Illini Basketball 2023-2024
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The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
Really glad Marcus is getting on campus early. Unfortunately, MM not being on campus over the summer last year hurt him and the team. Obviously, glad MM graduated, as that's the most important thing, but the time it took for him to get his back right and the missed opportunity to build chemistry bit him and us in the butt. In the current landscape, every extra month together is huge.
We can only hope that Domask is anywhere near as good as MM.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
I was stating the importance of getting a player on campus in May as opposed to August. I wasn't comparing them as players.
I think it's pretty inarguable that we didn't see the best version of MM and part of that is because we didn't get him till late. He didn't get here in the best shape and had a lingering back issue that took him out of early practices. A few extra months with Fletch would have had him ready to go from the jump. Then there were the whole adjusting schemes to new players. We cycled through multiple defensive and offensive schemes trying to find the right fit. Not having one of our top guys in the early practices didn't allow us to find the right fit and hurt us. Lastly, there's the whole chemistry and leadership void last year. A senior with a few more months with the freshmen might have better been able to work out the kinks and the rumored punch maybe doesn't happen.
Ultimately, I doubt Domask will be quite the player MM was, but getting him on campus early, having him in shape from the jump, and building chemistry with his new teammates is hopefully going to allow us to see the best version of him.
Again, I think in the current landscape, time is invaluable.
He may not be as good individually, but hopefully the coaches can build a better team with him.
You have a point. If TSJ doe not come back, RayJ, who has not committed, might be the only one who can match the offense output of MM.
I think Mayer clearly has more talent but I really don’t think it’s hard to see Domask equal MMs average value to this team.
Between taking defensive possessions off, silly foul, awful shot selection, and bad passing, even if MM had more plus plus skills than Domask, his floor per possession is absolutely higher then MM.
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Illini in Lunardi’s way too early bracket prediction…last four in
illiniswish09
- Northwest Suburbs
We just need Domask to be an all star in his role, it’s really that simple
Which by all accounted he will be.
I think best case scenario if this team gets RJD and TSJ, Domask might sneak in as a 3rd team all big ten. Worst case feels like a great 6/7 man who’s going to make very very few mistakes and be someone you can trust for 20 mins a game.
Right. He’s not as good as Mayer, but he’s much less of a dumask
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
But the question I think we're all a little afraid to ask...... Can Domask put up Monster drink numbers comparable to MM?
Bigtex
- DFW
which was the info or M.O. coming out of Baylor. really good or not all that effective. We didn't really have a replacement when he wasn't effective.
What I want to know is can Domask consume mass quantities of Monster drinks and not be affected the way the Orange Kool-Aid affects illinoisloyalty?
So apologies in advance as this will be a long post, but just finished listening to the Bill Simmons podcast from May 16 and he had a pretty lengthy session about the Sixers failures and how they failed to build culture as part of the process. They cited lack of commitment/accountability (ie no one works hard, if they want to take a game off they do, Embiid is never pushed to get in shape, etc.) and that it’s bred a culture of entitlement and lack of toughness. And Bill pointed out that it’s really difficult to build a sustainable culture in today’s NBA with the short contracts and big dollars, it makes it really easy for players to leave at the first sign of adversity, makes teams feel obligated to coddle players, fire coaches to appease players etc.
Of course I was thinking about this year’s Illini team the whole time. Yes we lacked an experienced PG but I think our biggest problem was lack of culture. It sure looks like there were promises made to Skyy. Mayer came in out of shape and had his “monster poisoning” moment amid a few other weird moments. Rumors of a fight between teammates. And of course Skyy quitting mid season and, in hindsight, Jaden probably checking out maybe the last 4-5 games of the year. Coleman wore all of his frustrations with lack of culture on his sleeve.
So my question is what was Brad thinking in constructing the roster? To me it looks like he gambled on talent and maybe assumed the culture piece would take care of itself since he’d pretty clearly built a pretty good culture over the past 5 years.
But that gamble seems a little foolhardy given he’d lost almost all of his culture guys. It’s why I thought the Goode injury was sneaky huge at the time. He was maybe the most likely guy to continue the culture and get in somebody’s face if standards weren’t being met, assignments missed, etc. From what I can see Coleman really cares but for whatever reason isn’t wired that way. And I think he admitted after the Arkansas game he regretted not taking more of a leadership role.
