Illini Basketball 2020-2021

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#58      

We will miss Dre but expect more improvement from the rest of the team than Iowa will get from their players and expect similar situation from Whisky. MSU without Tillman and Cassius will have a steeper hill to climb. Don’t think these games will be easy but Kofi from a frosh to soph is going to improve more than Garza and it was a great matchup last year. Men on a mission with some great additions.
 
#60      

Tacomallini

Washington State
We will miss Dre but expect more improvement from the rest of the team than Iowa will get from their players and expect similar situation from Whisky. MSU without Tillman and Cassius will have a steeper hill to climb. Don’t think these games will be easy but Kofi from a frosh to soph is going to improve more than Garza and it was a great matchup last year. Men on a mission with some great additions.
I think Tillman is also coming back
 
#63      
I believe the cbssports rankings article I read earlier had MSU ranked above us assuming Tillman came back, and before Kofi announced (though I think assumed back as well) I think we should leap them now.
 
#66      
Coaching problem may be more about dealing with egos and playing time than BU has ever experienced.
 
#67      
garza back. can’t wait for the iowa matchups

Mixed emotions.

On one hand, those games against Iowa are going to be INTENSE. On the other hand, Iowa is now the only B10 team ranked ahead of Illinois and is keeping us out of the Top 5 (Iowa is at #5 and Illinois is at #6).
 
#68      
Anyone who has Iowa ranked above Illinois at this point is seriously delusional. If the season happens, we are
going to run teams off the court. BANGING COOL! Congrats fellow Illini fans.

Maybe they don't realize that Iowa will basically be the same team they were last year, except with the re-addition of Bohannon they will be worse defensively.

Iowa finished 11-9, 3 games back from the top of the B10 last season. Wisconsin and Illinois are both returning basically everyone and adding some decent recruits, so if you're going to put teams that are basically the same in the rankings Wisconsin and Illinois should both be ahead of Iowa. Iowa should be ranked similar to Rutgers as both finished 11-9 and essentially return their rosters from last year (neither will be easy to beat, but neither are necessarily top 10 teams).
 
#69      
Maybe they don't realize that Iowa will basically be the same team they were last year, except with the re-addition of Bohannon they will be worse defensively.

Iowa finished 11-9, 3 games back from the top of the B10 last season. Wisconsin and Illinois are both returning basically everyone and adding some decent recruits, so if you're going to put teams that are basically the same in the rankings Wisconsin and Illinois should both be ahead of Iowa. Iowa should be ranked similar to Rutgers as both finished 11-9 and essentially return their rosters from last year (neither will be easy to beat, but neither are necessarily top 10 teams).

Nah, they were pretty good last year. Defensively, they are not good, but they can really shoot. I don't believe they should be ranked ahead of us and Wisconsin, but definitely in top 10. Kriener was pretty pivotal though so that is a loss in terms of size. After next year, they might slide. We are going to miss Feliz a lot, and Griffin, but we should be much better offensively this year from 3 and way more depth. I hope Grandison can provide some minutes at the 4 as that would change the outlook of our team offensively while not being a liability at the defensive side when Kofi is playing.
 
#70      
Coaching problem may be more about dealing with egos and playing time than BU has ever experienced.

Wood played 10 guys double figure minutes/game in his one year at OSU. No reason he can't do that this year too.
 
#71      
The similarities between last year's Kansas team (consensus #1) and this year's Illinois team are uncanny. Maybe not quite as talented but very close.
  • Potential All-American guard choosing to return over NBA
  • Big dominant interior center
  • 1-in 4-out around aforementioned big (sort of a proof of concept that you don't always need a traditional PF on the floor & trend we've seen recently)
  • Tons of guard depth
  • Also found it interesting that they started the year experimenting with how to play Azubuike & McCormack together, whose games are very similar to Kofi & Giorgi respectively. They figured it out by starting McCormack on the bench and platooning them. Obviously had a lot of success with it.
 
#72      
Wood played 10 guys double figure minutes/game in his one year at OSU. No reason he can't do that this year too.

