Put me in this camp, he’s going to be big for us
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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That's correct. I stated in my post it was LVille's opinion. It's an optimistic one. I am, by nature, an optimistic person so I do tend to gravitate that direction.
Agreed on approvals and opinions. If someone on this forum turns out to be more correct regarding matters related to our college basketball team/roster then that happens by pure chance, not because they are better-suited to make these kinds of decisions (roster decisions, specifically) than the folks that get paid the big bucks.
What is all this Woodbury talk ?
They saw a tweet and ran with it
I’m sure this has been answered more than once and I swear I read most of the threads but is the staff expecting Williams to get his waiver to play this year?
And is he healed enough to play this year?
Bro eyeof ... good points, pg play and older exp players both are important especially if the team wanys to go deep in the Big Dance
Yeah, that had me shaking my head a bit. But he’s been around BU long enough to have the word elite ingrained in his DNA.
The thing I liked about his comments was the word aggressive. If he keeps moving and has a PG who can get him the ball (Williams), we could see a lot more of those power dunks as he flies in from the wing/baseline.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned much about Williams is when can he PRACTICE. Whether or not he's healthy enough to play in a live game is one thing (I'm still not convinced he'll be ready to start the season, but I'm far from a medical expert) but what's lost in the shuffle here is him learning the offense and gelling with the rest of the team. If this guy is indeed Underwood's answer at PG this year (which everyone in the know seemed to say he wasn't yesterday and was just a depth piece, but whatever) he needs to be in the gym this summer practicing and building cohesion with the team, something we SORELY lacked last year.
I'm not on a ledge or saying we can't be a top half of the B1G team this year but if this truly is the guy we're relying on count me as a little nervous. Best case scenario, he returns to his full self and is what he was before the injury we've seen in past years what playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end looks like with having a guy who isn't a threat to shoot. Remember DaMonte running the point? You can drool over his defensive highlights all you want and say the looks like Trent, but he's shown 0 ability to shoot it even near as well (2 guard vs PG I know isn't apples to apples but still).
All I'm saying is IF he is healthy and IF he gets a waiver I still don't feel great about our ball handling depth.
I'm not on a ledge or saying we can't be a top half of the B1G team this year but if this truly is the guy we're relying on count me as a little nervous. Best case scenario, he returns to his full self and is what he was before the injury we've seen in past years what playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end looks like with having a guy who isn't a threat to shoot. Remember DaMonte running the point? You can drool over his defensive highlights all you want and say the looks like Trent, but he's shown 0 ability to shoot it even near as well (2 guard vs PG I know isn't apples to apples but still).
All I'm saying is IF he is healthy and IF he gets a waiver I still don't feel great about our ball handling depth.
Lol...happens a lot on here.
Exactly.
Nice. No one mentioned RayJ's defense. Wonder why. /s
I think Williams is going to make us forget about RayJ. Pretty sure the staff has checked his medical records a couple of times. /s
4.3 assists and 90% defense is top shelf.
Well, this is just wrong. People projecting problems with Skyy Clark were not lucky. They saw a lot of indicators and red flags.
People who said relying on freshmen point guards was a problem were not lucky. They were looking at a long history of college basketball that gave some indication of that.
Were any of these things a certainty? No, of course not.
BU and team got it wrong with Skyy Clark. So for all their expertise, we got a super raw deal that may even be creating problems now with our NIL base.
I just want to hear practice. Find some money moves and shots and beat them to oblivion for the next five months.
Indy — so is this it or do you foresee a current player on roster leaving to free up a spot for another addition? I understand if you don’t want to say since no open spot yet, but I’m sure you can find GIF of someone winking as a hint if roster isn’t totally “set.”
So random internet posters knew more about his personality than the coaching staff did?
I was entertaining your argument(s) but no longer.
Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
agree w/your points, but one significant omission: 'Mani comin'
Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
mebbe so, but the other guys would struggle to score 40
Wish I was as optimistic as you are! I will say I think we will still be a decent team next year as is with lost of potential and a good coach. Just sucks missing out on a stud PG as that seems to be the missing piece to making this team elite.
I guess I don't think opinions on this forum, when correct, are by pure chance. There are a lot of posters with solid knowledge backing up their opinions (of course, those opinions are often easier said than enacted.) I'd bet the folks that get paid the big bucks, when they make these decisions, understand there is a lot of risk/fallout to deal with when their decisions don't pay off. But the rewards are so great the risk is often worth taking. Wouldn't have it any other way as a historically top program in a P5 conference.
The Wisconsin playbook!
I'm usually one of the most positive people around here, but have to admit--as we already have plenty of people singing Williams' praises--I really don't understand how "your starting point guard most recently averaged 9 and 4 for a mid-major, is coming off arguably the most devastating injury a basketball player can suffer, and might not be able to get a waiver to play in '23-24 even if he is healthy" doesn't leave you extremely concerned about the roster.
Again, I'm usually the last one to prioritize concerns over being starry-eyed. But the case for optimism in this case feels really weak.
Again, I'm usually the last one to prioritize concerns over being starry-eyed. But the case for optimism in this case feels really weak.
Some may not be, most are. I'm just saying, who's opinions should I trust?
Person A:
1. Is the head men's bball coach at UofI
2. Has had numerous in-person interactions with the recruit
3. Has watched hours of film of the recruit
4. Has had the recruit in for an in-person workout
5. Has the feedback & opinions of several other very qualified evaluators
or, alternatively
Person B:
1. May or may not live in mom's basement (being funny, but regardless, they're nowhere near as qualified as Person A)
2. Has had zero in-person interactions with the recruit
3. Has watched a few YouTube vids of the recruit (maybe)
4. No in-person workout
5. Has the feedback & opinions of hundreds of other internet blowhards
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