This comment has a lot in common with the multiple posts counting AJ Storr in with our roster before he priced us out. I would be very happy with Kasparas. I like Kasparas much more than I like AJ Storr in many ways. But he isn't a part of our team as of this moment. When the ink on his signature is dry, we can talk about what he means to our team.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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LadyLoyalty
- Indian Wells, CA
Exactly. This is why forum participants get so worked up. They hear that we are pursuing a certain player. They start penciling that player into future lineups. Then when it doesn't happen (which it doesn't most of the time), they get all bent out of shape like they were promised that player.
Rinse and repeat, year after year.
Apologies if someone else pointed these out, as I haven't read the whole thread yet, but at like 5:28, Ty misses 2 lay ups and makes his third, all in about a span of 2 seconds....2 rebounds though! Also, at like 7:25, he makes a nice dunk.
High level basketball happens a step faster than you think it does and I love it
USAFILLINI
- Florida
LMAO….Folks come in and spin everyone up with talk of “cooking” and massive pickups incoming, then will ridicule everyone when what we got didn’t live up to their hype.
We all hope who we have picked up can fill TSJ, CH and MD shoes, but none of them outside KB have shown they can on this level yet. Last years team was above this team in talent level, and it took a historic run by TSJ to get us to where we were. I don’t think it’s crazy to think we should be nervous about the makeup of the team as it stands.
We all hope who we have picked up can fill TSJ, CH and MD shoes, but none of them outside KB have shown they can on this level yet. Last years team was above this team in talent level, and it took a historic run by TSJ to get us to where we were. I don’t think it’s crazy to think we should be nervous about the makeup of the team as it stands.
You have voted! Thankfully there are others like BU and OA who have a vote also.
Everything literally is great. We've won multiple B1G titles in the last 4 years, we're one of the winningest teams in all of college basketball in that same time period and we're coming off a freaking Elite 8 appearance and while we lost to the eventual national champs.... it was our most successful postseason in 20 years.
You need further convincing?
To say that we did anything but miss on our top scoring/wing targets so far is an absolute lie. We can try to sell that these kids are a better fit, so we feel better about what we missed on, but that's not 100% true.
If we are paying $1M (which is much more than other bidders!)for some 17yr old kid from Europe vs $1.2M for Storr, that's a huge miss. Maybe he can be great and 2yrs of Kasparas is better than 1yr of Storr. I don't know, I'm not an insider, or a scout, but I'm not also going to blindly wait to get my latest opinion from those on the inside who often have a story to sell when things go wrong.
Last year we hated on Domask because he reminded us a little too much of Mayer, but turned out to be the guy we wanted Mayer to be. Maybe we are being a little too critical this year as well, but last year we could rely on key pieces like Shannon and Hawkins to be the guy when it wasn't clicking. Now we have 8 new guys, mostly underclassmen, who haven't been significant contributors, and two returners, of which one is a non-scorer outside 5'.
All this to say that I think Underwood misplayed his hand initially but has recovered decently enough to put together a tournament team this year that can thrive next year with the right additions. OA is the biggest get of the off-season and will be huge for next year.
If we are paying $1M (which is much more than other bidders!)for some 17yr old kid from Europe vs $1.2M for Storr, that's a huge miss. Maybe he can be great and 2yrs of Kasparas is better than 1yr of Storr. I don't know, I'm not an insider, or a scout, but I'm not also going to blindly wait to get my latest opinion from those on the inside who often have a story to sell when things go wrong.
Last year we hated on Domask because he reminded us a little too much of Mayer, but turned out to be the guy we wanted Mayer to be. Maybe we are being a little too critical this year as well, but last year we could rely on key pieces like Shannon and Hawkins to be the guy when it wasn't clicking. Now we have 8 new guys, mostly underclassmen, who haven't been significant contributors, and two returners, of which one is a non-scorer outside 5'.
