Illini Basketball 2018-2019

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#4      

TownieMatt

CU Expat
Chicago
Trent is quickly becoming one of my favorite Illini of the past decade or so (Brandon Paul is still my guy). If he starts dunking on people... :oops:
 
#5      

Dan

Admin
» Illinois' annual game at the United Center this season will be against a Big Ten opponent (TBD).

» Illinois' game at Maryland will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of the 2019 "Super Saturday – College Hoops & Hockey" doubleheader.

» The full Big Ten schedule will be announced at a later date.
Non-Conference Schedule Announced
https://fightingillini.com/news/201...etball-non-conference-schedule-announced.aspx


 
#6      

And the only new game added there is our welcome home from Maui against Mississippi Valley State, Kenpom #348 out of 351 last year :thumb:

When you take into account 20 B1G games, that is a freaking brutal schedule. A very, very good thing for college basketball for this to become the norm (and that's the way it's going, not just for us) but a rough one for this particular team at this particular moment.
 
#9      

Tevo

Wilmette, IL
The max vert at last years NBA combine was 42".

I think at the NBA combine, the max vert is measured from a standing jump -- but I could be wrong. By comparison, Nate Robinson's vertical was 43 inches, he was 2-3 inches shorter than Trent and he would kill people. If Trent's 42 is anywhere close to Nate's 43, I'd be (a) very surprised and (b) super excited.
 
#10      

TownieMatt

CU Expat
Chicago
Man that schedule is brutal. Only 4 cupcakes—and that includes East Tenn St that finished ahead of us in KenPom last season, and Evansville who finished about 30 spots behind us.
 
#11      
Man that schedule is brutal. Only 4 cupcakes—and that includes East Tenn St that finished ahead of us in KenPom last season, and Evansville who finished about 30 spots behind us.

Compare this to 2006-07, the last year of the 16-game B1G schedule, where we played EIGHT home cupcakes, plus UIC at the UC, plus our holiday tournament was in Hoffman Estates against Miami of Ohio and Bradley. Plus two home exhibitions, for purposes of calibrating how bad the home season ticket slate was in those days.
 
#13      
Trent is quickly becoming one of my favorite Illini of the past decade or so (Brandon Paul is still my guy). If he starts dunking on people... :oops:

Didn't he dunk on Shaq in a pickup game?
 
#15      
I think at the NBA combine, the max vert is measured from a standing jump -- but I could be wrong. By comparison, Nate Robinson's vertical was 43 inches, he was 2-3 inches shorter than Trent and he would kill people. If Trent's 42 is anywhere close to Nate's 43, I'd be (a) very surprised and (b) super excited.

NBA measures standing vert and max vert. They probably are a little more strict on steps for the max vert, plus there's a difference between "best jump all summer" and "best jump on a specific day".

Regardless, big jump. Hope it translates to the court.
 
#16      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
I heard a question about Walkup just as they cut off the interview video. I'm curious about his presence and what it might add?
 
#18      

Underwood was asking for more leadership all of last season. And the first thing he talks about this season is the great leadership from 6+ guys. That's great to hear.

Also, I was already fully on board the Damonte hype train and this interview certainly didn't slow it down any. I think he will lead our guards in minutes played because he will be the most well-rounded player. With so many new guys I think we will still see almost everyone getting playing time in the non conference. But towards the end of the season I'm thinking Damonte, Trent, Ayo, and Feliz will pretty much takeover the 3 guard spots, which averages out to 30 min/game per person. If Tev is too talented to keep off the floor he will have to see some minutes at the 4 behind Kipper. If Higgs can play I think BU will have to give him minutes as an undersized 5.
 
#19      

westms77

Gilbert, AZ
Man that schedule is brutal. Only 4 cupcakes—and that includes East Tenn St that finished ahead of us in KenPom last season, and Evansville who finished about 30 spots behind us.

This should help our RPI either way though with only 4 cupcake games.
 
#20      
Interesting to hear DaMonte has a 6'11" wing span. Big advantage in both rebounding and defense. Still believe defense is going to be the largest determination for minutes played. You can talk about positionless offense but you still have to guard 1-5 on defense. Trent and DaMonte have proven to be effective and Ayo was impressive in the tourney. If you can't keep pressure on the ball, this defense gets killed.
 
#21      
When you take into account 20 B1G games, that is a freaking brutal schedule.

Man that schedule is brutal.

I think it may end up reading as harder than it is to play.

Not that you should put too much stock in either of these, but ...

1. Andy Katz's Power 36 includes only Gonzaga among our non-conference opponents ... he also has Duke and Auburn, but at most we'd play one of those two teams, and possibly neither.
2. ESPN's BPI 100 has Gonzaga at 2, (Duke and Auburn, with the above caveat at 9 and 18), Notre Dame at 50, G'town at 59, and Mizzou at 65.

I can't call a schedule brutal when we're only guaranteed 1 top 50 49 game, however flawed those lists may be.

Maybe someone can find a list that rates some of our opponents higher ... I could not.

[addendum: The BPI does not include Arizona in its top 100, but Iowa St is 31, and we're guaranteed to play one of those two.]
 
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#22      
Not trying to turn this into a predictions thread while it's still July, but it's not hard to see 4-7. Hopefully we'll grab a couple more, but it's not hard to see...
 
#24      
I think by raw times mentioned, Georgi won by a landslide. Coach seems really high on him as a project. High IQ, huge work ethic, etc etc.

yeah, Giorgi seemed like the goofy foreign exchange student coming in, too easy-going to be anything more than a role player. But it sounds like he's the biggest gym rat on the team with some actual potential.
 
#25      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
I think by raw times mentioned, Georgi won by a landslide. Coach seems really high on him as a project. High IQ, huge work ethic, etc etc.

Underwood cited his footwork too. If that's legit, that's a very good sign. Augie had wonderful footwork. Maybe Giorgi will be an Augie-light (fingers crossed). We'll see what the fuss is about soon enough.
 
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