Without the play of our young guys (yes they've been up and down), we're bottom 4 level bad right now.
The transfers have been total misses. You don't fix that by getting rid of freshman, you fix that by being better in your transfer eval.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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The transfers have been total misses. You don't fix that by getting rid of freshman, you fix that by being better in your transfer eval.
I think we need talent, experience and leadership. We got that with Domask and TSJ. I'm not giving up on transfers or 1 n dones. Our perimeter Defense stopping wings from getting in the lane so easily must improve. Imo thats not on Kylan or Ben. Ben is missing a lot of threes but who isn't. They all need to do better. The D has been giving up too many driving lanes. What's the point if going over screens when the guards are running 3 feet behind thier man cut over them as they go to the hoop! Only Kylan defends over screens well. KJ, DGL and Will struggled defending vs these guards lately. Ben, Trey, and Tomi having to help out to defend hurts our rebounding without Rez big time.
So I'll give you Ben has underperformed. I think Jake was brought in to be a 3 year role player which he has done. Kylan I disagree. While he has shot the 3 poorly inside the arch he is solid, someone said if you take out the es Kylan was around 51%. Also there is no one id rather have at the line, he rebounds great for a guard and he is by far our best perimeter defender (which was expected) His stat line of 11, 5,3,1 to go with his D is not a total miss. What did you expect from Kylan 17, 9 and 8? He is not our #1,2 or 3 option. He is doing everything he was asked to do except hit the 3. I don't know what you think the staff expected from Jake either. I think we missed on Ben but not Kylan or Jake.
splitter
- and not Nebraska
And 10 of Morez to rebound all the bricks put up by everyone.
You acknowledged Ben. Where's Booth? Where's Tre?
That's literally 3/5 of your haul. One doesn't play at all, the other two are playing starter minutes and are liabilities most times than not.
And all three are making considerable $$$.
Have to be better.
Rick’s probably asking Repole if he can get in on any of his horses. Pitino used to own horses. Had one in partnership with Dick Vitale named It’s Awesome Baby. Repole Stables has had a lot of very good horses such as Fierceness and Uncle Mo. He probably spends $15-20M a year at auctions each year, plus pretty certain he’s breeding horse too.
Healthy Trey has played fine when healthy to what i think was expected. Despite his illness his numbers are 23 min, 9.5 pts,81% FT, 5 boards, drives and gets fouled while mostly coming off the bench as the 7th or so guy. Not everyone is going to be Domask or TSJ with guys like KJ,Tomi and Will demanding the ball. I mean Trey is the main reason Ty decided to redshirt. He does a lot of what Ty actually did and more. Trey has a mid range game and drives the ball, much better at the line and when healthy has played fine. As for Booth, if they were expecting much from him this season that was a big miss. I don't think they were but I do feel they should've used that spot for another post player like Somerville from Peoria Richwoods that's a freshman at Rutgers or a transfer banger. I think they had Booth to play more in the future than right away but if not they missed. Just Tomi and Rez isnt enough if something happens and that did with Tomi 3x (mono, ankle, flu) and now Rez . It hurts big time not having another solid big.
Like they said Hindsight sight is 20/20,last year we only had 2 bigs Coleman and Dainja bought seems to complement each other with different skills set.Coleman was lightening and Dainja brought the thunder in the paint without much issues so I can understand them going with just 2 capable bigs again.Booth was just a total miss……
ginabackes00
CrazedUIFan
This is true and what we're missing from the transfers is floor leadership.
Dr Copejam
- The Rock
I didn't see Coleman as a guy to defend true bigs. It was an issue vs teams with quality 5 men. It is this year too. I do miss Coleman though. We certainly could use him.
Agree they have to do better with transfer eval, but have to give staff credit for recruiting evals too. And I’m pretty certain if you take away the 4 best players off of any B1G team (or any team in country for that matter) and they will be bottom 4 level bad.
What have you seen from Boswell this year that has led you to think he could be an All B10 player?
