That’s the problem. BU is always talking up how he prides himself that the team is a top level offensive team but his teams are terrible when it comes to defense. Nights like last when the ball isn’t going in and you can’t stop the other team = the worst loss in program history. If you break it, you own it. BU now owns that record.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
- Status
Chester definitely new how to play defense but our defense has had problems for at least three years now. We start the season strong and then significantly drop off as the season goes on. We have to get this corrected. We are usually able to cover it up with our offense but apparently we cannot count on it with us being a terrible 3-point shooting team.
I think he's a bit more fluid than Will. Think he could maybe be a better college player. I do think there's a solid chance assuming Will goes.
Some of that and in a few weeks? Doesn't sound like anybody gets anything
I hope Will stays one more year. He had a very difficult time against Duke--he couldn't get past his defender. He's not as elusive.
Does the NBA defend like that? If not, then Will probably "will" leave.
True, and that wasn't predicted: Carey Booth started at the 5 for Notre Dame last year. I'd have thought he could be a back up big here, but that turns out not to be the case.
Where is the Brad is a great recruiter coming from? Morez great get by Tim…. Jakstys? We got Will last minute coming off momentum of Elite 8, Shanon comparisons, and a big bag of $. Are we saying Brad had long term relationships with KJ and Tomi? Again, big bag of $ and luck pulled the, in last minute. We did pull Gibbs in last minute previous year, but great recruiting or $? This year per 247 Rankings we have Lee #94 and Wagler #145. There are 3 uncommitted players in the top 50 and we are not mentioned for any of them. I think our strength is $ and fletch, not coaching. I’m afraid we are heading down the Weber train track..
Step number 1 in every which way - get guys who can make in-game practice shots. Whether that's 5 stars, Euros, freshman, veterans, mid-major ... whoever. When teams don't guard you, you can't do what we're doing. The game is lost right there. You just can't do that.
When you're leaving them they're making you pay. Sure we have to be way better on D (Hamer), but when you're so bad shooting the ball, everything is just so compact.
When you're leaving them they're making you pay. Sure we have to be way better on D (Hamer), but when you're so bad shooting the ball, everything is just so compact.
Last edited:
The lack of spacing yesterday will make it difficult to driving the ball so can’t really put Reily on blast when no one was a threat from the perimeter.
DICKnaggie
- Champaign
As has been said here many times, Chester was not in charge of defense here his last few years.
I think the biggest change this offseason will be getting some big time competitors (along with the other stuff I have mentioned). They will specifically look for toughness and defense from a couple of guys. Morez, Tomi, and DGL are our three best at this right now. It's not being said at press conferences, but Brad wants some dogs in terms of attitude
blackdog
- Champaign
That's really been my biggest issue with Ben, he's just too nice to play high D1 ball.
That is great to hear.
In addition to the 3 guys you list (Morez, Tomi, DGL): Ty Rogers, just a few seats down the bench, could have been part of the solution. This was roster mismanagement. (I know, Ty chose to redshirt. I think there was a way to avoid that decision.)
Building a roster that is short on players with competitive spirit bothers me.
In addition to the 3 guys you list (Morez, Tomi, DGL): Ty Rogers, just a few seats down the bench, could have been part of the solution. This was roster mismanagement. (I know, Ty chose to redshirt. I think there was a way to avoid that decision.)
Building a roster that is short on players with competitive spirit bothers me.
80 minutes at the 4 and 5 between Hansberry, MJ, and Tomi. 120 between Ty, Riley, Hansberry, MJ, and Tomi at the 3,4,5.
Hansberry's not great from 3, but 30% is enough to keep the defense honest.
All those guys could be getting 20+ minutes a game which is not "spot" minutes.
It was predicted by some. My big red flag for him was the percentage of 3s vs 2s that he took. Any "big" who takes more threes than twos is likely not very tough in my view. When it's just 30%, it means he's settling for the easy shot instead of working for the tough shot.
It's coming from the actual results of the recruiting. I'm not sure the definition of "great recruiter" but somehow he's getting the job done well. There have been a number of versions, but the talent is there. Not as great as some think, but certainly good enough to keep our team in the top 25.
That sounds good, but then why isn’t DGL getting more tick now?
I agree, I do like a lot of our players. We lucked into several of them. Not hyping Groce at all, but does he pull in Brunson, Evans, Jackson or other high level recruits (not doing so doomed him) with our today’ NIL?
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
I mean, that's the whole thing. Don't tell me you want dogs and then don't give the one guy that actually fights and has been in this system no tick. Then, supposedly we want him back?
And then there's Ty. He is the ultimate dog. You recruit over him and tell him he's not gonna get minutes, despite being a starter last year. Oh, but he can't shoot?!? Neither can Tre, and we knew that when we recruited him. Neither can literally anybody on our team at this point when you go freaking 2-26. At least give me a guy who would have fought like heII and actually grabbed rebounds.
Yeah, last year was fun. Having an explosive offense felt great and we achieved some success with it. The thing is, though, in trying to recapture that success, we lost what actually made us successful over the years. Everyday guys, fighting for each other. Teams need leaders. Teams need glue guys. Teams need people who actually want to fight for the player next to them. We have none of that. We have a bunch of mercenaries making a one-year pit-stop. That's why we suffered the worst loss in our history.
Ultimately, Brad got distracted by the shiny new objects available in the portal and in Europe, let his ego get in the way, and lost the plot. I hope we do get back to what made this program successful, but at this point, for the first time since BU has been here, I have my doubts.
Huge DGL fan but he really struggles to defend without fouling … He gives up a lot physically …
Yeah fair point, but we seem to make allowances for other players giving some up on the defensive end, too. Guys like Will and Ben have struggled defensively (and offensively, for that matter, but setting that aside for now) and seem to have a much longer leash.
Wasn’t it you who said the buck stops with BU talking about the assistants getting grief? So that only goes for bad things, but he gets no credit for recruiting success? The next incoming class will be a lot more than two high school kids. You do realize there are these things called transfers right? Asking cuz judging the 2025 class right now is pretty silly.
The overall rank of the 2024 class was 10. The 2023 class wasn’t that high mainly because the transfers, especially Marcus, were way undervalued by the recruiting services. And that class also had DGL in it. The 2022 class had an overall rank of 7. Add in the fact that I believe Indy has said several times that when Brad makes a recruit a priority and puts the full court press on, he is very hard to beat and I think Brad’s recruiting chops are just fine.
The overall rank of the 2024 class was 10. The 2023 class wasn’t that high mainly because the transfers, especially Marcus, were way undervalued by the recruiting services. And that class also had DGL in it. The 2022 class had an overall rank of 7. Add in the fact that I believe Indy has said several times that when Brad makes a recruit a priority and puts the full court press on, he is very hard to beat and I think Brad’s recruiting chops are just fine.
Ben's an easy one. Now that Morez is out, who are the players that we have over 6'8" to play the interior. Tomi and..............?
We need a big like Trey Kaufman Renn or another banger besides Rez. I love Rez and Tomi but just 2 bigs isn't enough. When one us out or in foul trouble we are screwed.
- Status