Y'all keep this same energy in a month. Good things are coming, all I will say
Illini Basketball
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I think Brad stuck with RJ out of necessity. It wasn’t like he was burying shooters on the bench.
Disagree, we had other options on the bench.
I think Brad stuck with RJ because he was actually a good defender and made decent decisions.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Sorry...never been a barhopper.....way too much liquid courage there
I agree, as the year wore on, RJ became one of the more reliable defensive options out there. And he was always a playmaker in transition, even when the jumper was broken.
I agree with the second part as to why Brad stuck with RJ (which is what I was getting at). I don’t agree that he had many other options though. Epps was playing just as much if not more, Sincire was just as much as a liability from the perimeter along with the freshman ups and downs and the game didn’t slow down for Rodgers until the end of the season. What other options were there?
GallopingGhost
- Denver, CO
I’ve been a board member for years but still dunno what NL stands for
Yea in 6 years we haven't even made it to a sweet 16 under Bu im not knocking him as I do believe we've had some bad match ups and bad draws but there's little at this time to make me believe with what we've lost that a elite 8 or even a sweet 16 is in our future next year.i really hope I'm wrong I truly do cause in this case I'd be so willing to eat crow.im going to keep faith and hope that the insiders are right that good things are coming soon.just feels like we could definitely use some positive news here soon fr
GallopingGhost
- Denver, CO
I share that sentiment, I really do. But I think these first couple “free for all” years are going to be pretty crazy. My guess is it won’t always be like that.
Coaches will adjust to grab more long term HS recruits dedicated recruits, or transfers with multi year eligibility. NIL contracts may even start coming with multi year deals/guarantees etc.
Our NIL is strong, our program is proud and storied and our coaches are savvy. Makes me optimistic for the future. I think a lot of this turnover starts slowing when guys finall land in their spots and have no free insta-eligibility left haha.
Do our insiders believe we are done with people leaving now? (other than the obvious unknown of Hawkins and Shannon and the draft)
I figure Harris and Rodgers are the question marks still out there. Harris put out a pretty definitive statement saying he was staying...and then took it down. Which is worrisome. And all the other statements made make the reason that the staff told him to take it down shaky. And Rodgers I have seen many say is not leaving, but is that the case?
If Harris leaves at this point I would be more upset by that than anyone else leaving the last couple years. Not because he is necessarily the best player(even though he is a dog!) but because he stated his loyalty. So if that has changed it has more to do with what the staff said to him. So their loyalty would be the problem. If these two are back along with Goode and Dain than that is the foundation we can build on. Hopefully Shannon and Hawkins are back too and then those 6 are a great foundation for next year. Fill in the missing pieces and we are off.
If either of Rodgers or Harris leave though I really think it shows that a broken system might be broken even worse than we thought.
I figure Harris and Rodgers are the question marks still out there. Harris put out a pretty definitive statement saying he was staying...and then took it down. Which is worrisome. And all the other statements made make the reason that the staff told him to take it down shaky. And Rodgers I have seen many say is not leaving, but is that the case?
If Harris leaves at this point I would be more upset by that than anyone else leaving the last couple years. Not because he is necessarily the best player(even though he is a dog!) but because he stated his loyalty. So if that has changed it has more to do with what the staff said to him. So their loyalty would be the problem. If these two are back along with Goode and Dain than that is the foundation we can build on. Hopefully Shannon and Hawkins are back too and then those 6 are a great foundation for next year. Fill in the missing pieces and we are off.
If either of Rodgers or Harris leave though I really think it shows that a broken system might be broken even worse than we thought.
His dad and aau camp wants guaranteed playing time. So he’s going elsewhere to showcase
By disposition as a fan, not always in life, I tend to be the inverse. Like, "Belo will figure it out and then we're golden!"-levels of unrequited optimism...So, balance is good is all I'm saying
Rodgers is staying.
I had just written the exact same post... but then I deleted it, because you beat me to the punch
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
post # 334 in this thread...............
And their coach lol. Just sayin'.
I believe in the context of Pru, it stands for neighbor lady — though I could be wrong. I really really could be.
Lookie there. I was right. Coffee hasn’t quite kicked in yet though. When I read your explanation, I thought you wrote “.old pru's harem of Dusty ladies” rather than lusty ladies. I thought, well that isn’t very nice.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
I lean in this direction. The advent of NIL overlapping with extra pandemic eligibility has maximized the "Wild West"-ness of the landscape - this, like all things, will normalize a bit. The cases of surefire NIL + portal deals flaming out and not just tanking the W/L record but the locker room will pile up, and the risk/reward of going this route will get a little more clear. Some coaches will lean into it, others will shy away. Sunrise, sunset.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Yeah, it's a good point. There are very literally too many Division 1 basketball players for too few scholarship slots until the covid bonus seasons drain out of the system in a couple years.
But it's worth a bit of gnashing of teeth because the programs that figure out that right balance will have an advantage and the ones that get the mix wrong will have an uphill battle. It's an interesting debate for sure.
I start to wonder if the way to play the game is to bet your NIL chips on your unproven young guys in the name of roster stability and cohesion.
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