Illini Basketball 2017-2018

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#726      

breadman

B
Herndon, VA
breadman
OK, all recruits but Vessel are now on campus and in classes, practices, etc. Is it now allowable to start believing or is there still something else to wait on, uh, not counting wins?
 
#727      

Ga65

G
Ga65
breadman said:
OK, all recruits but Vessel are now on campus and in classes, practices, etc. Is it now allowable to start believing or is there still something else to wait on, uh, not counting wins?
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Didn't think Alstork was coming until August??
 
#729      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Lots of optimism expressed in some of these posts, but I look at the roster and only see 5 scholarship players who were in O&B last year, and another 5 guys who haven't played a minute of college ball. Finishing over .500 will be a good season IMO given the depth of the B1G, but my expectations will be very high for 2018/19.
 
#730      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
blackdog said:
I wouldn't expect Vessel to contribute much this season especially early in the year if he's not reporting until August. Going to be a big adjustment to everything for him, being in a new country, college life, and learning a new system.

Glad to have another legit big on the roster though!
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I would expect Vesel to be on a Bill Cole like trajectory.:)
 
#733      

BananaShampoo

B
Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
BananaShampoo
Ransom Stoddard said:
Lots of optimism expressed in some of these posts, but I look at the roster and only see 5 scholarship players who were in O&B last year, and another 5 guys who haven't played a minute of college ball. Finishing over .500 will be a good season IMO given the depth of the B1G, but my expectations will be very high for 2018/19.
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In a way I almost think having so many newcomers is a good thing. What's that old adage about teaching old dogs new tricks? Too many upperclassmen and there would have been a lot more bad habits to break. These guys will for the most part be starting fresh with open minds and will hopefully pick it up more quickly that way. :thumb:
 
#735      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
jcgoldie said:
I thought Celtic Drill meant practicing baseball passes and fastbreaks?
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Yeah I think of that one too. This looked like a 2 in a row before you drill. Who really knows how this stuff gets named. I saw Chandler parsons do this drill in warmups for the mavs last year. Went midrange and 3 back and forth, never took more than 3 shots.

illinitiger said:
Yep, its hard not to like TF's stroke.

IMO elevating is overated. When your moving the ball fast on the perimeter, I'd emphasize/optimize release speed


https://youtu.be/HOiH1eVCggw
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Agree. I think steph curry jumps about an inch off the ground when he shoots. Seems to do fine. And he does it off the dribble vs pros. With ball movement in college Trent should be fine. Also when he is in a game with more juices flowing, he'll get more lift anyway. Even more so off the move.
 
#737      

BMo79

B
BMo79
FC Illiniman said:
With the roster as it stands looks like we have definitely went smaller, seems the way the game has gone too. To's and lose balls will be the name of our game. Conditioning and ball handling, a lot of guard play, but we have some bigs to clean up lane now too.:thumb:
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I'm not sure I would say we went smaller, we might of lost an inch or so in the bigs, but gained speed, and jumping. our guards got bigger as well as more athletic, Maybe less weight ??? but seriously, we lost Mav, Hill Tate,Tracy and JCL as far as a lot of mins played. the 5 FR alone as far as Size are bigger
 
#738      

Deleted member 8213

D
Guest
Deleted member 8213
BMo79 said:
I'm not sure I would say we went smaller, we might of lost an inch or so in the bigs, but gained speed, and jumping. our guards got bigger as well as more athletic, Maybe less weight ??? but seriously, we lost Mav, Hill Tate,Tracy and JCL as far as a lot of mins played. the 5 FR alone as far as Size are bigger
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Yeah what really sticks out is that was a S-L-O-W team we lost and a pretty quick one coming in. Obviously we lost a ton of experience so there will be growing pains.
 
#739      

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Ransom Stoddard said:
Lots of optimism expressed in some of these posts, but I look at the roster and only see 5 scholarship players who were in O&B last year, and another 5 guys who haven't played a minute of college ball. Finishing over .500 will be a good season IMO given the depth of the B1G, but my expectations will be very high for 2018/19.
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Think you might be selling the Illini a bit short. Actually, six players - Lucas, Jordan, Black, Finke, Nichols and Alstork - have college minutes and you have Smith, who Underwood says he expects to be one of the best freshmen in the nation. Do I expect a Big 10 banner next year, nope, but certainly with what I am sure will be far superior coaching to what we have seen recently, I think this team will have a shot at the Big Dance.
 
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#740      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal
mattcoldagelli
Ransom Stoddard said:
Lots of optimism expressed in some of these posts, but I look at the roster and only see 5 scholarship players who were in O&B last year, and another 5 guys who haven't played a minute of college ball.
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Make sure you look at the part of the roster marked "Coaching Staff" too, though.
 
#742      

geneseo

G
geneseo
Ransom Stoddard said:
Lots of optimism expressed in some of these posts, but I look at the roster and only see 5 scholarship players who were in O&B last year, and another 5 guys who haven't played a minute of college ball. Finishing over .500 will be a good season IMO given the depth of the B1G, but my expectations will be very high for 2018/19.
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Assuming you mean finishing over .500 in the B1G, I'd be happy too if the Illini accomplish that this coming year. We haven't finished over .500 in the conference since 2009-10.

mattcoldagelli said:
Make sure you look at the part of the roster marked "Coaching Staff" too, though.
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The Illini had two seasons over .500 in the conference during the twelve years members of my family were students. We're all done as of this past May. Got that going for us too!
 
#745      

oskeewowwowboomtime

O
oskeewowwowboomtime
Monte Carlo said:
Think you might be selling the Illini a bit short. Actually, six players - Lucas, Jordan, Black, Finke, Nichols and Alstork - have college minutes and you have Smith, who Underwood says he expects to be one of the best freshmen in the nation. Do I expect a Big 10 banner next year, nope, but certainly with what I am sure will be far superior coaching to what we have seen recently, I think this team will have a shot at the Big Dance.
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Underwood did not convince Alstork to use his last year or Smith to come here to have a "shot at the Big Dance". People need to raise their expectations. I'll bet my beach house that the ILLINI are in the Big Dance next year and it won't be because they beat Rutgers in the final conference game to sneak in. There is more than enough talent and coaching to make that happen in a Big Ten that is watered down after the top 4 or 5 teams. Underwood teams make the NCAA Tournament. Nothing less is acceptable to him.
 
#746      

foby

foby
Bonnaroo Land
foby
oskeewowwowboomtime said:
Underwood did not convince Alstork to use his last year or Smith to come here to have a "shot at the Big Dance". People need to raise their expectations. I'll bet my beach house that the ILLINI are in the Big Dance next year and it won't be because they beat Rutgers in the final conference game to sneak in. There is more than enough talent and coaching to make that happen in a Big Ten that is watered down after the top 4 or 5 teams. Underwood teams make the NCAA Tournament. Nothing less is acceptable to him.
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:thumb:Amen
 
#750      

Ubermensch

Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Ubermensch
westcoastillini said:
I just watched that practice video. Is it just me or did Leron get even stronger?? He looks absolutely stacked in this video
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Finke looks big, too. I hope he starts putting it together this season. If both he and Leron make jumps this season then out big man worries will be less of an issue. Those guys are probably the two most important players on the roster, right?

I'm so excited to see how the upcoming season plays out.
 
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