We would still be complaining about a lack of a rim protector, and we would be correct in our complaints.
Illini Basketball 2018-2019
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Bar Maid.....I'll have what he's drinking.....uh make that a double
Excellent!
People have such a sharp understanding of the line between tournament and non-tournament, and then virtually no understanding of all the multitude of levels above and below that line, it's wild.
Very interested to see how JCL gets on at DePaul this year. And is there any word on Leron's plans?
Good luck with your surgery, coach. You are a class act, so get better very soon!
If Beilein were to pull our coach aside and offer any advice to him I would say "thank you". Class Act w/out the aggrandizing or self promotion. His promotion comes from his interviews at the BIG/NCAA championship games. I have always found him to be very matter of fact with the big picture in mind.
What's the difference on who is playing the god awful defense? By better defense, are we just shooting for being bad, because that is probably our ceiling with 3 freshman and a 5th year coming in late off a major injury. Personally, I think we are a year away from seeing our big defense significantly better than last year. Just saying
If a freshman comes in and plays better defense in the front court than last year, would that not help negate some of the offensive production we got from Finke. I.E. Finke averaged 9/game or so but maybe gave up 10/game. If the new frontcourt player scores 4/game but only gives up 2/game then that is a 3/game upswing.
I said that I expected them to play better defense but if even they were roughly the same as Finke in that area, I'd rather have a freshman playing bad defense because of the learning curve than a player that had no potential of being good defensively.
Oskee67
- Champaign
I think people are forgetting how Black, Mr. Tennessee Basketball, basically averaged more fouls than minutes his freshman year...
I hope these young guys can come through (with virtually no preseason conditioning and practice with the team) and surprise us, but until they hit the gym and truly learn the system, it may take a while until our frontcourt and overall defense can establish itself.
I think we saw that Black was never the defensive force we all thought he'd be--he was a good(?) defender, but it's obvious he wasn't a game changer on that end of the court. Additionally, those fouls were tied heavily to his attitude. It's not crazy to think some of the guys coming in are more sound defensively and less negatively aggressive.
The Dave
- CA
Perfect, we just need a true freshman to come in and give up 1/5th the points Finke did.
I believe if freshman Michael Finke was coming in this year, half the people on this board would expect him to be better than RS senior Michael Finke.
Ultimate point being we need D at the center position and Kane should be able to give us a lot more of that than we've seen since Egwu left. Get garbage points, sure but defend the post and protect the rim, big fella. Do that and we can be a good team. We have plenty of offensive ability on the team.
Finke really taking a beating on these boards.
And no, I don't think our freshman bigs will be better. They will foul more, they will make plenty of freshman mistakes, and they will have trouble playing on the road.
Btw, I'm ok with freshman being freshman. I'm looking for improvement this year, a good recruiting class for next year, and a heck of a lot more buy-in that leads to us being a decent team by the end of the year. Not expecting a post-season birth, and would be thrilled with .500 in conference.
And no, I don't think our freshman bigs will be better. They will foul more, they will make plenty of freshman mistakes, and they will have trouble playing on the road.
Btw, I'm ok with freshman being freshman. I'm looking for improvement this year, a good recruiting class for next year, and a heck of a lot more buy-in that leads to us being a decent team by the end of the year. Not expecting a post-season birth, and would be thrilled with .500 in conference.
Don't understand the Finke hate either. Based on his 2-3 star status out of high school I was extremely happy with his production (other than on defense). Kid was a good shooter and gave us a lot more than I thought he would. Also really hoped he'd stick around. But oh well....
Not only would that be painful but, quite honestly, I imagine it would be pretty messy.
Well yea doesn't he get dunked on too?
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I have contradictory thoughts regarding Finke:
1. I wish he stayed and I know we'd be better if he did.
2. We are not losing that much with him gone. (I will grudgingly acknowledge that perhaps a big reason why he was so bad on defense is that he and the staff knew how thin we were up front).
I think the 14 foot center combo will be able defend at a higher standard. We have 15 fouls to administer if needed when you include Georgi.
1. I wish he stayed and I know we'd be better if he did.
2. We are not losing that much with him gone. (I will grudgingly acknowledge that perhaps a big reason why he was so bad on defense is that he and the staff knew how thin we were up front).
I think the 14 foot center combo will be able defend at a higher standard. We have 15 fouls to administer if needed when you include Georgi.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
I think it's simplistic to look at Finke vs Freshman as the measure of how our defense will be. Even if we play "man" defense, the whole team has to work together. Having a Samba in the middle helps, when he's in position. Having Ayo on the ball helps, when he isn't blind-sided by a pick and guys can effectively switch. We can make all kinds of claims about individual vs individual in terms of defensive traits or size or athleticism, but we really have NO evidence that any of our freshmen can actually PLAY good team defense like Underwood will demand. The reason why Egwu always got praised as a great defender was his ability to guard multiple spots, and his awareness of when to slide over to help. I sincerely hope our freshman do well, but expecting them to be better than 5th year seniors -- even those as slow-footed and slow-to-react as Finke -- is asking a lot.
I expect many many missed rotations, and even more fouls. Which do you think increases a greater percent compared to last season: our fouls or our blocked shots?
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
"Samba, Giorgi -- here's the game plan. Each of you can only let the guy you're covering score 2 points. If you do that, we win."
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