Illini Basketball 2023-2024

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#51      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
NarrowJ said:
Two big things scouts wanted to see improvement on with TSJ is ball-handling and finishing with his right hand. Can guarantee he's been working hard on those areas, which is another reason I'm not as skittish going into this season about what our PG play is going to look like. We are going to see TSJ bring the ball up and initiate things a lot, and while many folks remember last year and cringe, I'm fairly confident he is going to be markedly better in that area.
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This. There's also the come hell or high water aspect of his drives. He's flippin' great at driving (to the left, anyway). But if he incorporates speed changes or a stutter step, he'd be more lethal. And he needs to learn when to bail: clattering into well positioned defender(s) is a recipe for a turnover or charge.
 
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#54      

hoopsfan47

H
hoopsfan47
Joel Goodson said:
This. There's also the come hell or high water aspect of his drives. He's flippin' great at driving (to the left, anyway). But if he incorporates speed changes or a stutter step, he'd be more lethal. And he needs to learn when to bail: clattering into well positioned defender(s) is a recipe for a turnover or charge.
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What I saw in Spain were a couple of times where he pulled up from 12 and buried it. He and Hawkins can get 10 footers in the lane all day and can hit them at better than 50 %. Need this to become part of the plan. If so, opponents cannot sag on the rim and things open up for DD, Hans, and Q rather than a scrum at the rim where they dependably try to finish...and too often inefficiently.
 
#56      

cjw1901

C
cjw1901
Joel Goodson said:
This. There's also the come hell or high water aspect of his drives. He's flippin' great at driving (to the left, anyway). But if he incorporates speed changes or a stutter step, he'd be more lethal. And he needs to learn when to bail: clattering into well positioned defender(s) is a recipe for a turnover or charge.
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Right, but by "bail", what should be said is "pull up and shoot", or less likely, "dribble out or pass". The first one is exactly what TSJ has been working on with Illini coaches over the last year, so I'm expecting improved play, in that regard, this season. What does that translate to? Less offense fouls, maybe somewhat less chance of drawing fouls, but, overall, more games where TSJ is still on the court and hopefully not with 4 fouls near the end of game. Consider how good TSJ is and how important he is near the end of games, that will be a fantastic change for the Illini. It also makes TSJ even more deadly and NBA-ready since he will have more options, and he will continue to improve this mid-range pullup game and related rebounding as he continues to improve in this way.
 
#57      

cjw1901

C
cjw1901
Calvin said:
Hmm, I don't like to pee on a parade, but I'm still skeptical. My sense is that we have a lot of good players, but probably not enough of that next level difference maker for a deep run. I think Shannon is a legit guy who will get drafted, maybe first round. After that, I see what they're talking about with the depth. However, the shooting on the Spain trip, plus the question-mark at PG has me in the half empty crowd. Apologies to the kool-aid drinkers. If we contend for the conference or break out in the post-season, I think it will be by committee with someone different having a great night when we need it. Purdue and MSU are gonna be tough to beat.

Keep chugging
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Right, but both Purdue and MSU are beatable, if we get them in the SFC. We haven't lost, even once, to MSU in the last two seasons, and they lost Joey Houser, who started virtually every game for them for the last two years. I'm not convinced these MSU freshman will be BT-ready early this season, and we look better than we were last year. Remember when we blew MSU out in the 2nd half (by 13) and won easily (by 9)? I could easily see another Illinois win like that at home this season.

Yeah, Purdue is tougher. But, as you saw in the tournament, the key to beating them is to shut down their 3pt shooting (while keeping Eddy in check). Purdue got very tentative when they lost to FDU. Besides Eddy, they had no go-to guy. Nobody even wanted to shoot the ball in the 2nd half against FDU. Fletcher Loyer simply wasn't good enough and he still isn't. Braden Smith plays like 6-foot guard, often jumping in the air, without knowing where he's going with the ball, trying to compensate for his lack of size. Yeah, that leads to TOs, and it's definitely beatable, just like FDU proved.
 
#58      

Bigtex

Bigtex
DFW
Bigtex
NarrowJ said:
Two big things scouts wanted to see improvement on with TSJ is ball-handling and finishing with his right hand. Can guarantee he's been working hard on those areas, which is another reason I'm not as skittish going into this season about what our PG play is going to look like. We are going to see TSJ bring the ball up and initiate things a lot, and while many folks remember last year and cringe, I'm fairly confident he is going to be markedly better in that area.
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wonder if similar to last year where the first 15-20 games we heard announcers mention how TSJ was up early (4:45ish) taking 1000 shots. When his shooting efficiency dropped the announcers quit mentioning the early morning shooting.

Maybe for 23/24 we can hear how TSJ was up early working on ball handling and finishing with the right hand.
 
#59      

NarrowJ

NarrowJ
NarrowJ
Bigtex said:
wonder if similar to last year where the first 15-20 games we heard announcers mention how TSJ was up early (4:45ish) taking 1000 shots. When his shooting efficiency dropped the announcers quit mentioning the early morning shooting.

Maybe for 23/24 we can hear how TSJ was up early working on ball handling and finishing with the right hand.
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That's the spirit (y) lol
 
#60      

john1952

john1952
john1952
Illinirog70 said:
Or Chances R?
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Chances R Champaign.jpg
 
#67      

Emerson Bigguns

Emerson Bigguns
Emerson Bigguns
Bigtex said:
wonder if similar to last year where the first 15-20 games we heard announcers mention how TSJ was up early (4:45ish) taking 1000 shots. When his shooting efficiency dropped the announcers quit mentioning the early morning shooting.

Maybe for 23/24 we can hear how TSJ was up early working on ball handling and finishing with the right hand.
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Do you suggest he sleep in and play video games?

Put the work in and you will improve. Perhaps not as quickly or to the extent that you would like, but it will happen.
 
#68      

NarrowJ

NarrowJ
NarrowJ
Emerson Bigguns said:
Do you suggest he sleep in and play video games?

Put the work in and you will improve. Perhaps not as quickly or to the extent that you would like, but it will happen.
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I'd also venture to guess progressive fatigue as the conference season grinds on is an issue for every player and not just TSJ. Shooting slumps late in the season aren't unheard of. I mean, this is not to mention the shots he had to take at times due to whatever it was we were doing on offense later in the year.
 
#73      

Calvin

C
Calvin
foby said:
Even by his own fanbase, he seems like one of the most overlooked returning first team all-b1g players that I can recall.
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Yeah, I don't get it. The only thing I can come up with is how spoiled recently we fans were with King Kofi and that guy who was fearless in transition and drained a bunch of game winners. I wonder if recent All Americans change the hype for All BIG.
 
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