Illinois Basketball 2016-2017

t7nich · Apr 3, 2016

Biggest surprise (positive) of next season will be?:

A. DJW.. Added strength and athleticism in offseason has him poised for a much needed soph leap. Most Improved Player.
B. Kipper..being the athletic stud he is will earn lots of tick by being a defensive stopper, rebounder, and will surprise us on the offense end as well.
C TJL.. is the PG of the future. The young fella will be learning from Dee, Tracy, and hopefully Tate. He will be plagued by freshman woes early, but he will no doubt give Illini fans hope for the future with his playmaking ability and feisty defense.
D Dare is say.. All the above

jmwillini · Apr 3, 2016

E. Aaron Jordan, big jump

jrichisamazing · Apr 3, 2016

t7nich said:
Biggest surprise (positive) of next season will be?:

A. DJW.. Added strength and athleticism in offseason has him poised for a much needed soph leap. Most Improved Player.
B. Kipper..being the athletic stud he is will earn lots of tick by being a defensive stopper, rebounder, and will surprise us on the offense end as well.
C TJL.. is the PG of the future. The young fella will be learning from Dee, Tracy, and hopefully Tate. He will be plagued by freshman woes early, but he will no doubt give Illini fans hope for the future with his playmaking ability and feisty defense.
D Dare is say.. All the above

I think AJ and Finke will be most improved, but DJW will be a close 2nd. No clue how Kipper will actually perform, but I'm optimistic.

However, I'm not as optimistic about TJL this season. I just don't think there are that many minutes for him this year. But part of that is because I seem to be much more optimistic than most on this board about TA making a full recovery. I think it's reasonable to expect 20-25 mpg from TA.

So the other 15-20 mpg at PG are up for grabs. The goal is always to get your best players as much playing time as possible. Our best players are Hill, Nunn, and JCL so in order to get those 3 maximum playing time, Hill has to play a good chunk of minutes at PG or PF. And we all know Hill at PF doesn't work for this team. Plus we already have Finke, Kipper, a stronger DJW, and possibly Black at PF. So IMO, we will be seeing TA and Hill at PG for the most part.

Of course, if Nunn and/or Black get kicked off the team then that changes things quite a bit.

UrbanaIsTheShiz · Apr 4, 2016

Newman said:
Fun fact: Only 4 teams in the Big Ten have have recruited a top 100 center from 2013-16, with only 1 team expected to return one of those top 100 centers next year. Purdue with Haas.

That is kind of stunning.

UrbanaIsTheShiz · Apr 4, 2016

jmwillini said:
E. Aaron Jordan, big jump

could also add:

F. JCL takes a huge jump to 2nd-team All Big Ten. I would not be shocked.
G. Morgan recognized as top 5 big man in the conference.
(neither of these would be biggest surprise, perhaps among potential, welcome surprises?)

Looking your original list, I would say Kipper is sure to get some tick, especially is he is a good defender -- Alex Austins minutes +

Biggest surprise would be Lucas showing by years end he'll be amajor contributor...who knows.

Biggest impact of those three would be DJ. I thought he was pretty impressive in the second half even not getting many minutes.

TownieMatt · Apr 4, 2016

UrbanaIsTheShiz said:
G. Morgan recognized as top 5 big man in the conference.

This would shock me. I don't think there's any doubt that Morgan stepped up his game this past season, but his defense and rebounding are still woeful. He's becoming a mid-tier B1G big man on offense, but he's still a liability on defense.

Newman · Apr 4, 2016

TownieMatt said:
This would shock me. I don't think there's any doubt that Morgan stepped up his game this past season, but his defense and rebounding are still woeful. He's becoming a mid-tier B1G big man on offense, but he's still a liability on defense.

Wouldn't shock me one bit but that's because the conference will be really low on big men next year. I'd have a hard time of thinking of more than 5 big men playing next year that are better than Morgan.

blmillini · Apr 4, 2016

Newman said:
Wouldn't shock me one bit but that's because the conference will be really low on big men next year. I'd have a hard time of thinking of more than 5 big men playing next year that are better than Morgan.

These guys are all better than Morgan in my opinion.

Indiana: Thomas Bryant
Michigan: Mark Donnal
Michigan State: Deyonta Davis and Gavin Schilling
Minnesota: Reggie Lynch
Maryland: Robert Carter
Purdue: Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes

Newman · Apr 4, 2016

blmillini said:
These guys are all better than Morgan in my opinion.

Indiana: Thomas Bryant
Michigan: Mark Donnal
Michigan State: Deyonta Davis and Gavin Schilling
Minnesota: Reggie Lynch
Maryland: Robert Carter
Purdue: Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes

I was referring to players that would for sure be playing next year, many of those guys are likely putting their names in the draft. I'm sure there are 5 but I couldn't think of 5 better post players off the top of my head at the time.

A couple of those are debatable. I didn't include Nigel Hayes as a post player either.

