His defense improved greatly last season and isn't a concern, IMO.
He was also getting praise for his defense and toughness at the Nike Basketball Academy. Not much info available yet, but it sounds like Malcolm was one of the top players there.
His defense improved greatly last season and isn't a concern, IMO.
The man was averaging over 35 minutes per game last year. Every reason to believe with the body maturity and work he's been putting in, and, more team talent talent to share minutes his defense will improve. Hopefully.
Hopefully some reduced minutes (will still be 30-35) will help his activity on D'. The team defense was so atrocious last year that I don't know how you can do a 180 without some individuals that are "D-first" type of guys. A healthy Abrams is a great place to start. Mav and Finke still seem to fair better in zone situations.....
I guess I'm not sure where Hill fits in. If the "bigs" can't guard anyone like in '15/'16, I'm guessing you'll see more zone and Hill won't be tested. If Groce truly uses him on the perimeter and he has to defend 1-on-1, it could be a different story.
Lot's of opportunities for quality resume building wins, but also a lot of opportunities for early season slip ups. Should be an interesting non-conference experience. I think we will go 9-3 including the Winthrop and Detroit home games. I put an example of how I could see it playing out above. 10-2 would be the highest expectation I could possibly see on that schedule, but 9-3 is definitely acceptable.
I think we’ll be favorites going into the BYU game.. They lose 2 of their top 3 scorers from last year, including WCC player of the year and triple double machine Kyle Collinsworth. Interesting article on them and the fact that they have 8 new players coming in this year.
http://www.vanquishthefoe.com/2016/3/30/11288026/byu-basketball-2016-17-roster-problem
Is that Louis the III?
The worst part of our team defense was rebounding, and that was almost entirely due to the loss of Thorne and Black, who are by far our best on the boards. Very tough to stop teams from scoring when you keep giving them extra chances. And that's one of the biggest reasons to expect us to be better next year, rebounding should go from one of the weakest stats to a positive.
The second area where I'd expect improvement is having more experience on the perimeter. Not just getting Tracy back, but JCL, AJ and DJW have all been in the system a year and should improve just by knowing the system that much better.
Yeah, not so sure about that. Their star returning player, combo guard Nick Emery, was ranked #64 composite and averaged over 16 pts last year as a freshman on pretty efficient shooting. The new guys they add include big man Eric Mika (#39 in his class; went on mission after winning conference FOY honors - will be a RS SO), TJ Haws (#55 in his class; PG), Payton Dastrup (#96 in his class; PF), and Yoeli Childs (#116; PF/SF). In terms of pure talent, they'll be one of the best teams we face all year. Tough non-con slate this year.
Stat police here. I agree that adding 6 ppg to last year's scoring sounds plausible in a vacuum. However, say you add 6.0 ppg to last year's 72.1, bringing us up to 78.1 ppg. Context over the last 10 years:
I think there's an outside chance we'll hit 78 ppg, but it would represent one of the best scoring seasons in the entire conference over the last 20 years and our best in 23.
It would be fantastic if one of these guys (or Nichols, Lucas, etc.) had a real nose for defense as I never saw it from any of the guys you listed.
Will the experience help the underclassmen know positioning within the system? I hope so. System or not, I don't think that there is any solid argument that any of JCL, AJ or DJW were natural, competent on-ball defenders. Nunn was the only guy that regularly anticipated a pass or created perimeter havoc on the defensive end. It would be fantastic if one of these guys (or Nichols, Lucas, etc.) had a real nose for defense as I never saw it from any of the guys you listed.
I had kind of ignored the numbers, not wanting to end the Kool-aid parade, but this pretty much sums it up, we may be better, but I would put the chances of scoring 78 ppg somewhere between zero and very very close to none. We may be better offensively, but we still aren't an elite offensive team; defense & rebounding is where we need to show the most improvement and will be the bigger key to winning more games.
JCL was starting to do this near the end of the season.Nunn was the only guy that regularly anticipated a pass or created perimeter havoc on the defensive end.
For what it's worth (little!), no Malcom Hill on the NBA 2017 mock draft at this time. Only *two upperclassmen projected in the first round. Ridiculous.
http://www.nbadraft.net/2017mock_draft
JCL was starting to do this near the end of the season.
I've frequented NbaDraft.net for years and it's more than fair to say their mocks are pretty awful.
Nope, that guy's name was Winthorp.
Nope, that guy's name was Winthorp.
Yes. Just glad someone got the reference. Was beginning to feel really really old
A quick little write up on Malcolm from the Nike Academy off nbadraft.net
Malcolm Hill 6'5.5, 235, 6'8.5 wingspan, SG/SF, Illinois --
Hill came into the event with even lower expectations than Hart, but actually helped his cause quite a bit. He may not be a draft pick, but he's for sure a lot closer to one after Nike than he was coming in. He got hot on the 2nd day and at one point couldn't miss, with a number of pros (Isaiah Thomas and Tyler Ulis) on the court. He's a tank, having the 2nd heaviest weight at the event at just 6-foot-5. And is not bashful at all about taking shots. He's got a bit of a street ball game as he is extremely physical and a little unorthodox with the way he creates shots and shoots the ball. If he had more explosiveness it would help his cause, and scouts also aren't sure what position he is. But he should have a big year for Illinois and could get some looks based on the way he played in Hawthorne.
What do you think they mean by that? I hadn't heard that before.
Edit: ps thanks for the recap! :thumb:
Oh, we got it! I was thinking of some kind of "It was Duke! It was Duke!" line, but I couldn't find the funny, so I left it alone. Until now, of course.