Former Illini in College Hoops

#451      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
This year we have TEAM players........

Last year we had PLAYERS on a team........

Big difference , as we see by our record.......

Some players from last year tried to have a TEAM full of players , but couldn't overcome the selfish play of other players....that is why we saw so much frustration from cohawk and other's with the play on the court.....

BU has said numerous times about the connectivity and chemistry of the players this year........the extra pass or the diving on the court for a loose ball.........

I'm glad the chemistry was changed as this year's team is so enjoyable to watch and , lo and behold , we are seeing more evidence of full 40 minute efforts by the Fighting Illini.......I can only remember one bad start and that was the purdont game....there may be more but I'm old and sometimes my memory is affected by outside sources......it really really is.................
 
#452      

Heisenbobble

Heisenbobble
Heisenbobble
Cracking Up Lol GIF by Rodney Dangerfield


Way to selectively choose which categories are important for the discussion. LOL! Shannon's also a much better rebounder, shooter, defensive player, and teammate (and turns the ball over much less). Domask is better at nearly everything except outside shooting. But if you want to praise Epps as some great player and teammate, by all means!
 
#453      

oskeewowwowboomtime

O
oskeewowwowboomtime
and 69 others said:
I clicked on the link you provided. Were fans not allowed at the game? Was there a COVID break-out or something?
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The Capital One Arena has 20,356 seats for basketball games. The announced attendance for Georgetown last night was 4,625 people. Georgetown is second to last in the Big East with only DePaul behind them in the standings. It is not "hate" towards Epps to say that his leading the conference in scoring while shooting 2 for 13 from 3 point range last night and 4 for 19 overall is not "impressive". It is just bad, unwatchable basketball and I saw more than enough of that type of dumpster fire last year with the ILLINI offense when he had the ball in his hands. The Georgetown attendance figures tell you all you need to know about what having a conference leading scorer on a really bad team means. No one cares or wants to see that type of basketball. John Thompson Jr. must be turning over in his grave . . .
 
#454      

mrh vet

M
mrh vet
pruman91 said:
This year we have TEAM players........

Last year we had PLAYERS on a team........

Big difference , as we see by our record.......

Some players from last year tried to have a TEAM full of players , but couldn't overcome the selfish play of other players....that is why we saw so much frustration from cohawk and other's with the play on the court.....

BU has said numerous times about the connectivity and chemistry of the players this year........the extra pass or the diving on the court for a loose ball.........

I'm glad the chemistry was changed as this year's team is so enjoyable to watch and , lo and behold , we are seeing more evidence of full 40 minute efforts by the Fighting Illini.......I can only remember one bad start and that was the purdont game....there may be more but I'm old and sometimes my memory is affected by outside sources......it really really is.................
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Not in this case. Promises were made to Sky. Epps turned his back on Brad and still played and Mayer never never saw a step back 3 he did not like. Last year's chemistry reminds me of a bad high school chemistry experiment
 
#458      

Roundball Sage

R
Roundball Sage
LoveIlliniHoops said:
Me personally, if I want to observe an individual performance I’ll watch tennis, golf or F1.
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That is very much right. The beauty of basketball, hockey, soccer, and football is found in the Team acting as a unified force and blending each individual skill into a larger whole greater that the single parts alone.

Baseball at its heart is mostly a one-on-one game within a team-appearing framework. Pitcher vs. Batter is the core of this game. Everything else that goes on at the ball field is secondary to a mostly one against one competition.

In football, the oversized importance of one man -- what quality of QB you have -- does tower over the team concept a bit. Just like in hockey when you have a stud goalie and the other guys don't.

But the beauty of roundball is that you must have 'Team' working as a cohesive unit on both ends of the floor every second of game play.
 
#459      

Chad Fleck

Chad Fleck
Eureka, IL
Chad Fleck
Roundball Sage said:
That is very much right. The beauty of basketball, hockey, soccer, and football is found in the Team acting as a unified force and blending each individual skill into a larger whole greater that the single parts alone.

Baseball at its heart is mostly a one-on-one game within a team-appearing framework. Pitcher vs. Batter is the core of this game. Everything else that goes on at the ball field is secondary to a mostly one against one competition.

In football, the oversized importance of one man -- what quality of QB you have -- does tower over the team concept a bit. Just like in hockey when you have a stud goalie and the other guys don't.

