foby
- Bonnaroo Land
I would not be a bit surprised.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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I’m certain this in in jest. I do understand that.
However, to all of Loyalty scribes…please remove BLieb from the butt of jokes and sarcasm.
The kid was offered a position on this team a few years ago. He’s worked hard. He has a phenomenal attitude. He grinds in practice and makes our team ready and better. He cheers his teammates from the bench constantly. The few minutes he does get on the court, he is prepared and works his !!! off.
I doubt he will ever be an impact player to the extent that is noticeable to the common fan.
But, the kid has done everything that has been asked and he has demonstrated a team/program first mentality.
In my book the kid belongs, is a winner, and a valuable piece of the Beloved.
I just don’t appreciate taking random and unnecessary jabs at a kid that has proudly and loyally done things the right way.
Sorry for the rant….but jam on Iowa, Michigan, or some of the clowns throughout basketball…..but not on Lieb.
Epps winning that Iverson Classic 1 on 1 contest and scouts at the game singing his defensive praises did it for me. He'll play and early on.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
so wrong...but i did lolAre you saying to Lieb him alone? I'll see myself out.
I am a lot less concerned with depth at PG than the 5. Dain is unproven and the only natural 5 on the team (even if we get Nance and Mayer). That position seems to foul a lot, particularly when undersized and inexperienced. We have a lot of guys than can handle the ball and they may discover that passing is faster than dribbling. Hawk was the backup (and sometimes DMW) and we have Ty, Sencire, RJ, and Shannon that all appear to be better ball handlers than H & D. Not worried about offense, the success of this team is going to depend on defense IMO.
sacraig
- The desert
What a wonderful problem to have. "I worry we just have too much talent."
Man if @illini0440 is right about Epps' playing time (and he has a very good track record), get ready for the tsunami of "BU needs to play Epps more or he'll transfer" posts.
Pretty hard to start assigning minutes before the first practice has ended.
sacraig
- The desert
Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
Agreed, we need another big (fancy Nance come on down) especially in the big ten where are big men start the game with 2 fouls before tipoff
I think his tick will depend on if or who we may add at PG.
I don't think anyone in the know is predicting we add a PG. Realistically, how good a player do you think you're going to add from the portal in a role where they'd at best be a backup, and at worst be a backup that also has to contend with non-PGs like TSJ, RJ and Ty chipping away at your opportunities to initiate the offense. People transfer to get more playing time, not less.
I disagree. Sure they want playing time but not necessarily more. They transfer to get better, play vs better players and get more exposure or do those things and get closer to home could be a contributing factor. ( Dain, TSJ and Garcia for Minnesota).I am watching Piper and Werner on you tube and they mentioned both Ramsey and Malachi Smith. They are not saying we will get them but we could get them or others from the portal still and they could play starter minutes between the one and two. It's about more than minutes. These good players got minutes where they were
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I'll start this by making the assumption that we are getting Nance. Probably a bold assumption, but enough smoke there that I'll go with it.
Unless Mayer wants a role that I don't see him accepting I don't understand the interest in him. He doesn't seem to fill a need and him starting would more than likely lead to more people being upset with playing time. We have lots of wings. It would quickly become impossible to keep everyone happy. I know the argument of "ya gotta take the talent" but a balanced roster of people knowing their role can be a lot more successful than a team with a few more 'really talented' guys but half the team upset. The portal has turned this into a game of collecting assets, but balancing roles is a good percentage of actual coaching and creating success. When those assets upset the balance you may have a really talented team that doesn't work together. Some schools can do it and be fine. I have my doubts if Illinois is at the point where we can sit top guys on the bench and they are ok with that. We are not Duke. We are not Kansas. We do not have the reputation for putting guys in the league. (One guy does not count unfortunately.) At those schools you see a willingness to accept a backseat to guys for understandable reasons. We are trying to build to that level and taking too many shortcuts can backfire. We cannot recruit top guys and sit them. We have to create roles for these guys when they show they are capable. The staff did drop the ball at times last year with freshmen PT. Melendez wasn't a top 100 recruit though. Big difference on what those kind of players want. If we are going to bring in those caliber of recruits we cannot sit them...not yet at least.
Now if Nance doesn't happen this whole rambling post is thrown right out the window. Get Mayer and start him alongside Hawkins with Dainja off the bench. But everyone hoping for both I think are forgetting once we assemble these guys they actually have to form a team.
