Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[ptgrd23]

Pods did not look like NBA material at Illinois and at UC Santa Clara he could not get them into the NCAA tourney. They only played 2 power 5 teams - beat 3-29 Cal team and losing to 19-15 UCF.

Somebody is making a huge projection to draft him (even in 2nd round). Maybe his growth plates are still open and he will be 6'9" Larry Bird clone He is only 20.

I guess they would not put him in green room unless somebody is sure.

 

[nichi]

Wow...45.5% 3p has to be a program historical leader??

I think the line was closer. He had a slow release and only shot when he was wide open. Stats out of context do not tell the whole story. Kenny Battle shot a good percentage from three too.

 

[ElGran]

My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.

And Clark and Epps are not small (6'3 and 6'2 respectively and neither skinny). I'm not worried that much about DGL's size. Defense is about willingness, quickness, and basketball intelligence. Neither Clark nor Epps seemed that willing to play defense and neither is that quick.

DGL is not going to be defending Ekey. He doesn't need to look like a LB.

 

[Grandpa]

He’s got a 1st round guarantee …

NBA Channel's right before the draft Mock Draft has Podz at 20. I'll be thrilled for him if he goes that high.

 

[nichi]

Also a motion to ban the phrase "that's a bad look"

Concerning as an adjective. I find myself asking, concerning what?

It's a bad look. That's my take.

 

[Grandpa]

I think the line was closer. He had a slow release and only shot when he was wide open. Stats out of context do not tell the whole story. Kenny Battle shot a good percentage from three too.

The line was closer, but nobody grew up practicing 3s. The goal all those years was to get the closest shot that you could. Now people go behind the line to practice.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

PG is not a size, it's not even really a skill set, though the skill set does help. It is a mindset. It is about WANTING to setup teammates, it is about knowing how to do it. It is about knowing where I need to place the pass, not just being able to pass. It is about knowing when to push tempo, and when to slow it down. When to feed the hot hand. They need to know how to read a play developing, how to create a play when everything breaks down. That is what makes a good PG, not just being able to dribble and pass.

I've been thinking lately about what a pg even is and this is pretty much where I landed. Of course you need to have the skills to execute (most importantly tight handles), but what it really comes down to is understanding how to move the ball in a way that gets the defense and your teammates to react favorably. You need to have the rhythm of the game pulsing through your veins almost.

I'm not super rosy about Ty's pg prospects, but I do think he has the correct intangibles, described above. It's just TBD on if he has the proper skill set to execute.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

His ascension is truly remarkable. I simply cannot believe it.

I talked to a buddy with the Clippers … He told me Podz “was f’ing unbelievable” in his workout with them …

 

[nichi]

His ascension is truly remarkable. I simply cannot believe it.

It's a good thing he won't have to defend his own shadow.

 

[BashCtIllini]

I talked to a buddy with the Clippers … He told me Podz “was f’ing unbelievable” in his workout with them …

he probably had an extra big bowl of cottage cheese prior to the workout

 

[WyattEarp]

he probably had an extra big bowl of cottage cheese prior to the workout

a cottage cheese induced euphoria?

 

[Stevegarbs]

Dee Brown was listed as 6'1", 160lbs as a Freshman. And 6'1" was probably on the optimistic side.

I am on the far right. I am 5' 11".

 

[KingWolf11]

He’s got a 1st round guarantee …

Was listening to jj reddicks pod the other day and it was a mailbag episode. One question was favorite players in the draft and he brought up Podz. I can’t escape him.

 

[DReq]

View attachment 26704

I am on the far right. I am 5' 11".

But at what angle was the camera? And did you have on really thick shoes? I guess with the cap we can't blame it on hair.

 

[Eternal Optimist]

View attachment 26704

I am on the far right. I am 5' 11".

Half of my contribution to this board is guessing who the insiders and other people are in real life. Thanks for ruining my fun.

 

[Mojoman]

Pods did not look like NBA material at Illinois and at UC Santa Clara he could not get them into the NCAA tourney. They only played 2 power 5 teams - beat 3-29 Cal team and losing to 19-15 UCF.