But the beauty of roundball is that you must have 'Team' working as a cohesive unit on both ends of the floor every second of game play.
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Another beautiful thing about basketball, is the roundness that is necessary to play it, from an athletic perspective. It crosses many athletic skills off the list of needed attributes. Furthermore, you have to play both sides of the ball. I understand why football is the way it is, but I don't really like how specialized it is by position. I also hate the DH in baseball for this reason. Basketball really is one of the few sports that really engages both sides of the game on such a breadth of athletics needed. Not only that, but various skill levels are able to play and enjoy the game.

It's a great sport.
 
#460      

Roundball Sage

R
Roundball Sage
Chad Fleck said:
Another beautiful thing about basketball, is the roundness that is necessary to play it, from an athletic perspective. It crosses many athletic skills off the list of needed attributes. Furthermore, you have to play both sides of the ball. I understand why football is the way it is, but I don't really like how specialized it is by position. I also hate the DH in baseball for this reason. Basketball really is one of the few sports that really engages both sides of the game on such a breadth of athletics needed. Not only that, but various skill levels are able to play and enjoy the game.
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Very true.

Football puts a premium on carrying a great deal of body weight for many/most positions. And a smaller man has lesser chance of playing against those odds. Plus, the terrible toll the game takes on the body and brain health. Worse than the other sports (although head trauma is there to some extent in all sports).

Since baseball is more individualized than ‘team’... there are many guys who are just not in great physical shape but can hold down a batting order spot.

Basketball, hockey, and soccer put a premium on being in terrific physical shape. Soccer is the most non-stop game and requires almost constant physical movement for over 90 minutes. In hockey the speed of this game is just beyond belief. You can’t really comprehend how fast these guys are unti you sit down close to the ice. They have blinding speed and reflexes.

Basketball is sort of a kind of blend of soccer and football in the following respects. A roundball game has many starts-and-stops with fouls and quarter breaks... but is flowing motion when engaged. So the frequent stops-and-starts is football-like... and the energetic game-flow is soccer-like.

And roundball requires use of all limbs at all times. Running, and lots of starts-and-stops on the court. Passing and shooting with the arms. Upper and lower body strength for setting picks and playing ‘backing-in-bootie-ball’ (THERE’s a technical term for you!).

And all sports require good use of lightning-quick reaction time and the brain to make good decisions, wise choices, avoiding defensive traps, being mindful to avoid making mistakes.

One more thing about these sports – the venues of play. There’s nothing the intensity and energy inside a packed roundball or hockey arena. Nothing at all. Football gets close when inside a dome. And soccer fans are legendary for working themselves into a frenzy.

I've been at many a roundball game where the noise was so intense you can FEEL IT on your SKIN.

A downside to our beloved roundball game is the toll it takes on the knees and back. The human body was not designed to take the wear-and-tear of all the years of court play and risks of knee and ankle injury. We love this game and we want to play it all the time if we can. But then we do pay a price later.

So then we watch other guys and all become expert commentators and critics!
 
#461      

Chad Fleck

Chad Fleck
Eureka, IL
Chad Fleck
Roundball Sage said:
Very true.

Football puts a premium on carrying a great deal of body weight for many/most positions. And a smaller man has lesser chance of playing against those odds. Plus, the terrible toll the game takes on the body and brain health. Worse than the other sports (although head trauma is there to some extent in all sports).

Since baseball is more individualized than ‘team’... there are many guys who are just not in great physical shape but can hold down a batting order spot.

Basketball, hockey, and soccer put a premium on being in terrific physical shape. Soccer is the most non-stop game and requires almost constant physical movement for over 90 minutes. In hockey the speed of this game is just beyond belief. You can’t really comprehend how fast these guys are unti you sit down close to the ice. They have blinding speed and reflexes.

Basketball is sort of a kind of blend of soccer and football in the following respects. A roundball game has many starts-and-stops with fouls and quarter breaks... but is flowing motion when engaged. So the frequent stops-and-starts is football-like... and the energetic game-flow is soccer-like.

And roundball requires use of all limbs at all times. Running, and lots of starts-and-stops on the court. Passing and shooting with the arms. Upper and lower body strength for setting picks and playing ‘backing-in-bootie-ball’ (THERE’s a technical term for you!).

And all sports require good use of lightning-quick reaction time and the brain to make good decisions, wise choices, avoiding defensive traps, being mindful to avoid making mistakes.

