He's not a freshman heading into his sophomore year. Guy turning 23 in a few months is mostly fully baked, at least in the context of how he will contribute in college. Obviously, he could be a lot better in a role where he just has to shoot, has fresh legs playing 10-15 mins a game, etc.
Illini Basketball
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Very early, indeed, and obviously taken with a huge grain of salt, but Lunardi has the Illini as a 7th seed with another potential matchup with the two seed Kentucky.
I could be wrong, but I believe he had Illinois as a 6th seed last year and facing three seed Kentucky. Unreal.
I could be wrong, but I believe he had Illinois as a 6th seed last year and facing three seed Kentucky. Unreal.
There is actually a study that was done on this at Bryant University that found most improvement is made between the ages of 23-26.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I don’t think anyone is reasonably saying he should start and he most certainly thrived much better in his bench role late last season (his shot against Purdue late — **chef’s kiss**). But the general disdain for him on this board is ridiculous. People act like he’s the Homer Simpson of basketball players. He shot 34% from three last year and was asked to defend a position we haven’t had a capable defender for since Kofi. He’s a valuable asset to have on a talented team. And should his offseason efforts warrant extended playing time, we’ll see how that plays out come November. But I think it’s clear from what we’ve been told that Ben is returning with the understanding that his anticipated role resembles more late last season than the early part.
When I watch some of these foreign league highlights and see virtually no crowd, it makes me wonder how they stay afloat. He's in for a surprise when he plays in Champaign.
DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
Look again and instead of looking at the game or the crowd focus on the advertising everywhere. It is also on video because it was televised. I suspect those two factors provide much more than ticket sales kind of like sponsors and TV provide the bulk of the money in the US. It also seems that US colleges provide a better paycheck than the European leagues do now so costs are not as high there. Just my observation with no real financial knowledge of how they stay afloat.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
Completely agree. Ben will be a great depth piece off the bench, IMO. If he can gain some confidence, there will be opportunities for him to have positive impacts off the bench. He was just put in a position this last season that did not work out, and we could all see him start to lose the confidence necessary to be successful by the end of the season (like not even attempting a shot against Kentucky to end the season). Hopefully he will go into this offseason with a clean slate and go out and earn those minutes.
Terrance Shannon didn’t improve at all from Junior to Senior to graduate years. I think it was only about 6-7 pts a game difference each yr. Chris Gandy is an example. Maverick Morgan amongst many others too numerous to list. It can happen. Will it? I guess we’ll just have to wait.
How many games did DGL start, after bringing in Boswell and KJ?
Mirkovic, Z, and Ty are going to make getting minutes at the 4 very difficult. Ben is likely significantly behind them in NIL, and if you have asked boosters to invest big bucks in a guy, he better be on the court.
I think many are WAY under-estimating how good our new Euro guys are going to be.
This schedule seems so strange to me…only 3 home & aways? Was it this way last year?
I would agree more if he had been playing power 5 ball for 4 years. There are well defined differences in the different levels of competition he has faced, and each one requires significant adjustment. I definitely think he will play better, but I don't see a consistent 10+min role for him, either. The guys he has to pass on the depth chart are simply better. He will play, and I think he will have some nice moments, but I'll be surprised if he is ever on the court in winning time again.
I hope you are right.
I think you’re hitting most of the right notes here. But couldn’t Ty s also see some minutes at the 3?
So we play NU, Maryland, and Nebraska twice?
Easier home schedule, have to make hay there. Going to be some chances for huge away wins as well.
The difference between Junior year TSJ and Senior year TSJ was massive, as was the difference between Sr. TSJ and Sr. TSJ part deux. People underrate the importance of a second year in the same program. And for BH it will be the second year at a higher level of play. Who knows what'll happen, but I don't think a massive improvement is impossible.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
If I an reading this correctly, home/home with Northwestern, Nebraska and Maryland. (I didn't even cheat and look it up, I think that I finally am getting used to the 18 teams).
18 teams for a 20 game schedule
3 home and away = 6 games
15 teams left.... And you try not to play with yourself
So 14 teams left you play once =14 games
6 + 14 = 20 games. Playing with yourself optional
what’re reasonable expectations next season?
His take is understandable. We have a lot of unknowns on this roster and we lost two NBA draft choices and our best paint presence in the offseason. There are few guys on the roster that none of us have EVER seen play.
Adding to that, I'm with Piper on this one. This team has this potential to be top 10 nationally on offense, but God awful defensively.
That puts us in the Iowa on steroids category.
This team is going to be extremely tall, but it's going to lack overall athleticism and explosiveness. We're probably going to run into similar issues that we did last year, BUT we'll be older, hopefully not disease ridden mid season and hopefully more consistent from three. We're going to shoot a ton of them.
Winning games 90-70 is very realistic and losing games 92-88 is very realistic. We just don't know and we won't until we go up against a top 15 caliber team.
Rothstein has us at #20 and Lunardi has us around 28-32. Both takes are fair.
Back end of the top 25 to start the season, a top 4 Big Ten finish, then a top 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance.
Those are reasonable expectations because the unknowns are greater than the knowns at this point in time.
21+ regular season wins, second weekend minimum.
Talent overall in college basketball is down next year, I think we could have a top 10 team.
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