Great sign there was no injury talk!
Illini Basketball 2018-2019
- Status
Great sign there was no injury talk!
An extra body can't hurt, Griffith was an all around 6-5" player in high school, so? Glad Higgs is good and with Kane is progressing. Sounds as if Kane will play a very B1G part in the ILLINI plans this year!
Well I mean... He's the only healthy true center we have. As much as I'd love this positionless thing to work out in our favor, having Kipper go against 7 footers just doesn't sound like a recipe for success. My biggest hope is that he can stay on the court 25+ mins a game and provide at least mediocre D.
Freshman Kane>Sophomore Ebo
This is not a hot take.
If I'm wrong we iz in trouble.
This is not a hot take.
If I'm wrong we iz in trouble.
A lot Kane's success will come from whether everyone else can play good defense. If he has to be relied on cleaning up someone else's mistake, he's going to foul out quickly. With good team defense, BU can give Kane less to focus on, but we have too many new pieces for that to be the likely outcome.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
What does the rest of the teams in the conference look like for Bigs? Is the B1G loaded at the 5 spot that will pick us apart game in and game out, or did a lot of the quality big men graduate/move on?
I'm not convinced Freshman Kane > Sophomore Ebo, personally I thought we got all you should expect and maybe a bit more from a freshman big out of Ebo, but to me even if Kane is better than Ebo, you still need to find another 20 minutes of Big play, we really need 2 big men out of Kane, De La Rosa, Giorgi, and Higgs to be healthy and ready to play if we are 100% stretch 4.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
If Kane can shoot the ball outside of two feet, then > Ebo. I liked Ebo, but I think there were low expectations, so any progress, scoring was a nice surprise and smiled upon easily.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
I think anything Kane brings on the offensive side is a bonus. Set a good screen in the pinch and catch a lob and finish when its tossed up for you. The biggest need is to stay out of foul trouble and provide any sort of inside presence on D. Need him to eat up minutes till we can see De La Rosa healthy if that even happens.
Not sure about that. Coming in probably, but expectations are always exaggerated for incoming freshmen and BU's high praise as the most athletic player on the team did not help either. But before his very surprised transfer, most had projected Ebo as a starter and a contributor this year. Ebo was not a great player by any stretch of the imagination, so not a high bar to clear. but the views on what his potential contributions would have been this coming year significantly changed once he decided to leave the team.
Here is my view on how this coming season is shaping up. There are only 3 players IMO who are all but guaranteed to hold starting positions, but more importantly, a critical role on the rotation: Frazier, Kipper, and Ayo. Beyond that, the staff needs to find some consistent contributors at the rest of the positions. Given that Kipper is almost certain to play out of position at PF (by necessity), that leaves SF/SG and a down-low/inside player.
Both positions are wide open, and most likely will lead to multiple experimentation on the rotation and lineups. Had he not been injured, De La Rosa would have been the down-low/inside player. With the injury, his future utilization is in jeopardy, depending on his recovery. So one of the bigs (Giorgi, Kane, or Higgs) HAS to emerge, because IMO we can't hold much ground given Maui and other challenges early on the schedule by expecting Kipper to play that role.
At the SG/SF (3) position, starting the season, I expect AJ and Feliz to be the main 2 players that UI will depend on. DW will be a critical part, but I see his role more at SG, playing a very crucial role with Ayo/Frazier, those 3 players covering the 1-2 positions. JMO.
Both positions are wide open, and most likely will lead to multiple experimentation on the rotation and lineups. Had he not been injured, De La Rosa would have been the down-low/inside player. With the injury, his future utilization is in jeopardy, depending on his recovery. So one of the bigs (Giorgi, Kane, or Higgs) HAS to emerge, because IMO we can't hold much ground given Maui and other challenges early on the schedule by expecting Kipper to play that role.
At the SG/SF (3) position, starting the season, I expect AJ and Feliz to be the main 2 players that UI will depend on. DW will be a critical part, but I see his role more at SG, playing a very crucial role with Ayo/Frazier, those 3 players covering the 1-2 positions. JMO.
Last edited:
I'm sorry, what?
Though I don't doubt for a second that he's going to have a good year.
The Finke bros, JCL, DJW, and THT and Conditt at ISU are some guys I’ll be keeping an eye on this year. Interested to see how they do. Any other former Illini or guys with Illini connections you guys will watch/keep track of?
Whitney. 
Castleton Michigan,
Nolley VT
Elias Valtonen ASU
Lukas Kisunas, U Conn
Okoro Oregon
Trice KSU
Not that I am keeping any kind of score.
Sal Iacuzzo
- Yonkers, NY
Kisunas is going to Stanford.
He will show us exactly who we thought him to be......there.
Oh, that's right. I believe he decommitted from UConn because of the coaching change.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
He had to go all the way to Phoenix to find some clippers?!
Wish him nothing but success....but also wish he would have stayed.
- Status