Illini Basketball 2017-2018

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#301      
Ulysses Everett McGill
ChiefIllini said:
The "fact" is that AJ never got consistent playing time his first two years. It takes a very special (maybe unique is a better word) player to come in cold for a minute or two every third game and do anything remotely statistically valuable.
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Bingo.

To back his claim AJ isn't D1 material, the guy cites scoring average, with no mention of minutes played. Unbelievable.
 
#302      
Ulysses Everett McGill
jcgoldie said:
You do realize that a tremendous amount of players take a few years to adjust to the speed of the college game and basing a players potential on his contribution as an underclassman is often completely misguided... right?
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"A question ain't really a question if you know the answer too." -- John Prine
 
#303      
Oldtoysrock
BDoug said:
Here's the fact. Aaron played 24 games last year and scored 23 points for a .9 scoring average. Nearly half of those points (11) came against D2 McKendree College. I could go on...but you get my point.



Again -- I don't know him but he seems like a good kid/teammate. But let's do acknowledge the "facts". Even idiots like me know the difference between fact and opinion.



The "fact" is that in 23 games against D1 opponents Aaron averaged .5 points a game. My "opinion" is that his struggles are more mental than physical. He clearly had the physical tools coming out of high school to draw interest from big time basketball programs. Perhaps having a father who goes on fan forums is an example of some of the difficulties Aaron has to overcome? That's also an "opinion".
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I'm inclined to take everyone's performance during the Groce era with a grain of salt and look to an entirely new future with new opportunities. Even looking to last year, I'm not sure Tejon and Kipper would've gotten the minutes they did, had not the fan uproar been so loud with the frustration with Tate and Thorne. It's a new day . . . . . for everyone.


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#304      
the national
I think AJ is going to be just fine. He has a good coach at the helm for the first time.

I bet we will see our guys play more relaxed and alert this year. For AJ, the game will slow down and the coach will help set him up for success. This is the biggest difference - our last coach really wanted to achieve this but really had no idea how to create this on the court for our guys.
 
#307      
Calvin
rcjord1 said:
Well... my wife just revoked my internet privileges! I tried to be nice:) Solong guys!
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Hope we hear from you again sometime Rob. Don't let one poster get under your skin.
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It's easy to forget these are people --young men who put themselves out there, and put a helluva lot of work into it. And they do this so ultimately, we can enjoy being fans of the program. Everyone (me included) keeping it classy when the program has dropped into irrelevance isn't gonna happen either, though.

I wasn't at all impressed with player development under Groce, so I'm eager to see how these guys do with a new coaching staff. As far as I'm concerned, it's a blank slate. We'll see guys very differently when they're in a different system, and led by different coaches. I also expect a deeper rotation just by the nature of the system, say nothing about the fact that Underwood is probably smarter about giving opportunities and motivating guys. We'll see. Looking forward to it.
 
#308      
LuvIlliniHoopzInVA
BDoug said:
My opinions are based on what I've seen on the court. They may change based on what happens in the future. This is a fan forum...we express opinions here. Mine is that AJ is a good kid who hasn't taken advantage of the opportunities he's had on the court.

I believe his problems are more mental than physical... Again, my opinion.
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Seemed as if the opportunities (for some guys) were few and far between to me. One mistake gets some guys chronically benched, while others were allowed to play through them in bunches.
 
#312      
Captain Bubbles
Finke's interview reminded me of Malcolm. I like how Finke tells it like it is. Great ambassador of the basketball program and university.
 
#319      
BMo79
FC Illiniman said:
Spicy g looks like he's having a good day, and Trent always got the ball.:thumb:
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Coach BU said Spicy G is the fastest guy on the team, and when tested could touch 12 foot. I think he is going to be fun as heck watch for the next 4 years. I also think he is going to really surprise people this year, that are judging him just on his stars and offer list.
 
#320      
kuhl84
BMo79 said:
Coach BU said Spicy G is the fastest guy on the team, and when tested could touch 12 foot. I think he is going to be fun as heck watch for the next 4 years. I also think he is going to really surprise people this year, that are judging him just on his stars and offer list.
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Long arms. 7'3-4" wing span looks right.



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#321      
homesickalien
Ga65 said:
Come on, took a while but MM was good last year. They're gone, give um a break.
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Mav improved yeah, but Ford being the top assistant and big man coach was a really weak link of the last staff. I wish him well, but he didn't belong at a top program like Illinois.
 
#324      
AllGoodInTheUnderwood
homesickalien said:
Mav improved yeah, but Ford being the top assistant and big man coach was a really weak link of the last staff. I wish him well, but he didn't belong at a top program like Illinois.
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Love Mav to death and hung out with him at Kams many a time but he should have been a backup center at best for an upper half B10 team. Dude def learned to score by senior year but I have never seen a less tenacious rebounder/defender (and that's including Tisdale!). I think Underwood is really going to preach grittiness and toughness from our 5 which is why he's willing to take a "project" big like GE who has the physical tools to really be a nuisance in the B10.

Feels like it's been awhile since we've had a team that could kill another on the offensive glass with our bigs a la MSU and here's to hoping we get that back!

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#325      
TriCityBurbs
Not sure where to put this but apparently TJL's car caught on fire a few nights ago in Champaign, not sure if he was in it at the time but the vehicle was on the side of the road.
 
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