Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#52      

LvilleILL

LvilleILL
LvilleILL
Champaign Toast said:
I'm torn right now over whether I want Hawkins and Shannon back. In favor, I say let's run it back and try to do it better. I love both players' demeanors. I firmly believe they are committed to the team, willing to run through a wall, and improving day to day. I want them to succeed so bad.

On the other hand, part of me is ready to move on from Hawkins following up a game-changing play with a technical foul, a pass out of bounds, and step-back 25-foot jumper as the shot clock expires... and from Shannon driving to the hoop and dribbling off his knee or picking up his dribble into a 2-defender trap on the block with no clear outlet in sight.
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Make It Stop The Office GIF
 
#54      

Emerson Bigguns

Emerson Bigguns
Emerson Bigguns
Champaign Toast said:
I'm going to end up being excited and engaged by whatever final roster and team narrative we have going into next season, but...

I'm torn right now over whether I want Hawkins and Shannon back. In favor, I say let's run it back and try to do it better. I love both players' demeanors. I firmly believe they are committed to the team, willing to run through a wall, and improving day to day. I want them to succeed so bad.

On the other hand, part of me is ready to move on from Hawkins following up a game-changing play with a technical foul, a pass out of bounds, and step-back 25-foot jumper as the shot clock expires... and from Shannon driving to the hoop and dribbling off his knee or picking up his dribble into a 2-defender trap on the block with no clear outlet in sight.

I really missed Ayo's big moment competence last year when we were squandering momentum and coming up just short in games that would have advanced us in the tournaments, given us a better seeding, or solidified a ranking. Maybe the transfer shooters WILL fix some problems. Hawkins staying in the draft, though, and an additional transfer center like Udeh or Cisse to split minutes with Dainja at the 5 would be kinda fun, in the way a new toy is. Would we win more games without Hawkins? I'm not sure.

I hope to see both Hawkins and Shannon playing in the NBA before too long, whether or not they're Illini next year.
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Here's the thing... There is virtually no chance we get better players than TSJ or Coleman to replace them should they stay in the draft. Guys who are clearly better than them will stay in as well.
The best-case scenario for next year's team is that they return.
Would we win more games with someone other than Hawkins? Almost certainly not. He knows the scheme, knows the coaches, knows the players, and does a thousand little things during games that help the team win.
 
#55      

ElGran

E
ElGran
Heisenbobble said:
It'll be hard to find a replacement for what TSJ does in the transfer portal. There are a lot more options for a stretch 4/big. That's why we should all want Shannon, Jr. back next season more than Hawkins (and I'd like to see him back, as well).
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I'd love both back - not sure who would be harder to replace. That said, the most important of the 3 is RayJ (or some other quality PG).
 
#57      

PassingBy

P
PassingBy
LvilleILL said:
Rn if I had to guess:
RayJ commits in the next week or so to Illinois
Coleman stays in the draft
Shannon comes back
We add another big in the portal once Coleman makes his final choice
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As always, thanks for the input/s.

However, would be curious to find out what this could/would mean in terms of weekends in The Dance.
 
#58      

Mojoman

Mojoman
Mojoman
Ga65 said:
Don’t really see this. 6’10” shot blocker who can guard anyone is the unicorn. So much talk about his turnovers and he had 81 vs TJ’s 80. Offensive efficiency 50.7 vs 51.1. If TJ could go to his right and hit the mid range jumper it would be a different story but he turns the ball over on offensive fouls by forcing it to the left and he doesn’t handle it well enough to play the point. Want TJ back but if only 1 it would be Hawk with my vote.
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I like CH and he does a lot of things well for his size. This idea that he is lock down defender of anyone on the floor is a myth. We had multiple guys have career games against us this year.
 
#60      

ElGran

E
ElGran
Mojoman said:
I like CH and he does a lot of things well for his size. This idea that he is lock down defender of anyone on the floor is a myth. We had multiple guys have career games against us this year.
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I agree. He's certainly a quality versatile defender, but probably not "lockdown" at defending any specific position.
 
