Illini Basketball

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#202      
GrayGhost77
ChiefIllinois said:
How quickly we forget. There was a group dead set on believing we’d be better without Kofi, full stop.

I think most people understood we wouldn’t be a better team without Kofi, but that we wouldn’t be so limited in what we could do.

I think Mayer clearly had talent and was a good player. He slumped during the two win or go home games we had and we couldn’t afford that.

There exist players that would be better at utilizing the minutes than Mayer. Obviously the same could have been said about Kofi, though that number obviously is extremely smaller.
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The second paragraph I agree with. I do recall people thinking it would be a better team for March/Tourney style play once they gelled (which obviously didn't happen), but not a better college team overall.
 
#204      
21ChampaignSt
ChiefIllinois said:
How quickly we forget. There was a group dead set on believing we’d be better without Kofi, full stop.

I think most people understood we wouldn’t be a better team without Kofi, but that we wouldn’t be so limited in what we could do.

I think Mayer clearly had talent and was a good player. He slumped during the two win or go home games we had and we couldn’t afford that.

There exist players that would be better at utilizing the minutes than Mayer. Obviously the same could have been said about Kofi, though that number obviously is extremely smaller.
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Yeah, I don't know if I actually said it here, but I thought we would have a higher ceiling/lower floor without Kofi. And that's why no one pays me for my opinion 🤷
 
#206      
pruman91
LvilleILL said:
He was asked to delete it. The staff does not want to make it a precedent that every player has to tweet out that he's coming back when they are already on the team
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In a thread full of conjecture and doom and gloom that decision makes PERFECT SENSE to me..........Does it make perfect sense to others is your call...................I am glad we don't have to worry that EVERY player feels they have to visually post that they are or not coming back.....

I'm sure the coaching staff has a pretty good idea of who is or who is not returning.......The talks they are going to have with each player is the next step in the building of next season's roster , in addition to what they are uncovering in the portal..........

The portal could bear fruit that will also determine who will return from this year's squad........

I'm sure glad we have BU and staff to make those decisions and I am not going to do a daily handwringing session as I have no control on that aspect of the Fighting Illini......I will cheer on whoever don's the Illini uniform's next year.......I just hope that includes better 3 pt shooters and an experienced PG or two..........jmho

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#208      
bluemountain
john1952 said:
www.thechampaignroom.com

Assessing Brad Underwood after Year 6

Much like the 2023 season, it’s a bit of a complex topic.
www.thechampaignroom.com www.thechampaignroom.com
Assessing Brad Underwood After Year 6
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Good article. BU has proven he can build a team and win here. He hasn't proven he can do it consistently and he hasn't won in March. If we go say 10-10 in league play next year and show the same weaknesses we did this year, what are currently whispers will become louder. He can survive a few more seasons of average results, but within the next few years it would be good to see a decent NCAA run and a run at a Big 10 title to show the Ayo/Kofi years weren't a fluke.
 
#209      
jumpingjack
Joel Goodson said:
Nah, awards aren't what's driving his decision. If he's coming back (and I think he is), it's because he's very likely looking at the G League as the alternative and he's being advised that a strong season will get him into the 1st round (where strong means showing demonstrable improvement in his perceived weaknesses). A whole lot of NIL $ helps too.
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I don't disagree, as inartfully as I stated my response. I think the NIL $, showing off a refined offensive game and the potential for a NPOY campaign are intertwined.
 
#210      
Illiniguy13
ChiefGritty said:
Hawkins and Shannon are proven performers who can regularly cause even top-level college basketball teams fits with the things they can do.

Rodgers and Harris are (at this moment) deeply flawed, limited, not-ready-for-primetime players.

But I've seen a lot of basketball in my day, enough to see teams with Shannon and Hawkins' personality mostly end up looking like less than the sum of their parts, and teams with Rodgers and Harris' personality mostly ending up looking like more.

That's the dilemma.
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The "culture nucleus" of this team is now Goode, Hawkins(if he returns), Harris, Rodgers. This is the defense & toughness bunch. I still love the potential of RJ - he can be one of those guys, but he has some things to prove. As of now, the best-case offseason scenario for this team is Shannon and Hawkins come back and we are able to snag a vet PG in the portal. Get an offense-minded guy on the staff. Eliminate all lead-guard duties for Shannon and cut back on Coleman being the set-guy on the perimeter to initiate actions. Bring in a + shooter from the portal, have a healthy Goode, and a big coaching emphasis on shot selection. That already sounds so much better.
 
#212      
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiefGritty said:
There was always some critical part of the machine on the fritz with this team.
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Yep, exactly. It's hardly worth pointing fingers or engaging in the age-old exercise of spending the rest of March convincing ourselves why next year will obviously be so much better, but ... man, I actually do have optimism that a core of these returning players could be really good. Again, I'll try to engage in less conjecture about what exactly the chemistry problem was this year, but it's not OVERLY optimistic to assume we could positively address that problem in the offseason via departures, and I genuinely do get excited thinking about what a more "mentally functional" :ROFLMAO: version of this squad could do!
 
#213      
Battle89
jumpingjack said:
If TJ comes back next year, I think he'll do so as a clear NPOY candidate.
So I think he's coming back.
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No snark, and certainly no ill will towards TSJ, but I do not see this. He's a very good player, for sure, but NPOY seems crazy to me.

He is weak with his off-hand, and his hands in general when making a drive. Possibly connected to his drives appearing out of control at times, which leads IMO to his not getting a lot of foul calls either.

Average 3 point shooter, good FT shooter. Good scorer in general, which is always nice. Any team would be very happy to have him but not NPOY.
 