Unless Mayer wants a role that I don't see him accepting I don't understand the interest in him. He doesn't seem to fill a need and him starting would more than likely lead to more people being upset with playing time. We have lots of wings. It would quickly become impossible to keep everyone happy. I know the argument of "ya gotta take the talent" but a balanced roster of people knowing their role can be a lot more successful than a team with a few more 'really talented' guys but half the team upset. The portal has turned this into a game of collecting assets, but balancing roles is a good percentage of actual coaching and creating success. When those assets upset the balance you may have a really talented team that doesn't work together. Some schools can do it and be fine. I have my doubts if Illinois is at the point where we can sit top guys on the bench and they are ok with that. We are not Duke. We are not Kansas. We do not have the reputation for putting guys in the league. (One guy does not count unfortunately.) At those schools you see a willingness to accept a backseat to guys for understandable reasons. We are trying to build to that level and taking too many shortcuts can backfire. We cannot recruit top guys and sit them. We have to create roles for these guys when they show they are capable. The staff did drop the ball at times last year with freshmen PT. Melendez wasn't a top 100 recruit though. Big difference on what those kind of players want. If we are going to bring in those caliber of recruits we cannot sit them...not yet at least.
Now if Nance doesn't happen this whole rambling post is thrown right out the window. Get Mayer and start him alongside Hawkins with Dainja off the bench. But everyone hoping for both I think are forgetting once we assemble these guys they actually have to form a team.
I'm not one who believes that a backup PG is our greatest need. But if the staff is looking in that direction then my preference would be a grad transfer who might be interested in a good free grad degree program and would be satisfied with limited backup minutes when called upon.
If we can get one of those guys, that's great and I'd be thrilled, but at this point I'd be pretty shocked if either came here to back up a freshman PG. I just don't see why they would come here to take a smaller role than they could get at another quality P5 program. I guess time tell.
Do you feel having just two players that are true PG and neither has played one minute in college is ideal? Nor do I think they would come to play less than 20 to 25 minutes. I get the excitement around them. Especially Skyy. But last year many thought Podz was the best thing since sliced bread. I wish Podz the best. I am hearing sure thing type of confidence in Epps and I feel it's warranted and he should excel. I thought Podz would too and that didn't happen and he is headed to Santa Clara. However if we could add a proven starter caliber PG that's experienced then I hope we do it. Having just two true PGs especially freshman is not ideal. Could it work out? Sure it could. I just would like another PG that's experienced and wouldn't mind Skyy at the 2 at times. If one of these guys gets hurt we will wish we had another proven starter caliber PG if we can add one. Don't you think so? Or don't you think BY will try to do so? That's my point. Not saying it will happen I just would hope so.
I'd love a guy like Feliz to fill that role if we can't get a very good guy like Ramey who u wouldn't be so sure would be a back up to anyone
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Shouldn't be long now before Nance withdraws from the draft after not getting a combine invite. Who fills the spot for a 3rd big should get answered very soon. Kofi getting an invite seems to support Vecencie projecting he'll go late second round.
sacraig
- The desert
Kofi just seems like a guy that some team will be willing to take a late second round chance on based on his size alone. If he manages to impress at the combine so much the better.
Not a bash on 0440 but he’s giving an opinion. He’s right on players coming here but opinions are just that. I completely agree withTC on Epps.Man if @illini0440 is right about Epps' playing time (and he has a very good track record), get ready for the tsunami of "BU needs to play Epps more or he'll transfer" posts.
The assumption is only based on the fact it has not happened. (Kofi did not count b/c he was a returning player.) I assume TSJ did not get that much if anything simply b/c first, I have not heard about it and 2nd, he considered Michigan and Hunter openly criticized Michigan's NIL policy. It could still happen with Mayer but I am just on the skeptical side.
Additional talent anywhere is welcome but we need bigs more than we need PGs.
I think the popular theory is it would be one or the other, with neither being more likely than both. The presence of one would make it less attractive to the other. These two guys will be able to pick from any number of really good opportunities to play early, often, and win.
As far as the backup PG discussion, I bet they find a graduate type player to provide depth for this season only. With the sheer volume of players in the portal, the game of musical chairs will leave some guys without a seat. The freshman talent we have coming in at that position is going to make it tough to land one of the highly discussed PGs in the portal. Obviously, I'd love to be wrong, but if I were say, Courtney Ramey, I would not want to compete with Skyy and Epps for minutes. By the end of the year, I might be spending a lot of time in my warmups... As scholarships become more scarce, I think we will find an insurance policy.
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