I understand the historically supported hesitation some have regarding expecting mid-major stats to translate to P5, but I have to say that 8.8(!) and 6.7 rebounds per game the past two seasons for a 6-4 guard is very impressive. He has also shot 82.0/80.2/82.7 from the FT line in his 3 years, and 38.3/40.7 from 3 the past 2 years. If he's here as a role player (as you allude to above) he would seem to be an intriguing possibility.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Future Walk-On
- Peoria, IL
Why does he just feel like a Gonzaga lock? idk.
That's weird... The teams that knocked us out of the tournament the last two years were in the top 10 in defensive efficiency.
Just a little something to chew on regarding whether or not being good defensively matters...
Been seeing a lot of Kentucky buzz, but yeah, he feels like a Zaga type for sure.
217sports
- Springfield
UK supposedly may be going with him over Reeves
This is the player I was given a heads-up on from some people from Belleville. I seen him play a lot in high school. Interesting.
And how did those teams do later in the tourney? Pretty sure they lost right the next round? Loyola scored 58 points and Houston scored 44 in their respective loses.
2022 Kansas- 6 OFF/ 17 DEF
2022 NC- 18 OFF/ 35 DEF
2021 baylor- 2 OFF/ 22 DEF
2021 Gonzaga- 1 OFF/ 18 DEF
2019 Virginia- 2 OFF/ 5 DEF
2018 Villanova 1 OFF/ 11 DEF
2017 North Carolina- 9 OFF/ 11 DEF
2016 nova- 3 OFF/ 5 DEF
2016- North Carolina 1 OFF/ 21 DEF
Defense gives you a high floor. But offense gives you the ceiling you need. The trend shows you need a top offense to win.
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I think like >90% of the final four teams over the past 15 years have been in the top 50 in net defensive rankings.
Yep, plus he is from Belleville and always good to have good quality players from in state. Could lead to future possibilities.
All this trend shows is that you need a top offense AND defense, which makes sense considering were talking about winning championships. Every single team that won a championship in the last 6 years like you showed has a top 25 defense. So to say you don't care about defense is absurd. If we have the #1 offense in the country, but the #100 defense we will just end up like Iowa or Purdue, getting upset by a team that we can't guard.
I hope we do but I am not sure what we really have. The guys that handled, shot, and scored the ball and created for others the vast majority of the time are gone. I think RJ likely has some firepower otherwise it's really unproven just yet. I think we should have some with Sky and RJ but we still need to see what happens with them handling the ball most of the things me. It will be a new situation for them vs this type of talent. Hopefully they will kill it
NEIlliniFan
- No longer in New England
"Offense wins games, Defense wins championships" - attributed to Bear Bryant, the philosophy adopted by many successful coaches including Geno Auriemma who also said "To win a championship, you not only have to be good, you have to be lucky."
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speaking of the importance of defense:
I'd assume this means they're not after Baylor Scheierman anymore
I'd assume this means they're not after Baylor Scheierman anymore
217sports
- Springfield
Am I always right or am I always right?
Uh, in their next game Houston beat No. 1 seed and a team many picked to win it all, Arizona.
I would also say that is isn't hard to motivate people on offense. Everyone wants to score. Not everyone wants to play hard on defense, and without that pride and attitude, you won't succeed. There will be nights when your shots aren't falling, and often times those come in high pressure situations. Good defense leads to easy opportunities on offense. We won more than a couple games last year because we were able to make the game ugly enough to give us a chance despite poor shooting.
Watch how a guy plays defense, and you will find out a lot about what kind of competitor he is.
Loyola got beat by Oregon state only scoring 58 points. And Houston got beat by nova scoring 44 points. Defense gives you a higher floor. But our offensive struggles have been the reasons we haven’t gone further in the tourney. Oregon state put up a solid offensive performance against Loyola. In our last 3 tourney games we have shot 39% from the field and 23% from three. Our defense has given us a chance to win these games. Our offense remains the issue.
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MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
And no team has won a NCAA championship in the last 20 years that was not ranked in the top 22 (out of 350+ D1 programs) of KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rating (17 of the last 20 champions were in the top 15). Defense matters.
Nice step up for that kid.
Basketball has shifted in the past 10 years. The tempo has increased. And teams that score the ball have been rewarded. Yes you can’t have an awful defense and win (Duke/Iowa) but you simply have to be a top offense team anymore. It’s the reason the big ten is routinely exposed in the tourney. We don’t score enough. 2021 UCLA is a prime example. They were 11th in OFF and 46th in defense and made the final four. In 6 games in the tourney they averaged 76 ppg (season average was 73). While giving up 67 ppg (their season average was 68). They went over their averages on offense and met their defensive averages. But came in as an 11. Because the PAC12 plays a more uptempo style of offense which leads to more tourney wins.
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I think the trend shows that you need to be both good offensively and defensively to win a six round single elimination tournament.
If you’re have an off night on offense or run into a team that’s just absolutely on fire you can either lock down on defense or score when you have the ball to give yourself a chance.
Similar to a twin engine plane. If one fails the other can carry you to a safe landing.
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