Illini Basketball 2022-2023

Status
Not open for further replies.
#826      

chiefini

chiefini
Rockford, Illinois
chiefini
Jayden Epps started for Team Loyalty who is leading Team Honor with Juan Coward’s 2nd son headed to scUM on CBS Sports Network (963 on Comcast) 16-6.
 
#827      

IllinoisssssssVarsity

I
IllinoisssssssVarsity
One Man Fast Break said:
IMO, you can't worry about who is going to stick around/leave too much. In this era, you just gotta treat each season as its own animal and do what you can. You can be a bad team playing a bunch of freshmen and those guys might leave to go play on a better team, or you can be a good team with freshmen on the bench and those guys will leave to go play on a team with a softer depth chart. Who knows. Trying to get into the psyche of 18 year olds too much will drive you mad and probably not even be that productive. I think the best thing you can do is just be good consistently, and then even if players transfer out, you become a desirable spot for other players to transfer in.
Click to expand...
For the most part freshmen come in at the bottom of the depth chart anyway. Having a group of talented players in front of them is par for the course. It’s been that way for decades, so I think the freshman are less likely to bounce or ask out of their NLI. I get an older guy leaving but for freshmen, it’s pretty much the same.
 
#829      

TheFameProtector

TheFameProtector
Champaign
TheFameProtector
Not as pure of course (nobody's is) but Epps shoots it from the same release point as Steph and also has a crazy quick release. Hopefully we don't need him to be this guy as a freshman, but that shot along with his moves should make him great at the end of games or when the shot clock runs out (as that video showed -- that guy was right in his face and it didn't matter).
 
#830      

Combo

C
Combo
TheFameProtector said:
Not as pure of course (nobody's is) but Epps shoots it from the same release point as Steph and also has a crazy quick release. Hopefully we don't need him to be this guy as a freshman, but that shot along with his moves should make him great at the end of games or when the shot clock runs out (as that video showed -- that guy was right in his face and it didn't matter).
Click to expand...
Very hard to defend when a kid gets that shot off so quickly. Of course, you have to be reasonably accurate for it to matter. Curry is the gold standard.
 
#831      

Mobi

M
Mobi
Combo said:
Very hard to defend when a kid gets that shot off so quickly. Of course, you have to be reasonably accurate for it to matter. Curry is the gold standard.
Click to expand...
We probably all assume Skyy is the best among the freshmen but looking at Epps maybe he is not far behind. I think what Skyy is better than Epps is his handling but Epps' shot make me drooling.
 
#832      

Combo

C
Combo
Mobi said:
We probably all assume Skyy is the best among the freshmen but looking at Epps maybe he is not far behind. I think what Skyy is better than Epps is his handling but Epps' shot make me drooling.
Click to expand...
They both have very good shooting and ball-handling. Both can create for others or for themselves. IMO that's the kind of PG you want in college ball these days. I think they will share time at PG but also play together a bit.

The only concern I have with both is how good they will be on D, especially as Freshmen. That might determine who gets more PT between the two of them.
 
#835      

Mobi

M
Mobi
Combo said:
They both have very good shooting and ball-handling. Both can create for others or for themselves. IMO that's the kind of PG you want in college ball these days. I think they will share time at PG but also play together a bit.

The only concern I have with both is how good they will be on D, especially as Freshmen. That might determine who gets more PT between the two of them.
Click to expand...
To me, Skyy and Epps are similar type of players. 6'2"-3" scoring first guard who can shoot and pass and are strong. Skyy is more crafty and Epps like to over power opponents more. Both seems like aggressive defenders at times. So Skyy is a bit ahead but maybe not by a lot IMO.
 
#836      

Mobi

M
Mobi
blife said:
I get a Ben Gordon vibe when I watch Epps clips
Click to expand...
Hate to say that but Ben Gordon was better. Ben was a lot more jumpy than Epps and I think that's a main reason Epps is not ranked top 50.
 
#837      

ElGran

E
ElGran
Mobi said:
Hate to say that but Ben Gordon was better. Ben was a lot more jumpy than Epps and I think that's a main reason Epps is not ranked top 50.
Click to expand...

Yeah Gordon was an very explosive leaper. Epps OTOH has been described as a “below the rim player.”
 
#838      

Brosky

B
Brosky
We've got four talented but young guys who can play the three. Only Shannon has significant experience. I think all four of them will get quality minutes. Now who will get "starters" minutes remains to be seen. The intense competition for PT among the four could be very beneficial. And of course we'll likely see as many as three of them on the floor at the same time. This roster would be a blueprint for full-court pressure if BU was so inclined...
 
#839      

GoodePodzMelendez

G
GoodePodzMelendez
Brosky said:
We've got four talented but young guys who can play the three. Only Shannon has significant experience. I think all four of them will get quality minutes. Now who will get "starters" minutes remains to be seen. The intense competition for PT among the four could be very beneficial. And of course we'll likely see as many as three of them on the floor at the same time. This roster would be a blueprint for full-court pressure if BU was so inclined...
Click to expand...
Yes, we do have the depth to press more instead of falling back into the standard M2M. If we can take 5 extra seconds off the shot clock with our D initially, that will pay huge dividends. I still say Goode will be a better shooting version of Lucas Johnson. He will get into another player’s head and his passing is really good. I doubt Nance is coming but we still need 2 bigs regardless. I wish we could get Bates to commit.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.