Illini Basketball 2020-2021

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#351      
It’s not on the schedule twice. The Michigan State game was rescheduled to Feb 23 and the Nebraska game on the 24th was moved to March 2-4.
Ah ok on espn it is. I hope it’s on the fourth so we can play Michigan the first
 
#352      

Nappy I_L_L

Northern Indiana
Just take a moment and think abt Kofi's decision. The draft has him around 100 in the draft. It would take a miracle for him to get drafted. When Kofi sees this, he isn't going to leave the O&B quite yet. This gives us time to recruit a 2022 monster big that can eat the paint come Kofi leaving. Perhaps a transfer? Cameron Krutwig anyone? ;)
 
#353      
Just take a moment and think abt Kofi's decision. The draft has him around 100 in the draft. It would take a miracle for him to get drafted. When Kofi sees this, he isn't going to leave the O&B quite yet. This gives us time to recruit a 2022 monster big that can eat the paint come Kofi leaving. Perhaps a transfer? Cameron Krutwig anyone? ;)
nbadraft.net has Kofi going at 41. I think the way he has drastically improved his ability to control the paint w/o fouling over the last month or two is going to put him on more teams' radar.

There was a pick and roll scenario in the last game where he found himself one on one with Chase Audige on the perimeter. A year ago he would have given up a layup. He was able to stay in front of Audige and challenge his shot. The more of that type of film scouts see, the more likely he will be drafted.

The dunk everything version of Kofi we have been watching over the past month or so, is not the guy they were evaluating on many of the draft boards around the internet.

Like his teammate, he might be a bit polarizing as a NBA prospect, but all it takes is one team to fall in love. He doesn't have an outside shot, and from the looks of it, may never be able to develop a reliable one. I don't know how much he can improve his draft stock. He's already 22 which might as well be 30 in NBA Draft years. He can rebound with anyone. If they believe he can do his job defensively, he can be a rotational player in the NBA.

It will most certainly not take "a miracle". Our secret is getting out.

When planning out this roster for future years, having Kofi as an answer to any question could set us up for a lot of disappointment. I'd bet my beach house that he will be getting paid to play basketball by fall of next year.
 
#354      
When is the last time we had a player in the running for most dunks in a year?
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#355      
nbadraft.net has Kofi going at 41. I think the way he has drastically improved his ability to control the paint w/o fouling over the last month or two is going to put him on more teams' radar.

There was a pick and roll scenario in the last game where he found himself one on one with Chase Audige on the perimeter. A year ago he would have given up a layup. He was able to stay in front of Audige and challenge his shot. The more of that type of film scouts see, the more likely he will be drafted.

The dunk everything version of Kofi we have been watching over the past month or so, is not the guy they were evaluating on many of the draft boards around the internet.

Like his teammate, he might be a bit polarizing as a NBA prospect, but all it takes is one team to fall in love. He doesn't have an outside shot, and from the looks of it, may never be able to develop a reliable one. I don't know how much he can improve his draft stock. He's already 22 which might as well be 30 in NBA Draft years. He can rebound with anyone. If they believe he can do his job defensively, he can be a rotational player in the NBA.

It will most certainly not take "a miracle". Our secret is getting out.

When planning out this roster for future years, having Kofi as an answer to any question could set us up for a lot of disappointment. I'd bet my beach house that he will be getting paid to play basketball by fall of next year.
I agree. And I saw him taking (and making) threes during off-season workouts so I really think it's possible he'll surprise some folks with his range before the draft. There's no way he helps the team shooting them in games right now with his dominance close to the basket. Doesn't mean it's not something he has available at the next level.
 
#356      
Hey all-- outsider that comes in peace.

Here's an Ayo Dosunmu NBA Scouting Report from one of my writers that has him ranked 10th(!) on his draft board. While I'm personally not that high on him, he should be a first round pick and has been one of my favorite players to watch this season. Y'all got a good one.

Here's the story: Ayo Dosunmu NBA Scouting Report

Hope you all enjoy and wish you the best of luck in March. One of my favorite teams to watch in all of CBB thus far... bright future too.
 
#357      
Hey all-- outsider that comes in peace.

