Same with Black.
Illini Basketball 2016-2017
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Could be. Our memory of his defense is as a foul prone freshman. That was almost two years ago. He barely played last year and, when he did, he was limited physically. He certainly has the athleticism and strength to play defense. Hopefully, he is much further along defensively than he was as a true freshman.
No comparison...Black earned the nickname Savage because of his rebounding, defense, and non stop motor.
I rather have a foul machine than someone that gives up easy buckets. That being said, both views are based on the players' freshmen year. I expect Black to be less of a foul machine, and for Finke to at least be adequate on defense. Still, I prefer the player with the better defense and is Black. Both will play heavy minutes either way.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
+1
Am looking for big leaps from Finke (especially, defensively & rebounding) and Black (across the board). Perhaps needless to say, if we get them, we'll be much improved.
Maybe for his interior defense, but his defending on the perimeter was horrendous. That's where many of his fouls occurred, when he was matched up against smaller/quicker players so he used his hands instead of moving his feet.
Like others have already mentioned, that was 2 years ago. But the question of who is a better defender between Finke and Black is up in the air until we see them play.
No it is not. Leron is by far the better defender. Let's not be ridiculous here.
Well I think Black at the 3 is less silly then Hill at the point as far as body type and physical skills Black and Williams/Kipper are pretty close and most look at them as 3's
You do realize the European tour was a year ago.
Finke played out of position almost all of last season. Did he get manhandled by C's who were bigger and stronger than him? Yes. Will he have to guard those guys this season? Hopefully not.
I don't remember hearing much about defense from that tour. I remember hearing he scored and rebounded like a beast, though.
Leron can't handle like those other guys can. He can't lead the PR. He doesn't shoot 3s. Newman pointed out he's had issues guarding on the perimeter. We've never really seen his passing in that sense to assess it at the wing position. What he have seen is Malcolm run enough point to know that he can do, and do it better than our current back up. He is cerebral, can handle, shoot, score in a variety of ways, and facilitate. He already plays on the perimeter and guards perimeter players. Malcolm is much more of a 1 than Leron is a 3. The last person who said Leron was a 3 is Cliff Alexander.
I was not around to physically see the Flyin Illini days, but there is no world where I can envision Leron in his current form play the 3.
Yup. And the fans who suggest it "out" themselves as knowing little about college ball. Good coaches try to get as much ball-handling, quickness and shooting on the court as they can.
Only way it happens is if we have multiple injuries on the wing in which case we'll win even less games than last year.
Black is the better defender and it's not close at all.
I agree that Black is the better defender, but I will say that Finke has come a long way in the last two years. His strength and positioning has made him better than some think, at least against other Illinois players.
LOL my guess is I have seen and played way more basketball then you. Anthony Welch, Andy Kaufmann,Tom Michael ,Tim Geers,Brian Johnson,Awvee Storey.Lucas Johnson,and Brian Randle all played the 3 at one time or another all very different type players other then Andy I wouldn't say any of these were guys who could really handle the ball all that great. So to me Black being able to play the 3 isn't that far off. I didn't put Liberty in the list cause he was a freak and played all 5 spots
I don't think ball handling is the biggest issue for Black playing the 3. Although it is a big issue. The bigger issue is defense. Black doesn't have the quickness or natural instincts to guard the perimeter. He is a in the paint big banger type. Putting him on the perimeter is not a service to him or the team.
Totally agree and I think we'll see improved interior D from Finke for sure. Would absolutely love to see a jump from him on that end of the floor.
I agree with you 100% and would have no trouble with him playing the 5 at times Lowell is my all time favorite Illini with Deon a close 2nd Lowell played the 3 a little as a FR but that team had Meents,Winter,welch,Norman,and Big Jens I believe
he might not be the best at guarding a 3 but a 3 would also have trouble guarding him if he took them to the paint. my point to it all is I would love for us to get our best 5 players on the court even if we had to play a zone. personally I want to get back to playing full court basketball press run and gun style.
That's the biggest key though.
Black has 3 attempts from 3pt land, vs 174 FGA. That alone says all you need to know about his ability to play wing or play like a 3rd guard. Combine that with his rebounding and physical style, and he's more like an old school (slightly undersized) PF at the college level, or in more modern terms, a 4/5 (def undersized). Like others have said, you need to be a really good defender that can come out away from the basket, and you need to have some inside/out game on offense. That's just not Black at this point. Never say never --he seems to have something of a jumper, but I just don't see him getting time at the 3, except for giggles during practice.
I see a lot of guys on our roster that could be mismatches for any given opponent, and I expect us to look really good against weaker teams. Once we get to conference play, or our marque non-conf games, though, I think the picture gets a lot less rosy. I don't share some of the optimism I've seen on threatening for that top tier in the BIG.
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