Illini Basketball 2017-2018

Status
Not open for further replies.
#501      

Peoria Illini

P
Peoria, IL
Peoria Illini
I'd switch Black for Kipper. As much as BU has been praising Leron, hard for me to see him not starting. Working with defensive principles that I'm guessing (ok, HOPING) are different than what Groce's staff was teaching, will hopefully help Leron stay out of foul trouble early. Spicy G will be used for additional fouls when needed, IMO.
 
#502      

TriCityBurbs

T
TriCityBurbs
Jon Rothstein did his Big Ten Preview today and put Illinois at the #10, included Leron as one of his breakout players for this season, mentioned Smith as one of the top freshman and Alstork as the second best transfer in the league closely behind Simmons for MU.
He had..
1. MSU
2. Minnesota
3.Northwestern
4. Purdue
5. Iowa
6. Maryland
7.Michigan
8. Wisconsin
9. Penn St
10. Illinois
11. Indiana
12.Nebraska
13.Ohio St
14. Rutgers

I think he has Iowa a little high I'd slot them at 7, I think Wisconsin on paper is too high but it is Wisky so who knows, and I think we are better than Penn St. I think 8th in conference and 9-9 is realistic while 10-8/11-7 would be optimistic but not out of the question.
 
#504      

BMo79

B
BMo79
ChiefIllini said:
I get the feeling Alstork wont be the day 1 starter.
Click to expand...



Me too I think right now its


TJL
Smith
Kipper
Black
Finke


as the starters and its up to them to keep the starting spots


I think the 1 spot will se 3 maybe 4 guys, 2 ,3 and 4 will be dang near everyone but 3 or 4 guys


and the 5 spot we have 4 or 5 as well that we will see there at times
 
#506      

TriCityBurbs

T
TriCityBurbs
Illiniguy13 said:
Penn State's Mike Watkins is someone to keep an eye on. He's gonna be a monster.
Click to expand...

Yep, he might lead the conference in blocked shots, along with Carr they have a few nice pieces but shooting and depth will more than likely keep them in the bottom half of the conference IMO. I think the top 6-7 teams is pretty easy to project as of now.
 
#509      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
Peoria Illini said:
I'd switch Black for Kipper. As much as BU has been praising Leron, hard for me to see him not starting. Working with defensive principles that I'm guessing (ok, HOPING) are different than what Groce's staff was teaching, will hopefully help Leron stay out of foul trouble early. Spicy G will be used for additional fouls when needed, IMO.
Click to expand...

Our defensive principals are switching from a packline to an on the line/up the line deny defense. We will be much more extended with ball pressure, in the passing lanes, and in the gaps than we ever were under Groce. I'd look for fouls to go up as the returnees get used to a new set of defensive principals and our freshman learn on the job.
 
#510      

Peoria Illini

P
Peoria, IL
Peoria Illini
FiveStar said:
Our defensive principals are switching from a packline to an on the line/up the line deny defense. We will be much more extended with ball pressure, in the passing lanes, and in the gaps than we ever were under Groce. I'd look for fouls to go up as the returnees get used to a new set of defensive principals and our freshman learn on the job.
Click to expand...

Interesting analysis on the fouls increasing in the short term. We'll have to see how it shakes out. Thanks for the analysis FiveStar.
 
#512      

ChiefIllini

C
ChiefIllini
Joel Goodson said:
I'll take that bet.
Click to expand...
MainelyIllini said:
I'm with Joel. I've got a couple beach houses to bet that Alstork will be a starter on day 1.
Click to expand...
kuhl84 said:
+ 1. Starter and probably leading scorer.
Click to expand...

To defend my thoughts a little, I guess I should've said I dont see Alstork coming in and starting over Kipper. I envisioned a lineup that was identical to what Bmo79 had: TJL,Smith,Kipper,Black,Finke.

Maybe I'm too ingrained in the Groce way of thinking that no matter how good a kid is that's coming in, he wont start day 1, but I also think it's gonna be hard to keep KN, LB, and MF off the floor.

And again maybe I favor height too much, but I think Black starts regardless and I'm not so sure he will be our starting center.
 
