2022 NBA Draft

Emerson Bigguns · Jun 25, 2022

Illiniguy13 said:
Kofi did have some fits against koloko’s length and got blocked a couple times, so I agree to an extent, but Kofi really bullied him in the 2nd half and went for 13 & 13 lol.

Koloko is a flawed prospect as well. He is limited offensively, but his 70+% FT line suggests an outside shot could develop.
Kofi is a much more polished low post scorer.
Koloko was drafted because he is a good shot blocker and can guard pretty much 1-5. They know what he is, and don’t have to change their style to utilize him.
Kofi going undrafted was probably better for his development than being picked late in the second round. Going against Gobert in training camp will be a great indication of how well his low post arsenal will translate. If he can get buckets on Rudy, he can get buckets on anyone. Rudy is also a master of all the things Kofi needs to improve defensively. Kofi won’t get any quicker, but he can put himself in better position to make things difficult for opposing offenses.

illini0440 · Jun 25, 2022

PlayDeeBrownNote said:
Is there is proof of Kofi saying this? This sounds like hot-take garbage, but if you've got the receipts, let's see them.

No. The quote was taken out of context. If you listen to the whole interview he wasn’t saying it as a bad thing.

phats22 · Jun 25, 2022

illini0440 said:
No. The quote was taken out of context. If you listen to the whole interview he wasn’t saying it as a bad thing.

Thanks for confirming this, I remember the same conversation floating around on here when the article came out the first time

illini0440 · Jun 25, 2022

Fr8trn16 said:
What MASSIVE deficiencies? Care to elaborate? He was a NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR candidate... and BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR finalist. How many players drafted were? So if he was better than them in all of the people's eyes judging the players talent in college, then they must've had more deficiency than he did. Because none of them were as lauded as Kofi other than maybe one or two players. How many finalist were there?

He is slow laterally. Out of position defensively a lot of times. Can’t dribble. Struggles to pass. Below average mid range. Can he improve those yes. But the NBA isn’t what it was 20 years ago. It’s a 5 out game. Kofi will get eaten alive in PnRs(at least initially). What happens when he gets switched into Giannis, Lebron, KD, etc. Dominating bigs in college don’t automatically translate to the NBA anymore.

Saturdaze · Jun 25, 2022

illini0440 said:
He is slow laterally. Out of position defensively a lot of times. Can’t dribble. Struggles to pass. Below average mid range. Can he improve those yes. But the NBA isn’t what it was 20 years ago. It’s a 5 out game. Kofi will get eaten alive in PnRs(at least initially). What happens when he gets switched into Giannis, Lebron, KD, etc. Dominating bigs in college don’t automatically translate to the NBA anymore.

Below are the stats that show Kofi outperformed Gobert at the combine. I think calling him slow excuses the Illini staff too much for not developing him, because his measureables are actually pretty good for his size. What happens when anyone gets switched on Giannis, KD, Lebron, etc? Come on.

I personally think his poor FT shooting is probably his biggest detriment. I think that’s what lowers his ceiling more than anything. There are many centers drafted who never exhibited an outside game in college but projected better in the NBA partly due to better FT shooting.

For whatever reason free throws is something BU’s staff has been terrible at coaching. During his tenure in the B10 they’ve dropped from: 5th, 7th, 7th, 11th, to12th last year. At some point it stops being the players fault for having inherent limitations.

Kofi
lane agility = 12.11
shuttle run = 3.31
3/4 sprint = 3.33
standing vert = 29.5
max vert = 32.5

Rudy Gobert
lane agility = 12.85
shuttle run = 3.19
3/4 sprint = 3.57
standing vert = 25.0
max vert = 29.0

Draft Combine Agility | Stats | NBA.com

Draft Combine Agility data

www.nba.com

Emerson Bigguns · Jun 25, 2022

Saturdaze said:
Below are the stats that show Kofi outperformed Gobert at the combine. I think calling him slow excuses the Illini staff too much for not developing him, because his measureables are actually pretty good for his size. What happens when anyone gets switched on Giannis, KD, Lebron, etc? Come on.

