Illini Basketball 2017-2018

IlliniDent · May 25, 2017

FC Illiniman said:
Just throwing this out there, could be medical redshirts, Finke / Williams, not knowing there status, could sit. Finke being a big, with foot issue sometimes take longer to heal. Have asked on his progress, haven't heard anything.

It would be ideal if we could redshirt Williams rather than waste im his first year if he isn't ready.

oskeewowwowboomtime · May 25, 2017

While we all bask in the glory of the Alstork signing, Coach Underwood never stops working and continues to rebuild the program on other fronts that will ultimately pay big dividends:

Marcus Liberty‏

@Givemeliberty30

2h2 hours agoMore

@CoachUnderwood great job with hitting the ground & recruiting &reaching out to former illini players. Go illini!!

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IlliniJim20 · May 25, 2017

618MattD said:
I would like TF can put as much as 15-20 on in those 3.5 months. As a college athlete, teammates and myself included would put 5-15 pounds (depending on what a guy was trying to do) on during our 6 weeks of lifting only after fall ball

Keep in mind he will also be playing plenty of basketball in the summer, in addition to classes and lifting. For many sports, off season cardio work is limited or reduced if you want to focus on adding good muscle weight. Trent will be burning plenty of calories playing ball, which will somewhat limit weight gain.

I'll go with the 5-10 pounds.

Rob07 · May 25, 2017

Rotation players
PG: TJL/TF
CG: MS/TF
Wing: MA/KN
Wing: LB/KN
C: MF/LB
Would expect each of these guys to contribute 25+ mpg, i.e. starter level minutes. They really have to, given that we have 200 minutes for only 7 Big Ten-ready players (arguably 6.)

Reserves
CG: DMW
Wing: AJ
Would expect these guys to contribute under 12 mpg. Aaron is yet to prove himself a Big Ten player and Da'Monte is coming off an injury that I expect will limit his ability to contribute as a freshman.

We are really in trouble if we have any injuries.

whovous · May 25, 2017

Rob07 said:
Rotation players

We are really in trouble if we have any injuries.

I get a little more nervous every time someone asks about Finke's foot injury. Why is there no news on this?

goillini30 · May 25, 2017

Hooping34 said:
With the way that BUs offense and sets are presented...TJL doesnt shoot the ball well enough and is not athletic enough to get to the basket and finish...Its going to hard to look pass Smith as the starting PG...with TJL defenders will just go under the high ball screens which is what teams did to the Illini this season ......

I said this a couple months ago, and it's still true today: I remember hearing BU say in one of his early interviews after taking the UI job that he had a starting point guard at SFA who averaged like 2 ppg, but he couldn't take him off the court because he played such good defense and ran the offense so well. I don't think TJL will only average 2 ppg, but it tells me that BU might value other things in a pg besides just shooting.

I agree with you that Smith will probably start, but I don't think it will push Tejon to the bench. Not to mention that a lot of the PnR/DHO actions in the base offense take place closer to the elbow, which means that if defenders go under it allows the ball handler to get a head of steam and already be close to the rim. Or they can pull up for an uncontested 12-15 foot jumper.

ChiefIllini · May 25, 2017

whovous said:
I get a little more nervous every time someone asks about Finke's foot injury. Why is there no news on this?

It's the offseason for one. News isn't just going to flow as frequently as it would if this were closer to December. And even if it does sideline him a little longer, he's still got a couple months before we really need to start worrying about him.

This injury happened around the middle of march right? That's already 2.5 months. I'd be surprised if he was out any longer than another 4 weeks.

Also, the staff might be playing it safe in terms of ramping his workouts back up. No news isn't always bad news. I think once the June workouts start up, we'll have a much clearer picture.

Calvin · May 25, 2017

If the roster remains as is, I don't see how you can use Black as a 4 when you don't have a center.

icengineer · May 25, 2017

Calvin said:
If the roster remains as is, I don't see how you can use Black as a 4 when you don't have a center.

Posters have been saying this since the day we hired BU. We've had 6 changes to our roster since then. I can say with near certainty that our roster will change, yet again. :thumb:

JaxIllini1 · May 25, 2017

I'm pretty taken aback by the lack of respect for Tejon being shown in some of these posts. I'd be shocked if he doesn't start and play 28+ mpg. Not surprised. Shocked.

drewillini89 · May 25, 2017

As it stands now what's our rotation look like?

1st Unit
1 Lucas
2 Smith
3 Alstork
4 Nichols
5 Black

2nd Unit
1 Frazier
2 Williams
3 Jordan
4 ?
5 Finke

I don't see how we can start Black and Finke. If there's foul trouble that leaves Nichols playing the 5... Or am I crazy? Depending how things go, Frazier gets bumped up over Lucas.

I think LB will thrive in a BU offense - especially when you look at the ball handling talent on this team.

Or does AJ get bumped to 4 and we just have tons of guard minutes?

Magoo222 · May 25, 2017

Well IMHO, our success this season will be determined by 3 things : 1) if DW is 100% at the start of the season 2) if AJ really steps his game up, and 3) if we get 2 more decent players (bigs haha). Now of course there are other factors that could have impact i.e. learning new system, injuries, other transfers out, and players taking a step back.....but we know what we have to work with except for those first three unknowns. If those 3 things come to fruition, I look forward to a much more exciting season this year. Big goals are making the dance and beating Miznoz.

afpharmdawg · May 25, 2017

Magoo222 said:
Well IMHO, our success this season will be determined by 3 things : 1) if DW is 100% at the start of the season 2) if AJ really steps his game up, and 3) if we get 2 more decent players (bigs haha). Now of course there are other factors that could have impact i.e. learning new system, injuries, other transfers out, and players taking a step back.....but we know what we have to work with except for those first three unknowns. If those 3 things come to fruition, I look forward to a much more exciting season this year. Big goals are making the dance and beating Miznoz.

