Illini Basketball 2021-2022

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#26      

Calvin

C
Calvin
BretMyBeachHouse said:
"As for this being Coach K's final season, just buckle up and watch what you eat, because it will no doubt be nauseating for some of you."
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I expect it to become a distraction the closer it gets to his final game. Would love to be the team that knocks them out of the tournament.
 
#33      

Fanview

Fanview
Fanview
RJ Melendez posted this giving more legitimacy to ILL-NIL.com

His website (https://rj15melendez.com/) is a subgroup of the ILL-NIL.com
1632516198999.jpeg
 
#34      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Really impressed with the depth when most of us assume nine man rotation of Kofi, Payne, Hawk, Grandy, Hutch, DMV, Trent, Plummer, and Belo. That leaves BBV, Goode, Podz, Melendez, and Lieb. With a PG a hell of a third team.
 
#36      

ElGran

E
ElGran
BretMyBeachHouse said:
I'll never assume a 9 man rotation.
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Agreed. Most coaches keep the rotation tighter than their fans would like. Maybe this is the year we see a 9-man rotation. It's hard to imagine any of the nine you listed (if healthy, knock on wood) not averaging 10+ min/game.
 
#37      

Homecoming 2019

Homecoming 2019
Chicago
Homecoming 2019
ElGran said:
Agreed. Most coaches keep the rotation tighter than their fans would like. Maybe this is the year we see a 9-man rotation. It's hard to imagine any of the nine you listed (if healthy, knock on wood) not averaging 10+ min/game.
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Hawkins and Hutch are the only questionable ones for regular court time, and Underwood has raved about the both of them.
 
#38      

ElGran

E
ElGran
Homecoming 2019 said:
Hawkins and Hutch are the only questionable ones for regular court time, and Underwood has raved about the both of them.
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Yeah, we're including Hutch in the potential 9-man rotation and he hasn't played a game in 2.5 years. I just hope all nine are healthy the whole year. Actually, make that all 14 of our scholarship players.
 
#41      

Illini B-Ball Fan

Illini B-Ball Fan
Illini B-Ball Fan
#43      

DB11Headband

D
Chicago Burbs
DB11Headband
BalloonsTheElephant said:
Every year we talk about how deep we are then about 8 games in we panic because our bench guys aren't as good as we thought.

We have zero idea how good CoHawk, Payne, Hutch, Plummer, or the freshman will be.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves with just how deep we are.
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The staff has a pretty good idea how good Hutch will be
 
#44      

Ga65

G
Ga65
BalloonsTheElephant said:
Every year we talk about how deep we are then about 8 games in we panic because our bench guys aren't as good as we thought.

We have zero idea how good CoHawk, Payne, Hutch, Plummer, or the freshman will be.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves with just how deep we are.
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I think a little more than zero as we have all seen them play even though no or limited BIG competition.
 
#45      

illini55

illini55
The Villages, FL
illini55
BalloonsTheElephant said:
Every year we talk about how deep we are then about 8 games in we panic because our bench guys aren't as good as we thought.

We have zero idea how good CoHawk, Payne, Hutch, Plummer, or the freshman will be.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves with just how deep we are.
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Plummer played against excellent competition and excelled. He is a known commodity, at least among fans who watch games outside the Midwest. While it may be true that he is an unknown to most Illini fans, that won't be true very much longer.

The rest of your list is admittedly a bit of a mystery to the casual fan. I'm betting on Hutch, Plummer and Payne to add a ton of talent to our core group. Out of the remainder of the list, all we need is one or two to be ready to play at the BigTen level. Can't wait.
 
#46      

ElGran

E
ElGran
BalloonsTheElephant said:
Every year we talk about how deep we are then about 8 games in we panic because our bench guys aren't as good as we thought.

We have zero idea how good CoHawk, Payne, Hutch, Plummer, or the freshman will be.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves with just how deep we are.
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This is true. However, we do know that Plummer can fill it up. And he almost has to play because Andre and Trent aren't going to play 40 min/game. We also know that Payne is a good enough defender and rebounder to play when Kofi is out, which will likely be 12-13 or so minutes per game.

Hutch and Hawkins I'm less sure about. I just want Hutch to be 100% healthy so we can see if he's really as good as the legend says. Hawkins I think is probably a year away from being a consistent contributor, but maybe he makes the jump early.
 
#47      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
CoHawk Fr-Soph leap incoming.

He handled his limited minutes last year pretty well. Add 10-15 lbs and a bunch more practice against these teammates....stands to reason he's going to make significant progress.
 
#49      

IlliniDawgs

I
IlliniDawgs
illini55 said:
Plummer played against excellent competition and excelled. He is a known commodity, at least among fans who watch games outside the Midwest. While it may be true that he is an unknown to most Illini fans, that won't be true very much longer.

The rest of your list is admittedly a bit of a mystery to the casual fan. I'm betting on Hutch, Plummer and Payne to add a ton of talent to our core group. Out of the remainder of the list, all we need is one or two to be ready to play at the BigTen level. Can't wait.
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Yeah, Plummer lit it up against competition that blew the Big 10 out of the water come tournament time. He's not some unknown prospect. And now he has better teammates to feed him the ball
 
#50      

sully

sully
sully
Can't wait for this upcoming bball season. Kofi and company are going to ball out & be motivated as hell to not only win the Big Ten (outright) but also make a deep tourney run (hell, might as well win it all!) Can't wait
 
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