Illini Basketball 2023-2024

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#151      
RockfordIllini
It’s fun to play the what if game on PG. We’ve actually recruited the position reasonably well but have gotten a little unlucky. With no attrition, Belo, Skyy and Epps (more of a combo but certainly played PG for us last year) would still be on the roster. Of course all 3 didn’t work out for various reasons.

The biggest question is what would RayJ be bringing to this team, as that was our primary target and one of the best PG in the portal. Through 4 games he’s getting 13 ppg with 5.5 apg, but also 4 TO and is only shooting 25% from 3.

You could argue his TO numbers are inflated due to one bad game where he had 7 TO. But that was also their only game against P5 competition so far.

Ty is such a great defender and a matchup problem, I think once we develop some rapport and connectivity we will be top 10 defensively and will be a nightmare to play.

Too early to tell of course but at least at this early stage I’m not convinced RayJ would move the needle enough offensively to justify the drop off defensively. JMHO.
 
#152      
Rap47
lstewart53x3 said:
Picture this: Add a pure point guard who can score and distribute (think Kolek). Move Ty to the 3 / back up ball handler. Bring Domask in as the 6th man off the bench. How good is that team?
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We will never know, post about what is. The reason the Illini have looked bad at times is terrible shooting and missed free throws.
 
#153      
Sedino
lstewart53x3 said:
Picture this: Add a pure point guard who can score and distribute (think Kolek). Move Ty to the 3 / back up ball handler. Bring Domask in as the 6th man off the bench. How good is that team?
Click to expand...
While we’re at it, let’s add Lebron at the 3, flip Cooper Flagg and put him at the 4, and then get a waiver for Ayo to come back another year and put him at the 1.
 
#154      
foby
Illiniguy13 said:
The Tyler Kolek's of the world are easy... Just for funsies - which point guards in the Big Ten would you trade Ty for? Straight up swap? Doesn't necessarily have to be "who's the better overall player"...simply in terms terms of overall skillset at the point guard position - Which point guards would be a better fit and be a net gain in a theoretical, nonsense fantasy-land trade?
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No swap, but I do recall a fever induced dream that we would add Boo and Hunter through the portal. Now that would have been special.

Dance Punk GIF by Pure Noise Records
 
#156      
pruman91
JMHO , but I think Ty has done an adequate job at PG , for now at this point in the season.......he usually brings the ball up then passes it off and starts the offense into motion......He usually scores in the first few minutes in each half as he moves around the paint and baseline as the offense does it's thing.......

Does he fit the true definition of a PG ??......probably not , based on his non existent ability for an outside shot from the 3 or even a 15 ft shot.........Well , we have numerous other players that do that for us very well and his role as the PG does not require him to do that..........

has his TO's affected us to a detriment ??............I would answer no to this question.......Has his assists helped us overcome the stigma
of him not being a true PG ???...............I think so , but I would argue we have a team of PG's able to do what is required of a team to meet expectations.......

I will never get so wrapped up into judging a player by thinking they are playing out of the position's so called desires or requirement's................( Now I wouldn't start Moretti out at center )....etc etc..................

It's easy to armchair positions and players non stop just to start a discussion or a straw man concept............We have 1 loss so far , to the # 4 ranked team and I sure don't blame that loss on Ty............

The bigger questions about Ty at PG will come when we start conference play where the conference teams know how we play and what scheme's we run...........There are a lot of quality PG's in the B$G and I am going to wait and see how this scheme by BU works out before I give judgement into whether Ty is an adequate PG..........

I say so far , so good..........I will also say Moretti has been a pleasant surprise and hope he mends soon and fast from the boot status right now.......

Again , JMHO......................
 
#157      
ChiTown
lstewart53x3 said:
Picture this: Add a pure point guard who can score and distribute (think Kolek). Move Ty to the 3 / back up ball handler. Bring Domask in as the 6th man off the bench. How good is that team?
Click to expand...
Please name other college teams in the country this year with a PG like Kolek….he’s a unicorn.
 
#158      
foby
pruman91 said:
JMHO , but I think Ty has done an adequate job at PG , for now at this point in the season.......he usually brings the ball up then passes it off and starts the offense into motion......He usually scores in the first few minutes in each half as he moves around the paint and baseline as the offense does it's thing.......