I think if Brad still had guys like DaMonte and Trent on the roster he could afford more to gamble on a Mayer or a Skyy as there would have been a clear culture they would have had to fit into. Sort of like when Rodman joined the Bulls or any number of troubled players joined the Pats. Despite the accrual of talent, in hindsight I think there were some pretty significant mistakes made in constructing the roster from a culture perspective,
But give Brad credit, he does learn. Lack of positional size and shooting definitely cost us some games, and so he goes out and recruits Luke, RJ and Podz and brings in Mayer and TJ. And based on the portal additions this year I think Brad is pretty clearly acknowledging there was a culture problem because all 3 transfers are mature, hardnosed players who should star in their roles. Maybe not the splashiest names but may wind up being more effective.
And so I’m optimistic for next year. Mayers aloofness and hero ball is contagious, but so is the intensity that Ty and Sencire play with. If TJ comes back he seems bought in if maybe not the alpha we would hope he would be. All of the transfers seem like culture guys. And Hansberry is hard nosed. Next years team’s ceiling may not be quite as high, but I think there’s a better chance that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts and that the team will be playing its best ball in March. Which to me is more enjoyable to watch that a group of talented in individuals like Kentucky or Duke.
Anyways, I think the challenges with building culture in the modern NBA are mirrored in the college game now with NIL and the one time transfer rule. Will be interesting to see how BU addresses culture going forward but I think his roster moves thus far are an implicit admission of its importance and lack of it last year. Hope we get RayJ and TJ and Coleman come back.
Of course I was thinking about this year’s Illini team the whole time. Yes we lacked an experienced PG but I think our biggest problem was lack of culture. It sure looks like there were promises made to Skyy. Mayer came in out of shape and had his “monster poisoning” moment amid a few other weird moments. Rumors of a fight between teammates. And of course Skyy quitting mid season and, in hindsight, Jaden probably checking out maybe the last 4-5 games of the year. Coleman wore all of his frustrations with lack of culture on his sleeve.
So my question is what was Brad thinking in constructing the roster? To me it looks like he gambled on talent and maybe assumed the culture piece would take care of itself since he’d pretty clearly built a pretty good culture over the past 5 years.
But that gamble seems a little foolhardy given he’d lost almost all of his culture guys. It’s why I thought the Goode injury was sneaky huge at the time. He was maybe the most likely guy to continue the culture and get in somebody’s face if standards weren’t being met, assignments missed, etc. From what I can see Coleman really cares but for whatever reason isn’t wired that way. And I think he admitted after the Arkansas game he regretted not taking more of a leadership role.
I think if Brad still had guys like DaMonte and Trent on the roster he could afford more to gamble on a Mayer or a Skyy as there would have been a clear culture they would have had to fit into. Sort of like when Rodman joined the Bulls or any number of troubled players joined the Pats. Despite the accrual of talent, in hindsight I think there were some pretty significant mistakes made in constructing the roster from a culture perspective,
But give Brad credit, he does learn. Lack of positional size and shooting definitely cost us some games, and so he goes out and recruits Luke, RJ and Podz and brings in Mayer and TJ. And based on the portal additions this year I think Brad is pretty clearly acknowledging there was a culture problem because all 3 transfers are mature, hardnosed players who should star in their roles. Maybe not the splashiest names but may wind up being more effective.
And so I’m optimistic for next year. Mayers aloofness and hero ball is contagious, but so is the intensity that Ty and Sencire play with. If TJ comes back he seems bought in if maybe not the alpha we would hope he would be. All of the transfers seem like culture guys. And Hansberry is hard nosed. Next years team’s ceiling may not be quite as high, but I think there’s a better chance that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts and that the team will be playing its best ball in March. Which to me is more enjoyable to watch that a group of talented in individuals like Kentucky or Duke.
Anyways, I think the challenges with building culture in the modern NBA are mirrored in the college game now with NIL and the one time transfer rule. Will be interesting to see how BU addresses culture going forward but I think his roster moves thus far are an implicit admission of its importance and lack of it last year. Hope we get RayJ and TJ and Coleman come back.
Bigtex
- DFW
good thoughtful post.
He does. Ty Rodgers, Sencire Harris, Luke Goode & TSJ/CoHawk… real leaders & mature kids. We’re good. The guys who don’t fit are no longer here.
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