Heard an interview with Curbelo where he stated a goal of FOY in BIG. Certain that Miller would have a similar goal and you have two transfers eligible that were stars at their previous schools. Then they are competing with five guys who all started games on a very successful team last year. Surely the reason Griffin left was his desire to be the guy and it wasn’t going to happen. Not trying to say this is a problem, just saying it requires some footwork on the coaches part. Last year was a great example of coaching vs talent in that the same talent that lost to Miami, Mizzu, and Arizona were a completely different team against Iowa. Remember also a interview with Deron where at the end of the 2004 season the Team realized that they could really be special and they were. My point is the chemistry is not automatic with talent but must also be developed and the greater the talent the more difficult it is. Think this is where BU’s emphasis on character comes into play.
 
#73      
Heard an interview with Curbelo where he stated a goal of FOY in BIG. Certain that Miller would have a similar goal and you have two transfers eligible that were stars at their previous schools. Then they are competing with five guys who all started games on a very successful team last year. Surely the reason Griffin left was his desire to be the guy and it wasn’t going to happen. Not trying to say this is a problem, just saying it requires some footwork on the coaches part. Last year was a great example of coaching vs talent in that the same talent that lost to Miami, Mizzu, and Arizona were a completely different team against Iowa. Remember also a interview with Deron where at the end of the 2004 season the Team realized that they could really be special and they were. My point is the chemistry is not automatic with talent but must also be developed and the greater the talent the more difficult it is. Think this is where BU’s emphasis on character comes into play.

I'm hopeful that our mix of shooters, slashers, and distributors will help ease the issues that might arise with so much talent. We've also seen Ayo be content to let others shine for the first 35 minutes before taking over for the last 5. We have a lot of talent in the backcourt but luckily not as much overlapping skill sets as one might think on first glance. My guess is we'll see a lot more of D Will at the 4 to clear up some room for everybody else.

Edit/P.S.: if one of BBV or Hawkins can deliver on the hype, I truly don't see a positional weakness. It is absolutely crazy how far Underwood has taken this team in 3 short years.
 
#74      
Heard an interview with Curbelo where he stated a goal of FOY in BIG. Certain that Miller would have a similar goal and you have two transfers eligible that were stars at their previous schools. Then they are competing with five guys who all started games on a very successful team last year. Surely the reason Griffin left was his desire to be the guy and it wasn’t going to happen. Not trying to say this is a problem, just saying it requires some footwork on the coaches part. Last year was a great example of coaching vs talent in that the same talent that lost to Miami, Mizzou, and Arizona were a completely different team against Iowa. Remember also a interview with Deron where at the end of the 2004 season the Team realized that they could really be special and they were. My point is the chemistry is not automatic with talent but must also be developed and the greater the talent the more difficult it is. Think this is where BU’s emphasis on character comes into play.
Last season, Feliz was the "glue" guy...nothing profound there. But who will be that guy who can get the tough hoops when everyone is looking at the other guy cause no one can get it into the net? Who will be the glue guy who can grab the ball when 6 others are leaping/scrapping/digging for it? Who will get a steal when down 3 in the final minute? Who the heck will be the "GLUE" GUY? If we had Feliz, we would all know. But we don't. Gotta be a "glue" guy to win it all and that roster spot, and his minutes, is vacant. We all hope someone claims it.
 
#75      
Last season, Feliz was the "glue" guy...nothing profound there. But who will be that guy who can get the tough hoops when everyone is looking at the other guy cause no one can get it into the net? Who will be the glue guy who can grab the ball when 6 others are leaping/scrapping/digging for it? Who will get a steal when down 3 in the final minute? Who the heck will be the "GLUE" GUY? If we had Feliz, we would all know. But we don't. Gotta be a "glue" guy to win it all and that roster spot, and his minutes, is vacant. We all hope someone claims it.

I mean sure, Feliz was a nice player, but we will find a new glue guy. The starting lineup should be able to score at will with Ayo and Kofi back. look for Miller, Curbelo, Hutch or Grandison to be that scorer Off the bench with Georgi playing a starting caliber 5 in relief of Kofi.
 
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