Does he fit the true definition of a PG ??......probably not , based on his non existent ability for an outside shot from the 3 or even a 15 ft shot.........Well , we have numerous other players that do that for us very well and his role as the PG does not require him to do that..........

has his TO's affected us to a detriment ??............I would answer no to this question.......Has his assists helped us overcome the stigma
of him not being a true PG ???...............I think so , but I would argue we have a team of PG's able to do what is required of a team to meet expectations.......

I will never get so wrapped up into judging a player by thinking they are playing out of the position's so called desires or requirement's................( Now I wouldn't start Moretti out at center )....etc etc..................

It's easy to armchair positions and players non stop just to start a discussion or a straw man concept............We have 1 loss so far , to the # 4 ranked team and I sure don't blame that loss on Ty............

The bigger questions about Ty at PG will come when we start conference play where the conference teams know how we play and what scheme's we run...........There are a lot of quality PG's in the B$G and I am going to wait and see how this scheme by BU works out before I give judgement into whether Ty is an adequate PG..........

I say so far , so good..........I will also say Moretti has been a pleasant surprise and hope he mends soon and fast from the boot status right now.......

Again , JMHO......................
Click to expand...
Ty is also an ELITE rebounder and will be an ELITE defender.

I have a feeling that no matter how many wins or how much success we have, there will still be the ...... But, but, but Muh Point Guard contingent.
 
#159      
PepeSilvia
Illiniguy13 said:
The Tyler Kolek's of the world are easy... Just for funsies - which point guards in the Big Ten would you trade Ty for? Straight up swap? Doesn't necessarily have to be "who's the better overall player"...simply in terms terms of overall skillset at the point guard position - Which point guards would be a better fit and be a net gain in a theoretical, nonsense fantasy-land trade?
Click to expand...
Tyson Walker is the easy one. Walker and Shannon could carry them to a national championship as long as they don't run into top dominant of inside presence.

Boo Buie would be my second choice because that defense would be incredible. Dug McDaniel, Jahmir Young, and Bruce Thornton are all obvious takes. You could probably make an argument for Hoggard as well but don't think he's a great fit. Ace Baldwin would be a take too.

I'd also trade him Tominaga but that's just because I love him and you can't have enough shooting.

Does Brice Williams count as a point guard because I'd love him too.

I like Rodgers a lot but adding another offensive threat would be huge.
 
#160      
thefalcon5
Illiniguy13 said:
The Tyler Kolek's of the world are easy... Just for funsies - which point guards in the Big Ten would you trade Ty for? Straight up swap? Doesn't necessarily have to be "who's the better overall player"...simply in terms terms of overall skillset at the point guard position - Which point guards would be a better fit and be a net gain in a theoretical, nonsense fantasy-land trade?
Click to expand...
Without putting a ton of thought into it (and recognizing some of these guys are more combo than pure point): Xavier Johnson, Tyson Walker, Boo Buie, Chucky Hepburn, Dug McDaniel, and Jahmir Young. I honestly don’t know who the PG is for teams like Minny, Rutgers, Iowa, Purdue, and maybe a couple other teams, but I’d wager at least one of theirs is better than Ty at the 1.

I think Ty is a good player and will only become better, but I think very early results show he just isn’t the kind of facilitator or scorer to be a dynamic PG. I still think we can be a really really great team and it’s not Ty’s fault we don’t have a true PG.

I will not get over BU and company not getting even a mediocre PG in the portal.
 
#161      
OB positive
foby said:
Ty is also an ELITE rebounder and will be an ELITE defender.

I have a feeling that no matter how many wins or how much success we have, there will still be the ...... But, but, but Muh Point Guard contingent.
Click to expand...
That is inevitable when you don't bring in a true point gaurd. However we are still going to win a lot of games with our work around plan regardless of who ends up with the bulk of the point gaurd duties.
 
#164      
Fighter of the Nightman
I have really enjoyed people posting the weekly college football tv ratings, and I am super bummed that this site seemed to just randomly stop reporting TV ratings for all sports in June of this year. :cry: It was fun to look at the college hoops rankings every week, too, and it should be no surprise that the Illini were a very good draw.
 