ChiefIllini · Apr 4, 2016

Any guesses on the minute splits for the C position next year if Thorne comes back? I'm thinking, in the order of Thorne, Mav, and Finke 20/15/5. That kind of split mines we could have them all playing there hardest and resting for extended periods of time without having to give up quality of play (for the most part). Given how Mav shot in the last quarter of the season I'd almost give him a tick over Thorne on the offensive end, but maybe I'm too blinded by hope.

Also, I think it would be interesting to see Mike and Mav out there at the same time, although I'm not sure that would work, with neither of them being rangy enough to play the 4 position well.

TCTORNADO · Apr 4, 2016

blmillini said:
These guys are all better than Morgan in my opinion.

Indiana: Thomas Bryant
Michigan: Mark Donnal
Michigan State: Deyonta Davis and Gavin Schilling
Minnesota: Reggie Lynch
Maryland: Robert Carter
Purdue: Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes

tOSU--Trevor Thompson and David Bell

Frank Dux · Apr 4, 2016

blmillini said:
These guys are all better than Morgan in my opinion.

Indiana: Thomas Bryant
Michigan: Mark Donnal
Michigan State: Deyonta Davis and Gavin Schilling
Minnesota: Reggie Lynch
Maryland: Robert Carter
Purdue: Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes

Good list but I would rather have Morgan than schilling

Newman · Apr 7, 2016

Well.. crap.
Thomas Bryant is returning for his sophomore year.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/718076570171215880

AnticipatedSerendipity · Apr 7, 2016

Newman said:
Well.. crap.
Thomas Bryant is returning for his sophomore year.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/718076570171215880

I much rather the Illini get good than have other teams get bad

frozenrope9190 · Apr 7, 2016

Newman said:
Well.. crap.
Thomas Bryant is returning for his sophomore year.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/718076570171215880

I still think they take a couple of steps back without Yogi. That PG thing...

Newman · Apr 7, 2016

AnticipatedSerendipity said:
I much rather the Illini get good than have other teams get bad

I don't disagree, I just didn't expect a projected first rounder to return knowing that next year's draft is supposed to be considerably stronger and deeper. Especially since he played really well in the tournament.

Obelix · Apr 7, 2016

Newman said:
I don't disagree, I just didn't expect a projected first rounder to return knowing that next year's draft is supposed to be considerably stronger and deeper. Especially since he played really well in the tournament.

It's a tough decision, but this year's draft may end up much deeper at his position (PF/C). Not a bad decision IMO.

combes · Apr 7, 2016

blmillini said:
These guys are all better than Morgan in my opinion.

Indiana: Thomas Bryant
Michigan: Mark Donnal
Michigan State: Deyonta Davis and Gavin Schilling
Minnesota: Reggie Lynch
Maryland: Robert Carter
Purdue: Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes

Not sure about Lynch. He wasn't that good at ISU, imo. Happ and Hayes are not centers. Schilling may be better than Morgan, but he is not very good. Is Carter a center? He may have to be with their big man leaving.

wILL-INI · Apr 7, 2016

Newman said:
Well.. crap.
Thomas Bryant is returning for his sophomore year.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/718076570171215880

He really wants to come back and get that Sweet 16 ring...

Greensboro · Apr 7, 2016

AnticipatedSerendipity said:
I much rather the Illini get good than have other teams get bad

Can't we have both? Especially when the other team is Indiana.

ChiCityHoops34 · Apr 7, 2016

wILL-INI said:
He really wants to come back and get that Sweet 16 ring...

I swear only my fellow Illinois fans can make fun of a programs for their performance in a tournament that we can't even qualify for. :tsk:

Newman · Apr 7, 2016

Obelix said:
It's a tough decision, but this year's draft may end up much deeper at his position (PF/C). Not a bad decision IMO.

I'm sure he would still be a first rounder next year, I'm just not looking forward to a better Thomas Bryant in the conference. I am surprised that he's not testing the waters like everyone else. That seems a little curious.

Big Al · Apr 7, 2016

combes said:
Not sure about Lynch. He wasn't that good at ISU, imo. Happ and Hayes are not centers. Schilling may be better than Morgan, but he is not very good. Is Carter a center? He may have to be with their big man leaving.

Carter will be back at PF. They'll still have Dodd-zilla and Cekovsky at center next year.

BlindLoyalty · Apr 7, 2016

You can call Happ whatever you want C/F (I will call Damonte Williams a SG

. Happ guards centers and is guarded by centers almost exclusively when on the court. Don't have time to verify but I believe 100% of Happ's made FGs were in the paint.

Captain Bubbles · Apr 7, 2016

BlindLoyalty said:
You can call Happ whatever you want C/F (I will call Damonte Williams a SG . Happ guards centers and is guarded by centers almost exclusively when on the court. Don't have time to verify but I believe 100% of Happ's made FGs were in the paint.

Barnhart stated Happ is like a magnet around the rim. Technically, he's a PF/C.

Illinois Basketball 2016-2017

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