#513      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
FiveStar said:
Our defensive principals are switching from a packline to an on the line/up the line deny defense. We will be much more extended with ball pressure, in the passing lanes, and in the gaps than we ever were under Groce. I'd look for fouls to go up as the returnees get used to a new set of defensive principals and our freshman learn on the job.
Click to expand...

Agree w/this. Which is another reason why shoring up our bigs was so critical. Am very stoked about the athleticism reports on Spicy G. Not expecting much offensively, but defensively he should be able to spell both Black & Finke. And that's a great thing.
 
#514      

Deleted member 633632

D
Guest
Deleted member 633632
My starting 5 prediction would be

Lucas
Alstork
AJ
Kipp
Black


Finke will come off the bench and explode for some games, and in others he will hurt us in this system for some stretches, against certain opponents, for his lack of athleticism and defensive struggles...

Mark Smith i believe, will come in and replace Lucas as a starter mid-season at the PG position. Mainly because he will be a Jawun Evans clone in this system and that is the primary position he will play.

I also believe this will take place because Lucas will not be able to provide enough scoring in this system, and this system is predicated on namely just that, a point guard who can score in a variety of different ways! Therefore, Lucas will be reserved to a back-up role in my opinion, until he grows his offensive game to be highly functional and multi-faceted.

I know everybody on here loves TJL, and I do too! He does so many things right! But he's just not versed enough offensively yet to stay leading this system, unless he extremely grows his offensive game. Just MO.

But I believe AJ will be your breakout performer in this offense and straight fill it up!! :shield:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#515      

TriCityBurbs

T
TriCityBurbs
All summer BU has been oozing over Finke and Leron. If they don't start I'll be shocked. I think Smith will be our starter by Big Ten Season but wouldn't be shocked with TJL, AJ and Alstork at the 1-3. 6"0 6"5 6"5 6"9 6"10 ain't too bad either way.
 
#516      

brillinian

B
brillinian
ChiefIllini said:
To defend my thoughts a little, I guess I should've said I dont see Alstork coming in and starting over Kipper. I envisioned a lineup that was identical to what Bmo79 had: TJL,Smith,Kipper,Black,Finke.

Maybe I'm too ingrained in the Groce way of thinking that no matter how good a kid is that's coming in, he wont start day 1, but I also think it's gonna be hard to keep KN, LB, and MF off the floor.

And again maybe I favor height too much, but I think Black starts regardless and I'm not so sure he will be our starting center.
Click to expand...

If you are stuck with the "groce way of thinking", then you can't have Smith starting.
 
#517      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
Deleted member 29907
LongLiveTheChief7 said:
My starting 5 prediction would be

Lucas
Alstork
AJ
Kipp
Black


Finke will come off the bench and explode for some games, and in others he will hurt us in this system for some stretches, against certain opponents, for his lack of athleticism and defensive struggles...

Mark Smith i believe, will come in and replace Lucas as a starter mid-season at the PG position. Mainly because he will be a Jawun Evans clone in this system and that is the primary position he will play.

I also believe this will take place because Lucas will not be able to provide enough scoring in this system, and this system is predicated on namely just that, a point guard who can score in a variety of different ways! Therefore, Lucas will be reserved to a back-up role in my opinion, until he grows his offensive game to be highly functional and multi-faceted.

I know everybody on here loves TJL, and I do too! He does so many things right! But he's just not versed enough offensively yet to stay leading this system, unless he extremely grows his offensive game. Just MO.

But I believe AJ will be your breakout performer in this offense and straight fill it up!! :shield:
Click to expand...
I think Lucas will excel in this open, fast paced (team-mates actually moving) offense. His court vision and passing are excellent. I also think he'll get to the rim and finish better than he did last year. Regardless, I am glad to have them both pushing each other.
 
#518      

FC Illiniman

F
FC Illiniman
BMo79 said:
Me too I think right now its


TJL
Smith
Kipper
Black
Finke


as the starters and its up to them to keep the starting spots
Click to expand...


