Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

#701      
ChiefGritty
LvilleILL1 said:
If you told me Vaaks is an All American caliber player next year, I would not be surprised.
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He fits the profile of the superstar we bring in that gets ignored because the board is too busy lusting after somebody else.

March2TheArch said:
Gives me Bennet Stirtz vibes. Just needs to work on his D-Back agility drills with Fletch.
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He's bigger than Stirtz though. Bigger than Wagler, bigger than KJ, bigger than Domask. Fully 6'7" and sturdily built.

Pluses and minuses to that, but a matchup nightmare on the offensive end without a doubt.
 
#705      
AirTran
wc_illini said:
There are 21 Coach K years with publicly available KenPom rankings (20 tournaments due to COVID). Here's a summary of their final KenPom rankings:
Top 10: 16 (76%)
Top 5: 10 (48%)
Top 3: 8 (38%), last in 2018
Top 2: 5 (24%), last in 2011
#1: 3 (14%), last in 2010

Their final KenPom rankings under Jon Scheyer (four years) look similar if not better:
Top 10: 3 (75%)
Top 5: 2 (50%)
Top 3: 2 (50%)
Top 2: 1 (25%)
#1: 1 (25%)

You could argue that the last couple years under Coach K were also below standard, but that was really just his second-to-last year (affected by COVID). Ignoring that year wouldn't change the percentages much.

But Duke did win two national championships during those Coach K years. A very unreliable AI guess is that they "should" have won ~2.45 during that time based on their pre-tournament odds (or estimated odds using KenPom ratings), so right around what they did.

Another way to look at it: in those Coach K years, they won 1 championship for every 10 years, or 1 for every 5 years they finished top 5, or 1 for every 4 years they finised top 3. Under Scheyer, they haven't yet had enough total years or years in the top 5 or top 3 to say they're necessarily doing worse.

I think this also highlights how surprisingly low the championship odds are even for top tier programs, and how the path to a championship is to get many years with a top 3 final KenPom ranking.
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It appears to me that how a team performs in the post season (and Scheyer's teams have performed well in every post season he has been the HC at Duke) define success.

Two points which prove that: (1) Hubert Davis - 1 league title, 1 sweet 16 and 1 National Championship runner up. Lose to VCU in the second round and he's gone

(2) There were several people question Brad Underwood's ability to lead this team after we were beaten by Wisconsin this season.
 
#710      
Orangetool
I used to hear that far off rumble, getting closer, that was Illini recruiting. Far off but approaching.

It's here now, loud and surrounding, a roar.
It's almost more than I can take.

Almost.
 
#712      
JoeJ
I was thinking Morillo is more of a Ty that can shoot well opposed to a Ben. Granted we need to replace Ben's minutes, but from what I gather Morillo will be able to be slide to different positions on defense, granted he may be outmatched physically until he gets fully Fletched.

:hailtotheorange::ah::hailtotheorange:
 
#714      
SescIllini
JoeJ said:
I was thinking Morillo is more of a Ty that can shoot well opposed to a Ben. Granted we need to replace Ben's minutes, but from what I gather Morillo will be able to be slide to different positions on defense, granted he may be outmatched physically until he gets fully Fletched.

:hailtotheorange::ah::hailtotheorange:
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Morillo is not Ben or Ty, really reminds me more of the 2005 Louisville guard Francisco Garcia. Both Dominican guard, 6'7, similar builds and game IMHO. Morillo likely going to be thicker. Garcia may have been an AA that year, led Louisville to Final Four, losing to Illinois. Believe he was guarded by Deron that game.
 
#719      
Second place is 1st loser
Altuve27 said:
I know how you feel. There is a 99.999999999999999% chance Andrej will return. Still, I will be relieved when he pulls his name out of the draft.
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There are 73 players invited the the combine.

1)50 are there to get pro feedback(Drej) or push to get drafted at all(Boswell).

2)10 are there to make sure they're guaranteed first rounders(Morez)

3)13 are fighting for more money and improve their lottery pick placement (Wagler).

#3 is where the damage can be done with a bad combine, which is why some guys take a pass on the invite. Very common in football. These scouts are there for one reason. Find holes in the player(they all have them) and see what's fixable(adding weight, strength and potentially some explosiveness and what's truly a problem(attitude, older players that haven't shown physical development, etc).

Keaton's major hole is going to surround athletic ability and explosiveness. He showed very little of that here. I can't remember a "wow" moment that didn't surround him going on a massive heater. He was incredible in that category. When he got going, look out. I think he's going to be known as a "crafty" player that can create space, but he lacks the athleticism of others in the draft.

Drej is going to be the complete opposite. He does have "wow" athleticism on tape, he was really strong at the rim and when he locked in defensively, he was out best defender. He'll grade out extremely poorly on pretty much everything outside of that. Not breaking news here, but his game on the perimeter has to improve A LOT to sneak into the first round after next season. My concern for him is whether his form will allow for the type of consistency required to be a reliable shooter. I'm not sure that messing with form is the right move before your senior year. This puzzles me because he's been surrounded by terrific players since birth. How was that not corrected by 13 years old? Time will tell there.
 
#720      
Tevo
Illini in Italy said:
My wife caught me scrolling through the Recruiting Thread and sated "I think you are addicted to that website". I responded "Well, yeah. So?" She had to chuckle . . .
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New thread: Things Your Friends and Loved Ones Say About Your Illini/Loyalty Addiction…

“I mean, is there really anything NEW to read?”

“Do these people actually know what they’re talking about?”

“Is that more important than your job?!”

Seems like these are all rhetorical questions…
 
#724      
Combo
Second place is 1st loser said:
There are 73 players invited the the combine.

Keaton's major hole is going to surround athletic ability and explosiveness. He showed very little of that here. I can't remember a "wow" moment that didn't surround him going on a massive heater. He was incredible in that category. When he got going, look out. I think he's going to be known as a "crafty" player that can create space, but he lacks the athleticism of others in the draft.
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Keaton may not have the run-jump athleticism of a typical top 6 pick, but his feel for the game is extraordinary and he's an excellent shooter. My comparison (obviously generous) is Seth Curry. Super skilled, smart and poised.
 
#725      
pvaughn8
Tevo said:
New thread: Things Your Friends and Loved Ones Say About Your Illini/Loyalty Addiction…

“I mean, is there really anything NEW to read?”

“Do these people actually know what they’re talking about?”

“Is that more important than your job?!”

Seems like these are all rhetorical questions…
Click to expand...
This website is what prevents me from unloading on my wife for excessive tiktok and Instagram
 
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