Amen!! The jump from Edwardsville to HM Div I BB is a heck a lot greater than from Wright State to HM Div I. Not even close.
Illini Basketball 2017-2018
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Amen!! The jump from Edwardsville to HM Div I BB is a heck a lot greater than from Wright State to HM Div I. Not even close.
I don't think anyone said Smith was going to be the leading scorer.....I think we said he has the potential as des anyone else on this team .... it could easily be Leron or Finke or Kipper
Also allows us the opportunity for a mid season transfer.
Let me say first off I really like A. Jordan. However, he is definitely not 2nd best perimeter defender, not 3rd, or 4th. I really like this kid as a shooter, he just doesn’t move with that athleticism some of our other guards do. I am not sure what kind of minutes this kid plays but I hope he is able to help us somewhere. DaMonte is a very good defender anywhere on the floor.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Guys, this team is dancing. I'm putting the marker down now.
haasi
- New York
I completely agree. That’s why I’d be shocked if we finish in spots 10-12. In my mind I see us top 6.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Matt, your optimism is inspiring.
I'm still on the fence. Very little returning from last year and lots of unknowns about chemistry, adapting to Underwood's scheme, etc. I hope the team reaches your expectations, we'll all be happy, but I'm not buying yet. I'm also not selling.
Matt, your optimism is inspiring.
I'm still on the fence. Very little returning from last year and lots of unknowns about chemistry, adapting to Underwood's scheme, etc. I hope the team reaches your expectations, we'll all be happy, but I'm not buying yet. I'm also not selling.
I’m the same. Just last year we were talking about getting 20+ wins and a birth and it didn’t happen. Obviously, BU is a huge change from Groce and BU has yet to miss the tournament as a head coach, but there are just so many unknowns.
I simply refuse to believe that an Underwood coached team can be worse than a Groce team that was a Rutgers win away from the dance last year.
I know we lost Malcolm, have a severe lack of depth in the front court, are expecting a lot of minutes from freshman, and are running a completely new system. BUT, John Groce basically admitted he didn't make in game adjustments with his "my system is the system" or "the offense is the offense" bull last year, so I really think all it takes is a competent coach and average talent, which we seem to have.
I agree.
It hurts to lose Hill. He was an outstanding player.
However, we are going to see a major upgrade in PG--Lucas is a year older and will be playing all year. We have 2 quality PG freshmen to back him up...plus a quality freshman combo guard.
Coaching/scheme...huge upgrade.
We're adding a proven upperclassman scorer in Alstork.
Our frontcourt will be a concern, but there are more positives than negatives here.
If one single freshman meets the expectations of the more optimistic posters on this board, we dance. If we have two freshman who play above the average expectation on this board, plus leron or finke have a maverick type forth year leap, we dance.
I think either of those scenarios brings this team equal to last year's.
Freshman Lucas < Sophomore Lucas
JCL/Tate/DJW/Abrams < 2 exceeds expectations freshman or 1 awesome freshman
Malcolm Hill > Alstork
Black, kip, finke, thorne, Morgan = 1 year older black, kip, finke
(I liked Morgan last year)
I think that all translates to a wash, especially if AJ can step up. Add in BU over Groce and I see us getting over the hump.
If we don't get performance from the freshman, however, I think NIT
I'm tempering my expectations, personally, but I think they can do this.
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I think either of those scenarios brings this team equal to last year's.
Freshman Lucas < Sophomore Lucas
JCL/Tate/DJW/Abrams < 2 exceeds expectations freshman or 1 awesome freshman
Malcolm Hill > Alstork
Black, kip, finke, thorne, Morgan = 1 year older black, kip, finke
(I liked Morgan last year)
I think that all translates to a wash, especially if AJ can step up. Add in BU over Groce and I see us getting over the hump.
If we don't get performance from the freshman, however, I think NIT
I'm tempering my expectations, personally, but I think they can do this.
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This season depends on two things: how quickly the guys pick up BU's system and how well they meld.
If we get both early on, we are dancing for sure. We have a great variety of players and I trust BU to figure out how and when to use them all.
If we get both early on, we are dancing for sure. We have a great variety of players and I trust BU to figure out how and when to use them all.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
We are going dancing this year. 
haasi
- New York
We are going dancing this year.
Link??
Don't see that comparison at all. 2/3 of the above mentioned guys were the second if not third option on their team and it showed at the next level.
Djw never produced and JCL was slow played late by Michigan for a reason. Neither one of those guys screamed star at the next level.
Somewhere between Dee/Deron and Bp/Dj/Bertrand is closer. People will hammer away at rankings but a healthy Damonte Williams is a top 75 player and all 3 of these guys are capable of taking over a game.
Only guy that could do that in h.s. out of your mentioned class was Jordan.
I will take this a step farther...Aaron Jordan is one of our best assets recruiting wise for on campus visits....he and the family LOVE Illinois. We love the kid for that, but I have just not seen very much to date that suggests he is either an elite (very good) perimeter defender and or shooter/scorer.
His athleticism in HS allowed him to do some things then, that is average at best now as far as play. Again, love the kid, stay in the lane best suited, not sure he ever equates to meaningful minutes however, especially with the talent infusion we seem to have gotten recently. Maybe B1G season will be different due to experience and being upper classman, not sure of that though either.
Are we talking about the same people?
I was confident after the Spring recruiting season and before the B1G announced 2 league games early December. Tough to get a team with 6 New faces, a new coach, and a new offensive and defensive system ready to play quality teams by December 1 and 3.
Lose both of those conference games and it is a really difficult path to 6th or 7th in the B1G. Split those games and my confidence goes way up.
I think AJ suffered from Groce's (Ford's?)substitution patterns. Whenever he got tick, it seemed like it was just as a blow for somebody else, and he was never allowed to get in a rhythm. I know Lucas, by contrast, was able to play his way into the rotation, but I still feel that was partly due to huge public media and public outcry.
My #hottake is that AJ could be a solid rotation player for a B1G team, but hasn't been given the opportunity to prove it.
My #hottake is that AJ could be a solid rotation player for a B1G team, but hasn't been given the opportunity to prove it.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Agree that those are huge, huge games.
But I was certain that last year's team was not NCAA-caliber and damned if they didn't almost prove me wrong.
I'll keep banging the drum - we think we know how much of a coaching disadvantage we were at last year. We're really only going to find out later this month.
Correct. I think there is some dark magic with Groce that prevents many of his players to get in shooting rhythm. Tate is a good example. Cosby suddenly forgot how to shoot at all after he came. Maybe it's not just his rotation pattern but something more to that.
I remembered one game when Finke was trying to shoot a corner three, Groce shouted at him and Finke cancelled the shooting motion and was totally lost. It ended up a travel of Finke. I was so pissed of seeing that and came to realize why Groce's player does not progress at all.
Hill was probably the only player that is immune to this dark magic but if he is coached by some better guys maybe he has been an all big-ten player and playing NBA right now.
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