He needs to make sure and protect that ball when he does his turn around shot. That's gonna get stripped here in the states.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Pierre Jr. is one of the top players in the portal and the 7th best uncommitted player, Kentucky is after him along with other top programs, so he would be a hard get and I haven't heard we are in on him. I'm not super high on him, his tape seems like a good scorer that might struggle in the big ten and his defensive metrics are bad - he just has more bust potential than others. Plus he would cost a lot
Lee would be a home run, I agree with you. Rumor was Michigan, but who knows. He would be very expensive as well
Illinois Loyalty:
"Lol Hamer uses spreadsheets, what a nerd. Have you seen those leggings?"
Also Illinois Loyalty:
"What is this 'athleticism' of which you speak in objective terms? How is this attribute quantified, and if you are unable to quantify it, how can you be certain of its value in a manner devoid of implicit and/or explicit biases? How can I know for certain that Usain Bolt is, for example, more 'athletic' than Jack Black?"
This is some funny !!!!. All this thinly veiled buzz word bingo draft talk. Athletic. Lol. What about scrappy? High motor? Heady? Or coach's kid gym rat?
Morez was a beast 3ft from the basketball. Vacuumed rebounds. But really couldn't face up, had limited post moves, laterally looked slow in defense especially on the perimeter and really had no jumper. You can call that athletic if you want. I just want guys who can play basketball including not turning the ball over, not playing soft, and not shooting bricks. Some defensive two way players would be helpful. If they are described as athletes I do not care.
Morez was a beast 3ft from the basketball. Vacuumed rebounds. But really couldn't face up, had limited post moves, laterally looked slow in defense especially on the perimeter and really had no jumper. You can call that athletic if you want. I just want guys who can play basketball including not turning the ball over, not playing soft, and not shooting bricks. Some defensive two way players would be helpful. If they are described as athletes I do not care.
sacraig
- The desert
I need a 95% confidence interval on those measurements, too. Due on my desk EOD. Thanks in advance.
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The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
On Malik Moore, I like the skill set but I question the roster fit. If we’ve already got Jake back and are pushing to bring Ben back in a bench type role, I don’t think we need 3 shooters with positional size who are average to below average athletically. I think you can hide one of those guys but having multiple on the floor at the same time is a recipe to get diced up defensively, even by second units.
We’ve got shooting. We need athletes and defenders. It just feels like we are trending a little too Iowa in our roster construction and that worries me. First, although we’ve had great offenses the last 2 years, I do not think Tyler is on the same planet as Fran as an offensive mind. And second, for as good a coach as Fran is on offense, he never made a second weekend. And I think having too many players that fit the Jake/Ben/Moore mold is why.
We’ve got shooting. We need athletes and defenders. It just feels like we are trending a little too Iowa in our roster construction and that worries me. First, although we’ve had great offenses the last 2 years, I do not think Tyler is on the same planet as Fran as an offensive mind. And second, for as good a coach as Fran is on offense, he never made a second weekend. And I think having too many players that fit the Jake/Ben/Moore mold is why.
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
My interpretation of what most people are referring to when discussing athleticism, consciously or not, is speed.
Not gonna lie, I’ve never heard of “damask”, so when I read your post and saw you spell Domask wrong, then I recognized your name as a “regular” poster spelling it wrong, I was surprised! Then I realized what you were doing and I googled the term. Haha. Well done.
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Agreed, they are two of our most athletic, but would they compare to the level of the teams I mentioned? I just thought that it was very apparent last year the drop off from the Elite 8 team. Granted, TJ was a generational athlete, but I would argue QG and Coleman were also both more athletic than anyone on last year's team, Ty or Z. Z saw his minutes dwindle in March due to athletes being ahead of him at Ark. We just have to mix in some athleticism (especially for defense) if we are going to go predominately with perimeter - shooting bigs, IMO. But, I'm a dumb dumb, so what do I know? I do know that finishing 7th in the league and exiting in round two isn't the goal.
Can we keep a guy with the ball from going around us to the basket without fouling him? That's where it starts for me. Is a guy observably stronger, quicker, more active than our opponents?
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sacraig
- The desert
I mean, I delivered my question in a silly way, but it's an honest question. How do you balance the oft-cited components of athleticism? Speed vs. "quickness" vs. vertical leap. And how does so-called "craftiness" factor in?
Clearly there are multiple components to this and I'm not sure what people are actually prioritizing here in these arguments. Or how actual coaches and teams weigh it all.
Hence the regular “more athletic than Larry Bird” comments…
Took my kids to this this past weekend btw. Strange movie, even stranger movie-going experience.
I was thinking about some of the best PGs to play and were they uber athletes or considered "athletic" ? Do many consider pgs like Magic, Stockton, CP3, Curry, our own Dwill, Big O, or Steve Nash as high flying athletes? Would I like an athletic guy sure. But I want ballers with vision first. I'd like a long solid defender that's an ok athlete like Bardo on this team and be pleased.
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FELIPE!!! Hehehehehe
"Plays the game the right way," "Lunch pail guy," "Grinder," "All heart," "Someone you’d love your daughter to date" . . . yeah, I can see what a lot of people are getting at. LOL.
