Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (September 2018)

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#1,776      

illini80

Forgottonia
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It's an interesting question whether our lack of ability to fill positions of need is what causes this dreadful performance. Clearly we have had more talent than our record would indicate, but is it just poor roster construction or poor coaching?
 
#1,777      
We all need to relax. So Illinois has missed on many top 50 recruits from our state. Illinois cannot get them all. They might not get any for years or decades or ever again. Is it Walker, Chin, Orlando, or Underwood's fault? Maybe, or the recruit could choose a different school for a completely random reason. There are just way to many variables in recruiting to throw blame without knowing what is going through these kids heads. Remember it is possible to win basketball games without top 50 or 100 talent.
 
#1,778      
It's an interesting question whether our lack of ability to fill positions of need is what causes this dreadful performance. Clearly we have had more talent than our record would indicate, but is it just poor roster construction or poor coaching?

All of the above. Poor scouting, poor roster construction, poor class balance, poor gameplanning, poor player development, poor strength and conditioning, poor in-game strategy, poor off court discipline, poor health, poor luck, the one thing it has NOT been is poor ability to close on highly ranked talent relative to our competitors, despite the narrative to the contrary.
 
#1,779      
We have turned our program around already. Only up from here. We win 20 this year, we get one or two guys in 2020 that wouldn't have come here. It takes time. Develop and coach the guys we have. We can win 20 with who we have on this roster RIGHT NOW. Develop them for another year, we can get even more wins. We're back. We'll all see that in time.
 
#1,780      
I don’t think there is any rational way to justify how much in state talent we can’t get to play here. Sure, there’s always the spring signings we had this year, and kudos to the staff getting what they did, but perhaps the energy spent there impacted where they’re at now this fall.
We can get our fair share of Illinois players but outside of the guys that get blue blood attention there are usually only 2-3 guys that we would want to take. It doesn’t help that 2019 is a really down year for Illinois high major players. What really hurt us was Groce’s inability to land players that he really should have gotten. We’re missing out on top 40 instate guys but Groce missed out on so many 3 star Illinois kids which really led to many holes in the roster. I have no doubt that this staff would have landed players like Nick Rakocevic.
 
#1,781      
We have turned our program around already. Only up from here. We win 20 this year, we get one or two guys in 2020 that wouldn't have come here. It takes time. Develop and coach the guys we have. We can win 20 with who we have on this roster RIGHT NOW. Develop them for another year, we can get even more wins. We're back. We'll all see that in time.
Hope you’re right but you won’t find someone outside of the Illini fan base that’ll predict this team to win anywhere close to 20 games.
 
#1,782      
Hope you’re right but you won’t find someone outside of the Illini fan base that’ll predict this team to win anywhere close to 20 games.
Exactly right. Not with our schedule. Even with my orange tinted glasses on all I could come up with was 18 wins. NIT at best....
 
#1,783      
Sometimes it's the dog that didn't bark.

The loudest voice in Illini Nation belongs to the former occupants of all the empty seats.

The loudest voice on this thread is the 20 pages of meltdown that didn't appear tonight.

THAT is what scares me. Misery is curable, apathy isn't.
 
#1,784      
Sometimes it's the dog that didn't bark.

The loudest voice in Illini Nation belongs to the former occupants of all the empty seats.

The loudest voice on this thread is the 20 pages of meltdown that didn't appear tonight.

THAT is what scares me. Misery is curable, apathy isn't.
Yup.
There was a post earlier about how it is possible to wait for good luck. And with that good luck (winning) one can recruit better.
It is viable.

As long as the fans continue to care for as long as the good luck takes to arrive.
That is what scares me. We can resolutely do a little better every year and still fail if it takes too long.
Emotion is a fickle thing. We're blessed with a pretty passionate fanbase. But we've been in the desert for a long time.
You don't get new fans in the desert.
We need new fans and that means that we need to win more and in more exciting fashion.
 
#1,785      
20.

We lost three overtime games last year. We lost five games by five or less. Don't tell me last year's team was in a position to win more than this year's team is. All of those games are winnable with this team, all the new faces are kids that know what it takes to win championships. They can all pass and run. Kipper is ready to fill in Leron's shoes. We upgraded in athleticism: TJL with Feliz. Smith with Griffin. Alstork with Ayo. Finke with Kane. DMW is healthy and has a year under his belt.

BU got a garbage team to compete and win 14 games last year. We upgraded athletes and champions across the board. No one on the team last year can dunk like Tevian Jones can. Sure, our schedule is harder this year. So what. We're way better.

20.
 
#1,786      
Sometimes it's the dog that didn't bark.

The loudest voice in Illini Nation belongs to the former occupants of all the empty seats.

The loudest voice on this thread is the 20 pages of meltdown that didn't appear tonight.

THAT is what scares me. Misery is curable, apathy isn't.

It's not really apathy, there are still fans lurking and participating. Just that the meltdown never happened because the vast majority of fans do not believe that we had a chance and really do not believe that this staff will be a major player in recruiting. Last year's dream of Whitney, Okoro, and Liddell just ended.
 
#1,787      

Deleted member 643761

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If Walker was the best recruiter on Groce's staff but the weakest recruiter on BU's staff, and the difference in recruiting was the assistants, then by default this staff would be doing many times better in recruiting that the previous staff, which is simply not true.

It seems to me that some fans are trying to present recruiting as a function of just the assistants in order to exonerate the head coach, but reality is that the main determinant of overall recruiting in a program is always the head coach.

This is so absolutely true.

At the same time, if you're a mediocre closer your best bet to being a good salesman is to have a better product. That's BU's path to success more than anything.
 
#1,788      

Deleted member 643761

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Guest
20.

We lost three overtime games last year. We lost five games by five or less. Don't tell me last year's team was in a position to win more than this year's team is. All of those games are winnable with this team, all the new faces are kids that know what it takes to win championships. They can all pass and run. Kipper is ready to fill in Leron's shoes. We upgraded in athleticism: TJL with Feliz. Smith with Griffin. Alstork with Ayo. Finke with Kane. DMW is healthy and has a year under his belt.

BU got a garbage team to compete and win 14 games last year. We upgraded athletes and champions across the board. No one on the team last year can dunk like Tevian Jones can. Sure, our schedule is harder this year. So what. We're way better.

20.

I'm optimistic too.
 
#1,789      

the national

the Front Range
Sometimes it's the dog that didn't bark.

The loudest voice in Illini Nation belongs to the former occupants of all the empty seats.

The loudest voice on this thread is the 20 pages of meltdown that didn't appear tonight.

THAT is what scares me. Misery is curable, apathy isn't.

Give me a break. This is so over dramatic. We haven’t won in a while. We have a new coach who is rebuilding the program. That’s it. Nothing complex about it. People still like Illinois but it’s not fun right now. They’ll come back, Underwood needs time to rebuild it.
 
#1,790      
We all need to relax. So Illinois has missed on many top 50 recruits from our state. Illinois cannot get them all. They might not get any for years or decades or ever again. Is it Walker, Chin, Orlando, or Underwood's fault? Maybe, or the recruit could choose a different school for a completely random reason. There are just way to many variables in recruiting to throw blame without knowing what is going through these kids heads. Remember it is possible to win basketball games without top 50 or 100 talent.

It is possible but not likely or easy.
 
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