Illini Basketball 2017-2018

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#176      

DB11Headband

D
Chicago Burbs
DB11Headband
combes said:
Williams has more than caught up.
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DW making an impact this season would be huge for this team. I obviously expect Smith to start and really contribute, and TF to be a scorer off the bench, but I didn't think we'd see much out of Da'Monte. Going to be fun watching these three play the next four years.
 
#179      

combes

C
combes
westcoastillini said:
Combes,

How about a long summary of your impressions? :). I am assuming you have seen some recent practices.....
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I saw quite a bit before practice started. Now that practice is official, access is limited. Media gets in sometimes, but even they do not have full access. I am not media. Just a fan. I haven’t seen them play in a couple of weeks now.
 
#180      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
mdonsbach said:
Does anyone know why Kip always wears his head band upside down?
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He was quoted I believe last year, as he simply wanted to try to get a new "Fad" going...don't think I have seen anything else on this?:shield:
 
#181      

jmilt7

J
Waukegan
jmilt7
MonteGoesWeGo said:
SI released who they project to be the top 50 Freshman scorers in the country this year..

1. Michael Porter Jr Missouri(19.1 PPG)
18. Jarren Jackson MSU (10.3 PPG)
30. Jontay Porter (9.1 PPG)
39. Jordan Goodwin SLU (8.2 PPG)
47. Luke Garza Iowa (7.6 PPG)
50. Brad Davidson WIsconsin (7.5 PPG)

No illini in the top 50. Obviously this list hasn't look at the guys from Champaign, because I fully expect at least 2 of Smith, Frazier, Williams, Ebo, Vessel to average 7.5+ PPG. Smith should be closer to 12-15 figuring the amount of shots we will take, and his play style. Time to prove yet another national media outlet wrong:thumb:
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And now they released "The Top 100 Transfer Scorers of the 2017-18 Season". Mark Alstork at 3rd with a projected PPG 14.7. Let's hope in this case they are right.

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/10/12/top-transfer-scorers-elijah-brown-malik-newman
 
#183      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
Were we a player for Maric? Didn't seem to be a lot of mutual interest. He appears to be a mobile big man that could of helped us plenty this year. He was at Northern Illinois, you would think Illinois would interest him, unless he is from Chicago and wanted to be in the city.
 
#184      

kcib8130

kcib8130
Parts Unknown
kcib8130
SescIllini said:
Were we a player for Maric? Didn't seem to be a lot of mutual interest. He appears to be a mobile big man that could of helped us plenty this year. He was at Northern Illinois, you would think Illinois would interest him, unless he is from Chicago and wanted to be in the city.
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There was interest initially, then we learned his growth plates were closed and he didn't have shoes on.

Then he committed to Depaul and we didn't want him because he didn't want to be here. And, he wouldn't fit BU's system.

Seriously though, IIRC we did reach out but it didn't materialize into very much.
 
#186      

jmilt7

J
Waukegan
jmilt7
Illini0114 said:
https://youtu.be/Ah7Muaojd6s

I too, cannot wait for November. Sad that I have to go back a few years but this is my go to video to get pumped!!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk
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Nice. And thanks not only for this but there were a few others here like the Gonzaga game highlights which were also nice to see again
 
#187      

mdonsbach

M
mdonsbach
MonteGoesWeGo said:
That number seems pretty spot on IMO. If I had to project our PPG I'd do it like this...

1. Alstork 14.7
2. Finke 12.5
3. Smith 11.8
4. Black 11.6
5. Kipper 7.1
6. Tejon 7.5
7. Trent 6.4
8. AJ 6
9. Damonte 4.8
10. Eboigbodin 4.3
11. Vessel 2.8
12-16 1.4

I think we are going to be very unselfish team, and that all averages up to around 90 ppg. Given our fast-pace, defensive aggresiveness and ability to get to the free throw line, I don't see why we can't score this much per game. It is asking a lot of the freshmen and maybe guys like AJ/Damonte/Vessel step up and become bigger contributors than we expect, but I would bet my beach house and give my extra growth plates to Black that Alstork/Finke/Black and Smith will all average double-figure points.
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91 PPG would be pretty amazing but probably not gunna happen.
 
