So when is Caleb Love entering the portal and how long after that does he announce for Illinois?
So when is Caleb Love entering the portal and how long after that does he announce for Illinois?
If Underwood thought Podz was capable of filling in more, he would have played more often. More often than not, I will take a coaches’ side on playing time decisions. Fans don’t make good coaches.
4 out of the 5 players you refer to in your master game plan are gone. Seems like an awful lot of words for a what if scenario that has absolutely no chance of happening.I actually don't think it was Curbelo as much as it was the offensive and defensive schemes we ran were a poor fit for him as a player. He's a player who has a lot of athleticism but would struggle at times with his positioning, awareness, and off the ball movement. As such, he'll have a hard time dealing with man-to-man (both offense and defense) as he needs additional time and space to operate, so you almost need to build your offense and defense around him to accentuate his talents while limit the weaknesses.
To make it work on defense, you probably need to play him side by side with another 6'10" highly athletic big in some sort of 3-2 zone, split the court in half, have the big on the side where the ball is be the primary defender who's goal is to funnel the player to the secondary defender big for the block. Two of the guards should cover the wings to avoid the open 3, and the 3rd should creep down slightly from the top of the key to both decrease the passing lanes while still allowing time to contest the elbows. This forces teams into midrange jumpers or floaters, or they need movement off the ball to get to the elbows and free throw lines, otherwise they will be either running straight into the secondary big defender or forced into a difficult passing window. In theory you'd want quick big guards for this. On offense, for the 3 guards you'd be looking for 2-3 slasher types who can hit a three at a decent rate and be willing to kick it out to the open shooter if the defense collapses on them when they slash, lob it up to one of the bigs making a run to the basket or just throwing stuff up off the glass looking for one of the bigs to crash and put in the offensive rebound. The only issue with this is that based on what I saw from Omar is that he doesn't seem to have either the nose or awareness to move off the ball to the hoop to crash for offensive rebounds or make himself available for lobs unless it was a set play out of a timeout.
So the question now becomes, if that's a style of play that in theory could bring out Omar's strengths, could Underwood have installed something like that and my answer to that would be only partially. Basically, Kofi is not an optimal pairing with him so changing the overall team defense to 3-2 is just not going to happen. So instead you'd almost need to run 2 teams out there- your 1st team is man-to-man, and your 2nd team is 3-2 zone. Now you'd rather not spend time teaching 2 offensive and defensive philosophies to your entire team, so humorously you'd almost need to make full line changes like you'd see in hockey. Based on those requirements you're looking at something like:
Starters (Man): Kofi, Trent, Damonte, Jacob, Plummer/Curbelo/Goode
2nd team (Zone): Omar, Coleman, RJ, Curbelo, Podz/Plummer/Trent
Where Plummer is your offensive weapon you put in and say try your best on defense, Trent and Andre could probably play either though I wouldn't want to wear Trent out playing much zone. But is this even good enough? Zone will have some defensive issues for sure, you lose flexibility as you'd rather not waste time teaching both systems, and you basically have to run split practices, plus if you have injuries, how do you get players to fill into the new role on the fly?
All in all, this is just too much time spent on what would be your backup big and just too cute and inflexible to be beneficial. Simply put, Omar transferring is clearly the best option for both himself and the Illini as he's just not a good fit for an offense built around Kofi or playing man, and as such we're not a good fit for him either. Definitely makes sense he's leaving and hopefully he can find a better fit for his skillset.
Kendall Gill didn't play much as a freshman and we know how that turned out.It takes some players time to develop and be effective at the college level. The game is quicker than high school and players are stronger. Remember Roger Powell didn’t play much as a freshman and turned into a solid college player. The hard part is to convince kids their time will come if they work hard
The Portal = Good or Bad for College Basketball? The Good = parity as opportunities for talent to transfer efficiently keeps the blue bloods from dominating year after year; provides mid-majors with opportunities to acquire talent, develop roster depth and make a run. The Bad = crutch is now available as D1 athletes who have never experienced adversity look for greener pastures that don't exist; impacts coaching decisions during the season as coaches lose leverage; roster unrest = more resources allocated toward developing a program.