I personally think his poor FT shooting is probably his biggest detriment. I think that’s what lowers his ceiling more than anything. There are many centers drafted who never exhibited an outside game in college but projected better in the NBA partly due to better FT shooting.

For whatever reason free throws is something BU’s staff has been terrible at coaching. During his tenure in the B10 they’ve dropped from: 5th, 7th, 7th, 11th, to12th last year. At some point it stops being the players fault for having inherent limitations.

Kofi
lane agility = 12.11
shuttle run = 3.31
3/4 sprint = 3.33
standing vert = 29.5
max vert = 32.5

Rudy Gobert
lane agility = 12.85
shuttle run = 3.19
3/4 sprint = 3.57
standing vert = 25.0
max vert = 29.0

Draft Combine Agility | Stats | NBA.com

Draft Combine Agility data

www.nba.com

I’m not sure how much coaching can impact FT shooting. Our poor team FT shooting has been a product of having our most prolific FT shooter by far, be a poor FT shooter.
Kofi, Hawkins, and Williams shot over half of our FTs (Kofi over 200 of our 575) They were all under 70%. Kofi & Demonte well short of it. Trent, Plummer, & Grandison were nearly automatic, they just didn’t get there enough.

Keep in mind that Rudy is 7’3” & has a 7’9” wingspan

illinitiger · Jun 25, 2022

Bigtex said:
He seems to see kofi as a basketball player vs seeing him as all time illini great

Or regular glasses vs orange tinted glasses

I find it refreshing

Hoosierland repeated 'Kofi doesn't have a chance' (in difft sequence of words) within repeated posts in short period of time yday. ....JMO, maybe call it "refreshing" if it was only one post...the repeat was not very refreshing.

The hoosierland 'no chance" message over and over seemed to me repetitive, redundant...I didn't read those cumulative posts as "refreshing"

BL, Kofi is "on the bubble" for the NBA,.... we'll know in the next couple of months how close he gets to a roster spot. We love the guy and everyone should be real on his chances... too early to throw in towel though.

Mobi · Jun 25, 2022

illini0440 said:
He is slow laterally. Out of position defensively a lot of times. Can’t dribble. Struggles to pass. Below average mid range. Can he improve those yes. But the NBA isn’t what it was 20 years ago. It’s a 5 out game. Kofi will get eaten alive in PnRs(at least initially). What happens when he gets switched into Giannis, Lebron, KD, etc. Dominating bigs in college don’t automatically translate to the NBA anymore.

He can’t switch. He has to play drop in PnR all the time, which will limit his role. Even that, there is no guarantee it will work.

Fr8trn16 · Jun 25, 2022

illini0440 said:
He is slow laterally. Out of position defensively a lot of times. Can’t dribble. Struggles to pass. Below average mid range. Can he improve those yes. But the NBA isn’t what it was 20 years ago. It’s a 5 out game. Kofi will get eaten alive in PnRs(at least initially). What happens when he gets switched into Giannis, Lebron, KD, etc. Dominating bigs in college don’t automatically translate to the NBA anymore.

Understood. But to be honest, what happens to anyone when those guys you named do what they do? They make everyone look slow laterally. And most bigs can't dribble more than two or three times without turning the ball over. Most have below average shots, etc. I don't see the the reasoning that every big has to be Dirk Nowitzki. I'll take a Shaq, Wilt Chamberlain type.

Fr8trn16 · Jun 25, 2022

GrapplingIllini said:
NBA teams draft on potential ceiling, not floor. Yes, Kofi was very succesful in college, that doesn’t mean that’ll translate to the NBA. NBA players are bigger, faster, stronger, more skilled than the college players that Kofi has played against. Needless to say, I’m rooting for Kofi and hope he’ll prove that he can hold his own in the league.

