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Alonzo Verge is tearing it up in JC. Maybe he'll make grades.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-February 2018)
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Alonzo Verge is tearing it up in JC. Maybe he'll make grades.
I think Smith will become a plus shooter once the game slows down for him. Frazier and Williams are a step behind and need a ton of work. But even if they become average enough to be credible threats, that will be helpful.
I totally agree that we need a shooter or two, and especially guys who have a quicker release. Jordan is a good shooter but he's slow as molasses on the release, which allows B1G defenses to totally take him out of the game.
Damonte's jumper is so fundamentally sound, I could really see him having a Luther Head type improvement. He seems to hit the front of the rim on almost all of his misses so maybe a little more leg strength and a slight tweak to get more air in his shot will have him shooting lights out.
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At the Highland shootout. EJ Liddell had 26pts 10blocks I had him for 4 assists. Great game, kid continues to impress. Was hoping to see him play against Leech but he did not play.
He has the best looking consistently missed jumper I think I’ve ever seen. More work over the summer is probably all he needs.
Would be nice to add a shooter though. (And of course a big)
No Ayo, supposedly a week away from his ankle injury.
He played the first quarter and was a non factor. Didn’t score then got T’d up at end of first quarter and hasn’t been back.
Well that's interesting....MF twitter says "Ayo about a week away with injury" and that was 40 minutes ago. No mention of his playing at all. Mentions Nick Irvin with technical but no Ayo.
He definitely played but was limping and realistically is probably a week away, shouldnt have played
Illiniaaron
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We need multiple bigs. Until they show up this program isn't really going anywhere.
This is accurate!
Bigs are a priority, for sure. Right now almost any of our guards could be put in the PG position and play it without too many problems, so we're really fluid there. Was interesting to see TJL and Frazier both in the lineup at the same time against MI a couple times there.
TY for clarifying!!
This. I think I'd rather have a Sean Harrington than tevian Jones right now. Nothing against tevian he just happens to be the guy at this moment.
By that i mean, we need a guy that if you leave him open, he's going to make it 70% of the time. If you foul him he'll make his fts 90% of the time. The more athletic the better, but we need a SHOOTER not someone improving their shooting. That will stop teams from sagging on our drives.
For the big we need defense and rebounding first. Any points they could add would be bonus.
Landing 2 guys that could fill those roles would be ideal whether they be jucos, 5th year transfers, or freshmen doesn't matter but we need those roles.
Then if we can land Liddell, Okoro, and Whitney this team will take off.
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Meh... the Illini need scorers and difference makers and that currently do not have. People have gone from "we have one of the best shooters in the nation in AJ", "BU needs to market the AJ story to top recruits", " etc. etc. to "we do not have good shooters on this team."
We do have some shooters, the problem is exactly that, opposing teams do not leave them open. If you leave AJ open, he is a very good shooter. But he can't easily create his own shot, and to be honest, neither could Harrington (although Sean could handle better), just that Harrington had the luxury to also play along Frankie, Cook, Dee (Illinois' last 3 B1G POY), first team all B1G players like Deron and Luther, and other top talent.
Common theme among many posts... we get Ayo in 2018... add some player who can be an immediate contributor.. then if we add Liddell, Okoro, and Whitney, in 2019, etc, etc. Pretty much an admission that we need to add talent and difference makers, and no matter the system, positionless basketball, coaching wizardry and all, we will not consistently outsmart the Izzo's and the Beilein's of the B1G. We simply need the horses, and unless we get the talent that we have not had in the last 12 years (again, with the exception of 2010-11), the bar will simply remain at just making the tournament. Every single year.
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Highland Invitational
Watched EJ play for the first time at Alton on Friday and at the Highland Invitational on Saturday and came away impressed. The one thing that sticks out to me over the last two games is his ability to block shots. I believe he had 10 blocked shots in both games. He is a very explosive leaper and tries to intimidate his opponent by viciously blocking anything weak that comes inside. I thought he would be a little better around the rim in both games playing against smaller opponents but has a very solid all around game.
I also had the unfortunate luck to be sitting right behind Morgan Parks bench in their game. Nick Irvin is a giant D-Bag. At the end of each game both teams are asked to remain on the court as the player of the game is announced and awarded his trophy. Nick immediately started to leave the court at the end of their game and was grabbed by another coach who told him to stay in which he replies "F*** those guys", and stormed off. The rest of the team and players showed class and stayed on the court. He also proclaimed to everyone in the gym how he gets cheated every time he comes down here to play. Its unfortunate that we have to go through him to get players.
Watched EJ play for the first time at Alton on Friday and at the Highland Invitational on Saturday and came away impressed. The one thing that sticks out to me over the last two games is his ability to block shots. I believe he had 10 blocked shots in both games. He is a very explosive leaper and tries to intimidate his opponent by viciously blocking anything weak that comes inside. I thought he would be a little better around the rim in both games playing against smaller opponents but has a very solid all around game.
