Media Day
Dan
Admin
Kedric Prince with a bunch of player interviews on periscope-
https://www.periscope.tv/KedPrince4/1mrxmWBkXbdGy
https://www.periscope.tv/KedPrince4/1mrxmWBkXbdGy
evidently as the media guide is out on fighting Illini.com
Finke up to 230, Malcom 225. Kipper 225, Leron 220, DJ 210
If Tracy is as healthy as Groce claims, I think we ought to have really high hopes/expectations for this season.
If we get Tracy's junior year over again, where are the holes in this roster?
If we get Tracy's junior year over again, where are the holes in this roster?
Not a whole lot of changes to weights, just major body composition changes.
How high we talkin?
We're probably not going to be great defensively, but otherwise I agree. I think this team should be having much higher expectations than what has been put forward. About as deep as a team as I can remember here.
There shouldn't be games on the schedule we just pencil in as L's with this team. Put it that way.
For all the things the NCAA does wrong, they handled the Thorne situation correctly. Hoping for a healthy and solid year from him, glad to hear his education goals are being met. Nice to have a well balanced team with depth.
I'm going top 4 B1G, no worse than 5 seed tourney. This orange Kool-aid might have a little vodka in it though.
That seems like a pretty vague answer. Not trying to press you or get a bold prediction, honestly. I expect people who are interested will go on record in the predictions thread that is sure to come. I'm just looking for insight and analysis. No one has seen this edition of the Illini in a real game so opinions are going to be varied.
Where I've disagreed with the herd is not on our frontcourt, which I expect to be solid offensively, and easily in the upper half of the BIG, and not on the wing or 2 spot, which I think will also be upper half of the BIG even with the loss of Nunn. I'm wondering how much our defense will improve, whether the team gets an identity, and how we'll hold up at PG.
Maybe I'm reading between the lines, but I get the impression that Lucas will get a real shot at the #2 spot. Groce said specifically in the Media Day conference that he expects that position to be able to shoot it from outside, or at least be a threat to shoot it, and to me, that says volumes about a player who's a career 8.7% shooter. Tracy is a 27% outside shooter, but when we had an elite defense, it was good enough to get to the dance. If you're trading offense for defense, Lucas being a threat from outside would open things up and give you points. Just a question of the trade-off in t/o and defense, and whether it's worth the investment in his development given where he's at. Looking forward to seeing how that battle shapes up.
I think that's very possible with this team.
I meant that as my baseline
If we can build from the last couple of games from last year we should be pretty good early. We return the full squad with the exception of Nunn, but will be returning Black, Thorne, and Abrams.
I think if we get average PG play, average defense, and Malcolm asserts himself as the alpha dog then we can be in the 4-6 seed range.
And what I mean when talking about Malcolm is in the past he would sometimes go with the flow or "play within the offense". That is fine if the offense is clicking but there will be times when we can't buy a bucket and we need someone to take over.
Mike
C-U Townie
Not to jinx us, but on paper MH can't be stopped. Now more athletic than most guards, and stronger than most bigs. Who's gonna stop him? He should be a load for the competition, and a joy for illini fans to watch.
Between him at the 3, Thorn at the 5, a healthy gunslinging JCL at the 2, and hopefully solid 1 play we could possibly be REALLY good. If everything goes our way for a change we could have an uncharacteristically fun season.
I'll also have a double order of the sophomore jump, a side or manly rebounding, and please hold the injuries and arrests.
WiscIllini
- Madison, WI
I don't really know where you're getting this from, but I think these expectations should be tempered. He is easily the best player on this team, and I love watching him, but he did not suddenly become Lebron James in the offseason.
No Lebron James, but he's gotten better every single year & that baby face assassin grew into a man this year. He is easily one of the most powerful wings in college basketball & stronger than plenty of 4's and 5's without a doubt. Squatting 485, benching nearly 300 & a vertical of 38" puts him in mighty good company. Those numbers were measured 10 weeks ago and you better believe he's been putting in work since.
WiscIllini
- Madison, WI
Oh, there's no doubt he's improved and he will play extremely well this year. I agree with FiveStar, he's going to be a fantastic 3 guard this year by being able to push around other guards and forwards. I'll hold out on saying how athletic he's gotten until I can watch him play some defense.
Hill actually played pretty defense last year. One of the few on the team that did.