Or Finke gets stronger over the offseason allowing him to play the 5 more consistently, which makes room for Kipper/DJW at the 4.
Illinois Basketball 2016-2017
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Or Finke gets stronger over the offseason allowing him to play the 5 more consistently, which makes room for Kipper/DJW at the 4.
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, with the NCAA it's basically a crapshoot. Nobody knows, including Groce, what is going to happen. Most of us were optimistic Starks was going to be eligible immediately but look how that turned out.
Does anyone know when the Thorne decision will be made? I'm just hoping it doesn't effect our chances of getting a 5th year big man.
Deleted member 10676
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oy. that's potentially great news on two different basketball threads within 10 minutes of each other. How does one process this? Hope vs expectations based on past experience. Murder.
That is a possibility for Finke, I expect some progress, but still lacks some post moves as well, I don't think he will ever be a great rebounder or rim protector for a 5. I think we are more than this offseason away from him truly being a 5 and I think ideally his passing/shooting skills are better suited for a stretch 4 type role.
I share the same concern, knowing if he will or won't be back is almost as important as having him back so you can chase another 5th year to replace him.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
Good news. Hope he's right. Either way, hopefully the NCAA decides quickly.
I'm sure that with all of the resources the NCAA has and their focus on low bureacracy and high efficiency, they will get that decision done rapidly
You heard from a very reliable source that our unrepentant optimist of a coach believes that Thorne is better than 50:50 on returning next year.
This is exactly what I'm reading as well.
Hands Malone
- Quad-Cities, IL
Which means it's 50/50 he won't be back. When can Thorne apply for another year and will a decision come before September.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
Somehow we need to tie in the "K" in the word Oskee.
It will never get old.
Its already old. Its just still funny:thumb:
Deleted member 182960
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I have to think after a year like this Groce has to shake some things up on his staff. Thoughts?
I think that is up to him. We have only seen flashes of what a Groce team looks like and think a lot of the problems are due to lack of execution. I have seen improvement in this team at the end of the year. I hope they can build on this for next year. If I have had any criticism of Groce, it is along the lines that it seems like his teams the last three years have taken a long time to gel and get playing to potential. By the time they are playing well, the season is down the tubes. There seems to have been reasons why and the coming year needs to be the no excuses year that Groce deserves to get.
I also don't like the idea of an AD dictating what a coach does. I know that may not be what you are talking about but have heard the suggestion here that if Groce stays, Whitman needs to demand some staff changes. This is the kind of meddling that I doubt any coach would be happy with. It would be one thing to make decisions with input from the AD, another thing when demands are given as criteria for employment.
I also don't like the idea of an AD dictating what a coach does. I know that may not be what you are talking about but have heard the suggestion here that if Groce stays, Whitman needs to demand some staff changes. This is the kind of meddling that I doubt any coach would be happy with. It would be one thing to make decisions with input from the AD, another thing when demands are given as criteria for employment.
With the way injuries have taken a toll the last couple years I don't think we've ever seen what a Groce players team looks like. I can't really count the junior class because except for Nunn and Hill the other three Mav, Tate or Colbert wouldn't have been recruited by him. You have to remember Groce simply got the best he could at the time and that was a player at each position , A starting point if you will . If Black returns and we get super lucky with Thorne , this team could be very good . Much better than most think.
Got to have solid PG play.
This.
It could happen, however all out options come with significant buts;
Tracy, but out 2 years with injuries & how good of a pg was he
TJL, but he is a frosh & not highly ranked
Tate, but needs to improve & time is almost up
Hill, DJW, JCL,... but no one has ever mistaken any of them for pgs
Even with the buts, there will be a major upgrade at the position next year. That's not saying much, but at least it won't be the worst in the conference.
I understand the sentiment on Thorne, but I think him coming back is huge.
Mav was much better, but unless you think he beats out Thorne he is a downgrade, Finke exceeded expectations but faded a bit at the end of the season and personally I still think his game is more of a 4. Kipper may turn out great, but there are many reasons to question if he is ready to play the 4 in the B1G. I personally don't think DJW qualifies as a 4 at this point. I think we need 4 legitimate bigs + Kipper going into the season. If Thorne isn't eligible, we will be very lucky to get another 5th yr transfer that is a true 5 at his level. If your benchmark is to be better than this year no problem, if we want to be competitive/mid big ten then I think we need Thorne & Black.
I think we will likely get an upgrade. I'm not sure I would expect a major upgrade? Depends on expectations and how the buts turn out. If Tracy doesn't make it back, is TJL as a freshman a major upgrade from Lewis? I'm not convinced of that. If Tracy is back at 1/2 the effectiveness is it a major upgrade, I'm not convinced of that. The value of 3 mediocre pgs over 2 mediocre pgs isn't much in my book, we need the Tracy from 2 years ago, we need TJL to outplay his ranking (while coming off an injury), or a miracle improvement from Tate to have a major upgrade IMO.
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