I also had the unfortunate luck to be sitting right behind Morgan Parks bench in their game. Nick Irvin is a giant D-Bag. At the end of each game both teams are asked to remain on the court as the player of the game is announced and awarded his trophy. Nick immediately started to leave the court at the end of their game and was grabbed by another coach who told him to stay in which he replies "F*** those guys", and stormed off. The rest of the team and players showed class and stayed on the court. He also proclaimed to everyone in the gym how he gets cheated every time he comes down here to play. Its unfortunate that we have to go through him to get players.
Deleted member 631370
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I've been saying this from the very beginning.
We get out of our current rut through recruiting -- simple as that.
Now, that doesn't mean we need to load up on 5* kids or we need X number of top-100 kids. It simply means that we need to land kids that fit BU's system -- even if they're not top-100. He needs athletes and shooters, guys who can get out and run in the open court and hit shots. And preferably, athletic shooters. Right now, we're in very short supply of that -- at least with any experience.
Tevian Jones would be a great addition. Flo Thamba would be a great addition. I'm not counting on either of them, though. 2019 has several great big man and wing options -- I'm a bit more confident with the 2019 targets.
Whatever the case, this was always about making some improvements with the pieces we have, and then adding better pieces over time to build a winning program. There's no reason to think we're not on that glide path.
Great to see he carries himself with class considering all the young kids that look up to him.
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I think we generally have a B1G-quality roster, but by no means the sort of roster to finish in the upper half of the conference.
I remember having this debate with S&C about how "talented" we really are. It's not about how many top-100 kids you have on the roster (although we only have 4). It's about whether that talent is distributed properly, whether it's experienced, and how talented that talent really is.
We don't have a single top-100 kid above 6'7. We don't have a single top-100 guard older than 19 years old. And our top-100 wing is really limited in what he can do athletically.
And let's be honest. None of our kids are major impact players. We don't have a single kid in the B1G's top-15 in scoring, rebounding, assists, or blocks. Think about that for a second.
We have nobody on par with KBD, Jordan Murphy, Ethan Happ, Juwan Morgan, or Charles Matthews. And those are just the players from the other middle-of-the-pack teams.
We have nobody who is within a year or two of being an NBA draft pick. Nobody who will even sniff All-American this season. Nobody who fans outside of the B1G know anything about.
That begins to change next year with Ayo (and the maturation of guys like Mark Smith). But we need more of it -- and at more positions.
Absolutely agree
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And for the heck of it, here's how many top-100 kids we've had in previous seasons. This doesn't factor in kids who were either redshirting or sitting out for transfer, but rather, just captures the total # of top-100 kids on the roster. It's obviously an imperfect measure of talent, but it's something:
2018: 4
2017: 6
2016: 7
2015: 6
2014: 5
2013: 6
2012: 8
2011: 6
2010: 5
2009: 4
2008: 7
2007: 7
2006: 7
2005: 10
2004: 10
2003: 8
2002: 5
2001: 5
A few observations.
This team is the least talented team this century, purely according to how many kids we have in the top-100.
The 2001 and 2002 teams had among the least # of top-100 kids, BUT......they also had several 5* kids (Frank, Cook, Marcus Griffin) and a TON of experienced kids like Bradford, Damir, Lucas Johnson, Arch, etc. Experience and size/toughness matters -- especially when blended with an elite 5* PG and a 5* PF.
The 2009 team was among the least talented, but was also very experienced. Senior guards in Trent Meacham and Chet Frazier to go along with experience and size in the front court in Davis and Tisdale.
2004-2005 was crazy talented, and it showed. Talent matters. All 5 starters were top-100 kids. 2012 was a team with a lot of talent, but clearly didn't perform. Then again, some of that top-100 talent turned out to be a total bust: Mike Shaw, Myke Henry, etc.
2018 suffers from the worst combination of talent and experience this century.
2018: 4
2017: 6
2016: 7
2015: 6
2014: 5
2013: 6
2012: 8
2011: 6
2010: 5
2009: 4
2008: 7
2007: 7
2006: 7
2005: 10
2004: 10
2003: 8
2002: 5
2001: 5
A few observations.
This team is the least talented team this century, purely according to how many kids we have in the top-100.
The 2001 and 2002 teams had among the least # of top-100 kids, BUT......they also had several 5* kids (Frank, Cook, Marcus Griffin) and a TON of experienced kids like Bradford, Damir, Lucas Johnson, Arch, etc. Experience and size/toughness matters -- especially when blended with an elite 5* PG and a 5* PF.
The 2009 team was among the least talented, but was also very experienced. Senior guards in Trent Meacham and Chet Frazier to go along with experience and size in the front court in Davis and Tisdale.
2004-2005 was crazy talented, and it showed. Talent matters. All 5 starters were top-100 kids. 2012 was a team with a lot of talent, but clearly didn't perform. Then again, some of that top-100 talent turned out to be a total bust: Mike Shaw, Myke Henry, etc.
2018 suffers from the worst combination of talent and experience this century.
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Interesting observation and good research. Really puts a fine point on the whole thing doesn't it?
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