There are two athletic forwards in the portal that I really like. Neither is the 6'8"-6'9" PF that some folks on these recruiting threads are looking for. But they are the type of 6'6" strong/athletic forwards that one might see on Baylor, Alabama, Auburn, etc.
1. 6'6" 225-pound Junior F Darrion Williams of Texas Tech. He is in the portal, but he is also testing the NBA waters. He averaged 15.1/5.5/3.6 this past season while shooting 43.9/34.0/83.6 for the Red Raiders. He is exactly the type of player that we have not had recently at the forward position, or that we have (so far) on next season's roster. I'm guessing Williams would not be cheap, and that there would be lots of competition for his transfer.
2. 6'6" 233-pound Sophomore F LeJuan Watts of Washington State. He averaged 13.7/6.7/4.4 while shooting 54.9/42.2/73.4 for WSU this past season. 13.7 ppg is solid, 6.7 rpg is very good, and 4.4 apg is excellent for a 6'6" 233-pound forward. His overall FG % and his 42.2% on 3-pointers show very good shooting skills. Given his extra year of eligibility, and his shooting/rebounding/passing stats, I think that Watts might be an even better transfer target than Darrion Williams for the Illini.
In addition, I once again want to bang the drum for 6'6' 215-pound Sophomore SG/SF Kennard Davis Jr. of SIU (Carbondale). Only a Soph, Davis (played at Vashon HS in St. Louis) averaged 16.3 points/4.9 rebounds/2.6 assists this past season for the Salukis. Davis shot 45.5% on FGs, including 37.6% on 3-pointers, while making 76.3% of his FTs. I've watched his tapes. The kid is athletic, physical, and tough. He can make catch-and-shoot 3s, step-back 3s, mid-range 2s, and he finishes strong (even through contact) at the hoop. He runs the court well. He works on defense. He's a solid rebounder and passer for a 2, which he looked to be playing a majority of the time for SIU. But I note that he's listed in the portal as a forward, so he has that versatility also. We need to keep this kid away from Purdue. And it won't hurt the program to have a player from St. Louis.
1. 6'6" 225-pound Junior F Darrion Williams of Texas Tech. He is in the portal, but he is also testing the NBA waters. He averaged 15.1/5.5/3.6 this past season while shooting 43.9/34.0/83.6 for the Red Raiders. He is exactly the type of player that we have not had recently at the forward position, or that we have (so far) on next season's roster. I'm guessing Williams would not be cheap, and that there would be lots of competition for his transfer.
2. 6'6" 233-pound Sophomore F LeJuan Watts of Washington State. He averaged 13.7/6.7/4.4 while shooting 54.9/42.2/73.4 for WSU this past season. 13.7 ppg is solid, 6.7 rpg is very good, and 4.4 apg is excellent for a 6'6" 233-pound forward. His overall FG % and his 42.2% on 3-pointers show very good shooting skills. Given his extra year of eligibility, and his shooting/rebounding/passing stats, I think that Watts might be an even better transfer target than Darrion Williams for the Illini.
In addition, I once again want to bang the drum for 6'6' 215-pound Sophomore SG/SF Kennard Davis Jr. of SIU (Carbondale). Only a Soph, Davis (played at Vashon HS in St. Louis) averaged 16.3 points/4.9 rebounds/2.6 assists this past season for the Salukis. Davis shot 45.5% on FGs, including 37.6% on 3-pointers, while making 76.3% of his FTs. I've watched his tapes. The kid is athletic, physical, and tough. He can make catch-and-shoot 3s, step-back 3s, mid-range 2s, and he finishes strong (even through contact) at the hoop. He runs the court well. He works on defense. He's a solid rebounder and passer for a 2, which he looked to be playing a majority of the time for SIU. But I note that he's listed in the portal as a forward, so he has that versatility also. We need to keep this kid away from Purdue. And it won't hurt the program to have a player from St. Louis.
I get the BIG / Tournament differences talk and it is real. But the best way to have tournament success to have a high seed and winning the BIG is the best way to get a high seed. Win your conference, get a good seed, and get some good matchups is the formula. Do that year after year.
IF we don't get Sarr, and IF Riley does not return, we'd have plenty of $$ for Lee. LOL If only we had an accurate crystal ball that good tell the future! In particular, the Illini men's basketball recruiting future.
I didnt say you were dumb and obviously thats not what we want for a finish we wanted for the season. All i said was 2 of 3 people you mentioned are the better athletes on the team now but we do need more athletes to help with defense and transition.
Dame Sarr, Ian Jackson are really good athletes we are after. Malik Moore is a really good shooter and decent athlete thats been posted about. We will have to see who we fill out with before i say we say we arent athletic enough to win.
So if today's Zoom with Malik Moore goes well and he commits, that secures our bench shooter spot, right? Sarr would be the next most logical player to commit, which would probably lock up the wing starter. Would that leave this mystery SG that *might* enter the portal, then Illinois is good to go?
Ty isn't athletic????
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