Illinois 90, Southern 55 Postgame

pruman91 said:

thx for asking.....getting better little by little......I have what is called a field cut vision loss which is greatly affecting my depth perception and reducing my vision in my right eye by 50 % and what vision I've lost has been replaced by wavy colors and multi colored " static noise " images.......the brain filles those lost brain cells fields with random images and makes reading and typing posts most difficult.......but I will recover enough to enjoy life......I really really will..........GO ILLINI !!!!!!!!!

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pruman91 said:

thx for asking.....getting better little by little......I have what is called a field cut vision loss which is greatly affecting my depth perception and reducing my vision in my right eye by 50 % and what vision I've lost has been replaced by wavy colors and multi colored " static noise " images.......the brain filles those lost brain cells fields with random images and makes reading and typing posts most difficult.......but I will recover enough to enjoy life......I really really will..........GO ILLINI !!!!!!!!!

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It's a process. My mom had a severe stroke two years ago and she makes improvements every week. Do your PT, OT, and speech therapy! It really helps speed the process along. Prayers for you and glad to see you back!

Brosky said:

I like everything you say here, but I wonder what you remember about Derek Harper as a frosh. I remember one of the greatest athletes I've seen at Illinois. Even as a young guy he oozed so much confidence it bordered on arrogance. I don't have any stats on him, but we all got a good look at how scary his defense was. When the ball was in his hands it was in the safe. If you cheated on him, he'd blow right by you.

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Derek Harper scored 8.3 points as a freshman and 8.4 as a sophomore. he had 2.6 rebounds as a fr and 5.4 assists. couldn't shoot anything but layups 41.7 %. studly his junior year...

After watching Illinois basketball for 46 years, I can’t remember a freshman that had such a heady all around game like Wagler. I had my favorites….Bruce, Derek, Frankie, Wysinger, Nick, Efrum, Altenberger, Gill, Dee, Deron, Luther, Ayo, KJ, Will…, but none seemed to have that mentality IMHO

No disrespect to Mirk. Talented ‘freshman’, but not same mentality.

I'mm sorry for posting this in the wrong place. After watching Illini basketball for more than 60 years, Harper's still perhaps the most explosive athlete I've seen for the orange and blue. Those Harper numbers aren't particularly remarkable for a true point guard. He was a pass first guy. You can't really quantify his game; there aren't enough metrics for that. Defense is still 50% of the game, and Harper was the best I've seen. He was so long, and His hands were like snakes, always poking the ball away, making life miserable for opponents. I can't count how many times I saw him anticipate, leave his man, and swat the ball against the glass on somebody from behind. To this point in the season, Wagler is exceptional; I never saw this coming. Have to wonder if anybody did. But comparing him to Harper is apples to oranges. Wagler is a terrific combo guard; he makes good passes, but he's not really a point. I'm really glad we've got him, that's for sure.

Noblesville Illini said:

After watching Illinois basketball for 46 years, I can’t remember a freshman that had such a heady all around game like Wagler. I had my favorites….Bruce, Derek, Frankie, Wysinger, Nick, Efrum, Altenberger, Gill, Dee, Deron, Luther, Ayo, KJ, Will…, but none seemed to have that mentality IMHO

No disrespect to Mirk. Talented ‘freshman’, but not same mentality.

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That's why I've been saying he'll end up being the best Freshman to ever come through our program!