#165      
727ill
Illini 993 said:
On the broadcast last night, Bardo gave a Lou Henson strategy that I have wondered about. He said that when someone had a bad FT night, Lou would have them run sprints, and taking free throws during them. I think quite a bit of FT shooting is going from a high intensity, high adrenaline situation to a stopped clock, stationary shot. A player needs to have a set routine and method for the switch. The best FT shooters, usually, will have his exact same routine (although that routine is not the same as other good shooters) every time he shoots it, muscle memory. It seems that the routine might also give time to still his mind for the shot. Or not, but it sure couldn't hurt.
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We need more FT practice in the arena itself. My suspicion is guys are practicing FT in Ubben or some other practice complex. You can't mimic the stadium effect so you need to practice where you play. It seems like guys are completely off in terms of their depth perception.

DGL literally banked in a FT against Southern. That tells you its a depth perception problem.
 
#166      
SkyysNotFalling
Watching the UCLA/Marquette game last night… both teams had guy who could get an inbounds pass on the run and outlet to a 2 or 3, or blow by the defense in transition for a quick response to a score. People can argue all they want about Ty’s shooting, but THAT is what a point guard could do for us. Even when we played Marquette, after we scored how many times did they score in under 3 seconds right back? A few…. Now, thankfully for us we have TJ. If he’s running a route every time, we can get a layup or a foul drawn every time down the floor in 3 seconds. That’s what we need him to do if we want to play without a small guard. Nico could be that for us, his feel is great. Hope he’s ok.
 
#167      
StarterG
727ill said:
We need more FT practice in the arena itself. My suspicion is guys are practicing FT in Ubben or some other practice complex. You can't mimic the stadium effect so you need to practice where you play. It seems like guys are completely off in terms of their depth perception.

DGL literally banked in a FT against Southern. That tells you its a depth perception problem.
Click to expand...
1700590791652.png

Not completely sure about this, but Ubben sure does look like the lighting is not the same as SFC. Could there be something to this theory?
 
#168      
thefalcon5
727ill said:
We need more FT practice in the arena itself. My suspicion is guys are practicing FT in Ubben or some other practice complex. You can't mimic the stadium effect so you need to practice where you play. It seems like guys are completely off in terms of their depth perception.

DGL literally banked in a FT against Southern. That tells you its a depth perception problem.
Click to expand...
Explain Matthew Mayer and Terrance Shannon both increasing their FT percentage their first year here. I don’t buy either Ubben or SFC are even negatives to our guys percentages.
 
#171      
alexander58
Rap47 said:
We will never know, post about what is. The reason the Illini have looked bad at times is terrible shooting and missed free throws.
Click to expand...
Agree. Right now, there are limited scorers on the floor for the Illini. When we start playing teams that can take away Shannon, someone will need to step up.
 
#172      
Roundball Sage
RockfordIllini said:
It’s fun to play the what if game on PG. We’ve actually recruited the position reasonably well but have gotten a little unlucky.
Click to expand...

Like any sports team, you play with the guys you got. Everybody could use more of this or that. And so the Illini will rise or fall with their current guys and the level of skill they exhibit on the floor.

But it’s undeniable that you just can’t play an optimal floor game without a good guy running point. The floor leader... the orchestra conductor... the facilitator... the key that turns on the engine... the spoon that stirs the drink... the -- well -- you get the idea.

There is NOTHING like playing with a guy who is a terrific point guard. The guy who can break the press and crush the will of your opponent. The guy who can thread the needle with a bullet pass when other guys never saw the slightest opening. The guy who can hit from distance and drive to the hole so your opponent's defense just can’t focus on his giving up the ball. Yes.. this kind of point just raises the floor to a whole other level.

And as I said... as much fun as it is for fans to watch a great point guard... it’s even more fun to play with one.
 
#173      
Emerson Bigguns
Anyone who expected this team to operate with surgical precision was setting themselves up for disappointment from the get-go. This team isn't a scalpel. It's a bludgeon. We are going to run hard all the time, push the ball in transition. In the half court we will be deliberately trying to get the ball to the rim, while making the other team work harder than they want to work. We will throw big bodies at the opposition and sub relentlessly. We will attack the glass, close out on shooters, and make you make a bunch of mid-range shots.
The games will be ugly. We are what we are... but we can win ugly. Winning is beautiful even when its ugly.

All this hand wringing about beating the point spread and not having a "true PG"... for what? Is it more fun to lament all you don't have or be thankful the team is relevant. God knows it wasn't long ago that it felt like it never would be again.
 
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