Illini Basketball 2017-2018
No Trent? Ah, yes, soon to be.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Been bandied about for both him and Leron. Already in their 4th year on campus and either or both could make a move. Hope not in both cases, because we're thin in the frontcourt. Hoping they are finding the BU era to be a breath of fresh air. But who knows? Yes, there are concerns.
Lon Kruger's 1st year(see some similarities)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997–98_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997–98_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team
That was Kruger's 2nd year.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996–97_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team
This is his first if someone wants to see the comp. if it still fits
Opps my bad, was so exited forgot about his first true year. Apologies everyone.
So we’re a year ahead
I actually think that is pretty accurate, except that we are two years ahead. Kruger had a bunch of great freshman in year 3 (including Damonte's dad IIRC) and went 3-13 in the BIG10. That set Illinois up for a very nice run over the following several years through the 2005 season.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
Frank Williams had to redshirt his freshman year. He didn't play that year, IIRC.
that's why they had a sucky year...till the end when they had a good BTT....because they had no true point guard, they had a walk-on Nate Mast playing some point
Kruger had Kiwane Garris at point his first year, the second he had a scrappy, heady SR Matt Heldman.
Frank Williams' first playing year they were back on track, Kruger's last year
Whitmans Sampler
- Eastern Iowa
I've got a question about our spread offense. I can remember maybe a handful of times this year where we have gotten a bucket out of the 2nd cutter post up...is this 2nd cut designed to yield more points than we are seeing? Or is it merely supposed to be more of a "transition cut" that leads the offensive into the more effective 2-man game?
Frank wasn't the only freshman that year (he did redshirt as you say) - but Cory Bradford was BIG freshman of the year (a redshirt), also Archibald and Krupalija came in that year. So they did well recruiting after losing almost all of their productive players from the prior year's team. A bunch of young players got experience and then went on to improve the following year and excel under Self.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
Didn't they have Sergio McClain playing some of the point that season as well? For some reason that is stuck in my mind.
With the way the floor is spaced the defense is usually gonna give you either the second cut post up or the initiation to the 2 man game. Because most defenses are conservative and protect the basket first, the entry pass to begin the two man game opens up more often. The second cutter also does some unnoticed things to help the 2 man game if the defense is sagging and takes him away early. It’s not a transition cut by design, but often works like that because of what the defense is willing to give up.
Whitmans Sampler
- Eastern Iowa
Thanks, FiveStar. Appreciate your insight.
yes they did
Since the comparison to '99 always starts getting made when we struggle, five facts about that team:
1. Basically nobody on that team had ever played college basketball before. Serge and Chukwudebe had been bench players on a team that heavily relied on its starters a year before, but that was pretty much it. I can't find the numbers to prove it, but it's a fair guess that that team had zero career starts entering the year. There was no Leron Black or Michael Finke on that team, nor even really a Kipper or TJL. There certainly wasn't a Mark Alstork.
2. 1999 was a historic high point for the Big Ten. Illinois played 20 conference games that year between the regular season and the BTT. 16 of those teams were ranked. SIXTEEN! Add in three Top 15 opponents in the non-conference and we must have had a Top 5 strength of schedule at the very least. Needless to say, this year's schedule is a far cry from that.
3. Illinois beat five ranked teams that year, and only lost to four unranked teams. We've already lost to five unranked teams this year.
4. The next season, Frank Williams, Brian Cook, Marcus Griffin, and Sean Harrington all started their Illini careers. They aren't a "recruiting class" because of the varied circumstances by which they arrived, but that's clearly the biggest one-time injection of talent to Illinois Basketball in its history. We all hope Ayo can be the next Frankie. Maybe we can find another Sean Harrington for this class (we should certainly try). Cookie and Griff aren't walking through that door next year.
5. Illinois was ranked 17th in the preseason the next year. Everyone could see what adding that group to a bunch of rising Sophs (plus Serge) that had carried the team to a season that was nowhere near as bad as the record indicated would mean.
I think any comparison of this team to 1999 is a large matter of opinion at this point - we would really need to know what happens the rest of the year before we can really make comparisons. My point was really that we are very young, and have a lot of freshmen contributing, which bodes well for the future. I do not expect to only win 3 B1G games this year, but we will have to see how it plays out.
Definitely agree with you on No. 2. Kruger gets praise for his coaching job the year prior, but that really was a down year for the Big10. The following year everyone was up, it seemed, but us.
As for No. 1 I'm not so sure. True that the 1999 team had lost 5 seniors that made up most of the scoring. But how much scoring from last year did we lose? 70+%? This year we have a bunch of guys learning a new system (and hopefully a new culture). The 1999 team at least had the benefit of some players who already knew the system being on the floor. We have a young team who will be substantially all returning next year, have a five star coming in, and the possibility of adding another recruit or transfer. We should be in the mix next year.
Definitely agree with you on No. 2. Kruger gets praise for his coaching job the year prior, but that really was a down year for the Big10. The following year everyone was up, it seemed, but us.
As for No. 1 I'm not so sure. True that the 1999 team had lost 5 seniors that made up most of the scoring. But how much scoring from last year did we lose? 70+%? This year we have a bunch of guys learning a new system (and hopefully a new culture). The 1999 team at least had the benefit of some players who already knew the system being on the floor. We have a young team who will be substantially all returning next year, have a five star coming in, and the possibility of adding another recruit or transfer. We should be in the mix next year.
McClain had the most points in the previous year with 116, the only one in triple digits.
Black had 252 last year, Finke had 220, TJL 148, Kipper 103. AJ was over 100 his freshman year as well. Finke and Black also had previous seasons at 248 and 164 respectively.
The decent version of last year's team, the one that surged back from the dead to nearly make the tournament, had cut things down to an 8 man rotation. 4 of those guys are back.
This is a young, inexperienced team in the grand scheme of things, but relative to that '99 team it's a bunch of wily old veterans.
We lost our top 4 scorers from last year; the 1999 team lost the top 5. The 1999 team's top 5 scorers scored a greater majority of the points scored than our top 5 last year, but I can't find a record of minutes played. While McClain may have only scored 116 points, he may have played as much as Finke I don't know. In any event your point is taken for what it is worth, but the comparison may still be valid if we win substantially more than 3 games this year in conference.
I remember the last 4 or 5 games they were playing well, close fought games but ended up losing them... they couldn't get over the hump. Once they won that first tournament game, they could feel it. That last game against Michigan State was tough. 4 games in 4 days. Just didn't have the legs against a team that would end up in the Final Four.
Cookie and Griff ain't walking through and heck, I would settle for a healthy Krupalija.