Illini Basketball 2023-2024
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I have you screenshotted - you have the guts to admit you were wrong if he turns out bad?
Big Jack
- Decatur
What are you even talking about? I just provided data that suggested fans saying that they expect Illinois to finish in the top 4 in the B10 most years aren't wrong based on that being the standard the teams has set over the past 20 years. Now if you want to argue Illinois' performance in the 70s should have an appreciable impact on current fans expectations, I guess that's your right, but what?
As for no team in the past 25 years regularly finishing in the Top 4 in the B10? I'll again say, what are you talking about? In the same 25 year period:
MSU: Top 4 - 19 of 25 (76%)
Wisconsin: Top 4 - 20 of 25 (80%)
Purdue: Top 4 - 15 of 25 (60%)
And yes,
Illinois: Top 4 - 15 of 25 (60%)
And that's including the Groce period which I think is far from representative of our program historically, recent or otherwise.
Saying no team in the B10 expects to finish in the Top 4 most years is categorically false as there are 4 clear cut examples of teams who do that including ours, and yes, that includes the Underwood era...
Also interesting that for the last 16 years of Henson, the Top 4 in B10 hit rate was also 12 in 16 (75%).
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
As we get older, it's good to have a hobby. BW chose his hair.Bubbles going for the tousled bed head look.
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DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Standing up to be recognized. I am absolutely one of the non-believers.
Derek Harper, Kiwane Garris and Deron Williams constitute my gold standard when it comes to premiere Illini point guards. I love Ty to death and I believe we can easily finish in the Top 4 of the conference with the current roster.......with a 5 seed or better in the NCAA tourney.
However, I've yet to see Ty hit any type of shot beyond 8 feet from the basket. I expect opposing defenses to sag way off, forcing us to play 4 on 5 basketball.
Perhaps I'm wrong and we'll see a Kendall Gill type of Sophomore jump!!
This year's team will not be terrible IMHO. I am however concerned at pg. I am concerned that Hawkins will handle the ball too much, shoot from too deep, and try to make sensational passes that are either great or a turnover. If my fears come to fruition they will still not be terrible.
I'm hoping for the best and will be watching
I'm hoping for the best and will be watching
Harry Combes won the conference in 20% of his seasons.
*I was not alive to see Harry Combes's cagers play. I don't know if that makes me young or not. I know only that I am always tired and public TikToking makes me irrationally angry. But I hope you'll forgive me anyway.
I don’t think we’re going to be an amazing FT shooting team, especially with TY at PG. I think we could be average, and that’s fine. 3pt shooting I think we will definitely be better than last year, but still around average if not a little above average.
All I want, please, PLEASE, is enough with the STUPID turnovers. I found those way more aggravating than poor shooting.
All I want, please, PLEASE, is enough with the STUPID turnovers. I found those way more aggravating than poor shooting.
So I think the key to this point, and maybe the season, is what happens next. If Ty at PG is Jaylon Tate 2.0 (unguarded, leaving 4 on 5), we have a big problem. I think (hope) the difference is that Ty will take that 10-foot cushion and run up on it, then ‘booty-ball’ the next 6-8 feet to a good shot for him.
'No timetable' for Howard's return at Michigan
Michigan Wolverines assistant Saddi Washington said Tuesday at Big Ten media day that there is "no timetable" for the return of coach Juwan Howard, who had heart surgery last month.
I might have missed it didn’t realize he had surgery. I am assuming he missed media day
So, this is getting ridiculous about Ty's ability to make free throws. Here we are, not even one game into the schedule, and some are close to calling him a failure if he misses a free throw in determining winning or losing a game. It's been noted in several previous posts that each team member practices numerous free throws before practice, during practice, and after practice in attempting to correct a team weak spot. Give the guy a break - what happens will happen when they actually play a real game, I guess we'll see. ILL...
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
If Lou had coached in the 2000s he would have been considered as bad or worse than Groce and fired before he could have competed in those last 16 years. I can remember seeing a "Thru With Lou" bumper sticker. Also have to consider that a top 4 finish for Lou isn't the same as it is for BU today. Lou had to finish ahead of 6 teams for a top 4 finish. Today BU has to finish ahead of 10 teams to do so (just slightly statistically more difficult than a top 3 finish for Lou). It is more difficult to do now, and will be even more so in the future.
Harry Combes, and maybe the Illini's, best years were 1949-52 - three final 4s. He won 1 conference championship in his last 15 years after 1952 - so in the 45 years from 1952 to 1997 we won 2 conference championships. I was a fan for more than the last half of that time. To be honest, I can't remember much of watching Combes teams, but clearly remember the frustration with Harv Schmidt - one game in particular scarred me. Weatherspoon went off and we were up 20+ in the first half, and then lost the game. Of course, that was back when watching a game on TV was like watching basketball played in a snowstorm (unless someone was holding onto the antennae).
Don't get me wrong. I want Illinois to excel, but just not going to start calling for the coaches' head if we are going to the tourney nearly every year (every 4 out of 5).
I take it you didn't like that half-court pass CH tried to throw to the one-shoe'd MM against Arkansas.
Judging from your username, you probably were watching in a snowstorm.
1. Statistically what you're saying is only true if you don't consider the strength of said teams you're adding. As an extreme example say the B10 were to have expanded by adding four Div 2 teams to the conference. Nobody would say that adding them would dramatically increase Illinois' expected losses in a given season. Similarly, Penn State (Top 4 - 3 of 31), Nebraska (Top 4 - 2 of 12), Rutgers (Top 4- 1 of 9), and Maryland (Top 4 - 4 of 9) haven't exactly been threats to upper tier B10 teams outside of Maryland. Saying it would have been much more difficult for his Illini to finish Top 4 if the B10 has 14 teams instead of 10 is disingenuous due to 3 of those teams historically only finishing Top 4 in the B10 a combined 6 times in 52 total seasons (12%). I will give you Maryland though and based on those teams hit rates, finishing Top 4 in the Lou era is probably similar to finishing Top 4.5 in this era.
2. Fan expectations change based on team performance. This isn't too dissimilar to anything else in life. If you regularly run a 5 minute mile, you're not going to show up to an event just hoping to just break 8 minutes. You expect better of yourself. And if you do start regularly running 7 minute miles you're going to start getting concerned something is wrong with you.
Personally, I have a very long leash. I think the hate Underwood gets is over the top, and I think the hate Weber got and even gets to this day is way way way over the top. A bad season or two doesn't mean an immediate pink slip to me, but it should raise questions as to why. And none of this should change fan expectations that a team that has enjoyed sustained success should do all they can to continue sustaining that success.
He shot 51% in hs. He shot less than that last year. If that's not a weakness, we'll have to agree to disagree. Whether it's manageable or not is a fair question, but I think it's overly optimistic to expect even a 10% improvement, which would still probably take him out of most late game situations.
PG is going to be a concern right up until it's proven otherwise. And we're all rooting for Ty, DGL, Moretti, and the PG by committee group. More than that, the entire team chemistry seems a lot better, and has more maturity. So I think even if there is weaknesses, the team will be a lot more fun to watch and root for.
When will the preseason poll be released? Think we’ll be right around 25, likely just outside if I had to guess.
Concerning FT shooting, I absolutely agree that thinking Ty can even become a 60/65% FT shooter next year is a long shot. No way of spinning that—it’s a problem.
I do believe a guy like Hawkins can increase his FT% and with Domask on board it’s difficult to not see a semi obvious path to being a better FT shooting team as a whole.
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