Illini Basketball 2018-2019
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Practice thoughts, October 2018
http://illinireport.info/2018/10/practice-thoughts-october-2018/
Video: Hear from @IlliniMBB coach Brad Underwood (@CoachUnderwood) after Saturday morning's practice
http://www.news-gazette.com/video/2018-10-13/open-practice-draws-crowd.html
http://illinireport.info/2018/10/practice-thoughts-october-2018/
Video: Hear from @IlliniMBB coach Brad Underwood (@CoachUnderwood) after Saturday morning's practice
http://www.news-gazette.com/video/2018-10-13/open-practice-draws-crowd.html
I watched the practice and here are a few takeaways I had:
The bad:
-Griffin, Tevian Jones, & Kipper took the brunt of Underwood's tongue lashings during practice.
-Kipper is often in the wrong spot and failing to do his job on defense
-Tevian is fluid on offense but on defense he looks stiff and slow (he was yelled at for effort too many times to count). He is athletic, long, and has potential (nice 1 handed oop dunk during practice, but we should temper our expectations for him this year. He is incredibly raw on defense.
-Griffin also looks a little stiff on defense and was also yelled at for effort as well.
-Kane looks like he has no idea what he is doing on offense or defense. He oozes potential because of his height, length, and speed. But he is soft, doesn't know how to use his size, and doesn't appear to have much basketball knowledge.
The good:
-Ayo, Feliz, Trent, and Jordan rarely get yelled at for effort or attention to detail. The 3 of them are almost always under control and make the right play.
-It's refreshing to see 3 guards (Ayo, Feliz, and Trent) who all have the capability of creating their own offense or setting up others.
-All 4 guards play very good defense (especially Ayo, Trent, and Feliz). We will need them to harass defenses with pressure in order to take pressure off of the bigs.
-Georgi B. is stronger than I expected, very polished offensively, talks constantly on defense, and seems to have a very high bball IQ. He is far and away our best post player right now. He will have his moments, but I think he will be a serviceable post this season.
The meh:
-Williams had some mental lapses and didn't really do anything that set him apart. He does play very very good defense. He will be a very useful guy off the bench.
-Griffin is a freshman and looks as such.
The bad:
-Griffin, Tevian Jones, & Kipper took the brunt of Underwood's tongue lashings during practice.
-Kipper is often in the wrong spot and failing to do his job on defense
-Tevian is fluid on offense but on defense he looks stiff and slow (he was yelled at for effort too many times to count). He is athletic, long, and has potential (nice 1 handed oop dunk during practice, but we should temper our expectations for him this year. He is incredibly raw on defense.
-Griffin also looks a little stiff on defense and was also yelled at for effort as well.
-Kane looks like he has no idea what he is doing on offense or defense. He oozes potential because of his height, length, and speed. But he is soft, doesn't know how to use his size, and doesn't appear to have much basketball knowledge.
The good:
-Ayo, Feliz, Trent, and Jordan rarely get yelled at for effort or attention to detail. The 3 of them are almost always under control and make the right play.
-It's refreshing to see 3 guards (Ayo, Feliz, and Trent) who all have the capability of creating their own offense or setting up others.
-All 4 guards play very good defense (especially Ayo, Trent, and Feliz). We will need them to harass defenses with pressure in order to take pressure off of the bigs.
-Georgi B. is stronger than I expected, very polished offensively, talks constantly on defense, and seems to have a very high bball IQ. He is far and away our best post player right now. He will have his moments, but I think he will be a serviceable post this season.
The meh:
-Williams had some mental lapses and didn't really do anything that set him apart. He does play very very good defense. He will be a very useful guy off the bench.
-Griffin is a freshman and looks as such.
See Damonte as a Javy Baez in the sense of having some good tools(quick jumper, fast, long arms, strong) and skills (defense, rebounding). But some big deficiencies in the offensive side. Just like Baez did and reduce those deficiencies (swinging at balls in the dirt far off the strike zone), we will see more of his strengths. Looking forward to his improvement.
I had originally thought it wouldn't be a big deal for Samba to miss the 8 weeks of summer practice. However, after seeing the practice today, I've definitely concluded that I was wrong. With Underwood's systems, Samba is having to think at all times about where to be on the floor, when to be there, and what to do. Add to that Underwood's instructional style, which is certainly not "warm and fuzzy", and you've got a player that is lost and afraid to make a mistake. Alan and Tevian are having to think quite a bit as well, even with the summer practices, though they are certainly quite a bit farther along than Samba. Remember also that Samba has only been playing four years. These kids appear to have loads of talent, and once they are able to play without thinking, they'll be able to show it.
This is ominous news for me to read.
I must admit that Underwood's schtick does get a little ridiculous at times. I don't mind a coach demanding excellence and pushing his guys but I also think that he crosses the line of what's helpful to becoming harmful. Someone like Samba is a perfect example of how Underwood's coaching seems to hinder a players confidence instead of help. I genuinely think that the great coaches learn how to tap into whatever the individual kids needs for motivation. The idea of one size fits all and that all kids will respond to being a drill sergeant just doesn't work.
Is there a Good Cop on the floor to Underwood's Bad Cop? That is a crucial piece of the Huggy/Martin/Underwood style.
It's not that he doesn't provide encouragement, but it usually comes across as, "good job, but it should be expected that you do it that way." Sort of like a, "it's about time" feeling to it. I just wish I saw another side of him that shouted to the rooftops when he was proud of a guy. It could just be my opinion, but I suppose it doesn't shock me to see some guys clash with him and also understand why recruits are weary.