Although beating Miznoz is always a goal, I don't necessarily think it is a big goal. It is just a game like Northwestern or Indiana. I would say those games would be bigger goals for victory. JMHO.

tsaxflyer · May 25, 2017

I think things are kind of going as expected so far. DJ left because he felt he was going to be behind Kipper and JCL left because he thought he was going to be behind MA. DJ I'm sure felt he was in line to start and JCL started at the end of last year. I don't blame either one. I wish them the best. The key now is getting a contributor at the 4 or 5. One guy would get us by but 2 contributors are what I think they would like

IlliniForTheWin · May 26, 2017

wow i guess dan is hammered

TriCityBurbs · May 26, 2017

Dan making some good points though. The big ten loves Illinois because they help Mich/OSU/Neb/Wisky of the league pile up wins in football so more teams are bowl eligible. There's also a reason why Illinois (11th ranked bball program all-time) doesn't get nearly as much credit or attention even in winning bball years. Big ten loves the losers from CU, big ten network loves the losers of CU.

Whitman2020 · May 26, 2017

TriCityBurbs said:
Dan making some good points though. The big ten loves Illinois because they help Mich/OSU/Neb/Wisky of the league pile up wins in football so more teams are bowl eligible. There's also a reason why Illinois (11th ranked bball program all-time) doesn't get nearly as much credit or attention even in winning bball years. Big ten loves the losers from CU, big ten network loves the losers of CU.

So what? I couldn't care less what BTN thinks of the our program. It's on us to change the modern narrative, anyway.

ballislife17 · May 26, 2017

I'm guessing some posts got deleted, but what you're inferring doesn't even sound true. 2005 got tons of positive publicity and so did the Underwood hire for that matter. At least on BTN.

BMo79 · May 26, 2017

drewillini89 said:
As it stands now what's our rotation look like?

1st Unit
1 Lucas
2 Smith
3 Alstork
4 Nichols
5 Black

2nd Unit
1 Frazier
2 Williams
3 Jordan
4 ?
5 Finke

I don't see how we can start Black and Finke. If there's foul trouble that leaves Nichols playing the 5... Or am I crazy? Depending how things go, Frazier gets bumped up over Lucas.

I think LB will thrive in a BU offense - especially when you look at the ball handling talent on this team.

Or does AJ get bumped to 4 and we just have tons of guard minutes?

Lucas will only get bumped if he gets hurt. The kid is to good on D. We just need a body 6-7 or bigger who can take up some min. 2 would be better if we can find and get them. If so we are in pretty good shape. I think had DaWill not got hurt people would be talking a lot more about him in these lineups as well.

BMo79 · May 26, 2017

I really think the lineup is going to be more like this

1 TJL ( Smith, Trent, DaWill)
2,3,4. any 3 of everyone on the team except TJL(Black and Finke both could fill spots if we add another bigger body or 2)
5 Black, Finke ( player or 2 yet to be on the team)

illinitiger · May 26, 2017

drewillini89 said:
As it stands now what's our rotation look like?

1st Unit
1 Lucas
2 Smith
3 Alstork
4 Nichols
5 Black

2nd Unit
1 Frazier
2 Williams
3 Jordan
4 ?
5 Finke

I don't see how we can start Black and Finke. If there's foul trouble that leaves Nichols playing the 5... Or am I crazy? Depending how things go, Frazier gets bumped up over Lucas.

I think LB will thrive in a BU offense - especially when you look at the ball handling talent on this team.

Or does AJ get bumped to 4 and we just have tons of guard minutes?

With potential injuries...I think you have to tell Fletch to work on cardio and endurance programs in addition to weight training. This new system and pace Im afraid may burn out our only 2 players over 6'7 who will likely be playing 30 minutes or more at a break-neck pace of play.

Deleted member 8213 · May 26, 2017

Looking at all these combinations and permutations of potential lineups, the one thing that sticks out is we are at least one shy of guys with size to defend at 4/5. Sounds like they have someone in their sights.

FeelTheLovie · May 26, 2017

Anyone else think Samson could end up being one of the better walk-ons we've had in a long time? I watched his high school stuff again and he's a high motor guy that's pretty athletic.
http://www.ncsasports.org/mens-bask...s/palatine/fremd-high-school/samson-oladimeji

Adnarel · May 26, 2017

IlliniForTheWin said:
wow i guess dan is hammered

why am I never around for these posts?

There's little doubt that partway through the season it will be announced that one of our walk-ons is now a scholarship. Clayton Jones is the most obvious candidate for this. But yeah, our walk-on to scholarship ratio is kinda scary atm.

icengineer · May 26, 2017

Adnarel said:
why am I never around for these posts?

There's little doubt that partway through the season it will be announced that one of our walk-ons is now a scholarship. Clayton Jones is the most obvious candidate for this. But yeah, our walk-on to scholarship ratio is kinda scary atm.

Home page twitter feed has the posts. Tweets are still there.

Illini Basketball 2017-2018

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