Illini Basketball 2021-2022

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#252      
Lots of people are worried about Transfers but BU will play the best guys that give us the best chance to win I think. That could mean Hawkins, Payne, (one of the Freshman) could end up getting more minutes then Hutch/Grandison/DaMonte etc. if they have earned it.

Anything we get out of Hutch as far as I'm concerned is a bonus. He may be the second coming as he has been made out out to be (and I hope he is) but he's never played in the Big Ten, hasn't played basketball in 2 years, and has a chronic injury. Whatever we get out of him is a bonus IMO. If he's a star that's great, if not we will be okay.

BU also doesn't have to worry about seniors transferring after the season so if that really plays into his decision making (I doubt it does) its easier to sit seniors then the younger players if all things are equal.
I don’t think anyone other than this year ever worried about seniors transferring after the season and our seniors will definitely help our team get to where we want, but I see the need to get our frosh some minutes. I can see DMW possibly having a few minutes chipped off estimates.
 
#253      
I think that shipped sailed when Loyola slapped us around . I fully expect Hawkins to start next to Kofi.

So you think Jacob who shot 52% from the field, 41% from 3 and 95% from the line and played a lot after being named the starter. I hope CH improves but for him to come close to that considering his tick and percentages last year may be a bit unrealistic. Jacob really helped us get hot when he was put in as the starter last year and played great. Why do you feel Jacob will benched? Coleman's improvement would be massive to be anywhere near those put up by Jacob. Jacob may need a little love too given he played very well and efficiently.
 
#254      
Just to throw something different out there…

Late game defensive lineup

Trent
Hutch
Grand
Payne
Kofi

You get an on ball dog with Trent, length and athleticism 2-4, and have the giant in the back. Get the rebound, call timeout and put curbelo back in.

The hardest lineup for me to create in my head is late game offense. Plummer, Trent and curbelo are options together but do we wanna go that small? I’d think only 2 of the 3. Do leave your leader off (Trent) or one of your best shooters(Plummer?) That’s then a Hutch at the 4 lineup if we play all 3? Do we put in Kofi if we’re down 3 and they can foul him?

That’s why BU makes 3MM+ per year. It’s good because we will potentially have 1-2 very good players on the bench, which means the 5 on the court are serious, but it’s tough cause you gotta choose the right 5 for that situation, and that might hurt some feelings.
If those 5 are on the floor at the same time more than a handful of times all year I’ll be very surprised. With Trent being primary ball handler id think that would be an offensive nightmare lineup
 
#255      
If those 5 are on the floor at the same time more than a handful of times all year I’ll be very surprised. With Trent being primary ball handler id think that would be an offensive nightmare lineup

Well it’s a situational late game defensive lineup.

A couple have asked why I didn’t include DMW. Length and athleticism is key for defense. I’m assuming everybody on the team will understand the defensive principles and situational needs. DMW is 100% a dog. But if you can get the same from taller more athletic guys, you absolutely take it.
 
#256      
I wondered same. I pondered and puzzled. Then I realized it's a subtle allegory:

The dire loading dock and the solid, though weathered brick walls that have seen many a prairie winter come and go aside the Illinois Central rail lines intersecting the East Central Illinois horizon, represent #everydayguys as well as the spare, functional, gritty elegance of the program's foundation. We're blue collar, not blue blood.

The vertical electrical conduit and meter? Is it an external power source animating Kofi and this scene? Or vice versa? Clearly, my friends, the latter.

The airborne, gaseous fireballs represent the futile protestations of our opponents' fans, currently consumed in paroxysms of agony as they slowly realize the Illini are back to stay among the BT's élite. These also serve as a metaphor for Curbelo's evanescent, transcendent, and levitating creative genius.

The large window above Kofi represents the universe into which the program is inexorably expanding. The window at far right, with an irregular pattern of rectangular panes, evokes the elegance, flair, and joie de vivre of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods: the team is ushering in the vanguard of an artistic revolution on the court (see, above, Curbelo.)

The stacked tires are a puckish allusion to Fletch and his training regimen. They're grounded and yet enable one to step easily from the floor to the loading dock. Note the black steel axis, barely visible, around which they're arrayed. The flame emanating form the top of it represents the combustible nature of strength and conditioning, radiating from that source, yet incapable of melting that enduring steel axis, and in no danger whatsoever of creating a tire fire (I mean, this ain't Madison, amirite?).

The two pallets leaning on the walls on either side of Kofi are especially intriguing. The one to his right, solid and leaving no gaps between the planks, represents the seamless integrity of the squad now that Kofi has returned to the fold. The one to his left represents the early off-season: individuals and fans on a lesser squad might fall through those cracks. Kofi and his Illini mates, however, bestride it as a collective colossus, and we stand on their shoulders of greatness as they do so. The single, askew plank represents the transfers and AC losses, now a distant, inconsequential, nay amusing, memory.

The hulking mass in the right foreground is clearly a slumping Darth Vader, in the process of bowing and prostrating himself to King Cockburn. It represents our sworn conference enemies, shrinking and faltering before the majesty of the Illini.