#61      

grantlab

G
grantlab
Ga65 said:
Don’t really see this. 6’10” shot blocker who can guard anyone is the unicorn. So much talk about his turnovers and he had 81 vs TJ’s 80. Offensive efficiency 50.7 vs 51.1. If TJ could go to his right and hit the mid range jumper it would be a different story but he turns the ball over on offensive fouls by forcing it to the left and he doesn’t handle it well enough to play the point. Want TJ back but if only 1 it would be Hawk with my vote.
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TSJ can go get you a bucket and would be easily slated to lead this team in scoring; Hawkins would still seem like a “piece” on a roster where we’re lacking an alpha / true #1 scoring option. Take a look at the sure-fire roster as it stands, and who’s leading us in scoring? Domask? Dainja? I obviously want both back, but getting an All Big Ten player and 17.2 PPG back significantly raises this team’s floor more than Hawkins does.
 
#62      

ElGran

E
ElGran
Champaign Toast said:
I'm torn right now over whether I want Hawkins and Shannon back. In favor, I say let's run it back and try to do it better. I love both players' demeanors. I firmly believe they are committed to the team, willing to run through a wall, and improving day to day. I want them to succeed so bad.

On the other hand, part of me is ready to move on from Hawkins following up a game-changing play with a technical foul, a pass out of bounds, and step-back 25-foot jumper as the shot clock expires... and from Shannon driving to the hoop and dribbling off his knee or picking up his dribble into a 2-defender trap on the block with no clear outlet in sight.

I really missed Ayo's big moment competence last year when we were squandering momentum and coming up just short in games that would have advanced us in the tournaments, given us a better seeding, or solidified a ranking. Maybe the transfer shooters WILL fix some problems. Hawkins staying in the draft, though, and an additional transfer center like Udeh or Cisse to split minutes with Dainja at the 5 would be kinda fun, in the way a new toy is. Would we win more games without Hawkins? I'm not sure.
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Neither Shannon nor Hawkins is the clutch star that Ayo was. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't help us next year. Looking at who we have, they would absolutely be two of our five best players. So you want them back.

If Shannon comes back, he needs to spend the next few months working on his off hand. It's such an obvious liability in his game that teams will focus on. Actually he should do this whether he comes back or not.
 
#63      

RoundBalconies

RoundBalconies
Chicago
RoundBalconies
NarrowJ said:
I was trying to find a Hedberg-donut-receipt joke gif but I guess it doesn't exist. Nice job posting the video though haha that guy was amazing. I saw him at the Chicago Theatre about a month before he passed.
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You mean the show where he pretty much bombed, spent a lot of time interacting with a heckler and only really got laughs when he did his old classic material? I was there. It was kind of a trainwreck, sadly. I was so pumped for the show. Also it was at the Congress.
 
#64      

NarrowJ

NarrowJ
NarrowJ
RoundBalconies said:
You mean the show where he pretty much bombed, spent a lot of time interacting with a heckler and only really got laughs when he did his old classic material? I was there. It was kind of a trainwreck, sadly. I was so pumped for the show. Also it was at the Congress.
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Oh, right... Congress, you're correct. I don't remember the show being that bad, he freakin' owned that heckler. Now that I'm saying this, did he maybe do two shows? I remember it being really good. Hecklers are 'planted' as part of a show/routine sometimes too, so you never know.
 
#69      

Illin618

Illin618
I forgot the last i in my username
Southern IL
Illin618
Unless Coleman implodes his draft stock @ the combine, it’s best for our mental state to picture this team without him in the upcoming season. I think he’d improve his game + draft stock coming back to C-U for another year, and join a weak 2024 draft class, but that ultimately up to him and he wants to be “in the league” so badly, partially to a fault.

I feel good about TSJ.
 
#70      

IllGuardU

I
IllGuardU
Emerson Bigguns said:
Here's the thing... There is virtually no chance we get better players than TSJ or Coleman to replace them should they stay in the draft. Guys who are clearly better than them will stay in as well.
The best-case scenario for next year's team is that they return.
Would we win more games with someone other than Hawkins? Almost certainly not. He knows the scheme, knows the coaches, knows the players, and does a thousand little things during games that help the team win.
Click to expand...
Spot on. The people who are concerned about his turnovers and tough shot selection need to realize that a large portion of those issues were because we didn’t have a true point guard.
 
#75      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
Coleman and TSJ are talented players but they both have significant flaws in their games that drive me crazy. They both should return and try to address them.

On the other hand if they have not addressed them after 3 years what is likelyhood they will do it in year 4?

Coleman
- too many turnovers trying to make impossible passes
- shoot 3 pointers from more than 22 ft - he is not Stephan Curry or Luca Doncic
- does not have mid range or in the paint scoring ability

TSJ
- Cannot create his own shot
- No mid range game.
- gets blocked too easily when he drives to hoop.
 
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