Illini Basketball 2020-2021

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#128      
Man, we've had it relatively easy with injuries the past few seasons (compared to some in recent memory). I'd hate to get cursed this season by having our depth torpedoed.
 
#130      
Man, we've had it relatively easy with injuries the past few seasons (compared to some in recent memory). I'd hate to get cursed this season by having our depth torpedoed.
Even if Hutch and BBV have problems, we still have Ayo, Kofi, Giorgi, Trent, 'Monte, Miller, Curbelo and Grandison, which is 8. Throw in Hawkins who Wood says is even surprising him, that's 9.....lots of depth.
 
#131      
Even if Hutch and BBV have problems, we still have Ayo, Kofi, Giorgi, Trent, 'Monte, Miller, Curbelo and Grandison, which is 8. Throw in Hawkins who Wood says is even surprising him, that's 9.....lots of depth.
We have depth but was hoping BBV was going to be the answer to our 4. Hawkins will certainly fill that role in the long run but seems not to have the size or physical build to bang at the rim. Appears to me to be a tall 3. More like a slim Franz Wagner. Hope I am surprised because he really looks gifted offensively.
 
#134      

illini80

Forgottonia
Between key injuries and the Covid situation, I’m shocked at how little we know about what’s going on. That’s a lot of information to keep quiet but they did. Talk about controlling the narrative!
 
#135      
We have depth but was hoping BBV was going to be the answer to our 4. Hawkins will certainly fill that role in the long run but seems not to have the size or physical build to bang at the rim. Appears to me to be a tall 3. More like a slim Franz Wagner. Hope I am surprised because he really looks gifted offensively.
Wagner was B1G All frosh, so I'll take that all day every day.
 
#138      
https://bustingbrackets.com/2020/10/15/ncaa-basketball-top-25-frontcourts-2020-21-season/26/

Evidently shouldn’t be worried about the 4. This article rates our front court #10 in the country though that is 4th in the BIG. Ranked MSU 3rd in the country. Going to have to make me a believer on that one.

Kofi and Garza alone put Illinois and Iowa into Top 10 territory. Even if Illinois / Iowa play 4 guards + their single Big Man they're going to be pretty good inside.
 
#139      
Really looking forward to seeing HUTCH, his athletic ability along with his shot, size, dribbling look pretty impressive on the highlights from his previous school.
The back injury sounds pretty serious since it dates back to his freshmen year of high school. Hoping that he is able to return to form.
On another note, still wish Griff was still with us. Probably just saw more opportunity at another school. Any word on Grandison how he looks in scrimmages?
 
#140      
Hutch is going to be the X Factor like Feliz was over the past two years. His skill set will make us better
 
#142      
Hutch is going to be the X Factor like Feliz was over the past two years. His skill set will make us better
Maybe....if he gets to play and that seems questionable now due to injury. Both Grandison and Hutcherson are eagerly awaited by the eyes of Illini fans.
 
#143      
Ayo going to be tough to stop driving into the lane with his size and speed.
 
#145      
Doesn’t sound good for either Hutch or BBV. Back problem since the spring and same foot that sidelined him last year for BBV. Jermaine sounds like it could be short term. Red shirt for Lieb and still have ten players available. Expected playing time for them but not a major problem.
 
#146      
Doesn’t sound good for either Hutch or BBV. Back problem since the spring and same foot that sidelined him last year for BBV. Jermaine sounds like it could be short term. Red shirt for Lieb and still have ten players available. Expected playing time for them but not a major problem.

Agreed. People soon forget that Hutch wasn’t highly recruited in high school because he was constantly injured. I am hoping he can change this narrative while at Illinois, but it isn’t looking good if he hasn’t played for several months. BBV must have reinjured his foot somewhat recently. Hoping it is nothing major because I’d love to see what he can do.
 
#147      

illini80

Forgottonia
Hutch is going to be the X Factor like Feliz was over the past two years. His skill set will make us better
That is an incredibly high bar even if he were healthy. Feliz won us a lot of games and was arguably our toughest player.
 
#148      
Kofi and Garza alone put Illinois and Iowa into Top 10 territory. Even if Illinois / Iowa play 4 guards + their single Big Man they're going to be pretty good inside.

Truth. I once saw a hockey stat that the Gretzky brothers were among the top scoring brothers in NHL history. Brent scored one goal in his NHL career :p
 
#149      
With Hutch out I think Coleman will be Griffin’s role replacement. Griffin was an amazing good rebounder for his size but Hawkins has a big size advantage but be very happy for him to manage Griffin’s stats per minute.
Kipper’s role will be filled by Grandison and Dre’s role by Adam. Curbelo will be new and different piece and curious to see how he is utilized. Suspect Ayo may be the second leading rebounder on the team. Appears to play much bigger than last year. May depend on Giorgi’s role this year. Will he just be Kofi’s sub or will they play together? Believe it will depend on matchups but pure supposition at this point.
 
#150      
With Hutch out I think Coleman will be Griffin’s role replacement. Griffin was an amazing good rebounder for his size but Hawkins has a big size advantage but be very happy for him to manage Griffin’s stats per minute.
Kipper’s role will be filled by Grandison and Dre’s role by Adam. Curbelo will be new and different piece and curious to see how he is utilized. Suspect Ayo may be the second leading rebounder on the team. Appears to play much bigger than last year. May depend on Giorgi’s role this year. Will he just be Kofi’s sub or will they play together? Believe it will depend on matchups but pure supposition at this point.

Put me in the group that doubt's Hawkin's ability to make a significant Freshman impact though. I expect a maximum of 8 minutes per game - the majority of which are as a backup to Giorgi/Grandison at the 4. I think it will all come down to Hawkin's ability to defend and not commit turnovers/silly fouls and I just think he's going to need 3/4 of this season to figure some of that stuff out at the college level. All that being said, I'm a total supporter of Hawkins long term and think that he'll make a serious impact on our team in 2021-22.

Also, I don't think anyone on the team will match Griffin's Stats per Minute... But that many of our players will still exceed Griffin's overall contribution to the team. Griffin was incredibly efficient offensively but had some defensive liabilities that don't show up in the 'stats'.
 
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