BU needs to hone his EDGE method for instruction. Any Scouts will know what I'm talking about.
Oldhickory said:
I watched the practice and here are a few takeaways I had:
The bad:
-Griffin, Tevian Jones, & Kipper took the brunt of Underwood's tongue lashings during practice.
-Kipper is often in the wrong spot and failing to do his job on defense
I watched the practice and here are a few takeaways I had:
The bad:
-Griffin, Tevian Jones, & Kipper took the brunt of Underwood's tongue lashings during practice.
-Kipper is often in the wrong spot and failing to do his job on defense
Everyone attending would probably have slightly different observations of the practice. The players were split up into two groups for a portion of the practice and I may have not seen the same things Oldhickory observed, particularly if I was on one end of Ubben and he was on the other. I do agree with most of Oldhickory's observations. However, I thought Kipper had a pretty good practice and really didn't hear Underwood get on him that much. I also thought Williams had a solid practice.
Thought the same thing. Kipper should be the leader now. Not still getting screamed at for effort.
This....is also very concerning.
OldSlowPG: I agree, it's possible I saw different things on my end of the floor. I just know that on my side, Underwood got on Kipper for the same thing 4 times and got mad when Kipper said, "I got you coach." Underwood basically said, how about you actually do what you say instead of just saying it. People need to understand that this is a glimpse into one practice, so you should take it with a grain of salt. I think my observations are definitely influenced by what I've read about Underwood and then what I saw today.
Yep, I missed that on my end. Wow.
From the highlights it looks like Ayo has greatly enlarged his frame. Large PG going to the rim seems unstoppable.
Giorgi seems confident, much further ahead than Mav at same point. Much more fluid and explosive. Yes, I realize Mav had a higher ranking or more stars.
Concur on Samba, seemed like he needed TLC on media day. Kid probably has no family in US. Hope BU/staff surround him with support. If not don't see him sticking around. Sure his potential is as high as Egwu.
Giorgi seems confident, much further ahead than Mav at same point. Much more fluid and explosive. Yes, I realize Mav had a higher ranking or more stars.
Concur on Samba, seemed like he needed TLC on media day. Kid probably has no family in US. Hope BU/staff surround him with support. If not don't see him sticking around. Sure his potential is as high as Egwu.
Thanks for the update. Being from out of state, I appreciate it. Keep in mind that this is new for us because it's the first (or at least one of the few) practice where we get to hear about this level of detail of interaction. However this isn't Kipper's first rodeo with Underwood and has reportedly embraced it because he wants to be great. It doesn't mean that BU isn't going to get on him... it just means Kipper is coachable. I'm not too worried about Kipper and think that he'll have a great season.
Super long post incoming. TLDR: breaking down what BU is talking about in the video attached to the Illini report article...
If anybody is interested in what underwood is going over in that video in Illini report article, he’s talking about how to run the 2 man game, when the defense takes away the pass to both the guard up high and the pinch post (or possibly to work around a guy who does not have good ball-handling skills that you would not want leading a pick and roll).
They are starting the drill in the spacing they would be in after the first two cutters go through. So kinda like “halfway” through the progression of the continuity. (Side note: if neither guy is open it’s usually because there was a bad combination of cuts and the screens for those cuts, so no help was forced, and the defense was able to just stay home).
The spacing is important, and you can hear BU tell Kipper when they flip to move higher. The reason for that is because if you have a pack-line type defense the pass to the guard up top will be open. If you have denying defense, and the big had to help on the cuts, the pass to the pinch post is open, because the denial of the guard up top opens the passing lane to the pinch post.
If they’re both taken away, the goal of the offense at that point is still to get in to the 2 man game. The top guard will get “waved” through. Underwood is explaining to Tevian how to read his move when he gets waved. If the defender trails, curl around the screen to the rim for the lob (like Feliz did with kip the second time). If the defender goes under the pinch post screen to meet you in the paint, flare out for a kickout 3 or to attack a closeout defender. Tevian misread that the first time.
If the lob option isn’t open, the guy who was “waved” will go all the way through, to keep the backside open. The guard with the ball will run the 2 man game like normal. (If the flare isn’t open the offense is pretty much back to original spacing and the full continuity can restart).
You can also hear BU talk about how if they don’t get anything on the 2 man game, when they kick it out and get a full reversal, skip pass preferred, a first cutter layup will open up. We hit a couple of those last year on some lobs to Kipper for dunks. More of that would be fun.
Well yeah, that’s why Mark Smith never panned out and guys who were guaranteed to be starters still opted to leave the program. BU’s biggest coaching and recruiting problem is the same - inability to relate to or motivate young men.
And yet he's had success everywhere he's been prior to here. He just needs guys that are willing to let him coach them... which it seems he now has. One difference between this year and last is that this year he's got returning players that have bought in. So they can encourage the new guys when it gets tough. He didn't have that last year.
Attention Computer Science Department....deploy a virtual reality simulator/ trainer for BUs Off and Def systems.....you could accelerate the player learning process tremendously.
You can see why BU is impressed with De la Rosa's bball IQ if he already knows most of what they are doing despite not being on the court yet. You can also see why someone like Samba's head might still be swimming.
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The Boiler and Wiscy lumberjacks will have a heyday against this lineup.
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