Lucas is a 100+ ranked, young-for-his-grade, true freshman who is coming off a six month injury rehab. I think a realistic hope is that he is taking back up PG minutes from Tate by January.
Illinois 81, SEMO 62 POSTGAME
- Status
Lucas is a 100+ ranked, young-for-his-grade, true freshman who is coming off a six month injury rehab. I think a realistic hope is that he is taking back up PG minutes from Tate by January.
haasi
- New York
I miss Illini70Math's 9 observations. In that spirit:
1. The biggest positive surprise from the game is that Abrams indeed looks good. I think we can certainly say his shot looks better than ever before. It's hard to gauge the rest against low major competition, but it looks like he might be better overall than he was two years ago pre injuries.
The other positives:
2. Mav looked good, building on last year's strides in terms of offensive efficiency. Still not a great defender or complete player.
3. DJ looks improved and more confident than last year.
4. Finke had a couple bright spots. Nice putback. (Recalls Ekey?) He had a good non conference last year and fell off in conference. Hopefully he's recovered his confidence and will get better as this season goes on.
5. Aside from that, not much good to take away. Hill, JCL, Thorne, Tate, AJ were either satisfactory or disappointing against poor competition.
6. With a few exceptions we didn't look like we really know how to play together yet. Hopefully that will develop. I think it will. Expecting a couple rough losses earlier in the season against harder competition, but back half of big ten schedule very favorable.
7. The fact that we didn't see much of TJL not a great sign in terms of his readiness. Maybe it's just an issue of defensive trust and he'll earn time in a month or two.
8. Obviously Black will be back in a few games, and hopefully he's healthy and has made some serious gains in terms of skill development and defense without fouling.
9. Kipper will be back too. Not expecting much from him this season. Hard to trust a 3 star you've never seen when it seems that people underperform practice reports and hype 90% of the time, but maybe he'll surprise and be a real contributor.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
1. The biggest positive surprise from the game is that Abrams indeed looks good. I think we can certainly say his shot looks better than ever before. It's hard to gauge the rest against low major competition, but it looks like he might be better overall than he was two years ago pre injuries.
The other positives:
2. Mav looked good, building on last year's strides in terms of offensive efficiency. Still not a great defender or complete player.
3. DJ looks improved and more confident than last year.
4. Finke had a couple bright spots. Nice putback. (Recalls Ekey?) He had a good non conference last year and fell off in conference. Hopefully he's recovered his confidence and will get better as this season goes on.
5. Aside from that, not much good to take away. Hill, JCL, Thorne, Tate, AJ were either satisfactory or disappointing against poor competition.
6. With a few exceptions we didn't look like we really know how to play together yet. Hopefully that will develop. I think it will. Expecting a couple rough losses earlier in the season against harder competition, but back half of big ten schedule very favorable.
7. The fact that we didn't see much of TJL not a great sign in terms of his readiness. Maybe it's just an issue of defensive trust and he'll earn time in a month or two.
8. Obviously Black will be back in a few games, and hopefully he's healthy and has made some serious gains in terms of skill development and defense without fouling.
9. Kipper will be back too. Not expecting much from him this season. Hard to trust a 3 star you've never seen when it seems that people underperform practice reports and hype 90% of the time, but maybe he'll surprise and be a real contributor.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We didn't play terribly well at either end. One game, but worrying.
I did like the way we played with tempo and we did rebound very well.
I did like the way we played with tempo and we did rebound very well.
He wants turnovers at 11 or less per game. I think he understands that may take some time to get there given the faster pace they're trying to implement.
Your expectations were off here, he's not Jackson/Evans/Brunson.
He played last night, so can't.
Keep in mind that he was playing his normal position during the non con last year, then had to move to the 5 spot when Big Mike went down. He can, is and will be a heck of a stretch 4 while he is here.
They played above that last night, but Groce's game plan was to wear them down with size. It worked perfectly. With a full roster, we'll get to see more of Groce's coaching chops this year.
Looking like he will be playing way more 5 than 4 the next two years unless recruiting changes.
Give this team time to gel. All the pieces fit. When it gets going it's gonna be good. Also remember there's going to be additional adjustment periods when Leron and Kipper return. I fully expect us to be maximizing the last half of our big schedule and hot heading into the tourney.
Dan
Admin
Deleted member 16068
D
Guest
It was interesting to hear Steve Bardo's comments during the game. He seems very high on this team.
sacraig
- The desert
Not making the tourney is a bit harsh of a judgement after one game where Groce experimented with lineups. Take a step back from the ledge, friend.
You were really drinking the Kool-Aid, then. Also, even if he hadn't burned his red shirt last night, that would be a bad idea. He will basically take the reins next year and he needs game experience before he does that. Just give him time to get caught up to the speed of the college game, especially on defense. His minutes will probably increase through the season.
I am not really sure how well you can trust Kenpom (or any other ratings systems) after one game.
I think Bardo probably knows a little bit more about basketball than most of us here, so if he is optimistic, I choose to be as well.
In all fairness, they were all shots he's capable of making. The kid is one of the best shooters in the country. JCL pumped faked after a couple went down, got two defenders in the air, passed to a teammate, who then passed to another for a wide open three. The kids a ball player. He'll be fine if he shoots 15 threes a game because he'll always hover around 45% at least. I could see him with +50 3 pt %. Oh, one three was just before the half ended from 30-35 ft too.