One more thing about these sports – the venues of play. There’s nothing the intensity and energy inside a packed roundball or hockey arena. Nothing at all. Football gets close when inside a dome. And soccer fans are legendary for working themselves into a frenzy.

I've been at many a roundball game where the noise was so intense you can FEEL IT on your SKIN.

A downside to our beloved roundball game is the toll it takes on the knees and back. The human body was not designed to take the wear-and-tear of all the years of court play and risks of knee and ankle injury. We love this game and we want to play it all the time if we can. But then we do pay a price later.

So then we watch other guys and all become expert commentators and critics!
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This discussion probably needs it's own very broad thread. It's a very fun topic though, and makes all the sense for a basketball forum.

I agree with much of what you observe here. One problem I have with soccer is the lack of upper body use. I understand that it takes serious endurance, it just isn't the roundest of athletic use. Also the lack of scoring makes it a boring sport to watch, in my very American view. :)

The downside to basketball you state about the toll it takes physically is well taken. I'm very pleased with my relationship with the game. I never took it quite as seriously as others in my life who went further in the game competitively. However, I've been playing the game for fun with people in my community for nearly 20 years since I was in High School. The physical end is coming for me at some point, I know. But I can still play the game as effectively as ever. I'm not suggesting I'm playing it at any sort of high level, but I can run full court for a couple of hours. I can dunk it as well as I ever could (which isn't awesome, but all I could ever do was just barely get it) and can still play the other physical parts of the game. I believe it's because I never pushed it hard to be the "best" I could be. So many people I know did, and their knees are paying the price now.

It's a beautiful sport and I'm pleased that I can still interact with it in all aspects.
 
#462      

illini510

I
illini510
oskeewowwowboomtime said:
The Capital One Arena has 20,356 seats for basketball games. The announced attendance for Georgetown last night was 4,625 people. Georgetown is second to last in the Big East with only DePaul behind them in the standings. It is not "hate" towards Epps to say that his leading the conference in scoring while shooting 2 for 13 from 3 point range last night and 4 for 19 overall is not "impressive". It is just bad, unwatchable basketball and I saw more than enough of that type of dumpster fire last year with the ILLINI offense when he had the ball in his hands. The Georgetown attendance figures tell you all you need to know about what having a conference leading scorer on a really bad team means. No one cares or wants to see that type of basketball. John Thompson Jr. must be turning over in his grave . . .
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Cooley was not going to rebuild that program in one offseason. It's probably going to take another two years after this season to get them back to relevancy. He's gotta recruit his kind of guys and then get into the transfer portal and find guys who fit his system and who fit the kinds of players he had at Providence. Nobody was expecting Georgetown to do anything. Although, I will give Rick Pitino credit in that he overhauled the entire roster at St. John's except for their big man and they are playing solid ball and maybe a fringe tournament team. But, that is a hall of fame head coach there. Give Cooley some time

We all know Epps isn't supposed to be any team's go-to player unless he was at a mid major school. We clearly don't miss Epps this season so I don't understand the level of vitriol and hate being spewed at him. Let the kid be. He made a business decision and we haven't suffered for it. He's a me first selfish player so he's getting his stats while the Illini are getting their unselfish players to play as a cohesive and connected unit. Be happy he isn't a cancer for our team and leave him be
 
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#463      

Battle89

Battle89
Battle89
illini510 said:
Cooley was not going to rebuild that program in one offseason. It's probably going to take another two years after this season to get them back to relevancy. He's gotta recruit his kind of guys and then get into the transfer portal and find guys who fit his system and who fit the kinds of players he had at Providence. Nobody was expecting Georgetown to do anything. Although, I will give Rick Pitino credit in that he overhauled the entire roster at St. John's except for their big man and they are playing solid ball and maybe a fringe tournament team. But, that is a hall of fame head coach there. Give Cooley some time

We all know Epps isn't supposed to be any team's go-to player unless he was at a mid major school. We clearly don't miss Epps this season so I don't understand the level of vitriol and hate being spewed at him. Let the kid be. He made a business decision and we haven't suffered for it. He's a me first selfish player so he's getting his stats while the Illini are getting their unselfish players to play as a cohesive and connected unit. Be happy he isn't a cancer for our team and leave him be
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Haven't seen love and compassion expressed so eloquently since @IlliniFaninHoosierLand wrote about Peacock.
 
#464      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
I watched Adam Miller playing for ASU last weekend.