Agree, hopefully Alstork, may not start a few early games, till he gets the groove, but he will be the glue. Trent and TJL will share alot of minutes, but hopefully AJ, Trent and Smith become interchangeable parts. Spicy G will be asked to put in minutes , as said before mostly on defense. Kipper has to steady solid, gonna be asked to do a lot.
Matic better get with program fast, we need him to help asap. Unfortunately I don't see Demonte doing much till December, so he will have to catch-up. Alot of guys gonna have to fill all spots in this interchangeable parts system we will be running. Ready for games to start. :thumb::illinois:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#519      

foby

foby
Bonnaroo Land
foby
TriCityBurbs said:
All summer BU has been oozing over Finke and Leron. If they don't start I'll be shocked. I think Smith will be our starter by Big Ten Season but wouldn't be shocked with TJL, AJ and Alstork at the 1-3. 6"0 6"5 6"5 6"9 6"10 ain't too bad either way.
Click to expand...

:thumb: the magic 8 ball says all signs point to this.....except MS over AJ. lol
 
#520      

Illini Parent14

I
Illini Parent14
Hey, we have a lot of happy talk here, but there are only 200 player-minutes to go around. Everybody can't play 25 minutes a game. Eventually, barring serious injuries, some people are going to feel under-utilized. There will come a time when one point guard, one scorer, and one big will, by their quality performances, command 30+ minutes per game. When that happens, someone will feel left out.
 
#521      

IlliniDent

IlliniDent
Chicago, IL
IlliniDent
Illini Parent14 said:
Hey, we have a lot of happy talk here, but there are only 200 player-minutes to go around. Everybody can't play 25 minutes a game. Eventually, barring serious injuries, some people are going to feel under-utilized. There will come a time when one point guard, one scorer, and one big will, by their quality performances, command 30+ minutes per game. When that happens, someone will feel left out.
Click to expand...

last year 3 players for OSU averaged about 30 minutes/game (2 with 29minutes and 1 with 31 minutes) but 9 total were 13+ minutes/game. I would say that we will probably see very similar stuff this year but with how hard they are expected to play I wouldn't be shocked if no one averages above 30 minutes a game this year.
 
#522      

cam

C
cam
I think Smith, Tejon and Frazier are going to give us something we haven't had since 05, some guards that can score and create shots for others. The offense should be so much better this year, I am optimistic for a real good, exciting season
 
#523      

kuhl84

K
Orlando, FL
kuhl84
Illini Parent14 said:
Hey, we have a lot of happy talk here, but there are only 200 player-minutes to go around. Everybody can't play 25 minutes a game. Eventually, barring serious injuries, some people are going to feel under-utilized. There will come a time when one point guard, one scorer, and one big will, by their quality performances, command 30+ minutes per game. When that happens, someone will feel left out.
Click to expand...


26 - 30 Alstork, Finke, Black...85 total
20 - 25 MS, TJL, KN...70 total
11 - 20 TF, Ebo...30 total
7 - 10 Vesel....8 total
Remainder Jordan and others.

Conference minutes.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#524      

AttentionDeficit

AttentionDeficit
AttentionDeficit
Circling back to FiveStar's comment on fouls, here are Underwood's Team's NCAA foul rankings

'13-'14 SFA 22nd most Fouls
'14-'15 SFA 7th
'15-'16 SFA 43rd
'16-'17 OSU 17th

There will be fouls, we just need to make sure they go to the guys who can afford them. If you are one of the many players who will only be getting 13 mins/game, you can play aggressive defense. You aren't going to foul out. Every time our swarm of guards can cause a turnover in the backcourt, that is one less foul opportunity for Finke and Black playing halfcourt defense. Opponents with good 5's are going to want to go at them, so it's nice to think that we will be playing a system that can limit their exposure somewhat.
 
#525      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
IlliniDent said:
last year 3 players for OSU averaged about 30 minutes/game (2 with 29minutes and 1 with 31 minutes) but 9 total were 13+ minutes/game. I would say that we will probably see very similar stuff this year but with how hard they are expected to play I wouldn't be shocked if no one averages above 30 minutes a game this year.
Click to expand...
Walkup averaged under 30 minutes per game under BU at SFA. As you mentioned only 1 OSU player avgd over 30 last year and BU only had one player avg over 30 one year at SFA... back in 13-14.
Given the speed of play, I expect our 17-18 team will naturally be more balanced from a min per game standpoint.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.