All this to say that I think Underwood misplayed his hand initially but has recovered decently enough to put together a tournament team this year that can thrive next year with the right additions. OA is the biggest get of the off-season and will be huge for next year.
Fans are concerned because despite all the things you mentioned we’re rebuilding this year from scratch as if we just hired a new coach. A healthy program would not *typically* be doing this after 8 years. This is why BU isn’t getting the benefit of the doubt. Nothing to do but wait and see, but don’t expect the same enthusiasm until the team proves itself yet again.
Making things worse is the expectations set by insiders just less than 2 months ago. Just read their post history. There was talk that BU said in a staff meeting they’d over-sign by one, and now we’re talking about strategically leaving 2 scholarships open because “nobody plays 10 deep anyways”.
The same guy who projects to possibly be better than Egor next year in college?
Not sure people are getting what type of prospect Kasparas is. He's very likely an really good college player and would take him over almost anyone in the portal right now. Could get him for two or three years also.
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Regarding Kasparas Jakucionis, I’m not exactly sure how the euroleague “seasons” work out over there, but one stat stuck out to me during his four game 2023-24 Belgrade Season. During those games, he shot 100% on free throws, going 27/27. Other stars may or may not translate as a player moves from level to level, but free throw shooting sure does.
In fact, Brad and Co have done a marvelous job bringing in quality free throw shooters this year:
Kylan Boswell — 79.5%
Ben Humrichous — 75.5%
Tre White — 75.2%
Jake Davis — 84.8%
Carey Booth — 63.4%
Tamislav Ivisic — 87%
Booth is the lone outlier shooting below 75%
Meanwhile, our two returning players need to up their FT game or they’ll be in the bench again in the closing minutes.
Dre Gibbs-Lawhorn — 66.7%
Ty Rodgers — 58.5%
I couldn’t find high school FT stats for Morez Johnson or Jason Jakstys.
In fact, Brad and Co have done a marvelous job bringing in quality free throw shooters this year:
Kylan Boswell — 79.5%
Ben Humrichous — 75.5%
Tre White — 75.2%
Jake Davis — 84.8%
Carey Booth — 63.4%
Tamislav Ivisic — 87%
Booth is the lone outlier shooting below 75%
Meanwhile, our two returning players need to up their FT game or they’ll be in the bench again in the closing minutes.
Dre Gibbs-Lawhorn — 66.7%
Ty Rodgers — 58.5%
I couldn’t find high school FT stats for Morez Johnson or Jason Jakstys.
Kasparas is really really good if anyone is wondering lol. Why is everyone so upset? Hes very much an above average starting SG in the B1G from day 1.
splitter
- and not Nebraska
Watching sausage being eaten can be messy too.
splitter
- and not Nebraska
Oh how i wish we could hear the things you know but are not permitted to share.
NEIlliniFan
- No longer in New England
How do you know the OP didn't just post "delete" to mess with us...
Those people saying everything is great are not convincing me of anything.
I already know things are great. And with Underwood, will only get better.
I already know things are great. And with Underwood, will only get better.
Seriously, how can we be at this point now? The staff has had like 2 years to adjust to typical NIL and portal off-seasons. How can we be here now?? We should have done everything we could have to keep everyone that left because the guys we brought in are just a bunch of bums. We’re the only team in all college basketball that hasn’t figured it out yet. The only team re-shaping it’s roster in the offseason in the entire game.
Honestly, we should just fire Brad and hire Mike Woodson. He’s great at the portal game. I mean look at how they did in the portal last offseason. The regular season is a wind down from winning the portal season. It doesn’t really count anyway.
Not claiming to know everything, but so many people on this site seem to be so short sighted. (1) I believe that this staff has proven that they know what they are doing. (2) They can't make these players come to Illinois, the kids do have a say in it. (3) You can't just pay whatever it takes, that would end up creating team chemistry problems. The payroll has to have some balance to it. (4) We must realize that, even with the insiders, we really know very little about the inner workings of this process.
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