He still has a nice jumper and great athleticism. Looks like the injuries are gone.

But he is not playing PG for ASU (1.3 apg) and he is not the focus of the offense. JMO - if he had stayed at Illinois, Brad might have built the team around him instead of TSJ. He could have been bringing the ball up the floor instead of Marcus/Ty.

Adam progression
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Ayo progression
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At some point a player has to say its not the responsibility of coach or the school its my responsibility.




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#465      

Heisenbobble

Heisenbobble
Heisenbobble
illini510 said:
Cooley was not going to rebuild that program in one offseason. It's probably going to take another two years after this season to get them back to relevancy. He's gotta recruit his kind of guys and then get into the transfer portal and find guys who fit his system and who fit the kinds of players he had at Providence. Nobody was expecting Georgetown to do anything. Although, I will give Rick Pitino credit in that he overhauled the entire roster at St. John's except for their big man and they are playing solid ball and maybe a fringe tournament team. But, that is a hall of fame head coach there. Give Cooley some time

We all know Epps isn't supposed to be any team's go-to player unless he was at a mid major school. We clearly don't miss Epps this season so I don't understand the level of vitriol and hate being spewed at him. Let the kid be. He made a business decision and we haven't suffered for it. He's a me first selfish player so he's getting his stats while the Illini are getting their unselfish players to play as a cohesive and connected unit. Be happy he isn't a cancer for our team and leave him be
Click to expand...
First Of All Comedy GIF by Neesin

I think it's perfectly fine to point out how selfish a player Epps is. It's also fine to post your happiness at his team's struggles and his misleading stats. And we are leaving him be. I highly doubt he reads this forum.
 
#470      

MDchicago

MDchicago
Lake Norman NC
MDchicago
oskeewowwowboomtime said:
The Capital One Arena has 20,356 seats for basketball games. The announced attendance for Georgetown last night was 4,625 people. Georgetown is second to last in the Big East with only DePaul behind them in the standings. It is not "hate" towards Epps to say that his leading the conference in scoring while shooting 2 for 13 from 3 point range last night and 4 for 19 overall is not "impressive". It is just bad, unwatchable basketball and I saw more than enough of that type of dumpster fire last year with the ILLINI offense when he had the ball in his hands. The Georgetown attendance figures tell you all you need to know about what having a conference leading scorer on a really bad team means. No one cares or wants to see that type of basketball. John Thompson Jr. must be turning over in his grave . . .
Click to expand...

UConn uses its defending national champion status and current #1 ranking in the AP poll as solace for the fact that it doesn't have a single player in the top 10 Big East scoring leaders. :cry:
 
#471      

PtGd

P
PtGd
pruman91 said:
This year we have TEAM players........

Last year we had PLAYERS on a team........

Big difference , as we see by our record.......

Some players from last year tried to have a TEAM full of players , but couldn't overcome the selfish play of other players....that is why we saw so much frustration from cohawk and other's with the play on the court.....

BU has said numerous times about the connectivity and chemistry of the players this year........the extra pass or the diving on the court for a loose ball.........

I'm glad the chemistry was changed as this year's team is so enjoyable to watch and , lo and behold , we are seeing more evidence of full 40 minute efforts by the Fighting Illini.......I can only remember one bad start and that was the purdont game....there may be more but I'm old and sometimes my memory is affected by outside sources......it really really is.................
Click to expand...
Pru said: "I'm glad the chemistry was changed as this year's team is so enjoyable to watch"......

... and so much fun to really root for. I mean, really, really, root for!
 
#472      

FromTheLogo

F
FromTheLogo
Jayden Epps is just chucking balls up in this game against Providence. He has air-balled a couple and bricked a few more. Ugly basketball.

4/13 for 11 pts this far in the first half.
 
#473      

illini510

I
illini510
FromTheLogo said:
Jayden Epps is just chucking balls up in this game against Providence. He has air-balled a couple and bricked a few more. Ugly basketball.

4/13 for 11 pts this far in the first half.
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Concept of team basketball doesn't seem to mesh with this Georgetown team. I have a better understanding why Epps is the leading scorer in the Big East. It also has something to do with the talent on this Georgetown team too or lack of it. I'm surprised that Massoud is on their bench. He played a key role for K State last year. I would think he should be starting.

This game is more interesting than I thought it would be. I just tuned in to see how Ed Cooley would be treated
 
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