Just to be clear... they're bigger than 7 ft 285lbs.?

the juiceman cometh · Jun 25, 2022

Fr8trn16 said:
Understood. But to be honest, what happens to anyone when those guys you named do what they do? They make everyone look slow laterally. And most bigs can't dribble more than two or three times without turning the ball over. Most have below average shots, etc. I don't see the the reasoning that every big has to be Dirk Nowitzki. I'll take a Shaq, Wilt Chamberlain type.

Please stop comparing Kofi to Shaq, it makes it painfully obvious you've never actually seen Shaq play.

The second one is Shaq in his 30s btw. Love Kofi and he's an all-time Illini great and a top 3 favorite Illini player to watch for me but Shaq was a way better athlete, faster, better ball handler, really better at everything (except FTs). And that's no knock on Kofi, Shaq was better at that stuff than 99.9% of big men to ever pick up a basketball.

Saturdaze · Jun 25, 2022

Emerson Bigguns said:
I’m not sure how much coaching can impact FT shooting. Our poor team FT shooting has been a product of having our most prolific FT shooter by far, be a poor FT shooter.
Kofi, Hawkins, and Williams shot over half of our FTs (Kofi over 200 of our 575) They were all under 70%. Kofi & Demonte well short of it. Trent, Plummer, & Grandison were nearly automatic, they just didn’t get there enough.

Keep in mind that Rudy is 7’3” & has a 7’9” wingspan

The 3 players you named as dragging the average down all had their best FT shooting years as freshman and regressed.

Damonte regressed each of his 5 years incrementally from 71% to 53%.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Jun 25, 2022

illinitiger said:
Hoosierland repeated 'Kofi doesn't have a chance' (in difft sequence of words) within repeated posts in short period of time yday. ....JMO, maybe call it "refreshing" if it was only one post...the repeat was not very refreshing.

The hoosierland 'no chance" message over and over seemed to me repetitive, redundant...I didn't read those cumulative posts as "refreshing"

BL, Kofi is "on the bubble" for the NBA,.... we'll know in the next couple of months how close he gets to a roster spot. We love the guy and everyone should be real on his chances... too early to throw in towel though.

Would you have preferred I say he was going to be one of the next great stars in the league?

illinitiger · Jun 25, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Would you have preferred I say he was going to be one of the next great stars in the league?

No...just too early to count him out. Jazz would have passed on him if they didn't have some degree of confidence in him..

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Jun 25, 2022

the juiceman cometh said:
Please stop comparing Kofi to Shaq, it makes it painfully obvious you've never actually seen Shaq play.

The second one is Shaq in his 30s btw. Love Kofi and he's an all-time Illini great and a top 3 favorite Illini player to watch for me but Shaq was a way better athlete, faster, better ball handler, really better at everything (except FTs). And that's no knock on Kofi, Shaq was better at that stuff than 99.9% of big men to ever pick up a basketball.

Plus I'm pretty sure Shaq went block to block in the post quite a bit when he played. I don't know how much Kofi did that in his career.

nichi · Jun 25, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Would you have preferred I say he was going to be one of the next great stars in the league?

False Dilemma Fallacy Example

the juiceman cometh · Jun 25, 2022

illinitiger said:
No...just too early to count him out. Jazz would have passed on him if they didn't have some degree of confidence in him..

I certainly think Kofi has a chance at eventually finding himself on a roster, but let's relax on the Jazz confidence. It's a training camp invite. There are guys who get drafted in the 2nd round that never get more than a cup of coffee in the league. James Augustine for example got picked 41st and he played 156 total NBA minutes in his career, and only 7 minutes his rookie season.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Jun 25, 2022

nichi said:
False Dilemma Fallacy Example

illinitiger · Jun 25, 2022

the juiceman cometh said:
I certainly think Kofi has a chance at eventually finding himself on a roster, but let's relax on the Jazz confidence. It's a training camp invite. There are guys who get drafted in the 2nd round that never get more than a cup of coffee in the league. James Augustine for example got picked 41st and he played 156 total NBA minutes in his career, and only 7 minutes his rookie season.