Here's an Ayo Dosunmu NBA Scouting Report from one of my writers that has him ranked 10th(!) on his draft board. While I'm personally not that high on him, he should be a first round pick and has been one of my favorite players to watch this season. Y'all got a good one.

Here's the story: Ayo Dosunmu NBA Scouting Report

Hope you all enjoy and wish you the best of luck in March. One of my favorite teams to watch in all of CBB thus far... bright future too.
Thanks! Of the kill-shots, I've gotta say it's hard to pick between the one at Michigan with Simpson in his face...or the one against Iowa on Senior NIght last year with 30 seconds left.
 
#358      
nbadraft.net has Kofi going at 41. I think the way he has drastically improved his ability to control the paint w/o fouling over the last month or two is going to put him on more teams' radar.

There was a pick and roll scenario in the last game where he found himself one on one with Chase Audige on the perimeter. A year ago he would have given up a layup. He was able to stay in front of Audige and challenge his shot. The more of that type of film scouts see, the more likely he will be drafted.
About the only time one of our guys stayed in front of him the entire game.:(
 
#361      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
That ESPN article about how we became a Final Four-caliber team is pretty funny.


Here's a few quotes from Gentry:

"I did an autopsy of our season, really dove into the film and the analytics," said assistant coach Stephen Gentry, who is in charge of Illinois' offense. "It was kind of painful to watch at times. It was so choppy, the spacing was bad.

"It was the Missouri loss before Christmas break. The pinch-post offense wasn't working, it wasn't taking advantage of our players' strengths. The most important stat is winning, and we weren't."

Translation: we were doing a lot of stuff that didn't make sense or wasn't working. So Gentry fixed it.

Money Man GIF
 
#362      
That ESPN article about how we became a Final Four-caliber team is pretty funny.


Here's a few quotes from Gentry:



Translation: we were doing a lot of stuff that didn't make sense or wasn't working. So Gentry fixed it.

Money Man GIF
Makes you wonder who the great coach actually is?
 
#363      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
Makes you wonder who the great coach actually is?
Just a total guess, because I don't know, but it's possible Gentry is amazing at analytics, but BU is better at other stuff that is just as important for a head coach. Like I said, a total guess here. Off the top of my head, I think BU seems pretty good at building culture and addressing the media. I think he also seems pretty good at being the bad guy (holding others accountable through tough love). There's value in all of that.
 
#364      
Just a total guess, because I don't know, but it's possible Gentry is amazing at analytics, but BU is better at other stuff that is just as important for a head coach. Like I said, a total guess here. Off the top of my head, I think BU seems pretty good at building culture and addressing the media. I think he also seems pretty good at being the bad guy (holding others accountable through tough love). There's value in all of that.
You can't be highly successful without a great staff that perform their assigned responsibilities, and we have a great staff. BU, JW and others probably deserve some credit in that regard. But BU is the guy the guy that manages it all, and the guy that takes the heat when things don't go right. So he is the guy that deserves the credit when it does.
I suspect that Groce would have been a lot more successful if he had BUs staff. But putting together a staff that works is the head coach's responsibility, and that was one of Groce's bigger failures.
 
#366      
nbadraft.net has Kofi going at 41. I think the way he has drastically improved his ability to control the paint w/o fouling over the last month or two is going to put him on more teams' radar.

There was a pick and roll scenario in the last game where he found himself one on one with Chase Audige on the perimeter. A year ago he would have given up a layup. He was able to stay in front of Audige and challenge his shot. The more of that type of film scouts see, the more likely he will be drafted.

The dunk everything version of Kofi we have been watching over the past month or so, is not the guy they were evaluating on many of the draft boards around the internet.

Like his teammate, he might be a bit polarizing as a NBA prospect, but all it takes is one team to fall in love. He doesn't have an outside shot, and from the looks of it, may never be able to develop a reliable one. I don't know how much he can improve his draft stock. He's already 22 which might as well be 30 in NBA Draft years. He can rebound with anyone. If they believe he can do his job defensively, he can be a rotational player in the NBA.

It will most certainly not take "a miracle". Our secret is getting out.

When planning out this roster for future years, having Kofi as an answer to any question could set us up for a lot of disappointment. I'd bet my beach house that he will be getting paid to play basketball by fall of next year.
Good thoughts and points. Well done. (Still, gonna really miss Kofi when he leaves)
 
#370      
nbadraft.net has Kofi going at 41. I think the way he has drastically improved his ability to control the paint w/o fouling over the last month or two is going to put him on more teams' radar.

