I'm gonna let you rethink everything you just said, and then let you try again. You got this a second time.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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It’s been confirmed by CBS that if we land Nance they will move us all the way up to #26 for our preseason ranking! Lol
He has a Zach Randolph type build and skill set.
Nice try, but Timme was not getting drafted this year for a reason, and those reasons haven’t been improved upon during his 3 years at Gonzaga. He’s Kofi slow, with a worse vertical, lacking the obvious size and strength advantages Kofi has, and had the highest body fat % of all combine participants. He’s a 6’8” power forward with a limited face up game, and no outside shot. He’s not going to have the transition opportunities he did with Gonzaga leading break, and that pivot he loves on the block isn’t working at the next level. He’s just an average rebounder.
Great college player, lot of fun to watch, but Gonzaga is not preparing him for the NBA.
2 years ago we were better in that regard. Ayo, freshman Curbelo, Frazier, and Miller were all very good ball handlers coming out of high school. High hopes for Clark and Epps, but they still are going to need to adjust to the college game.
Your funny!!! Two years ago we had better ball handlers than Skyy,Epps,Harris,Shannon and Rodgers????? If Ayo could do what Skyy can do with the ball off the dribble he would have been a high lottery pick! We have never had such an explosive player with the ball in his hands,and people quit trying to compare Epps to Feliz because Feliz was never a bucket getter like Epps!!! People sit back and enjoy the ride that these young men are going to take us on.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Gonzaga: Pre-season Top 4, 5 or 6 while once again playing in a weak conference nearly assures them of a #1 seed once again. Therefore, probably another deep run in the tourney. Coach Few is in the middle of a classic run out there!
And yet still see us having enough players foul out in the NCAA championship game to loose a "close one" to North Carolina.
Steelyunk
- Tobacco Road
Like your optimism, just don't know how they will play at the next level. But I think by year 2 all four freshmen will be high impact players. Really like Epps game, he is going to be a problem for the BIG.
Man who would've put that on paper 3 months ago. It is a good problem but I wonder if there could be locker room issues with some of the guys that expected to be on the first line being on the second. We can hypothesis that there will be 10 people getting 20 mpg each but that just isn't how it ever works.
Curbelo couldn't shoot it well. That said there are few that can handle the ball like he did. He could handle the ball as well as anyone. He can get anywhere he wanted with the ball. If Skyy ends up being better at PG than Belo it won't be because he dribbles and can get where he wants to on the floor better but due to other areas of his game. Belo was awesome as a freshman. I hope Skyy can be too Trent could also handle the ball very well. As far as Rodgers and TSJ being as good Ayo and Miller that's just not the case either. Ayo has better handles the TSJ and AM than Rodgers. Just because Belo left that doesn't mean he suddenly can't handle the ball. If Belo hand stayed we likely don't land Skyy. It's hard to imagine anyone being a better dribbler than Belo is. That was never his issue. It was his poor shooting last year. I do feel had he not gotten hurt he would still be here. Belo was Freshman of the year and I will be fired up if Skyy can do that.
I am excited about these new guys and hope we addd Nance but new doesn't mean they are always better. Especially initially. Things usually take some time.
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Let’s not forget that Belo also could be a one-man turnover machine—even pre-injury. Very much a high risk / high reward player. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. How many times did we see him go dribbling wildly into traffic, only to trip over himself or get the ball snatched?
Belo had so many turnovers in the Marquette game that some even floated allegations he might be point shaving. Obviously we all now know he was concussed, but his ratio is still pretty rough. Could be an absolute magician when he was on, but he often wasn’t. Had the potential to become one of the all-time greats, but was still very far from the Derom-Dee-Frankie pantheon of Illini ball handlers. There’s a reason he rarely started and why staff let him go.
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JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Big Ten Sixth Man and Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
He was freshman of the year in the B10. He could handle the ball. I for one think him being hurt and having vertigo had a major impact on his game. I don't feel that will be the norm for him. Down the stretch as a freshman he was amazing. I will give him the benefit of the doubt given he had vertigo. Belo will be very good when healthy
If Skyy can play well enough to be freshman if the year like Belo did then we are fine at a PG. I hope he can.
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Hunter Dickinson was freshman of the year.
Next year will be interesting with all the new players. There seems to be on paper tons of talented players. Can BU and the coaching staff get the chemistry down, play a style of ball that works for their skill sets, and can players accept their roles.
We don’t need anyone to have Kofi’s 20 and 10 every game. It be nice if we can get 6 to 7 players averaging double digits
We don’t need anyone to have Kofi’s 20 and 10 every game. It be nice if we can get 6 to 7 players averaging double digits
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Illini add depth/talent with a big (hopefully Nance) and a PG, but expect only a big to be added. BU likely wants to keep a spot open, so it would have to be the ideal PG for the team and the situation to take him. The transfer portal has changed things, and it’s not simply about bringing in players but also managing the team makeup and psyche for future years. BU knows he has two talented freshmen and a strong group of secondary ball handlers, so he’s happy to roll the dice. No guarantee no one will get hurt, but also no guarantee that the guy they could bring in would not impact players’s decisions down the road and be good enough to be the answer should a season ending injury befall one of our frosh PGs.
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AC could be spectacular, but due to his shooting, size and turnovers was unplayable/ineffective last year. Very few teams are set up to have their PG shoot 16% from 3, particularly 21-22 Illinois with Kofi having 3 defenders on him clogging the paint.
Skyy/Epps appear to be less reliant on the spectacular and can both shoot. IMO, even with FR PGs, our floor is much higher and our ceiling about the same (if not slightly higher) this coming year. Nance tips it to an all around better team.
That's if you don't include whomever is going to start right? There is no way that if we get Nance that we should not be preseason top 10. That may be the morning Kool Aid talking, but I don't think so.
hooraybeer
- Pittsburgh, PA
No, I got it - I was just adding to the ridiculousness. Guess I should have included a /S at the end.
Clark and Epps best two frosh PG’s since Dee and Deron. Doesn’t mean they develop equivalently but look to be similar at this point. Team has more “potential” NBA players than any team since 88-89 but raw talent does not equal success. It may take some time to mesh and we can only guess at which players will find those roles. One or two will probably be a surprise to us and maybe the coaching staff. It will be fun to watch but frustrating to us at times.
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