Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-February 2018)

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#901      

KrushCow31

Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
Give me a good reason to play a scholarship player less than 60 mins throughout what 20ish games. And all of those minutes coming at meaningless times.

Are you suggesting they are trying to get him out of here quicker? There are much easier ways to do that. We obviously aren't hurting for open scholarships. Trying to predict if we will be 4 years down the road is a crap shoot.

I'm making a much bigger deal of this than I should be, but I dont see why we wouldn't give him an extra year to develop if we could (and obviously we could've given his limited playing time). Nobody knows what he will develop into. I dont think anyone expected Ebo to be this good this quickly, or for MS to have fallen as far as he has.

It is possible Matic did not want a Redshirt.
 
#902      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
It is possible Matic did not want a Redshirt.

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#903      
Give me a good reason to play a scholarship player less than 60 mins throughout what 20ish games. And all of those minutes coming at meaningless times.

Are you suggesting they are trying to get him out of here quicker? There are much easier ways to do that. We obviously aren't hurting for open scholarships. Trying to predict if we will be 4 years down the road is a crap shoot.

I'm making a much bigger deal of this than I should be, but I dont see why we wouldn't give him an extra year to develop if we could (and obviously we could've given his limited playing time). Nobody knows what he will develop into. I dont think anyone expected Ebo to be this good this quickly, or for MS to have fallen as far as he has.

I agree it was a mistake in hindsight. Sometimes you don’t know what you have until you throw them on the floor in a game situation though. I think the staff knew they were going to need a few minutes from either Ebo or Matic. Ebo has clearly won that battle. I guess my issue was only with it being the biggest mistake which may come back to haunt them. Unlikely.
 
#905      
I agree it was a mistake in hindsight. Sometimes you don’t know what you have until you throw them on the floor in a game situation though. I think the staff knew they were going to need a few minutes from either Ebo or Matic. Ebo has clearly won that battle. I guess my issue was only with it being the biggest mistake which may come back to haunt them. Unlikely.

Good point, would've hoped they'd seen enough in practice, but like I said probably doesnt really matter. Odds either turns into a lottery pick are slim.


Biggest mistake so far in a very young tenure. Just purely speaking of the present. Growing pains by the team and coach are expected, recruiting wise we haven't missed on any of our huge targets yet (though maybe the argument could be made for THT) Beckman had a propensity to burn RS for no reason. Part of the many reasons he failed. Knowing when to hold them is as important as knowing when to fold them ;)
 
#906      
I think Matic's issue is that not only is he adapting physically to the B1G and to our brand of offense, but he's having to adjust to American basketball itself. If you watch his European highlights, it's a lot of drives to the basket, open jumpers, and put-backs. He doesn't have the strength or skill to do any of that at this level. Beyond that, I can't see him defending even low-level B1G bigs in the post.

I'm not saying Matic is a lost cause, but man was he ever a prime candidate for a redshirt. He needs to add a bunch of strength before he sees much PT. Until then, he's just far too much of a liability on defense. I legitimately believe we have one of the best strength coaches in the country, but there's only so much that can be done in one off-season. Given that all of our current bigs should be back, I can't see a path to playing time for him next year.

Don't disagree with the redshirt but suspect Matic did not want one as he can get his degree and play pro in Europe. Based on what we have seen from the strength coach with Finke , Morgan, and Ebo and just the way Matic looks at this point, I don't think strength will be his issue next year. Playing time maybe as all our bigs are back. I just love Kipper starting with Finke and Black and believe it helps our size problem as he can shoot as well as rebound and like him in the pinch post. That opens more time at the big positions. Matic's playing time will be more controlled by his skill set than his physical build IMO.
 
#907      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Good point, would've hoped they'd seen enough in practice, but like I said probably doesnt really matter. Odds either turns into a lottery pick are slim.


Biggest mistake so far in a very young tenure. Just purely speaking of the present. Growing pains by the team and coach are expected, recruiting wise we haven't missed on any of our huge targets yet (though maybe the argument could be made for THT) Beckman had a propensity to burn RS for no reason. Part of the many reasons he failed. Knowing when to hold them is as important as knowing when to fold them ;)

Disagree. Teets isn't a typical freshman. He's pushing 20. Do you actually think he'll be sticking around 'til he's 24+? Not very likely, IMO.

Also, (not directed at ChiefIllini) those of you who are looking at him as a post player are mistaken. He's much more of a stretch 4, in the Finke mold. But hopefully a much better rebounder. Can't write off bigs in their first year.
 
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#908      
Disagree. Teets isn't a typical freshman. He's pushing 20. Do you actually think he'll be sticking around 'til he's 24+? Not very likely, IMO.

