t7nich
- Central IL
ATHLETICISM
Illini Basketball 2018-2019
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ATHLETICISM
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Thanks for the laugh.
Imagine if someone would've told Bez the day that dancing video was shot that it'd be the subject of so much discussion by a bunch of geezer Illini fans...
What about skill set? Ever see Carl Lewis shoot a free throw or throw a pitch? Who were our best guards ever? Were they all the most athletic? Who's our all time scorer? Was he an uber athlete? I want skill too.
t7nich
- Central IL
All 3 have skill. Kane also has great athleticism for a 7 footer. Higgs has a nice combination skill and athleticism.
But athleticism is the answer when you compare him to the other 2. I'm specifically looking at leaping ability and quickness on the floor.. things that will hurt him on the glass and on defense. I tell you what though, Giorgi will have a leg up since he's been here working out and learning the system.
I was mostly joking as I’ve made it abundantly clear on multiple occasions that giorgi has some skill but is as athletic as me and I’m 4 hip surgeries in.
Ability to read the game: as I’ve said before he has been in the high post a couple times and made some good passes
Conclusions on help defense: Best case scenario at this point is he can see what he’s supposed to do. Whether he is quick enough to make it to the right spot in time is unlikely.
Space/angles: being a good passer usually requires this as a prereq. It won’t help him score next year when he’s so outmatched athletically that any angle he wants to use will be taken away by a better athlete. If I was an opposing coach I would tell my post player to double the guard coming around the pinch post every time because he would have enough time to recover.
Scouting/plan: the level at which other teams will be scouted will be like nothing he’s ever seen so all freshman are on pretty much the same page here. The counter is how will he do when he is so well scouted his first 2 preferences (move/pass, counters) are taken away from him.
All this said, giorgi is gonna play and I’m gonna cheer my butt off for him. Because I think he needs so much work I will be very patient with him. But I will also be realistic in that pretty much all brings at this moment is height, passing, and some pretty basic mixtapes vs air.
I never saw Carl Lewis do any of those things, but on the other hand, I never saw Mike Finke block a shot, either.
It's probably a good idea to get big men who can play both offense and defense, but in the modern game if you have to choose one or the other you'd be wise to choose D. That takes length and athleticism as well as skill, and if you don't have the first two things the third don't matter all that much.
(Note: hate to bag on Finke as he seems to be a good kid, but the point stands that he was not an adequate B1G post defender.)
Yes yes yes 100 times YES.
He also has very good hand eye coordination. He is ambidexterous. Those are athletic traits too. Bez it appears to have better handles, is a better passer and can out shoot Kane. It appears in part due to those traits often that are overlooked in favor of a few inches of vertical jumping ability. I would rather him jump like he does any be able to use both hands and shoot better. So many Michigan players have killed us doing just that
https://youtu.be/iJ5B_x53gQM
Go Illini and go Bez! I think your being undervalued with what you can do. Once again how athletic was Loyola big freshman. I'd love a player like that here too. Regardless of how high he jumps. He gets the most out of what he can do. Was Deon Thomas who we think of as athletic? Yet he is our all time scoring leader. People remember high flying athletes over some that likely are undervalued even after they perform very well.
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IMO they dont compare. Mav was always a 5. He had limited handles and rarely dribbled more than a bounce or two. Mav didnt drive the ball and rarely if ever shot a 3 or shot on the move or cuttung. Bez will play both the 4 and 5 imo if he plays 4 years.
Did Mav ever do these things?
https://youtu.be/u3TMzJ__e2cheres Mav in high school. Not the same at all.
https://youtu.be/jhH_gvvy6AY
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A senior Mav Morgan or Mike Tisdale would be better than any bigs on the team. Neither are what I would call athletic.
I cant wait to see what Adonis can do. I hope one of the others surprises us and if they do it will be more about skill. I wasn't so upset when Ebo left because I just felt we would find someone better. Athletic or not Ebo skill set was limited and I felt could be replaced. If Adonis is healthy he should be just that.
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Most likely from reading experts analysis after they watched him play.
Welcome aboard, Adonis! Will be looking forward to seeing you play later this coming year after recouping.
t7nich
- Central IL
Maybe. On the other hand, was Ebo that elite or were the players on the roster ahead of him that bad? I like Ebo, wish he would have stayed, but he wouldn't have been playable as a lightly recruited true freshman big brought in late in the process on many other B1G rosters.
According to post 104, the experts rated him higher than Higgs.
Deleted member 4723
D
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And continuing with the Mr. Obvious theme, a senior Frankie Williams would be better than a Frosh Ayo. Not that there is any point.
Given that Frankie Williams never played as a "senior" (his last year was RS Junior), Ayo may be better
Frank Williams had to involuntarily RS as a partial qualifier.
I actually think that Giorgi's videos, including some with his team are quite impressive. He looks very coordinated and quite aggressive. He has a smooth stoke as well. I think pure athleticism is sometimes overrated. Larry Bird wasn't usually the best athlete on the court but he was one of the better basketball players of all time. (I'm not trying to compare Giorgi to Larry Bird, just making a point about basketball skills and athleticism.)
Mistake, Cole was a legacy I believe. Dad played FB. Not taking Cardinal when Dad was the trainer was plain dumb.
Robbie Hummel was also legacy, father was a tennis player at UI, grandfather was a UI professor, multiple other family members (uncle, cousins, etc.) all went to UI.
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