Illinifanatic4ever
- Orange & Blue Blood in my Veins
First practice I believe I heard is October 3rd.
Illini Basketball 2016-2017
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First practice I believe I heard is October 3rd.
Oh, that's right. Forgot they changed the rule so the start is earlier.
Curious what everyone's estimation of minutes at PG are. I'm imagining the depth chart to be:
Tracy (do we have any reports on him?)
Tate
TJL
DJW
Hill
Not gonna go there.
My list wouldn't include DJW since he's a combo forward. He looks to have some decent ball skills for a guy his size, but in no way is he going to play a single minute as PG.
I've read good reports on Abrams, but IMO we don't really know until we see him in game action. Will be interesting to see if his minutes are monitored/limited, especially early in the season.
No way Tracy only plays 15 minutes. If he's is healthy, he will play between 25 to 30 minutes per game. The drop off between him and our second best option is just too drastic. The other 10 to 15 minutes will be split between Lucas and Tate, with Tate getting more of that share around the beginning of the season before Lucas gets acclimated with college ball. As a side note, why would Jones average 5 minutes per game according to your analysis? This isn't rec league where everyone participates.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
How did TJL play in the scrimmage?
IMO, your number for Abrams is too low and the TJL number is too high. Perhaps way too high. Impossible to know, at this time.
Lucas has not played in any of the scrimmages. He did skill work on the side. He was not cleared for scrimmage situations yet.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Yep, I know. Thanks for clearing that up though.
I think there are at three least considerations on PG minutes, especially early in the season. First, Abrams is coming off injury and needs only to play enough to tune up his game and not take any unnecessary risk of reinjury. Second, Abrams is coming off injury and we need Tate and TJL tuned up and ready to go if he gets hurt again or cannot go 100% for 20 plus minutes. And third, TJL is going to be the sole returning PG next year and Groce needs to get him as much tick as possible to get him ready to go next year. While everyone seems pretty high on Frazier, we need to know we have someone who can step in from Day 1. The starting job is going to be TJL's unless and until Frazier demonstrates he is the better option. In the non-conference schedule I could see Tracy averaging less than 20 a game, and less than 25 by the end of the year. Since this is Tate's last year and Groce will want him to get some playing time, and since we need TJL to see some time, and while the split of the remaining minutes is going to be dependent upon their play, I would guess that they split the balance pretty equally. But I have higher expectations for Tate than most people (mostly because I want him to succeed).
I hope we will see Tracy being a bench PG coach for TJL while Tate is on the floor (and Tate doing the same for that matter when Tracy is out there). We need TJL to absorb as much as possible this year.
I hope we will see Tracy being a bench PG coach for TJL while Tate is on the floor (and Tate doing the same for that matter when Tracy is out there). We need TJL to absorb as much as possible this year.
This would be my guess going into the season, but it's pretty much a guess at this point.
TJL might get some chances during the non-conf, but I wouldn't expect him to overtake Tate for BIG play. JG really values limiting T/O and PG decision making, and I have to believe a freshman won't overtake a senior barring something special.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
According to this article, both new walk-one are immediately eligible...
https://www.google.com/amp/www.btpo...ds-walk-on-depth-drew-cayce-and-clayton-jones
I hope our walk on players get plenty of minutes.....
....in garbage time, as it should be.
....in garbage time, as it should be.
I was going to respond.....then I saw what you said at the bottom....me too my man!
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
You mean something special like if the freshman were able to put the ball in the basket?
If it's determined he wasn't a "recruited athlete" then he could be eligible immediately.
Captain Bubbles
- Fairfield, IL
The bigger question: Now that LaTulip is gone, who is Groce's "victory cigar" this season?
Probably Liss. Speaking of LaTulip, is Wright St a good program? In other words, could we potentially see LaTulip playing in March?
A little off topic, but not much. I watched Ray Rice scrimmage with the team a couple of weeks ago. He had several former teammates still on the team: Hill, Abrams, Black, Finke, Morgan, Tate. Rice fit right in, laughing and joking with those guys. He even knew the new guys' names. He referred to "Kip" at one point, for example.
The coaches also must be ok with Rice to let him come in and scrimmage with the team when there was a recruit playing, too.
The coaches also must be ok with Rice to let him come in and scrimmage with the team when there was a recruit playing, too.
Why wouldn't they be?
RR was @ Groce's house on Friday night along with the team. Just trying to show Wilkes the "family" atmosphere.
Just a guess, but a lot of people questioned rice as being part of a chemistry problem when the team got some wins when he was out and looked a bit off to end the year. I never bought into rice being the problem, but some (especially on scout) seemed to think he was a problem.
Remember the friction between Cosby and Rice? At that time, theories began to circulate that Rice was a source of bad chemistry in the team. There was never any substantiation offered to address that charge, and I think a lot of sensible people dismissed it as being impossible to confirm short of following the team around in the locker room and stuff.
Ray is bae, afaik.
I think most of that talk settled around Rice's playing style and the team needing him to take tough shots. We were definitely challenged, offensively. Chemistry can mean many different things depending on who you're talking to, though.
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