There was a pick and roll scenario in the last game where he found himself one on one with Chase Audige on the perimeter. A year ago he would have given up a layup. He was able to stay in front of Audige and challenge his shot. The more of that type of film scouts see, the more likely he will be drafted.

The dunk everything version of Kofi we have been watching over the past month or so, is not the guy they were evaluating on many of the draft boards around the internet.

Like his teammate, he might be a bit polarizing as a NBA prospect, but all it takes is one team to fall in love. He doesn't have an outside shot, and from the looks of it, may never be able to develop a reliable one. I don't know how much he can improve his draft stock. He's already 22 which might as well be 30 in NBA Draft years. He can rebound with anyone. If they believe he can do his job defensively, he can be a rotational player in the NBA.

It will most certainly not take "a miracle". Our secret is getting out.

When planning out this roster for future years, having Kofi as an answer to any question could set us up for a lot of disappointment. I'd bet my beach house that he will be getting paid to play basketball by fall of next year.
Agree completely — especially concerning his age. I just don’t think future development in college will be enough to offset him being 23 if he stayed around next year. The way he is playing now, this is the year he’ll have the greatest draft potential. And as I’ve mentioned before, he can develop his game beyond college.
 
#371      
Agree completely — especially concerning his age. I just don’t think future development in college will be enough to offset him being 23 if he stayed around next year. The way he is playing now, this is the year he’ll have the greatest draft potential. And as I’ve mentioned before, he can develop his game beyond college.
I think the draft sites are a little slow to move off their original rankings mid season. I have a hunch we’ll see a big shake up after the big tourney ends.

It would mean a ton to the program if both Ayo and Kofi are drafted in the first round. Their body of work merits it. But to tell top recruits that at Illinois there is 1) a track record of playing freshmen and 2) a proof of concept for developing guards and bigs into the NBA, is a great way to start the pitch. Getting to the Elite 8 or better would be really nice too.
 
#372      
You can't be highly successful without a great staff that perform their assigned responsibilities
I always laugh when I see fans with wild takes like, "Oh if any other coach had this roster, we wouldn't have 5 losses".
That's the thing. Brad is the one who created this roster. Brad is the one who formed this staff. We can't cherry-pick what we want to give him credit for.

I think it bodes well that Brad is someone who is open to his staff members raising points that contradict his philosophy. A willingness to hear criticism and change can't be taught
 
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#373      
Just take a moment and think abt Kofi's decision. The draft has him around 100 in the draft. It would take a miracle for him to get drafted. When Kofi sees this, he isn't going to leave the O&B quite yet.
We're really fortunate that Kofi got to see Ayo stay and it turned into a positive. This isn't always the case.

In all honesty, I didn't expect Ayo staying to propel him to be one of the figureheads of the Big Ten & college basketball. It makes sense in hindsight... I just didn't think of it. This is encouraging as Kofi weighs his options
 
#374      
I always laugh when I see fans with wild takes like, "Oh if any other coach had this roster, we wouldn't have 5 losses".
That's the thing. Brad is the one who created this roster. Brad is the one who formed this staff. We can't cherry-pick what we want to give him credit for.

I think it bodes well that Brad is someone who is open to his staff members raising points that contradict his philosophy. A willingness to hear criticism and change can't be taught
Yep, and exactly why he brought Gentry on board in the 1st place. I believe he said so himself in an interview at that time.
 
#375      
I think the draft sites are a little slow to move off their original rankings mid season. I have a hunch we’ll see a big shake up after the big tourney ends.

It would mean a ton to the program if both Ayo and Kofi are drafted in the first round. Their body of work merits it. But to tell top recruits that at Illinois there is 1) a track record of playing freshmen and 2) a proof of concept for developing guards and bigs into the NBA, is a great way to start the pitch. Getting to the Elite 8 or better would be really nice too.
I see Ayo going in the mid to late 1st round and Kofi having a decent chance of being chosen late in the 2nd round. If Kofi doesn't go in 2nd round, I can definitely see him becoming a UFA and honing his skills in the G league. Or is it the D league? Lol
 
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