Also, (not directed at ChiefIllini) those of you who are looking at him as a post player are mistaken. He's much more of a stretch 4, in the Finke mold. But hopefully a much better rebounder. Can't write off bigs in their first year.
Totally agree. I don't think you can call him a mistake until he is gone and hasn't made any significant contribution. I believe he will find his way into meaningfuly minutes maybe a little bit next year but for sure the following year as both Finke, Black and Jordan graduate. I think he could be a very solid player for us, because he does have size, yet also has ball skils and is quicker than Finke. If Finke was just a half step quicker, he would be able to drive and get some easy baskets, but other bigs can recover due that lack of quickness. Matic will be another matter. Not saying All-American or even all-Big Ten, but think he will be a contributor before all is said and done.
 
#909      
I personally think this has been BU's biggest mistake so far. Virtually no reason to burn his RS. It's not that big of an issue, and maybe it was a sticking point to getting Matic, but it would've been nice.

Any type of injury to Ebo, Black or Finke would have required burning the RS anyway. The season isnt over yet.
 
#910      
Any type of injury to Ebo, Black or Finke would have required burning the RS anyway. The season isnt over yet.

I don't think it'd be required. We played a lot of games with Finke, Black, and Kipper rotating between 2 positions. And we've played some minutes with only one of those 3 in the game.

And with our record less-than-desirable, I wouldn't see any reason we couldn't do it without one of those bigs (Finke, Ebo, Black) plus keeping that redshirt intact for Matic.

But it is a moot point...he isn't a redshirt and probably didn't want to redshirt. I'm guessing coaches rarely FORCE a redshirt on a player that says "Nah, I'll take my chances."
 
#911      
Vesel's biggest issue is that he is 6'9" and weighs 30 pounds less than Mark Smith. Do you think that another year or two in the program would have him making a dent in the 37-15 rebound margin against Michigan State? I don't know whether or not he will become a good player for us-I sure hope he does-but we need muscle in the worst way.
 
#912      
Vesel's biggest issue is that he is 6'9" and weighs 30 pounds less than Mark Smith. Do you think that another year or two in the program would have him making a dent in the 37-15 rebound margin against Michigan State? I don't know whether or not he will become a good player for us-I sure hope he does-but we need muscle in the worst way.

This reference shows a 10lb difference between said players:

http://fightingillini.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

Anyway, here's hoping Matic stays the course and progresses in year 2 with the Illini.
 
#914      
Vesel's biggest issue is that he is 6'9" and weighs 30 pounds less than Mark Smith. Do you think that another year or two in the program would have him making a dent in the 37-15 rebound margin against Michigan State? I don't know whether or not he will become a good player for us-I sure hope he does-but we need muscle in the worst way.



Sounds like they’ll need to get him on the famed 9000 calories per day Tisdale diet. Just don’t let the announcers find it about it because that’s all they will talk about for four years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#915      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Sounds like they’ll need to get him on the famed 9000 calories per day Tisdale diet. Just don’t let the announcers find it about it because that’s all they will talk about for four years.

Vesel is thin, but his physique is far better than Tisdale's was. He should be able to add 20 pounds of muscle easy (over a couple years).
 
#916      

BananaShampoo

Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
Sounds like they’ll need to get him on the famed 9000 calories per day Tisdale diet. Just don’t let the announcers find it about it because that’s all they will talk about for four years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I believe it was 6,000 calories per day. I love how it gets exaggerated as time goes by. A decade or so from now we'll be hazily recalling his 30,000 calorie per day diet and wondering how his stomach didn't burst.
 
#917      

jmwillini

Tolono, IL
Courtney Ramey

Courtney Ramey

“New schools that have really turned up their recruitment are SMU, Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland, South Carolina, Mississippi State,” Terrell said.
 
#918      
Courtney Ramey

“New schools that have really turned up their recruitment are SMU, Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland, South Carolina, Mississippi State,” Terrell said.
Dad says he wants to go somewhere where he is the primary option. With our stable of guards, that's just not going to happen here. No absolutes, but I'd say there's a minimal chance he would be an Illini - even less after reading that statement.
 
#919      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Dad says he wants to go somewhere where he is the primary option. With our stable of guards, that's just not going to happen here. No absolutes, but I'd say there's a minimal chance he would be an Illini - even less after reading that statement.

This. The play here is Gordon, plain and simple.
 
#921      
Luis Rodriguez officially visiting next weekend: https://twitter.com/coreyevans_10/s...OPS-Recruiting-thread-Next-109537369?Page=142

6'6" wing that we offered a couple months back, but it had gone quiet. UMass is the only other team that seems to be recruiting him hard. Good defensive wing apparently, but I haven't been overly impressed by what I've seen from him offensively. Guessing this is a backup for plan for Jones.
Oy...another guy with a potentially broken shot? Ugh.
 
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