Dan
Illini Basketball 2016-2017
Lol at Lucas cheesin' while everyone else is trying to look hard.
I dunno. I think he was able to do some jump shooting when he first got here so I'd assume he wasn't that limited as far as the lifting goes. He might have missed some conditioning and some explosiveness drills, however. He's the odd man out as everyone else, including Kipper, has been here since the winter and longer. I'm sure he's stronger, but 3-4 months is a little unrealistic to achieve the superman look we now expect from everyone.
As an incoming freshman, Lucas looks like the biceps and triceps are coming along per the pic. He should show considerable physique progress in his final year.
Lucas is just a baby. Give him time
walk on Clayton Jones had a good fg percentage overall and from the 3pt. Good size for PG and appears to have good handles and feel for the game. Wonder if he may take some minutes.
I'm pretty sure we've been up to speed since Groce got here. IIRC, Bruce was pretty strict on what shoes were acceptable. Groce lets the players where whatever they want as long as they are team colors.
I'm speaking more to what Nike is giving us, and generally speaking (unless the players chose not to wear them), prior to this year we've been a season behind on nike performance basketball shoes. There's a couple pairs in the picture above that are from 3-4 years ago. Maybe we just don't discard team shoes from over the years.
I think maybe I wasn't clear on my Lucas comment. I'm not bemoaning his lack of progress. I'm bemoaning what I view as a missed opportunity. For example, maybe he can max squat 275, I'm disappointed his injury didn't afford him the opportunity to get to 315 or whatever.
Do fans for other teams do this too?
Only if they have 3 PG's under scholarship.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Interesting comments by Groce on WDWS today. He said Tracy was stronger, faster, jumping higher and more explosive than at anytime in his career. I still have a hard time believing he will come back better, but I can't imagine JG laying that kind of expectations on him if he isn't up to it. It would be huge for this years team if it comes to pass. Supposedly his jump shot is much improved too.
illynifan34
That's a winner!!
- OH
It's hard to believe any of this is true and not just coach speak/confidence boosting.
I will be rooting for Tracy and Malcolm so hard this year. Those guys deserve a great season. Would love for them to go out on a high note.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
It's in the same vein as begging for minutes for the 3rd string QB.
I mean fletcher did post gains on August 4 for our guys. Tracy's older numbers would have probably been post acl recovery, while his current numbers are post Achilles. Unless fletch is lying on his Twitter, it's unambiguously true.
I do not think he meant Fletcher's numbers. I believe he meant that Tracy is stronger, faster, jumping higher, more explosive, with a better jump shot than at anytime in his career. That describes a much better overall player, not just Fletcher's numbers. You have a senior who suffered 2 major injuries/surgeries, has not played in more than two years, and comes back a much better player than ever before.
I really think people bash on Tracy too much on this board. I think of it this way, he has not only been good for the Illini in the past but he has also been able to see the game from the sideline and take away a lot of experience from that end. He's probably 5 years older than most of the competition out there and he's an Illini guy and will work his tail off. Give the kid a break and hope for the best. If Groce has faith in him then so do I. Tracy was a captain the past two years if I am correct and he was chosen by his teammates. Dudes a winner.
Huh?
I don't know if he's going to be "better" but people that have seen him play recently have made it seem like he is indeed faster, stronger, and more explosive. Not sure about the jump shot, but that would be the least surprising thing to improve.
I'm not surprised that Tracy has been able to get to this point physically but I am still curious on what his game will look like when he plays real competition.