#214      
pruman91
Battle89 said:
No snark, and certainly no ill will towards TSJ, but I do not see this. He's a very good player, for sure, but NPOY seems crazy to me.

He is weak with his off-hand, and his hands in general when making a drive. Possibly connected to his drives appearing out of control at times, which leads IMO to his not getting a lot of foul calls either.

Average 3 point shooter, good FT shooter. Good scorer in general, which is always nice. Any team would be very happy to have him but not NPOY.
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I would tend to agree with your post .......I hope he comes back as he was 1st team B$G (coaches poll) and i would also think he could be a 1st teamer again with a better chance of being B$G POTY than NPOY................

His handles need to be tightened up as newman from purdont showed that is a big weakness for TSJ..........another summer working with Fletch also would help him in his drives to the rim as he was kinda knocked around some when he was going for those layups......

I hate to bring up expectations on R J as I really thought he was going to have a breakout year this year
and be a 10 ppg & 5 + rpg but that twas not the case..........If he would play with a chip on his shoulder and drive to the basket more , I think his 3 point shooting % would go up as well as the defender's would give him some space so he wouldn't drive around them .......

It's gonna be a long summer of opinions and thoughts discussed before we see them on the court again....I'm gonna tighten my seat belt on my computer chair and fire away , respectfully , of course , to others opinions........

LETS GO ILLINI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#215      
ChiefIllinois
ChiefGritty said:
There was always some critical part of the machine on the fritz with this team.
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This feels like the best take for the season.

Yes, we were broken defensively in December, but that was mostly fixed and it felt like we executed well enough in each phase to be a team in march that could win.

Maybe good teams can cover guys slumping, but we had almost zero games where our big three all performed well.
 
#216      
bluemountain
LvilleILL said:
I still think we could have made a deep run had Matt not gone ice cold. Just an awful and unfortunate timing for a huge slump
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I mean, if Princeton can make the Sweet 16 then it's reasonable to think we could make it at least that far. Having said that, this team had too many holes to think we would make a deep run. Within 2 or 3 games we were bound to have a 20 TO game or a game where we shoot 50% from the line or a game where we let a Pickett go off on us for 35 or a hero ball game from MM or TSJ. We were absolutely not built for a deep run in March
 
#217      
ChiefGritty
Illiniguy13 said:
The "culture nucleus" of this team is now Goode, Hawkins(if he returns), Harris, Rodgers.
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You can say this until you're blue in the face (and those guys would step into larger roles to be clear, as would Dainja and Melendez), but if Shannon and Hawkins return, Shannon and Hawkins are the stars, faces, and leaders of the team, the team goes as they go.

That is something short of 100% confidence inspiring. We can admit that to ourselves while understanding it's probably the best and correct option if available. The future is uncertain, you do the best you can.
 
#218      
RockfordIllini
LvilleILL said:
I still think we could have made a deep run had Matt not gone ice cold. Just an awful and unfortunate timing for a huge slump
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Agree. Before the Ark game I said we needed 30+ from Mayer and TSJ. Got 22. If Matt had an even okay game we are right there and then who knows what happens. Unfortunate because I felt like we finally got Luke and RJ firing right when Matt slumps, Dain falls off and Jaden gets concussed.
 
#219      
sacraig
chudaman said:
This sounds similar to the pie in the sky addition by subtraction we were going to get when Kofi left.
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Anyone suggesting Kofi leaving was addition by subtraction is Looney Tunes. But Mayer isn't Cockburn and you can't directly compare the two. We will have to wait and see how it all plays out, but Mayer is a great player who also didn't seem to function well as part of the team (from an outside perspective). It's hard to predict what impact him leaving will have.
 
#221      
splitter
InDaAZ said:
Seems to me the opposite is true, whether in life or in sports…
View attachment 24288
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/inside-the-mind-of-a-left-hander/#

(Footnote: The reason there are more right-handed switch-hitters in baseball is related to the fact that there are more right-handed pitchers - and righties see an advantage to facing them from the left side of the plate.)
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It is not as simple as doing with your off hand what you did with your dominant hand. I broke my right arm in 6th grade. Learning to brush etc. took a minute to learn. Learning to write took much longer. It was not just doing it backwards but upside down as well. Try signing your name. Being able to shoot with your off hand would not be an easy thing to do unless you have done it for a long time. Then there is muscle memory.
 
#222      
sacraig
LvilleILL said:
I still think we could have made a deep run had Matt not gone ice cold. Just an awful and unfortunate timing for a huge slump
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At any given time there was always some piece that was missing for one reason or another. We are a team that was usually less than the sum of its parts, for whatever reason. You could see we had all the talent and pieces to make a deep run but could never quite put it all together at once for more than about half a game at a time.

But man, when we did put it together for a half, it was a really fun team to watch.
 
#223      
sacraig
bluemountain said:
Good article. BU has proven he can build a team and win here. He hasn't proven he can do it consistently and he hasn't won in March. If we go say 10-10 in league play next year and show the same weaknesses we did this year, what are currently whispers will become louder. He can survive a few more seasons of average results, but within the next few years it would be good to see a decent NCAA run and a run at a Big 10 title to show the Ayo/Kofi years weren't a fluke.
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Average results? We've flopped in March but the overall results are FAR above average.
 
#224      
Ransom Stoddard
ugottabjoshinme said:
People keep bringing up the weave, but I feel like we saw a lot less of the traditional weave than we have in the past handful of years.
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I think it didn't happen much (at all??) with Mayer or Skyy on the floor, but a bit more when we had a couple of specific lineups in.
 
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