I believe Kane will be better defensively than Finke (assuming he is the starter) and Kipper will be as good defensively as Black and almost as good offensively. AJ will be better than Alstork, TJ improved over last year, and Ayo a huge improvement over Smith. If any of the others, i.e. Jones, Griffin, Feliz, Giorgio, surpass my assumed starters it will be even more an improvement. Offense will not be the problem IMO and the additional experience with BU's system should help the defense. If I believed they wouldn't be improved I would stop watching to avoid the pain.
Illini Basketball 2018-2019
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I believe Kane will be better defensively than Finke (assuming he is the starter) and Kipper will be as good defensively as Black and almost as good offensively. AJ will be better than Alstork, TJ improved over last year, and Ayo a huge improvement over Smith. If any of the others, i.e. Jones, Griffin, Feliz, Giorgio, surpass my assumed starters it will be even more an improvement. Offense will not be the problem IMO and the additional experience with BU's system should help the defense. If I believed they wouldn't be improved I would stop watching to avoid the pain.
I don’t see Smith ever becoming a high impact player for a high major team. He may develop into a good three point threat, but I doubt he ever becomes a guy who makes plays driving, finishing or setting up teammates in half court sets. He showed the ability to score against inferior athletes. But he showed no ability to figure out how to impact games against high major athletes. I don’t think he has the basketball mind to get there.
And I don’t buy the “he was just a freshman” line. He averaged nearly 20 minutes per game. If a guy can’t figure it out with that much time, I don’t expect him to ever put it together.
praise in public. praise an individual before the team. constructive criticism and tough love an individual before the team - they are all striving to achieve excellence - that is part of the process. But save your harshest criticism for an individual in private
#367, May signee, and Hofstra/Manhattan offers tend to do that to one! Especially, if they score less than double digits per game.
Being playable as a lightly recruited true freshman big brought in late in the process. Elite at that, in fact.
Sorry, shouldn't have generalized re: turnover to every player that left. And in many cases, one could call it a mutual parting of ways? Most definitely not a deal where the coaching staff was mourning the loss of certain players, let's leave it at that.
#367, May signee, and Hofstra/Manhattan offers tend to do that to one! Especially, if they score less than double digits per game.
I’ll give you the offer list. The ranking isn’t that different from our other bigs in this class. I don’t think the scoring is a good indicator of what we’re getting due to the other talent on his high school team. In the few game clips I saw of him, his role looked to be that of a passer out of the high post rather than a scoring threat. That’s what he’ll primarily be asked to do here on offense. He can add value this year simply by understanding his abilities and playing within himself. Having a good feel for the game is something we desperately need, and it’s also something that is probably undervalued in recruiting rankings.
I haven’t seen him play live so I’m not predicting what we’ll get. He could be a bust or he could be a nice surprise. I’m just amazed how many posters write off players they've never seen play in actual live action.
It's not really writing him off, it's just not expecting much from him as a true freshman.
We may not have any other choice though. I doubt he redshirts.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Ha! I made it all the way to 1979 and gave up! Bravo!:thumb:
but..but Jason Kidd.
I wonder how much the preseason hype from Underwood was a function of Smith being able to finish against our bigs in practice. The interior defense he saw in practice was probably more similar to what he saw in our mid major preconference schedule than our conference schedule.
To be blunt, Giorgi flat out has the worst tape of any recruit of ours that I can remember watching (which isnt everyone, but still).
I just don’t see the reason for significantly lower expectations for Giorgi as compared to Kane or Higgs.
Lol., He had offers from whom after leaving exactly? I dont see it at all and if diesnt appear top programs do either.
That’s my point. Thinking you can evaluate a player like him based on highlight film is ridiculous.
Totally agree with this. I like what I saw and that he played against better teams than most. He looks to have a good skill set, plays with both hands well, and wasnt in the USA long. I wouldnt be so quick to write him off in favor of others. I dont see him with less skill than Kane from films and game tapes I've seen but maybe I'm wrong.
https://youtu.be/u3TMzJ__e2c
It's a fair point that there's limited film on all three of them, but from what we've seen, two of them look like they belong on this level athletically and one doesn't. That's what people are reacting to.
We know we’re not getting an electric athlete. Did you see anything on the tape that reflects on his ability to read the game? Were you able to draw conclusions about his help defense? How about his understanding of space and angles? Ability to stick to a game plan and scouting report?
That’s what I figured. And I get that we’ve needed to upgrade athletically for some time. Lack of athletes is certainly a reason we have not been good lately. But lack of IQ and intangibles is the reason we’ve underperformed relative to the caliber of athletes that we have had.
[YOUTUBE]QidARTm_ypE[/YOUTUBE]
How elite an athlete was Loyolas freshman big guy last season? I'd love an athletic big but skill is often overlooked in favor of a dunk. Bez has a skill set some dont and I like that about him.
Giorgi B game video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEs2SXIEZSA, a better one vs Naz Reid...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blxz4bmtIOs, shows more play...he is not in Reid class, but he held his own against a far superior team imo. Reid was ranked #21 or so, Giorgi is where...I think he will help more than most think.
Seems to have a high IQ for passing, over commitment on the defense side, you can even see the coaches call him off a couple of times for being to far out, marginal rebounder at best. Rebounding can be taught though with his size.
Decent athletically (meaning movement, not just jumping), very very good ball handler it seems and the #1 reason he is here other than the height, I think would be the active passing big in BU system.
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Looks like I'm watching basketball being played with a floor made of molasses.
Deleted member 643761
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We took Bill Cole over Robbie Hummel. :tsk:
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