Sal Iacuzzo
- Yonkers, NY
Acting like the 2018 recruiting class is set in stone is incredibly foolish. Once the coaching carousel starts moving and guys decommit and transfer we will have more options.
Patience.
Patience.
Spicy G is raw, but I've really liked what I've seen out of him. We need more of him now, IMO.
2011
Tracey Abrams
Nnana Egwu
Mike Shaw
Myke Henry
Devin Langford
Ibby Djimde
2013
Kendrick Nunn
Malcom Hill
Jaylon Tate
Maverick Morgan
Austin Colbert
2015
Jalen Coleman-Lands
D J Williams
Aaron Jordan
Darius Paul
Looking at those classes and who actually played (and was productive) I would say no, It's not enough talent.
BU has stated that lots of the offense and defense has not been introduced to the players because they are having trouble grasping the fundamental foundational elements. OK, he wasn't that blunt but he might as well have been. I watched the MD-ILL game with a 76-year old coach who has coached at every level, winning state titles at the high school level and nattys at the JC level. His comment: "I can see what both coaches want their players to do but the kids just are not that smart. Power 5 D1 players are athletic but most would shock you at how little they truly understand about the fundamentals of the game. AAU is killing the beauty of the game and all the D1 coaches know it but there is nothing they can do about it because it has become a big money industry." We can talk about freshmen baby steps and breakout games, etc., etc., but the reality is that 90% of the D1 players are dumb. Simple plays are difficult for them to comprehend. I'll bet you those players at SF Austin were smarter than almost every player on Illinois current roster. That's why when you watch the film from BU's teams there, you get excited. But even those SFA kids could only go so far because they lacked athletes. So it really does not matter who the coach is these days; you have to stockpile top players who, hopefully, have a marginal IQ that will allow them to learn some basic plays. My gut is that the 2019-2020 year will be the year that this team begins to show consistency while also having three recruiting classes on campus (I'm not counting this year's since most of these players were recruited by JG).
Acting like the 2018 recruiting class is set in stone is incredibly foolish. Once the coaching carousel starts moving and guys decommit and transfer we will have more options.
Patience.
I would argue failure in player development, program planning (a lot of short-sighted transfers), in-game coaching, and securing depth at key positions (all of them are staff errors) are the reasons for not making NCAA tourney. The talent might be overrated but those are tourney-bound groups without a doubt (at least when they are seniors).
Making the tournament once in a while is not that hard and is doable even with some veteran 3-stars
I believe the 2011 class was Weber's and was supposed to be really good.
4 of the 6 were washouts and the other two good complementary players that we needed as major players.
The other two classes didn't fare much better, though I'd agree Hill and Nunn were both high level BIG players.
2011 class was RSCI #13 in the country and #2 in the B1G.
The 800-pound gorilla in the room here is that whatever healthy games are left in Leron Black's career + Michael Finke + Spicy G, who does not have the skill level to play at this level, frankly + Kipper Nichols playing out of position + Matic Vesel, playing even further out of position + recruits we don't have = the frontcourt for the forseeable future for the Brad Underwood era.
That's a five-alarm fire. That could ruin everything. If we could trade Ayo for Conditt or Castleton right now, that would be a no brainer, despite neither player being as good.
Isn't the ranking due in part to the fact that there were 6 players in that class? Wouldn't a 3 or 4 player class with the same ranking have a far higher average level of talent?
The 800-pound gorilla in the room here is that whatever healthy games are left in Leron Black's career + Michael Finke + Spicy G, who does not have the skill level to play at this level, frankly + Kipper Nichols playing out of position + Matic Vesel, playing even further out of position + recruits we don't have = the frontcourt for the forseeable future for the Brad Underwood era.
That's a five-alarm fire. That could ruin everything. If we could trade Ayo for Conditt or Castleton right now, that would be a no brainer, despite neither player being as good.
The 800-pound gorilla in the room here is that whatever healthy games are left in Leron Black's career + Michael Finke + Spicy G, who does not have the skill level to play at this level, frankly + Kipper Nichols playing out of position + Matic Vesel, playing even further out of position + recruits we don't have = the frontcourt for the forseeable future for the Brad Underwood era.
That's a five-alarm fire. That could ruin everything. If we could trade Ayo for Conditt or Castleton right now, that would be a no brainer, despite neither player being as good.
The issue with both LB and MF (MF more so than LB) is that they don't have enough athleticism to make up for their relative lack of size in cases where an opposing team has a legit post presence.
what do 800 lb gorillas and 5 alarm fires have to do with UNLV postgame analysis?
Spicy G is the kind of player we passed on in past regimes only to look longingly at the 6'9" senior center on a mid-major while scratching our heads and wondering "Where'd they find that guy?"
We need to develop big guys in basketball just like we need to develop linemen in football. I'm all for having 3 developmental bigs (i.e., 3 star type prospects with size and some athletic ability) on the roster at all times. Looks like that is what Underwood is trying to do.
Spicy G has exactly what you'd want for a guy to make an impact as a Jr/Sr - he's long, athletic, and he's got a motor. He can learn everything else.
No no, the Big Ten ones.
Our post defense issues have come from getting caught out of position and not being able to recover when the opponent makes the right pass. I think(hope) part of that will improve as we get more comfortable in the defense but some of it is, as you said, due to just not being physically able to do it.
I think it will be easier for other newcomers to pick system up when they are mixed with veteran mentors who know system (all of the returning players). right now the player who knows system best is a walkon.
Hard not to say shoulda coulda in these last 4 games. I do believe we can compete with this group of players...we've shown it. Discipline corrections and this is a very good team. we dont need a 7' saviour 5 or 4 star, IMO.
After watching our 3 freshmen guards last night...I'm not just optimistic but almost giddy on what we will do in year 2 and 3 of this transformation.
2 things.
1 Does ESPN really not know how long a Basketball game lasts. Please you flilpin idiots, schedule the games without the overlaps. I am tired of missing half the game beacause you think they only last 2 hrs.
2. I watch basketball for the game. If I want to watch celbrity interviews I would have Jimmy Kimmel or one of those other such shows I never watch on. I tuned in to watch a game.
Sorry, rant over.
You'd trade a five star guard, the favorite for Mr. Basketball in the state, a probable McD All American and a player from the MIF....for two projects
Boy....I'd love to be a GM dealing with you.
I know I’m probably in the minority and confess to drinking a bit of Kool-Aid, but as long as the players believe they can win ANY game, which by their fight, I think they do. The team will clean up the mistakes and BU will make the necessary adjustments to overcome our talent limitations.
Illini Stats & Notes
@IlliniStats
Replying to @IlliniMBB @Mark_Smith_13 and 2 others
True freshmen combined for 43 points at UNLV, the most by a freshman class since scoring 52 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff 11/27/2002 (Brown-14, Augustine-12, Wilson-11, Spears-8, Williams-7). The 43 points were the most by a freshman class in a road game since at least 1979-80.