Reading through the posts, I still am not understanding how anyone can pick us in the top four of the conference next year. I have questions if Abrams ever plays again and even if he does, certainly don't expect him to step in and pick up where he left off two years ago after the injuries he has sustained. Will Black be back healthy and can he contribute at the level everyone thinks he can?
I don't see that much more depth or collective talent than we have had at any time during the last four years, a period of time that we have not even sniffed the upper echelon of the conference. Still think the bubble is the ceiling for next year's team. Hope I am wrong, but that is my feeling until proven otherwise.
We have gone through this exercise about how great next year's team is going to be for so long that I have been conditioned to temper my expectations. I would love for Illinois basketball to be great and fun again, but do not see the optimism that others do.
Black will be fully healed by then. To be honest, he probably could play this season if we absolutely needed but there's no point trying to rush him back. You can't tell me that a guy that is that active on the sideline couldn't suit up. Even with a safe prediction that he only contributes what he did his freshmen year, that is already a huge improvement in what we have with rebounding while allowing Hill to play his natural position. I feel like people are acting as if Leron's production in Europe was a myth. That actually happened, he played great against legit teams. Add Black with any improvement you get with DJW, and some decent minutes from Kipper, and we should be pretty good at the 4. If we get a 5th year big and play Finke at the 4 then we'll have crazy depth at that position. I don't know what to expect from Abrams but it's already a huge improvement having him suit up, just from a leadership standpoint. The combo of the 3 point guards is a significant improvement over what we currently have. No point in going over the 2 with JCL, Nunn, Jordan.. we're good there. That leaves us with Morgan, Finke, and whatever we get as a transfer. Morgan has shown flashes that he could be a decent guy from here on out, but he needs help at the 4 with defense and rebounding. At the very least, we know what we can expect there and although it's not our best position, it's not as bad as it could have been if MM didn't make the decent jump on offense.
That is a very, very deep team, but not elite by any means. Even with our issues this year, we weren't terribly far away from having good results. The improved production at the pg, help with rebounding, improved defense, and increase in athleticism could go a long way. Is it a top 4 team in the conference? That's a little silly to debate at this point, but if you can't see how this is a deeper team than what we've had in the past 4 years, then I don't think there's really anything you can do but wait and see. There's no way that their ceiling next year is a bubble team. IMO, that's their floor if they're healthy.