That's the polar opposite of the next Jason Kidd approach. Hope this one works.
Illini Basketball 2023-2024
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Kinda like how Luke Goode was gonna be a 2K point scorer. And curbelo was Jason Kidd.
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not sure who said this, but DGL has been the biggest surprise out of everyone so far. Way ahead of where they expected him
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Big Jack
- Decatur
From my total outsiders perspective, I somewhat expected he would come in and surprise people after he torched that OTE league full of NBA and P5 talent to the tune of 20 points a game.
Not expecting a huge season from him by any means, but I'll bet he can play 15 minutes off the bench and give us some scoring punch and energy.
Nah, Mark Smith=Jason Kidd
He was 1st team all OTE and 2nd in league scoring.
Fact. All anyone knows about DGL is what has been posted in videos from time to time. That shows a lot of potential.
Fact. No one knows for certain what kind of heart, determination, burning desire to win, and confidence in his skills and those of his teammates rest in DGL's head. But there are some indicators that these may all be positives.
Fact. No one knows for certain how DGL will react when he gets popped in the nose or gets exposed to the elite skills of B1G guards....most of which are bigger and stronger....but likely not quicker. Toughness is to be proven but there are positive indicators.
What I do know for certain is that he will dress in and Illini uniform, get the chance to show for a fact what he can do, and that I will be supporting him and hoping for great success.
There are two camps of opinion on this young man who plays a position this team needs badly to be competent. One is that he simply lacks what it takes to fill the role competently and the other that he has the potential to be a big surprise. One will have to eat crow. The other can boast "I told you so". I will do neither and only wish him huge success.
Fact. No one knows for certain what kind of heart, determination, burning desire to win, and confidence in his skills and those of his teammates rest in DGL's head. But there are some indicators that these may all be positives.
Fact. No one knows for certain how DGL will react when he gets popped in the nose or gets exposed to the elite skills of B1G guards....most of which are bigger and stronger....but likely not quicker. Toughness is to be proven but there are positive indicators.
What I do know for certain is that he will dress in and Illini uniform, get the chance to show for a fact what he can do, and that I will be supporting him and hoping for great success.
There are two camps of opinion on this young man who plays a position this team needs badly to be competent. One is that he simply lacks what it takes to fill the role competently and the other that he has the potential to be a big surprise. One will have to eat crow. The other can boast "I told you so". I will do neither and only wish him huge success.
I can’t speak for the original poster but TSJ’s eFG%, ORtg, and DRtg went up.That’s pretty good given that he had a bigger role. Hawkins percentages stayed about the same but twice the minutes compared to his previous year. I don’t know if we’ll see an increase this year but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit with improved chemistry and with more capable scorers surrounding them.
What I wonder is will he be like Sencire as a freshman? Not the same skills and style, but will his playing time be more than expected b/c he provides some kind of spark? I like what I'm hearing so far. If he and Amani contribute in a positive way, wow is this team deep!
You got your stories all mixed up man
You expect players to improve. You also expect them to follow the gameplan and share the ball. I don't think guys shot worse because they didn't improve as shooters. I think they shot worse because they took more bad shots.
Hopefully we have a TEAM this year rather than a bunch of dudes with the same shirt.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Just to make it clear I think this kid will shock us this season like Sincere did last season but I expected the shock to come offensively..
I stand corrected, that is even more laughable in hindsight considering he averaged 1.3 assist per game in college
Yeah Goode was the 2k scorer. Mark smith was Jason kid. Both are definitely looking like good assessments /s
Wasn’t TSJ’s rise in eFG% just a byproduct of him taking more and making more 3-pointers. His 3% still dropped from 38.4% to 32.1%. That’s a pretty sizable decline. And not sure what his rebounding has to do with shooting, which is what was referenced. And Hawkins percentages did indeed stay about the same, but one might argue that with increased time you’d “expect” his percentages to see an uptick because of more opportunities.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the returners improve their percentages, but not sure I expect it — especially after last season. That said, I am very hopeful this year’s team will be better than last year’s team overall. I like the new guys we’ve added and I hope this team will play with a bit of a chip on its shoulders.
Agreed
What does history tell us?
What Illinois player has truly had an "elite" season their freshman year.
I agree that you expect players to improve overall (though as fans I think we do get carried away as to how much they’ll improve), just not sure I expect most of the returners to improve their shooting. I do think that the team as a whole will shoot better than last year’s team — and be much more enjoyable to watch.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
I see what you did there. Mark my words, he'll be fine. I'm not kidding.
Maybe, just maybe, MS has no more college eligibility left and we won't hear anymore about him.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
Indy claimed this, DGL and Nick would be battling for the last and 2nd to last seat on the bench this upcoming year.
Indy wouldn’t be wrong.
Indy you out there?? I would like to hear this from you. You've seen Dravyn more than anybody on here. Plus your talent assessment is unsurpassed.
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