Or it all might be a really lame, camp, pastiche of bad '80s metal hair band music videos.
happy illinois basketball GIF by Fighting Illini Athletics
 
#257      
Well it’s a situational late game defensive lineup.

A couple have asked why I didn’t include DMW. Length and athleticism is key for defense. I’m assuming everybody on the team will understand the defensive principles and situational needs. DMW is 100% a dog. But if you can get the same from taller more athletic guys, you absolutely take it.
Don't disagree....but if Jack Daniels isn't killing my memory, didn't DMW come in at the end of an Ohio State win and play game-deciding defense on EJ when nobody else could slow him? Put me in the camp of Williams being in any lineup of our top five defensive players. I-L-L
 
#258      
So you think Jacob who shot 52% from the field, 41% from 3 and 95% from the line and played a lot after being named the starter. I hope CH improves but for him to come close to that considering his tick and percentages last year may be a bit unrealistic. Jacob really helped us get hot when he was put in as the starter last year and played great. Why do you feel Jacob will benched? Coleman's improvement would be massive to be anywhere near those put up by Jacob. Jacob may need a little love too given he played very well and efficiently.
Shocked Nate Burleson GIF by DraftKings
But if he did improve that much...one can hope!
 
#259      
Don't disagree....but if Jack Daniels isn't killing my memory, didn't DMW come in at the end of an Ohio State win and play game-deciding defense on EJ when nobody else could slow him? Put me in the camp of Williams being in any lineup of our top five defensive players. I-L-L

He was absolutely one of our best 5 defensive players last year. This year, there’s a chance he won’t be. I look at it as a great thing.
 
#262      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Well it’s a situational late game defensive lineup.

A couple have asked why I didn’t include DMW. Length and athleticism is key for defense. I’m assuming everybody on the team will understand the defensive principles and situational needs. DMW is 100% a dog. But if you can get the same from taller more athletic guys, you absolutely take it.
You realize DMFW has a 7' wing span?
 
#266      
There are no underclassmen on the team that are going to come in and play better defense than 5th year DMFW. There may be better matchups for some of them....according to your taller and more athletic criteria...but that's going to be few and far between in the B1G season.

On the original defensive lineup I posted there were no underclassmen. Unless we’re considering anybody who’s not a super senior as an underclassman this year.
 
#269      

Ken

chitown
So you think Jacob who shot 52% from the field, 41% from 3 and 95% from the line and played a lot after being named the starter. I hope CH improves but for him to come close to that considering his tick and percentages last year may be a bit unrealistic. Jacob really helped us get hot when he was put in as the starter last year and played great. Why do you feel Jacob will benched? Coleman's improvement would be massive to be anywhere near those put up by Jacob. Jacob may need a little love too given he played very well and efficiently.

Who said Jacob would be benched ?

Kofi
Hawkins
Jacob
Trent
Belo
 
#272      
I've been trying to figure out where they took this picture? Maybe somewhere around the Champaign train station, or did they have to go to Chicago for the Michael Bay effects?
It was shot yesterday at the restaurant supply buildings at Chester and Water St. (just across the tracks from the train station / bus terminal).

I like that fire is orange and reflects our brand so well.
 
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#273      
I was on the same flight into Willard as Hawkins and his dad when they came in for his OV in Sept 2019.

After a quick google search to make sure it was him, when he stepped off the plane I asked “Are you Coleman Hawkins?” He seemed sort of stunned and replied, “Yeah, I am!”

I then said “Welcome to Champaign! Can’t wait to see you in the Orange and Blue.” They walked off a bit dumbfounded that he hadn’t even stepped foot on the ground yet and already was being recognized. Rodney Hawkins just nodded with a big, proud smile.

Chin scooped them up in baggage claim and off they went. Glad staff was able to seal the deal that weekend...

Here’s my lurker shot before boarding at O’Hare...
1626934945720.jpeg
 
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#274      
Class Act:

“Coleman had planned to take other visits, including DePaul, “one Final Four participant” and three or four other high-major schools, according to Rodney. But Coleman, who visits his family in Chicago multiple times per year, told his father after the Illinois visit that "it can't be better than this" at any other school and that he wanted to cancel the visits so that he didn't waste anyone else's time — or anyone else's opportunity.

“He said, ‘Dad, why would I waste that visit? That’s one less visit for someone who’s praying to go to that school, and I’m taking it just to make a trip,’" Rodney said. "I said, ‘Damn, I got a great son, man. Mature as hell.’ Literally, he turned down major players.””

 
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#275      
I think that shipped sailed when Loyola slapped us around . I fully expect Hawkins to start next to Kofi.

I don't think they lost the game on defense. I think the team got beat because the offense died every time the opponents double teamed the ball handler off of the high pick. We saw this multiple times during the season. Anyone who watched any ILL game tape would see it. (Even I noticed and posted about it before the game. I'm FAR from an expert.) IMO the coaches blundered on this one. The team had no answer, and they should have known it was coming.

(I'm a fan of what I have seen from BU so far. This one left me shaking my head.)
 
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