My bet is 4 guards. Unless TJL doesn't start because he missed 10 days of practice and is behind.
Illini Basketball 2017-2018
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My bet is 4 guards. Unless TJL doesn't start because he missed 10 days of practice and is behind.
I hate to answer this question because I like our front court and genuinely root for all of our players. And I don't want to give anyone bulletin board material. But I do believe that Da'Monte will force the issue, even though your lineup will probably be where it starts at the beginning of the season. Like Kipper said, it ultimately doesn't matter, everyone is going to play and everyone will be needed. Starters don't matter apart from the novelty aspect.
True I'm pulling for "wins" and my ole hall of fame use to say...."it's not who starts the games as much as who finishes the game!" Who does BU trust to be on the court when it counts.....
That's a very good point
I actually meant to post something similar in my response, but lost my train of thought. Let's let all these kids (including our vets) play for a while on the court. Sometimes it can be so exciting to dream on things and we just jump the gun. I'm clearly included in this.
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It's fun and gets the juices flowing before the season and we aren't in practice daily...
Combes where ya at (video)
It wouldn't completely surprise me for Lucas to sit I guess. I'm fine with alstork or smith playing the point. But if I was a betting man, I would put my money on Damonte not starting as Conference play approaches. No offense to him. (I can say whatever I want when I say that)
Starting lineups for a scrimmage mean little right now. These scrimmages are not usually full games. They are started and stopped for instruction. Situations are set up. They are basically practices with different players. Players will be substituted far differently than in a real game. Scores don’t mean much, either.
Williams getting a “start” in this scrimmage does not mean he is in the top five. He may be, but he may not be. Coaches use all sorts of motivational techniques.
I would expect Lucas to not be used as much as he normally would as he breaks back in. No point in pushing him too fast with almost a month before the first game.
This staff is very strict about no video. They have managers go around and remind spectators to have their phones on silent and no video.
Thank you for posting about scrimmage specifics. I always wondered if it was a game or if they played like a bit and then ran through a bunch of situations. Good to practice against an offense/defense that doesn’t know what’s coming but not have all your stuff out there on video just yet.
It's tough having so many good players at multiple positions again....
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
How funny it is now to think back how tough we thought our team was with the Seal experiences and the "TNT" bracelets...when what it really takes is a no nonsense coach that crawls in your arse every practice! Including his own boy.
I'm not going to make any wild predictions, but I think this team is going to give us some moments this year that will surprise the hell out of us, and we'll remember forever!
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
You're absolutely right about this. And to put the same thought on a larger stage (this point has been made by others), how many teams have we projected great things for and then found that the conference writers had us pegged about right? I'm trying hard not to get too much orange kool-aid on my clean clothes, but it sure is fun to dream about the progress and the transformation that is going to take place. So ready
Deleted member 631370
D
Guest
If there's one element that's been sorely missing from Illinois basketball over the past 10+ years, it's been an identity of toughness and resilience.
That 2001 team was tough as nails. One of the toughest teams I've seen. 2005 wasn't as physically tough, but they were very resilient and had a cohesive identity that really propelled the team to greatness. 1998 = tough.
Most (if not all) of the great teams have that "it" factor. And it's usually forged by strong leadership. Underwood, at first glance, appears to be the type to foster that kind of identity.
As somebody else said, Groce and his gimmicky SEAL training and TNT bracelets never forged toughness or identity. That's not something you can manufacture with bumper sticker phrases and fake military training. It's something you have to work at day in and day out, and by all accounts, he went the route of a "friend" rather than a "take no prisoners" leader. This program needs a leader. Hopefully we have it in Underwood.
Dan
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Almost a month? It's only 23 days 10 hours 20 minutes and 48 Seconds
But who's counting.
I will criticize Groce all day long, but I'm going to stick up for him a little here. Groce was a player's coach --definitely soft and tried to work with guys collaboratively. That probably works ok with competitive guys who are self-motivated, but fails when guys need to be pushed. To the extent he recruited some higher ranked guys, I think this style is a big part of landing them.
Knowing that, it makes a lot of sense to bring in someone that can increase toughness and pushes the guys hard. Ultimately, I think the failure was consistency --once the trainer left, that toughness was behind them. If Groce used that to kick-start and enforce good habits, it probably would have worked.
Underwood is the polar opposite. Loves his players, but sees that they are preparing for something very challenging, and therefore can't let them learn poor habits. Tough, but necessary. If he were recruiting soft players, it would probably backfire, but he knows he needs guys that "get it", and so he can develop the culture to expect greatness through hard work. Some people thrive in that environment, and have fun pushing themselves. I think that's Underwood's kind of athlete.
Yup. It will be a different breed of player that is attracted to play for Underwood. They will be the type you want on your team come Big 10 play.
Small Mark Smith mention:
Mark Smith, Illinois: Smith was named Mr. Basketball in Illinois last season and his decision to stay home was a major coup for Brad Underwood. Smith is strong, skilled, and confident, so expect him to have a chance to start for the Illini immediately as they attempt to crack the top half of the Big Ten.
I like Groce too and he did a great job his first recruiting class, landing 3 solid Big Ten players (Nunn, Hill, Mav) and two project players. But he had too many misses (No PG, No 5 star), Character Misses (Crosby, Paul), and Talent Misses (DJ). He recruited players with good rankings but major flaws in their game. DJ had no motor and lacked many bb skills, although long. Coleman-Lands could shoot but couldn't handle the ball and was a major liability on defense. Two best recruits following Hill/Nunn were Kipper and TJL. The 3 year gap is was ended his Illini tenure. Also skill development wasn't on par with other programs, Groce asst. Coaches also help end his tenure.
Small mention but I thought it was good ink for the Illini program.......
No worries Smith will make his own "Big" mentions.....
Go and watch the Illinois vs Kansas sweet 16 or any of the Illinois vs Arizona games. Illini players were ripped and had size on them. Off the bench was Lucas, Krupalija, and Archibald just when you got tired of McCalin, Cook, and Griffin. They were much more physical than Kansas that game, Frank Williams and Bradford were too much for the KU guards.
When Illinois matched against Arizona, UA had two advantages IMHO. Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson. Those two players could match size at that position but with more athleticism. If Illini land Bobby Simmons like was thought for several years we have a better chance of winning.
This statement is absolutely not true! Groce may have had issues with toughness but there was no shortage of toughness under Weber. For all of Weber's other faults, developing tough players was not one of them. His teams were pretty solid defensively due in large part to that toughness. There inability to score or generate any kind of offense and to play with confidence on that end of the court were certainly issues... but not toughness.
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