Illini Basketball 2017-2018

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#1      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Tickets - Braggin' Rights, etc.

Single Game Tickets: http://fightingillini.com/news/2017...kets-on-sale-oct-18.aspx#.WeAhBL4YYzI.twitter
Season Tickets: http://www.fightingillini.com/news/...ni-basketball-season-tickets-on-sale-now.aspx
Mini Plan: http://ev11.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncom...kID=illinois&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=
UNLV Las Vegas (Dec 9th) tix: https://www.axs.com/events/339660/unlv-vs-illinois-tickets?skin=grandgarden



The Schedule
http://www.fightingillini.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&



The Roster
http://www.fightingillini.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball
_3___Te'Jon Lucas________G___So.
24___Mark Alstork________G___Gr.
_1___Trent Frazier_______G___Fr.
13___Mark Smith__________G___Fr.
20___Da'Monte Williams___G___Fr.
23___Aaron Jordan________G___Jr.
_2___Kipper Nichols______F___R-So.
12___Leron Black_________F___R-Jr.
43___Michael Finke_______F___R-Jr.
11___Greg Eboigbodin_____F___Fr.
_4___Matic Vesel_________F___Fr.
 
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#2      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
First day of practice!

Underwood: Mark Smith, from arrival until now, has grown more than any player in my 30 years of coaching.

Brad Underwood: Da'Monte isn't 100 percent but he's close.

https://twitter.com/DPiperScout
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#3      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
[YOUTUBE]BbvyJ3LfmwA[/YOUTUBE]
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#4      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
Kipper's got this media thing down, likable guy...loved his quote "And everyone CAN play! Really looking forward to watching this teams speed/abilities and growth this year.
 
#7      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
PlayAZ said:
Kipper's got this media thing down, likable guy...loved his quote "And everyone CAN play! Really looking forward to watching this teams speed/abilities and growth this year.
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Like his perspective. Seems like a really smart dude.
 
#10      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
Combes you at practice today? If so can we get a rundown when you got a chance?
 
#11      

Thor015

T
Thor015
Glad to see the interviews etc. thanks for posting.

Also awesome to see Manny and Jerry there
 
#12      

OldGreg

O
OldGreg
Brad, how am I supposed to temper my Mark Smith hype with comments like this?!
 
#20      

Magoo222

M
St Louis, MO
Magoo222
MonteGoesWeGo said:
Jeremy and Derek did a ranking of the most important players on our team. To get some juices flowing, why not start some debate! The most important players on our team are..

1. Leron Black- needs to stay out of foul trouble. This offense puts him in position to grab a ton of offensive boards. Potential to be a 10/10 type guy if he stays on the floor.
2. Michael Finke-If he can shoot the 3 ball at a 40% clip, and showcase his improved lateral quickness, than he is a major factor.
3. Tejon Lucas-A developed jumpshot, and his ability to get to the rack is huge for us. Should be our leader, he has all the tools to be a great player
4. Mark Smith-Big time expectations. Could be our leading scorer, this kid is the real deal and should be a frontrunner with that big from MSU for FOY.
5. Damonte Williams- Seems to be a step slow right now, but if he can get to 100% by December, he adds depth at the 2/3 spots, don't have confidence in AJ right now..
6. Kipper-guy does it all, if he can shoot at a 35% or higher clip from three, and be able to take care of the ball, he can be special. Athletic freak, just needs to put it all together and I have confidence he will
7. Trent-Hopefully he is strong and durable enough to play in this league right away. Need his offense, guy is going to be one of our most exciting players.
8. Greg Ebo-Needs to be ready to play 10-15 a night, another athletic freak who has a ton of potential really excited to see him play. I met him a few weeks ago at Kams, everyone on the team loves him and I can see why. Really good guy, im rooting for him
9. AJ-Needs to slow down and let the game come to him, unfortunently we are stacked with great guards
10. Alstork- Probably too low, but this is based on expectations and who we need to step up. I expect him to score 15+ per night. Guy can do it all, needs to be able to jell with the team, has had lockerroom issues at Wright St.
11. Vessel-Kid has a great jumper, but not sure if he's ready for the physicality of the B1G. If he can give us spot minutes than I'd be happy.

On paper, we have a lot of guys that can do a lot of things well. All depends on how fast they can adapt to the system. I'll say it once, this team is going to bring a very very exciting brand of basketball. No reason why we can't win 20-23 games this year with our schedule and talent. The key is to keep Leron and Finke out of foul trouble because we can't rely on 2 unranked bigs to play 20 or more minutes a night. I trust underwood, and GO ILLINI!
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Great post. Its hard to be pessimistic when you lay it all out like this.
 
#21      

LovieIlliniWood

L
LovieIlliniWood
Sounds to me like Greg E needs to spend LESS time at Kams, a few too many late nights and not enough time watching film will not make your coaches happy ��. That guy is an athletic freak, very raw around the rim but he will progress very very fast under this coaching staff!
 
#22      

LovieIlliniWood

L
LovieIlliniWood
MonteGoesWeGo said:
The guys on our team right now work really really hard. The work ethic of this freshman group is off the charts, Trent Mark Damonte and Greg are in the gym getting hundreds of shots on their spare time a DAY. At the same time, they do have a ton of fun off the court. This is a once in a lifetime experience for them, they do play hard believe me lol, but they work twice as much.
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I am very well aware and not saying they don't work hard, but Underwood getting pissed at Greg for spending a few too many nights on the town is also a fact šŸ˜‰ Guys do it all the time, just hope they are all smart and also getting their basketball work done and not get in any trouble, we have had too much of that! That kid could be a good one, seems like a very well mannered nice kid as well! I like that freshman class a lot!
 
#24      

jmilt7

J
Waukegan
jmilt7
MonteGoesWeGo said:
10. Alstork- Probably too low, but this is based on expectations and who we need to step up. I expect him to score 15+ per night. Guy can do it all, needs to be able to jell with the team, has had lockerroom issues at Wright St.
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Oops, second question. What are locker room issues? I take that to mean he may have had personality clashes with his fellow players?
 
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#25      

FC Illiniman

F
FC Illiniman
RichBradIllini said:
This is your list in order of importance?

Also, there was never any verification of Alstork having locker room issues. Do you know something different or just going with rumors?
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I'm going to venture a guess , the talent Alstork was playing with at Wright State, couldn't make the court here. If he has NBA aspirations, he is going to do what staff wants, and just play ball.
The coach and play will set tone and attitude of this team. From all indications, I don't think BU puts up with any BS. Don't know of many coaches that have treadmills sitting by the court to remind players that.;)
 
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