RichardKeenesCousin
Richard Keene's Cousin
“My how the turntables…..” Michael Scott
Illini in the Pros
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Strange Bulls game tonight. Didn’t see it, but every Bulls starter — except Derozan barely — had a negative +/- (some by double digits), while bench was all positive. And not surprisingly it was flipped for Washington, which was enough for a 2-point win.
That's going a bit over the top. I think they're likely a play-in tournament team but that's mostly due to the improvement in the Central (aside from Indiana) and just how absolutely deep the East is this year. The only way I can see them even remotely coming close to tanking is if both Lavine and DeMar suffer long term or season ending injuries and Lonzo doesn't come back to what he was prior to his knee injury.
The one thing these first couple of games have exposed is that they need a consistent third scoring threat aside from Demar and Lavine. An NBA team can only go so far if you're being carried and basically bailed out by a player like DeRozan every night.
This is the same injury prone team we saw last year who, as a result, finished 11th in the East. It’s unfortunate that we will unlikely see a combo of Lonzo, Zach & Caruso play enough meaningful minutes together due to injury. If the basketball gods continue to be unkind and say one of Demar, Vuc, Drummond or Ayo go down the season will get ugly in a hurry.
Uh...the Bulls finished 6th in the East last season.
You’re right my bad. Point being, the team is already in a desperate place to remain healthy. DARKO(analytics) projects the bulls as a 38 win team. One more boo boo and they’re looking at a bad season.
If the team stays injury riddled, they could always tank and use their lottery protected pick that Orlando has..Victor Wembanyama seems worth the chance.
Injury riddled?? They're down Lonzo and Zach hasn't played for the first couple of games but I wouldn't call them injury riddled. And the Bulls won't be bad enough to be in the lottery.
Bit of a rough 2nd game for Ayo, happens.
Good luck to Kofi in Japan. Seems like a cool place to live while being a pro athlete.
I'd say it's a pretty good chance they wind up in the play-in tournament
Good luck to Kofi in Japan. Seems like a cool place to live while being a pro athlete.
I'd say it's a pretty good chance they wind up in the play-in tournament
Pretty sure I said that going into the season.
chrisRunner7
- Spokane, WA
From what I can tell, no pro team on the planet needs Kofi more than Niigata Albirex BB right now... they are currently 1-7 with a lot of blowouts and are last place in their league.
Thought maybe they just had a slow start but then I found an article saying they lost a record 25 straight games last year.
Thought maybe they just had a slow start but then I found an article saying they lost a record 25 straight games last year.
BASKETBALL | Niigata Albirex BB Seeking to Rebuild from Tough Times
First-year coach Fujitaka Hiraoka’s team has lost 25 consecutive games, a B. League record.
japan-forward.com
I wish nothing but good things to Kofi thanks to what he did for Illini basketball …
… but …
… he would have made a lot more NIL money had he stayed another year, and could have continued to improve his game in view of a ton more scouts. Instead, he’s joining the worst team in a backwater league in a minor Japanese city, and … oh, I’ll just stop there. Hopefully he puts up 1000 shots a day in practice, improves his range and gets a look in nine months from a much better league.
Probably true overall, but I will say Japan pays better than most overseas leagues, even most European leagues. I read the typical salary range for foreign players is 200-400k (looks like TCTORNADO read the same info, see above) and even for Japanese players it's 150k. I was very surprised to see the Japanese league pays this well, because like you I'd assumed it would be a lower level of competition than even second or third tier European leagues.
B-ILL
- Working From Home
Japan is amazing, and he will be a superstar there. I’m a 6’3” generic, white American dude, and when I studied abroad there for a semester in college (thanks, U of I) the Japanese treated me with semi-stardom for nothing more than my height and being American. It’s an awesome country and a unique experience for him - not always about the money. I hope to do a stint in Japan someday again! 頑張って!
This was a good move for Kofi. As some of you know he was close to signing a GLeague contract with the Sale Lake City Stars (Jazz affiliate) but the money was much less than Japan. NBA Scouts know him very well from his pre draft workouts and Summer league experience. Playing in Japan he will be able to join any NBA team and not just the Jazz. I will be surprised if he does not get a look see with an NBA team in the future. Two years ago the NBA opening day rosters had 45% of the players with some type of G League exposure. Kofi is still in the early stages of player development as he only started playing BB as a Freshman in HS. I can't help but think about where he was as a Junior at Illinois vs where he was as a gangly Freshman. Sorry for this long rant but I will always be grateful for what he and Ayo did to turn this morbid program around. He committed when things were awfully dark. Unfortunately, there are some Illini fans out there that were butt hurt over his not coming back for his Senior year and spewed a lot of Kofi hate. I'm just glad I'm not one of them. Thanks for the banners and rings Kofi, I will always remember them. Go Illini
theNewGuy
- Dallas, TX
I feel like coaching has a lot to do with player development. I know Kofi has a lot of work ethic but with being so new to the game, how much does a coach in Japan who lost 25 games in a row have to offer Kofi in terms of development?
I've never hated on Kofi but I can't help but think that he made the wrong decision by not coming back. Money would have been better, better coaching/development, more exposure, finishing college degree, closer to family.
That being said, I still hope he makes it to the NBA and has a long career and can provide everything he wants for his Family!
3 point girl
- texas
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I think BU probably pushed him out the door too. It was time to shift away from pound the ball down low to a more athletic team that is based on positionless athletes.[/QUOTE]
I think BU probably pushed him out the door too. It was time to shift away from pound the ball down low to a more athletic team that is based on positionless athletes.[/QUOTE]
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Great post!
I mean, we all know the NBA is all about shooters these days. I saw Anthony Davis throw up a three yesterday that hit the side of the backboard and Lebron got nothing but air from 8000 feet out. Not comparing Kofi to these players, but I agree there is a place for Kofi in the NBA. I don’t think it will be crazy, but it will be a seat at the table.
Steph Curry has missed shots too, believe it or not.
Anthony Davis has been a shell of himself but there was a time when he was a 34% 3pt shooter. Lebron is a career 34.6% 3pt shooter. Kofi made the exact same number of 3pt shots in NCAA competition as me. And I didn't play college basketball.
3pt shooting isn't even the main reason Kofi is not in the league. I hope he gets a shot at the League and figure he probably will if he keeps developing his game, but Anthony Davis and LeBron badly missing 3pt shots really has nothing to do with it.
In no way would Kofi not be on a NBA roster if he had a shot from 3pt range. As mentioned, my example was more so to point out the flaw in the mentality I have seen in regards to Kofi “not fitting the NBA of today” because he doesn’t have an outside game. Lakers (not just the two mentioned) as a whole have shot horribly the first three games and the point is they are all NBA players. I think we both agree Kofi has a place in the NBA at some point, but any shortcomings he has would clearly be washed away if he had a 3pt shot to go along with his size.
Hitting the occasional 3pt shot is not going to cancel out his shortcomings in defending the pick-and-roll. That's what the NBA is these days, and nobody is going to let Kofi go out there and get eaten alive just because he learned to shoot decently from range. I'm sure he knows this and will be working hard on it in Japan.
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