alot more in the next 2 years than play, why not leave and search out something better?

As well the coaches are showing they can recruit to an extent better talent, and also show the brand is far better optically than what it has been in the past....hence more talented recruits in the future possibly?
 
#420      
Kind of a shame. I was rooting for him to grow and do well here. On the other hand, I suspect we’ll have a better player in his place. Hope he finds a place where he can play and grow.
We probably already do have a better player in his place and he likely knew it.
 
#421      
I think there are different looks to this and all issues are not the same...If you are recruiting like Crean did where everyone knows the last 2 -3 guys are near zero chance of being back that is one thing. If a guy isn't putting in the work, making the effort on the court or classroom, or generally a problem child it is a different situation, with all sorts of gray in the middle of these 2 ends. By most accounts J. Richmond was pushed out after one year...that would totally be on him & I doubt many would have a problem with that. Seems a high probability Higgs was pushed off the team, that was unfortunate, but at some point you have to be realistic on if he has a chance to play or not and move on.. No idea on Samba, but there were rumblings he had some issues last year. Talent wise, I have a hard time believing that if he was putting in the work we wouldn't try to push him out, so if we pushed him out I'm not going to get too excited either way.

This list of senarios seems to me to be most appropriate. It did seem Samba was all-in for the Illini. So, it does not appear that it was HIS decision. Was it his "handlers" or the U of I? That we can only speculate. However, if the staff did not see him as a good fit for what they wanted to accomplish, this might have been indicated to him. While I do not "like" "creaning", any situation is possible, and it is not MY job on the line, so my envaluations are missing some/all the information.
 
#422      
Samba was never going to be the difference-maker next season. Generally, teams play 7 deep when it matters. Our top 7 are going to make or break this season. So unless you think Samba was one of our 7 best, then I’m not convinced his transfer will change much next year.

IMO, next season success will depend on.

1. Chemistry. Can they execute the gameplan and compliment each other
2. Schedule strength. Need some easy Ws this year.
3. Health

He’s not a difference maker, no. But he gets your difference makers breaks at points in the game where they need it. He covers them when they’re in foul trouble. He allows them to be fresh and usable when we need our difference makers on the floor. Without him we rely solely on Kouma. It hurts.
 
#423      
He’s not a difference maker, no. But he gets your difference makers breaks at points in the game where they need it. He covers them when they’re in foul trouble. He allows them to be fresh and usable when we need our difference makers on the floor. Without him we rely solely on Kouma. It hurts.
First off I wish Samba nothing but the best with whatever decision he makes. He seems to be a very likable young man.
Samba would have been third on the depth chart at the 5 at best. I am not sure that he was better than BK or Verdonk. I think the issue was Samba was not going to play meaningful minutes in 2019. With other current players getting stronger and having much more developed skill sets. We could play a little smaller but not as small as last year or for as long given our additions.Our incoming players likely have a much more developed skill set too. I wish Samba the best but I feel he made the right choice for him if he expects to play more than spot minutes in 2019 or probably beyond. IMO the players we have and likely will get are better alternatives to fill out a lineup as a whole than Samba was..
 
#424      
He’s not a difference maker, no. But he gets your difference makers breaks at points in the game where they need it. He covers them when they’re in foul trouble. He allows them to be fresh and usable when we need our difference makers on the floor. Without him we rely solely on Kouma. It hurts.
Why do you say we rely solely on Kouma? Is Verdonk or Giorgi not expected to contribute at all to the 5?
 
#425      
Why do you say we rely solely on Kouma? Is Verdonk or Giorgi not expected to contribute at all to the 5?

Kouma is the only projected backup as of now....Verdonk possibly will fight to get on the floor, he is not/nor will not be a 5 guy do to size imo. Giorgi may get his allotted minutes mostly at the 4 position...BU has already spoken about the staff findings ways to play them together. So limited minutes at best for the 5 position for him.
 
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