Tjl plays hard but will not or can not shoot and has missed several clutch free throws. If he does not improve his shooting..he is similar to tum tum but we don't have three nba players to go with him..., He is a fourth guard type. Good guy to have but hard to win with a guy you don't have to guard.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-February 2018)
- Status
A lot to unpack here, but your Lucas/Alstork comparison strikes me as totally out of left field.
Other than an aggressive style of defense and perhaps their lack of outside shooting skill, they seem to me to be totally different players. For one, Lucas is a true point guard who brings the ball up even when he's playing with Trent. That should tell you something right there. On that note, Lucas is a pretty good passer who can move the ball on offense, whereas the ball sticks to Alstork.
Also I see some posts above claiming that Te'jon "can't create his own shot." Am I living in a parallel universe? Because from what I've seen, and I've watched about 90% of our minutes this year, Te'jon is one of our best finishers around the rim.
We both must live in the bizarro world. The only glaring weakness I see in his game is the shot. Kid plays hard, defends, and can get to the rim. I thought the suspension really dialed him in. Different player since then.
Lucas is shooting overall 46% from the field, He is not a good 3 point shooter. His 60% free throw is bad. He is second the team to Trent in assists but only trails Trent by 6, even though he has played well over 200 minutes less than Trent.
He is one of only a couple guys who can break down a defense. He may be the best player we have on help defense & is certainly one of our best overall defenders & for a little guy is active on the boards.
Someone said, he was not very athletic. IMO that would be absolutely false. Yes, I wish he was better outside shooter, but that is not athleticism. He is a great competitor.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
TJL was maybe the second most important player on the team last year (after Malcolm) as a frosh. We wouldn't have even sniffed the bubble without him. How quickly some forget.
TJL
If I were to pick the players in order I would want on this team it would go like this:
1. Trent Frazier
2. Leron Black
3. Te'Jon Lucas
Some of you are completely delusional when it comes to TJL. If everyone played the way he does we would be a lot better off than we are right now. He is exactly what we need to help turn the culture around.
I know I'm going to get ridiculed for this but....I don't see how most think that Ayo will come in and be great next year. Meh...is all I see when I watch his videos. Do not see great athleticism, handles do not seem very tight and just awful shooting form. Most of the highlights are him making a wide open layup or 3 pointer. For a kid that is 6'6" it looks like he can barely dunk the ball. He looks to frail to come in and play right away.
If I were to pick the players in order I would want on this team it would go like this:
1. Trent Frazier
2. Leron Black
3. Te'Jon Lucas
Some of you are completely delusional when it comes to TJL. If everyone played the way he does we would be a lot better off than we are right now. He is exactly what we need to help turn the culture around.
I know I'm going to get ridiculed for this but....I don't see how most think that Ayo will come in and be great next year. Meh...is all I see when I watch his videos. Do not see great athleticism, handles do not seem very tight and just awful shooting form. Most of the highlights are him making a wide open layup or 3 pointer. For a kid that is 6'6" it looks like he can barely dunk the ball. He looks to frail to come in and play right away.
t7nich
- Central IL
Cool.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
+1 - bizarre wild enthusiasm for someone who's never stepped foot on a college floor vs one of our current players who plays his heart out. Love TJL - we were dead when he was out and he came back and recharged the team. He's a huge pest on D.
Goal is always to get better players if staff thinks he can contribute they will recruit the player. Going into next year I think the biggest loss is the loss of Talen Tucker Horton having seen him play I think he would have been an immediate impact player next year and the type of athlete we need. One of the strangest recruiting situations I have seen in a long time that a top player wanted to come in here and we didn't take him due to other situations. Hope it works out for the best for everyone but potentially burning bridges with the best high school program in Chicago could come back to bite us down the road.
GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
I like TJL, and I think he can be a real help to the team, especially as an upperclassman who could challenge everyone to work harder...like he has.
I also agree that Ayo may not be as impactful as we hope, but he looks like he plays smart, and god knows we need more of that. Oh, and Fletch is still here.
HS programs in Chicago are becoming more and more irrelevant, the balance of power has shifted one way and that is with the showcase AAU programs. They are the control point. It is not to Simeon's best interest to burn bridges with Illinois, and more importantly, burn bridges with MIF. If they did, their program will progressively disappear and that is why they have not said or done anything. It is to their best interest to continue to send some of their best players to MIF and some of their best players ever have continued to follow and are extremely close to the the MIF program and staff. But TTH, as an individual player, is certainly a loss and someone who would have helped.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
His defense will get him minutes. And having a back up point guard with his talent level gives us huge depth at guard.
And as far as Ayo playing rings around anyone, that remains to be seen. Just like Jerry Maguire says, they're like popcorn in the pan, some pop and some don't.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Have heard the opposite, tbh
Other than the missed FT's, which annoys me no matter which player it is, I really don't understand the TJL shade. Have people already forgotten what he meant to the team as a true freshman? This year is a direct continuation of what he did last year, except it's in a different system. On offense, he's a distribute-first PG that has the ability to drive and collapse the defense. On defense, he's exactly the type of twitchy, ball-denial defender that Underwood likes.
His weaknesses include poor FT, unreliable FG%, and a lack of size that gets him blocked when he tries to be too direct with layups. His strengths include the ability to collapse the zone (invaluable! Nobody else on this team can do that reliably), draw contact, and he has developed into a good on-the-ball defender. And after a short suspension this season, he appears to have responded to Underwood's style of coaching.
And people are talking about trading that for an unproven head case?
The Ayo talk is somewhat more understandable. He's going to get tick next season, and our freshmen guards are going to grow like crazy. We've just kind of turned into Guard U, and it's going to get crowded at that position. Still, I am just totally unwilling to jettison TJL though, particularly in exchange for Brangers.
Did this guy even get contacted by our staff, or did his single, random tweet initiate his "recruitment?"
His weaknesses include poor FT, unreliable FG%, and a lack of size that gets him blocked when he tries to be too direct with layups. His strengths include the ability to collapse the zone (invaluable! Nobody else on this team can do that reliably), draw contact, and he has developed into a good on-the-ball defender. And after a short suspension this season, he appears to have responded to Underwood's style of coaching.
And people are talking about trading that for an unproven head case?
The Ayo talk is somewhat more understandable. He's going to get tick next season, and our freshmen guards are going to grow like crazy. We've just kind of turned into Guard U, and it's going to get crowded at that position. Still, I am just totally unwilling to jettison TJL though, particularly in exchange for Brangers.
Did this guy even get contacted by our staff, or did his single, random tweet initiate his "recruitment?"
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
Yep. This.
I can understand Ramey and Branger just not 6'2" 2 or even 3 stars players. We are scoring as much as last year. The problem is post defense and if that is not addressed we will continue to struggle. Ebo will help next year but is not enough. If we had a Jaren Jackson it would have been a completely different story this year. It looks like we have lots of solutions for what are not the problems.
the national
- the Front Range
I think there is some jealousy for Frazier. He's yesterday's News (in his mind)
BU certainly plays him a lot even with TF. Doesn't seem consistent with attitude problems.
Your point about Jackson could be made about every team, lol. Jackson looks to be the closest thing to Kevin Garnett since Kevin Garnett. I think if we even had a guy like Tilmon we'd be a completely different team. We'd have pretty good depth with Finke and big E off the bench and have a guy that would make teams think twice about driving to the hoop.
I’m starting to wonder whether or not Underwood is allowing him to commit
Slow play is certainly a possibility with the other options out there. OTOH, qualifying could take some time to clarify with the fact he's been to 2 HS's and 2 JC's in the last 5 years.
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