My take = while I see the benefits of the portal and appreciate them, it is Bad for the game and should be regulated away by the NCAA.
uh, yes please...Kendall Gill didn't play much as a freshman and we know how that turned out.
4 out of the 5 players you refer to in your master game plan are gone. Seems like an awful lot of words for a what if scenario that has absolutely no chance of happening.
Solid gold, my friend, and I'm delighted to see the number of LIKES you've received for it. You saved me some typing there this morning. I, too, have marveled continually at BU's amalgam of tenacity in the pursuit of victory and petty vindictiveness in putting adolescents in their place. It's simply masterful.You know what impresses me about Brad Underwood? It’s his ability to win a Big Ten title, while simultaneously and vindictively denying playing time to the 5th guard on the depth chart in order to stick it to his dad to make sure he knows who the man is.
/s
You know what impresses me about Brad Underwood? It’s his ability to win a Big Ten title, while simultaneously and vindictively denying playing time to the 5th guard on the depth chart in order to stick it to his dad to make sure he knows who the man is.
/s
Imagine being the dude being paid to act like he's asleep through almost the whole video. I bet it was a deceptively challenging but of acting.View attachment 16965
you tube pick of the day...............................................
Enjoy as you all solve all the dilemma's of Illini Nation....................................
... or heavy sedation.Imagine being the dude being paid to act like he's asleep through almost the whole video. I bet it was a deceptively challenging but of acting.
It was suggested earlier in the thread that BU was referencing Kyler Edwards, who ended up transferring to Houston. No clue if correct.Quoting BU from his interview, does anybody know who is he talking about?: "It’s speed dating today. That’s what the portal is. We lost a young man last year, we couldn’t get him into school, we couldn’t take him. Ten minutes later, it was on Twitter where he was going to school. That’s speed dating. You have to have your core values."
Never underestimate the value of petty vindictiveness.Solid gold, my friend, and I'm delighted to see the number of LIKES you've received for it. You saved me some typing there this morning. I, too, have marveled continually at BU's amalgam of tenacity in the pursuit of victory and petty vindictiveness in putting adolescents in their place. It's simply masterful.
Once he got on campus imo it had no impact whatsoever. BU isn't going to allow external forces influence or make decisions for him nor should he. That's a big reason why Adam left. Some wanted him to be the primary ball handler but that was not BU. Adam was better and earned what he got and was physically more ready for the B10 when he was a freshman than most players are. However Underwood us no one's puppet. He makes his own choices and isn't going to be manipulated by MIF or anyone especially once they arrive to CUI’m sure Coach Underwood had his reasons to not play Podz. He’s the Head Coach and he calls the shots. Regarding Miller he was very talented but also he was a MIF player and don’t think that didn’t carry some weight.
In today's environment = Probable lawsuit.The Portal = Good or Bad for College Basketball? The Good = parity as opportunities for talent to transfer efficiently keeps the blue bloods from dominating year after year; provides mid-majors with opportunities to acquire talent, develop roster depth and make a run. The Bad = crutch is now available as D1 athletes who have never experienced adversity look for greener pastures that don't exist; impacts coaching decisions during the season as coaches lose leverage; roster unrest = more resources allocated toward developing a program.
My take = while I see the benefits of the portal and appreciate them, it is Bad for the game and should be regulated away by the NCAA.
... or heavy sedation.
Kyler Edwards played 3 years for Texas Tech. He committed to Houston on April 14. Alfonso Plummer committed to UI on April 17.It was suggested earlier in the thread that BU was referencing Kyler Edwards, who ended up transferring to Houston. No clue if correct.
Think I still have that issue somewhereuh, yes please...
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