#189      

Whitman2020

W
Whitman2020
MonteGoesWeGo said:
Oklahoma St. went from 67 PPG to 86 last year. Obviously they had an all-american candidate in Evans who took a TON of shots for them, and was very efficient. But the illini this year are going to play a more team style because I don't see a very big gap between our 1-6 top players. No reason why a guy who averaged 19 PPG at the d1 level, a top 40 recruit in Black, a guy like Finke who will finally have an offense that puts him in perfect positions to play his game, a 6"5 beast (yes beast, kid is going to be INSANE) Mr. bball, 2 athletic freaks in Kip and Ebo, a sophomore leap from Tejon and a very hungry AJ plus Frank Williams son and a first-team All-florida quick scorer in TF can't put a TON of points on the board. Maybe i'm sipping some pre-season kool-aid but the pieces are there for this team to have a very very very successful year.
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What the heck man you drank the whole pitcher!
 
#190      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Suspect BU believes he can win the conference. Probably more talent than he has ever had before on this team. Interestingly he said the defense is ahead of the offense. Team is learning new system but opponents are also facing different system than they have played. I believe they will be competitive as BU will take no prisoners if effort is not there.
 
#191      

foby

foby
Bonnaroo Land
foby
Let it rain kool-aid. I haven't been this excited for the start of a season in a long time.
 
#192      

tts22

tts22
tts22
BU - "points and rebounds are easy to get"......

That's something John Groce would never say...... :)
 
#193      

CAHALL15

C
Central Illinois
CAHALL15
tts22 said:
BU - "points and rebounds are easy to get"......

That's something John Groce would never say...... :)
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That and he seems to take ownership in putting guys in good positions to succeed. He mentioned getting guys good shots and talking about how various teams might counter what Illinois is trying to do. All of the players seem to mention the teaching that BU and the staff have done.
 
#195      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
mdonsbach said:
Does anyone know why Kip always wears his head band upside down?
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Some NBA players started that trend quite a few years ago. I remember Rajon Rondo doing it. The purpose then was to flip the NBA logo upside down as a sort of protest. I'm assuming that's where he got the inspiration.
 
#196      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
MonteGoesWeGo said:
Oklahoma St. went from 67 PPG to 86 last year. Obviously they had an all-american candidate in Evans who took a TON of shots for them, and was very efficient. But the illini this year are going to play a more team style because I don't see a very big gap between our 1-6 top players. No reason why a guy who averaged 19 PPG at the d1 level, a top 40 recruit in Black, a guy like Finke who will finally have an offense that puts him in perfect positions to play his game, a 6"5 beast (yes beast, kid is going to be INSANE) Mr. bball, 2 athletic freaks in Kip and Ebo, a sophomore leap from Tejon and a very hungry AJ plus Frank Williams son and a first-team All-florida quick scorer in TF can't put a TON of points on the board. Maybe i'm sipping some pre-season kool-aid but the pieces are there for this team to have a very very very successful year.
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The Big 12 is not the B1G. BU's 7 second offense is pretty well known now. There are a lot of good coaches in this league who are more than happy to slow the game down, and that's going to be on the top of their scouting report when they play us.

I'll be shocked if we score more than 82 PPG.
 
#197      

combes

C
combes
MonteGoesWeGo said:
That number seems pretty spot on IMO. If I had to project our PPG I'd do it like this...

1. Alstork 14.7
2. Finke 12.5
3. Smith 11.8
4. Black 11.6
5. Kipper 7.1
6. Tejon 7.5
7. Trent 6.4
8. AJ 6
9. Damonte 4.8
10. Eboigbodin 4.3
11. Vessel 2.8
12-16 1.4

I think we are going to be very unselfish team, and that all averages up to around 90 ppg. Given our fast-pace, defensive aggresiveness and ability to get to the free throw line, I don't see why we can't score this much per game. It is asking a lot of the freshmen and maybe guys like AJ/Damonte/Vessel step up and become bigger contributors than we expect, but I would bet my beach house and give my extra growth plates to Black that Alstork/Finke/Black and Smith will all average double-figure points.
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Little chance we average 90 a game, IMO. Probably more like 78-80 if we play well. 80 led the Big Ten in scoring last season. Oklahoma State averaged 85.7 in a league that plays faster with less defense and with a more veteran team. UCLA led the nation in scoring at 90.4. I doubt if we are ready for that leap. I would be thrilled to eat my words if it happens.
 
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#198      

Ibball62

I
Ibball62
I am shocked those guys couldn't answer that. I figured Mark Smith would know.
 
#200      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
All this ambiitious scoring on top of a school record loss of 87% of our scoring from last year. 87% let that sink in.:)
 
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