Illini Basketball 2021-2022

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#426      

Loyalillini10

Urbana, IL
I don't care if he's 6'10 or 6'4. He doesn't have the skills to play the "3." And no coach is going to play him there hoping he somehow develops those skills.

And why are you comparing him to two superbly talented NBA players? I like Hawkins' potential to play for us, but he's not even in the same stratosphere as the two guys you mention.
How do you know? You watch him in practice?
 
#429      
Everyone is rooting for Hawkins but he should probably demonstrate his growth into a solid stretch four before we pencil him in as Durant at the 3 spot. Especially over our logjam of proven wings like Damonte, grandison, hutch. And more natural freshman wings.
Also - isn’t it just as good to have someone with the skills of a 3 playing the 4? Giving you 4 guys that can handle the ball fairly well? Even if he has the skills to ply the 3, do we really need OP playing so many minutes alongside Kofi and CH that we need to play all 3 together rather than spread our height out a bit and have DW/JG at the wing? I would take JG/CH/KC over CH/OP/KC even if I KNEW CH had the skills of a 3. Just sayin. Just because someone has the skills to play multiple positions doesn’t mean they need to play at all of them. Why can’t you have a 4 that can shoot, dribble drive, slash, and defend anyone? Doesn’t that just make you better at defense because they can’t just force a switch to get a mismatch?
 
#430      
Yeesh. Guys. I didn’t mean to trigger everyone with a CoHawk hawt take but I’m loving this discussion and debate.
 
#431      
Yeesh. Guys. I didn’t mean to trigger everyone with a CoHawk hawt take but I’m loving this discussion and debate.
Just keep one thing in mind.

Durant was the starting center for his year at Texas. Lineups are about personnel. We are guard heavy. It’s more likely hawk sees time at the 5, though he still needs to prove a LOT given the starting 4 and 5 are both returning
 
#432      
Everyone is rooting for Hawkins but he should probably demonstrate his growth into a solid stretch four before we pencil him in as Durant at the 3 spot. Especially over our logjam of proven wings like Damonte, grandison, hutch. And more natural freshman wings.
I rooting for CH......at the 4......but was thinking to help Kofi with his NBA aspirations......we need for Kofi to get some run at the 3 and 4 positions maybe point guard for his handles. It's summer I get it there's nothing going on but practice now, but let's see if he can find some minutes at the 4 before we throw him into the logjam of 2-3's we already have stacked. He can become Durant after he secures a spot at the 4.
 
#433      
Just keep one thing in mind.

Durant was the starting center for his year at Texas. Lineups are about personnel. We are guard heavy. It’s more likely hawk sees time at the 5, though he still needs to prove a LOT given the starting 4 and 5 are both returning
I hope our returning 4 isn't the 4 this year. We need someone to cover for Kofi on the pick and roll. Loyola exploited that weakness.
 
#434      
I hope our returning 4 isn't the 4 this year. We need someone to cover for Kofi on the pick and roll. Loyola exploited that weakness.
What Loyola exploited was that Kofi was weak defending the pick and roll. While I think we can all agree having a 4 that can defend the rim is ideal, the fact is, CH was on the team last year and didn’t start. So he has to prove himself better than the guy who beat him out last year. It’s not impossible, but there’s actually 2 returning players that have started at 4 for us last year. Again. I hope he can show that kind of leap. But to pencil him in as the starter seems premature given the depth of the team and the experience returning.
 
#435      
What Loyola exploited was that Kofi was weak defending the pick and roll. While I think we can all agree having a 4 that can defend the rim is ideal, the fact is, CH was on the team last year and didn’t start. So he has to prove himself better than the guy who beat him out last year. It’s not impossible, but there’s actually 2 returning players that have started at 4 for us last year. Again. I hope he can show that kind of leap. But to pencil him in as the starter seems premature given the depth of the team and the experience returning.
Haven't you heard CH can't cover that weakness because he'll be too busy working the 3 /s. Thank God Underwood is the coach and not some of the posters here...
 
#436      
Haven't you heard CH can't cover that weakness because he'll be too busy working the 3 /s. Thank God Underwood is the coach and not some of the posters here...
Why can't we call the 3-4 both wings? They will be switching on defense anyway.
 
#437      

Ryllini

Lombard
I rooting for CH......at the 4......but was thinking to help Kofi with his NBA aspirations......we need for Kofi to get some run at the 3 and 4 positions maybe point guard for his handles. It's summer I get it there's nothing going on but practice now, but let's see if he can find some minutes at the 4 before we throw him into the logjam of 2-3's we already have stacked. He can become Durant after he secures a spot at the 4.
rachel dratch television GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
#438      
How do you know? You watch him in practice?
Because CH played 6.8 minutes a game and those guys were the top players in their claaes and one n done went right to the NBA as first round picks. I sincerely hope he makes massive strides but man thats a lot of orange koolaid if you actually believe what your saying and think he is like those Porter or Simmons!
 
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#440      

Loyalillini10

Urbana, IL
Because CH played 6.8 minutes a game and those guys were the top players in their claaes and one n done went right to the NBA as first round picks. I sincerely hope he makes massive strides but man thats a lot of orange koolaid if you actually believe what your saying and think he is like those Porter or Simmons!
No. What I am saying is you don’t know much. Neither do I.

I don’t know whether or not he can play the 3, but it is possible.
 
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#443      

Ken

chitown
Because CH played 6.8 minutes a game and those guys were the top players in their claaes and one n done went right to the NBA as first round picks. I sincerely hope he makes massive strides but man thats a lot of orange koolaid if you actually believe what your saying and think he is like those Porter or Simmons!


Who said that ? No one has said any such thing . I used them as examples of situations where just because you are tall doesn't make you a center or a PF . Your skill level and athletic ability has more to do with your position as opposed to simply your height . Hawkins right now has a pretty solid set of skills for someone of his size and thats should allow him in perfect world world to develop into a player that can play any of the frontline positions .
 
#445      
Come on now. Really? Yes. Those things are his main role. But for CoHawk’s development playing in game situations as a 3 will be huge.

Will he exclusively play as a 3, no. Should he play the 3 in some lineups, especially before conference season, yes. Why? Because I don’t want to be in the cellar anymore. And we are at our best when we have NBA players on our team. Malcom Hill, fantastic player but not quite NBA level and we couldn’t get over the hump. Ayo Dosunmu, pro, Andre Curbelo, pro, (we have a literal case study this season on our staff’s player development with) Kofi Cockburn, pro, Giorgi Bezhanishvili, pro?

Hawkins has potential, so why not maximize it?
What Are You Doing Reaction GIF
 
#446      
No. What I am saying is you don’t know much. Neither do I.

I don’t know whether or not he can play the 3, but it is possible.
Based on a small sample size, Hawkins looks like a tweener (3 Or 4). Maybe he’s added the strength necessary to be the 4? Not all players are on the same time table where improvement is concerned. I think he’s very gifted athletically and has a big upside. I’m anxious to see how much he’s improved over the last few months.
 
#447      
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.
I felt I was wearing a turtleneck and watching "Inside the Actor's Studio"
 
#450      
CoHawk is a 4. He has THE POTENTIAL to be a 3. That was all my initial hype was suggesting.

But if it had been suggested our DIII transfer would be a lottery pick next season most everyone would be onboard with that take.

So is Hutch a lottery pick next season?
 
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