Somebody is making a huge projection to draft him (even in 2nd round). Maybe his growth plates are still open and he will be 6'9" Larry Bird clone He is only 20.

I guess they would not put him in green room unless somebody is sure.

Geez, give the kid some credit. He is a player and will soon be making $2 million a year. Good for him.

 

[Mojoman]

I think the line was closer. He had a slow release and only shot when he was wide open. Stats out of context do not tell the whole story. Kenny Battle shot a good percentage from three too.

There is a lot to be said for taking shots you can make. We didn't do that last year.

 

[SemperFiIllini]

It's a good thing he won't have to defend his own shadow.

I doubt he loses a lot of sleep over the lack of defense knock. We played nobody who I can remember had 5 guys that absolutely needed guarded. However, having a guy who can obviously shoot we did need. Idk maybe people love those 5+ mins of crap ball and scoring droughts....

 

[BretMyBeachHouse]

I've been thinking lately about what a pg even is and this is pretty much where I landed. Of course you need to have the skills to execute (most importantly tight handles), but what it really comes down to is understanding how to move the ball in a way that gets the defense and your teammates to react favorably. You need to have the rhythm of the game pulsing through your veins almost.

I'm not super rosy about Ty's pg prospects, but I do think he has the correct intangibles, described above. It's just TBD on if he has the proper skill set to execute.

All true. I'll add though that you need a coherent offensive philosophy, which I'm concerned that we lack. Players knowing and understanding where they should be going, etc.

Henson underperformed in the post season (none worse than '87). But his teams were fundamentally sound this way. So when Bardo stepped in as a unconventional point, they system helped him be successful. Of course, the system changed dramatically in '89 but the coaching was solid and once again the whole thing was coherent and cohesive.

Here's hoping we see good coaching this year.

 

[alexander58]

No one outside of the Podziemski family saw this coming. He helped himself a lot in the pre-draft workouts.

Kid can shoot though and NBA teams love that.

OK insiders…. How did Podz leaving come about? Was there a conversation with coaches saying they saw him getting deeper in the roster with the freshmen coming in? The one thing everyone knew was he was a tireless worker. He’d put on a lot of muscle in his short time here with the help of Fletch. Maybe no one saw it coming, but I’d take a roster of overachievers.

 

[Tables@EddieMunster]

Lol it is very literally the coach’s job to see the potential in his players.

 

[Kinkyfish]

OK insiders…. How did Podz leaving come about? Was there a conversation with coaches saying they saw him getting deeper in the roster with the freshmen coming in? The one thing everyone knew was he was a tireless worker. He’d put on a lot of muscle in his short time here with the help of Fletch. Maybe no one saw it coming, but I’d take a roster of overachievers.

Who really cares, we would still be point guardless.…….and if the crystal balls say he would have started for us last year and still ended up a top draft pick…..don’t think any of it matters imho.

 

[BRucks]

Wow...45.5% 3p has to be a program historical leader??

Possibly, but he shot so few (basically one per game) that his career % doesn't appear in the record books. Tommy Michael is still at the top of the career list (.449).

Career (min. 200 attempts) 1. .449 Tom Michael, 1991-94 (149-332) 2. .428 Sean Harrington, 2000-03 (191-446) 3. .408 Aaron Jordan, 2016-19 (131-321) .408 Trent Meacham 2007-09 (178-436) 5. .406 Matt Heldman, 1995-98 (161-397) 6. .405 Jamar Smith, 2006-07 (104-257) 7. .402 Jalen Coleman-Lands, 2016-17 (158-393) 8. .388 Cory Bradford, 1999-2002 (327-843) 9. .384 Richard Keene, 1993-96 (237-617) 10. .382 Luther Head, 2002-05 (209-547

 

[The Galloping Ghost]

If I could mute words on this site, first up would be "Podz."

 

[WyattEarp]

Geez, give the kid some credit. He is a player and will soon be making $2 million a year. Good for him.

Oh no, it’s much more fun to double down ad naseum.

Not sure what’s more ridiculous at this point:
1.)The people who wanna rag on the staff about Pods. Which is ridiculous.
2.) The people who wanna rag on Pods for Pod’s success. Which is also ridiculous.