Illini in the Pros (Basketball)

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#301      
Fly Illini Fly!
Oracle21 said:
Watchin Riley tonight I start to wonder what the best version of him he could turn into. To me it’s Klay Thompson. I think he has alot of how Klay plays in his game.
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Man, I'm genuinely not sure I can think of a worse comp. He's no where close to the shooter Klay was/is.

Actually, he needed lots of fine-tuning with his shot after his one year here. Shot just 31%, but more importantly there were too many instances of his shot mechanics being wildly inconsistent. One attempt it will look one way, and the next would look completely different where basically his base/footwork would make the shot miss. (Did get better after he got to the league)

.....

My best try would be Brandon Ingram. 6"9 wing who can handle and score. But even with that, Will has a herky-jerkiness to his game that's pretty unique and hard to find a comp for.
 
#302      
Emerson Bigguns
blackdog said:
Will is not the same shooter Klay was but he has a much better handle and that herky jerky style is all his own. More athletic Kyle Anderson maybe but really Will has such a unique play style its hard to compare him to anyone else. I think his ceiling could be an All-Star if he continues to develop his game.
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Comps are difficult for him. He needs to add some weight, but he could be a Pascal Siakam or Franz Wagner type.
He's going to score a lot of points.
 
#304      
BretMyBeachHouse
Emerson Bigguns said:
I'm sure some narratives were being formed after his first game. That 3rd quarter went a long way in shutting those down.
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We still have hot takes here even after last night. Clipper fans will be very happy in year 4. He'll be a catch and shoot guy.

He's got uncanny court sense. Clipper fans will be very happy in November of this year. They're going to see immediate improvement on their team.

He'll be on one of the first two all-rookie teams. People draw the line for "superstar" at their own discretion. But I think he'll be an All-Star by year 5.
 
#308      
OrangeBlue98
Jon said:
That's a 20 ball for Keaton. We back.
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wedding crashers comedy GIF
 
#310      
FrankNitty30
ejam21 said:
Just had on ESPN and saw the highlights

Showed all dybantsa and Acuff. Not a single riley highlihgt despite scoring 32 on 60+% shooting ha. Dybantsta was 1-6 from 3 but they made sure to show the 1 he hit. SMH
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This. Absolute journalists malpractice. I was stunned. Not ONE &?-:&$@ WORD about Riley……
 
#311      
NarrowJ
EmeraldCityIllini said:
Mine was mostly a joke about how Kaluma was almost an Illini and “legend” of this board. I’m not overly interested in over analyzing nba summer league.

But 10 and 5 and being a -22 (with 7 fouls at halftime) when the other guy you’re defending is 36/5 and beats you by 20+, you’ve been dominated.

I am starting to wonder if you’re Austin Brown or Aaron Mintz though.
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I knew the MoReZ jOhNsOn DeFeNsE tEaM would be quick to reply
 
#314      
NarrowJ
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
He has the best defensive ability of any player in the draft. Extremely switchable and versatile, and plays very hard. You’ll never question his effort.

Usually those guys succeed.
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Has great potential there, but currently he isn't even the best defensive player of the Michigan guys that went in the draft (Aday Mara)
 
#316      
EmeraldCityIllini
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
He has the best defensive ability of any player in the draft. Extremely switchable and versatile, and plays very hard. You’ll never question his effort.

Usually those guys succeed.
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The defensive ability is for sure what got him drafted high - we spent too much time debating offensive fit as the difference.

But, in today's NBA the centers are the anchors, so I'd say Mara probably. I think the defensive upside with Wilson is also immense - longer, quicker, bouncier, and even more switchable. He's a stud.
 
#317      
Fly Illini Fly!
NarrowJ said:
Has great potential there, but currently he isn't even the best defensive player of the Michigan guys that went in the draft (Aday Mara)
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In terms of rim protector, obviously Mara is most polarizing. But overall defensively, Morez and Lendeborg were better last year (not to say Mara wasn't GREAT; that whole frontcourt was monstrous).
 
#320      
NarrowJ
Fly Illini Fly! said:
In terms of rim protector, obviously Mara is most polarizing. But overall defensively, Morez and Lendeborg were better last year (not to say Mara wasn't GREAT; that whole frontcourt was monstrous).
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Dear Mr. Austin Brown and/or Aaron Mintz as the case may be:

Mara was better than Morez in pretty much every single defensive metric: blocks (by a wide margin), DBPM (also by a wide margin, Mara led the entire country), blocks (again, by a giant margin), DRtg, and even personal fouls while Mara was also just as good of a rebounder.

Sorry, but it isn't really close here and thus no real conversation to be had.
 
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#321      
EmpoweredIllini
aday mara changed the entire game when he was in there

opposing offense rim percentages were like 20-25 percent lower with mara on the floor than with him off... morez a fine defender but didn't change the game in this way

as someone else said even lendeborg mightve been better too since morez wasnt guarding opposing point guards like yaxel did unless out of absolute necessity
 
#322      
Fly Illini Fly!
EmpoweredIllini said:
opposing offense rim percentages were like 20-25 percent lower with mara on the floor than with him off... morez a fine defender but didn't change the game in this way
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20-25 percent difference would be completely absurd, and no it wasn't that dramatic.

Opponents shot 54.7 percent at the rim when Mara was on the court, versus 60.6 percent at the rim when he was off.

Still very good.

The best Mara stat though is that teams took only 20.4 percent of their shots at the rim when Mara was on the court. Amongst the best marks in the country.
 
#323      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
NarrowJ said:
Has great potential there, but currently he isn't even the best defensive player of the Michigan guys that went in the draft (Aday Mara)
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Morez is who connected Michigan's defense, and felt most indispensable.

Mara was a pure drop coverage big (and was very good at it). Yaxel was a tremendous point of attack guy.

Morez was kind of a blend of both their traits. His ability to switch and be versatile is what made them elite.
 
#324      
EmpoweredIllini
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Morez is who connected Michigan's defense, and felt most indispensable.

Mara was a pure drop coverage big (and was very good at it). Yaxel was a tremendous point of attack guy.

Morez was kind of a blend of both their traits. His ability to switch and be versatile is what made them elite.
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he still cant guard well, had 7 personal fouls in 28 minutes the other night while his counterpart (who is a no-name undrafted guy) put up a monster game with 36 points

going back to original comment of 'best defensive player in the draft' (which everyone knows is silly) --> just because you can kinda sorta guard a college sg/sf on switches doesnt mean youre going to be able to keep up with nba caliber initiators
 
#325      
EmpoweredIllini
20-25 percent difference would be completely absurd, and no it wasn't that dramatic.

Opponents shot 54.7 percent at the rim when Mara was on the court, versus 60.6 percent at the rim when he was off.

Still very good.

The best Mara stat though is that teams took only 20.4 percent of their shots at the rim when Mara was on the court. Amongst the best marks in the country.
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oh dang, way off there... need to not just grab whatever google ai decides to spit out (whoops)
 
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