We wouldn't want Jordan shooting 10 threes as of right now. He'll figure it out, and I think a lot of it is mental at this point. His confidence is there, but I think the fact that he would've been the third sg option if KN were here on top of the fact that we(the fans) have penciled JCL in as the starter even though he was hurt leading up to the season has to be on his mind a little for the second straight year on top of it all. I don't know. On a three where he had to get some lift off the floor, he decided to put a bunch of arch on the ball instead of drilling the shot. On another wide open attempt in the corner his lower body was already twisted completely to the crowd behind the basket that he missed badly. Shouldn't the twist be with the release? Lefties seem to be able to deal with that unorthodox(to me) motion compared to right handed shooters. MH did this too on a set shot three that he missed. I don't even want to think about AJ's first shot.
Last edited:
and that is not his fault. He will do his best. The added bulk will help.
illinitrav
- NW Suburbs
He said his standard is 11 but the team had 16. Just wanted to clarify that for ya :thumb:
chief78
- Florida
I would think the ranking is based on last year and SEMO is a completely different team from last year. If not, then the ranking is based on no real games entering last nights game. On another note, SEMO looked pretty quick, and I think our move to the zone was a good one. With our length and size, zone could be a good option against some opponents. Syracuse seems to make it work against most everyone they play (and they typically have length). We just have to find the players to put a body on for blocking out and rebound when in the zone. Some of the better shooting B1G teams might be a problem when playing the zone, but I like the ability to play both MTM and zone. Mav looked just fantastic, even if it was against an undersized team. Did he even miss a shot?
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
My big disappointment last night was that I just didn't see drive the lane and make a good pass very often at all. I thought that we would be better at using a full roster of scorers to get more variety into the offense. Tempo was better, but we need more inside/outside. jmo
SEMO spent a lot of energy preventing this from happening, FWIW. Still agree that it should be utlized more, especially given the multiple outside threats we have on offense.
+1
Our bigs have to know that they'll get touches, and our guard have to know that our bigs are willing to kick the ball back out. Passing the ball inside the perimeter pulls the defense inside of perimeter creating better looks when the ball gets kicked back out. That's why dribbling/driving insider the perimeter is also so key to getting easy/better looks, but the other players need continue rotating, creating space as the play is happening to make this possible too. Don't get caught watching the play, be apart of the play. Share the sugar. All pretty ABC, but it never hurts to reiterate.
Finke hit the glass fairly well. He did an great job grabbing long misses off far threes by not getting too close to the rim. He gets vertical a little too much when he is the rim protector letting the driver get a fairly uncontested lay up. At least jump vertically, it takes up more of the defensive area rather than on your tip toes which limits your defensive exstention vertically compared to jumping. Easier said than done especially with gravity involved. If the SEMO guards were converting those the B1G athletes won't have any trouble either. I suppose Groce might be having him dial back his defensive intensity while Black is out. As far as him getting beat off the bounce. It happens when a pf/c guards guys 4-6 inches shorter.
There are going to be enough opportunities to score for everyone with the 30 second shot clock. It's not abnormal for 3-4 players to average double figures in scoring, and anothe 1 or 2 getting 7-9. Sharing the sugar is a little easier with the 30, but players have to realize that.
Last edited:
Some Positive and Negative
1) Abrams not fully back, but great to see a PG who can hit the 3's and drive in for layups
2) We have a well balanced team with decent back-ups. Two true centers, true PFs (one being a pretty good stretch 4), and true SF/wings (Hill and DJ)
Negatives
1)Going to identify a rotation. Too truly break out we need all hands on deck and having players who can't make open shots is not a good option.
2) Thorne is out of shape, hopefully by Big Ten season he is down 15-20 lbs. But still can give us quality bench minutes. But need him to return to form.
3) Defense. Hopefully Black can give us a little bit more interior defense, but our problem is defending 3's.
Like Finke's game but I did like the line-up of Abrams, JCL, Hill, DJ, and Maverick. If JCL can develop PG game we can potentially go with JCL, Hill, DJ, Finke, and Maverick at spurts.
1) Abrams not fully back, but great to see a PG who can hit the 3's and drive in for layups
2) We have a well balanced team with decent back-ups. Two true centers, true PFs (one being a pretty good stretch 4), and true SF/wings (Hill and DJ)
Negatives
1)Going to identify a rotation. Too truly break out we need all hands on deck and having players who can't make open shots is not a good option.
2) Thorne is out of shape, hopefully by Big Ten season he is down 15-20 lbs. But still can give us quality bench minutes. But need him to return to form.
3) Defense. Hopefully Black can give us a little bit more interior defense, but our problem is defending 3's.
Like Finke's game but I did like the line-up of Abrams, JCL, Hill, DJ, and Maverick. If JCL can develop PG game we can potentially go with JCL, Hill, DJ, Finke, and Maverick at spurts.
MSU/Arizona are heavyweights but their game wasn't really played all that well, IMO. There was a lot of talent on display. How in the world does MSU allow a guard to go the whole length of the floor basically uncontested to hit a game winning lay up?
The better game was Indiana/ Kansas. Two teams I don't care for, but there were several really good college players & some who you will see at the next level. Game was really played well, by two talented teams.
As for the Illini, we have a lot of depth. My concern, is not the offense, but the defense.
Captain Bubbles
- Fairfield, IL
While Malcolm had a great game, I think the players of the game were Mav and Finke. Only two missed shots between the both of them, and grabbed several rebounds. Great start to the season for those two.
- Status