Cant shoot, awful decision making, and some atrocious shot selection that often kills momentum. People keep talking about his defense but I keep watching him get shredded so it reminds me a bit of Jeff Jordan being called a "defensive specialist" because he did nothing else. Watching him at Arizona he seemed like just a guy and I never really understood the hype tbh.
Id rather have DGL tbh though I think his perfect role would be an instant energy 6 man where he goes all out for 20-25 minutes per game.
I also think DGL's quickness and ability to get around screens makes him a better defender right now and gives him more defensive upside because he's just kind of a pest. You're right though about him being smaller though DGL does a better job of challenging shots.
Okay??? I was responding to the narrative that the freshman are the problem. They are to some extent, but to circle them out is just blasphemous, especially considering the play of transfers
I wonder about this too, but in his defense I don’t think he’s actually had much chance to be a PG — or at least in the more traditional sense. Now maybe that’s because his coaches don’t think he can handle it or maybe it’s just the personnel with whom he’s played. This year between KJ all season and BU using Will to initiate offense that last half of season. he really hasn’t played much true PG. At Arizona he played with ball- dominant Love last year and Kriska and other players who would initiate offense the year before. I’d actually be interested in seeing how he’d do as a pure point now that he’s added being more aggressive getting to hoop. Don’t think that will happen with Illini though even next year.
Id tend to agree with you. I think you would need to complement them with a bunch of upper classman veterans(older guys like we got in Domask, Guerrier, and Harmon last year).
The one thing I will say in favor of them though is that Sarr looks like a legitimate plus athlete and Costanza's frame is significantly more ready than Riley's. Something looks a bit off about his jump shot though to me..
I agree. There is so much talent playing at the mid major level and I'm a big fan of watching those conferences. Plenty of guys would really help the Illini and I think some of the older ones would be great plug and play roleplayers that accept supporting roles and want to win.
Not really a mid major guy anymore now at Washington state but Cedric Coward should be able to an injury waiver if he returns to college and I would put him at the top of my list. Dude is an NBA caliber wing that has an extremely well rounded game. Kid is going to be an all American if he recovers from shoulder surgery and plays in college next year. Could very well be drafted though.
Kobe MaGee is a big guard/wing for Drexel that can flat out shoot. Obi Agbim for Wyoming is a power conference level scorer at guard.
Boswell is a very good defender. Who was guarding Sears of Bama when he put up a goose egg. DGL isn't close to as good on defense as Kylan. Kylan can defend guys bigger that him too due to his size. He can switch and guard more positions. I like DGL as a spark and he is streaky for sure. I just feel Kylan is much better on both ends. I bet they go at each other in practice. BU sees that everyday and Kylan keeps starting.
I do not think Boswell is All B10 this year but could be if he starts shooting at 38 n 39 percent like he did at Arizona. The other aspects of his game are solid. He drives it, handles it, rebounds at a high level and us good at the line. I don't get the Kylan hate. He was been playing better than most lately.
Boswell's decision making has improved considerably over the season. His defense has similarly improved. He still has trouble against the quick first step.
My concern is that the offense struggles when he is the lead PG. Teams can go under screens and pack the lane. The result seems to be we pass the ball around the edge, make a whole lot of aborted drives into a packed lane (often resulting in a turnover), and then settle for a poor, often contested, 3 late in the shot clock. If Kylan could get back to reliably shooting 35%+ from 3, he might be a serviceable lead PG. With his current shooting, I don't think he can be more than a secondary ball handler. The pairing with KJ is boosting Boswell's results. KJ breaks down the defense, and then Boswell's passing and 2-pt game works.
@Indy Illini Fan sounds like hes not leaving for EIU anytime soon. Is he even better then lieb?
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
fair enough............just agree to disagree and both of us hope for the best......
BTW , please don't refer to my opinion as hating on KB...........TIA........
Didn't think your post was. I think we want the best for them both, add new additions next season to challenge and push them both next season.
I hope we play well tonight, get the W, and impress the big Serbian! GO Illini!
I hope we play well tonight, get the W, and impress the big Serbian! GO Illini!
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