I'm very "relaxed" wrt Jazz confidence and not betting " the beach house" on him making any roster but he has a chance...

.all I know is an NBA GM offered him a chance. I dont think GMs make those offers without "some degree of confidence" that the player can compete for roster and help team. Copy all your thoughts on NBA chances for players...even first round players attrit. Free agent picks attrit at a much higher rate. Kofi has a chance...we will see what happens.

logjam · Jun 25, 2022

illinitiger said:
Hoosierland repeated 'Kofi doesn't have a chance' (in difft sequence of words) within repeated posts in short period of time yday. ....JMO, maybe call it "refreshing" if it was only one post...the repeat was not very refreshing.

The hoosierland 'no chance" message over and over seemed to me repetitive, redundant...I didn't read those cumulative posts as "refreshing"

BL, Kofi is "on the bubble" for the NBA,.... we'll know in the next couple of months how close he gets to a roster spot. We love the guy and everyone should be real on his chances... too early to throw in towel though.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Would you have preferred I say he was going to be one of the next great stars in the league?

lol....it's slow I get it....

skyIdub · Jun 26, 2022

Fr8trn16 said:
Understood. But to be honest, what happens to anyone when those guys you named do what they do? They make everyone look slow laterally. And most bigs can't dribble more than two or three times without turning the ball over. Most have below average shots, etc. I don't see the the reasoning that every big has to be Dirk Nowitzki. I'll take a Shaq, Wilt Chamberlain type.

Joel Goodson · Jun 26, 2022

illinitiger said:
No...just too early to count him out. Jazz would have passed on him if they didn't have some degree of confidence in him..

Yeah, it's way too early to count Kofi out. That said, everyone passed on him, including the Jazz. His contract is basically a lotto ticket.

EyeoftheIllini · Jun 26, 2022

Fr8trn16 said:
Understood. But to be honest, what happens to anyone when those guys you named do what they do? They make everyone look slow laterally. And most bigs can't dribble more than two or three times without turning the ball over. Most have below average shots, etc. I don't see the the reasoning that every big has to be Dirk Nowitzki. I'll take a Shaq, Wilt Chamberlain type.

Unfortunately, you aren’t an NBA GM or head coach, so the fact you’d take a Shaw/Wilt type really doesn’t impact the will Kofi make it in NBA debate.

I hope Kofi finds a spot in the league. The GMs spoke with him not being drafted, but there is still an avenue — albeit harder — to the league. Just have to wait and see what happens.

illinitiger · Jun 26, 2022

Joel Goodson said:
Yeah, it's way too early to count Kofi out. That said, everyone passed on him, including the Jazz. His contract is basically a lotto ticket.

FYI, I believe each team only has 6 E10 players allowed....so probably couple hundred players above the basic NBA rosters are granted E10 contracts, so it's a limited pool.

Fr8trn16 · Jun 26, 2022

the juiceman cometh said:
Please stop comparing Kofi to Shaq, it makes it painfully obvious you've never actually seen Shaq play.

The second one is Shaq in his 30s btw. Love Kofi and he's an all-time Illini great and a top 3 favorite Illini player to watch for me but Shaq was a way better athlete, faster, better ball handler, really better at everything (except FTs). And that's no knock on Kofi, Shaq was better at that stuff than 99.9% of big men to ever pick up a basketball.

Stop it sir. That's literally like the only two times Shaq ever did that.

But great find.

Shaq was not a shooter and was a traditional big with back to the basket game. His play style was the same as Kofi style. That was my point. And just because people weren't privy to see Kofi do it in game does not mean he can't do that also. Same with shooting. Check the 3:10 mark in this video.

2022 NBA Draft

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