Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
#751      
HensonHall71
PepeSilvia said:
In a vacuum it's Fland no question. Very explosive and extremely talented player.

But it's not a vacuum and team/roster fit matters. I'd argue that Petrovic as a facilitator is a better fit on the Illini with a bunch of different guys that can score.

Petrovic is also a 22 year old guy that has been playing professionally while Fland hasn't turned 19 yet.

I think Petrovic could be a bit like Sean Pedulla was this year but with less of a need to score the ball(lack of talent at Virginia Tech and consistent scoring options at Ole Miss this year forced Pedulla into more of a scoring role for his career then I think he would've been had he played with more talent).
Click to expand...
I respect your take - I think you are saying we'd rather have a more pure distributor at PG next year. But I honestly do not understand that at all. I know I'm in the minority, but to compare Fland who was played in SEC last year to a PG from the ABA who was our backup plan to Adam Miller, is a little confusing to me. I like Petrovic and think he will do well here, but Fland is just a better player right now and as you said he was a freshman last year, no doubt he'll be better as a Sophomore while Petrovic will probably be a bit worse than he was in the ABA given the step up in quickness/competition. Even comparing Stats Fland is better at everything accept fewer assists- again not adjusted to level of competition. Fland even took care of the ball - he had a 4 to 1 TO to assist ratio as a freshman in the SEC! Imagine if KJ had 1.4 TO per game, we'd have won several more games last year. Plus Fland is a really good shooter

Pts TR Assts 3pt% Stl TO
Fland 15.1 3.7 5.7 36.5 1.5 1.4
Petrovic 14.3 2.8 7.3 33.8 0.5 2.3

My point is we need another scorer to really be able to be a FF contender - we have Tomi and Andrej, but no real top threat scorers after that - Fland would add a third while also being a great distributor. For those saying, somone would leave if we get Fland, I think it simply means Petrovic gets 20 mintues off the bench in the rotation - I really don't think he's going to bolt because of that - it gives him more time to adjust and less pressure. If he truly thinks he needs to play 30 minutes and start as the PG for a top 15 team in the country - he should have asked for more money!
 
#753      
My2Cents
My best story, was from my college baseball days. grew up in small town and therefore really thought I was something when received a scholarship for baseball down at the college of the white squirrels midish 80s ......anyhow....It was my first start in college and was playing at Indiana St. while warming up my coach said i dont want a single strike thrown to..........can't remember his name but he was something like the #2 hitter in college baseball the year before. Long story short...no way did I walk anyone on purpose I thought to myself ...the beginning of the lesson starts off strong..... struck him out on 5 pitches...none of which were strikes, but a couple close curve balls he swung out of his cleats at. My coach just looked at me as I walked by in the dugout...fast forward to his next plate appearance...my first pitch was a hanging curve ball that he hit off a building that I swear to ya was still climbing as it went over the fence hahahahah......needless to say...my coach and I met without a word spoken as I handed him the ball as I walked off. Pretty much loss all that small town, cocky a** attitude in one pitch. shocked at 18 years old that I really didn't know EVERYTHING! anyhow..sorry..got squirreled for a sec.
 
#754      
Illiniam1984
Fly Illini Fly! said:
My post was liked by LVille, fake 0440 (among others).

As a alert, fake 0440 has changed his avatar to match real 0440.

Real 0440: @illini0440
Click to expand...
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
This post was also liked by fake 0440.
Click to expand...
comedy cbc GIF by Kim's Convenience
 
#757      
nichi
D1959 said:
So my biggest concern is, how do we stop and who do we have that can stop Big Ten teams interior game like Maryland who just ate us alive I don’t see anybody that can stop interior bigs. I applaud what we have accomplished. I still think we needed a banger and we didn’t get one.
Click to expand...
Mirkovic?
 
#759      
Username
I know the answer is probably something like, "I'm not sure; we'll have to wait and see," but any early thoughts on how we play D with a 6'2" ish Boswell (obviously a fantastic on ball defender) and 6'2" ish Petrovic where D doesn't seem to be one of his strengths? I suppose it'll all come down to matchups, and we have height at the other 3 positions, but that seems like a short backcourt that lacks exceptional athleticism to make up for it.

I'd like to say I trust Hamer to turn us into a phenomenal defensive team just by his sheer strategical genius, but well...I'm not supposed to be pessimistic so I'll just stop there.

Appreciate any thoughts you have on this and all of your contributions to the board.
 
#760      
Illini B-Ball Fan
LvilleILL1 said:
Massive commitment!!

Here is what happened to the best of my understanding:

Andrej's visit was fantastic. At the end of the visit, he verbally committed to the staff in some form. The staff's read off of it was that an announcement was imminent, but that obviously did not happen. Over the last few days, tons of schools tried to call and pry him off of his verbal to Illinois. Obviously, in this day and age, nothing is official until it's public.

I do think he took the time to think through his options. Might have felt he got caught in the high of his visit, and he did hear other schools out. However, like I said the past few days, not much changed overall in this recruitment. Illinois was always the leader throughout the entire time from the minute he hit the portal.

I think this was a recruitment where certain schools tried to create more buzz/drama that was not really there to get rid of the Illinois momentum.

Brad and OA need to be praised for this one. Prying this kid off of the west coast was no easy feat. Andrej loves the sell that the staff gave to him. The opportunity to play with the Ivisic brothers up front along with two guards like Kylan and Petrovic is going to open up so much for him. He hasn't been able to play with these level of players in college yet.

Peja LOVED Brad from what I heard. That played as big of a deal as any in this recruitment imo.

The staff went away from Sarr once they got word that Andrej was 100% hitting the portal. Sarr's price also played a role in that choice/his NBA interest, but I alluded to the mystery man a couple weeks before he hit the portal. People can say pivot this pivot that etc, but this was one of if not their top target this offseason.

I will go into what they might add in the next post if they add any more, but I think we have a legit top 15 team right now. This team should be way more consistent next year, has lots of talent and size. I think the ceiling will depend on a couple of different guys developing/taking jumps.
Click to expand...

Awesome - welcome AS, you'll like it here!!
 
#763      
CleverHandle1
LvilleILL1 said:
That's gonna be a huge focus. Andrej actually talked about it in his interview with ESPN today:

"I'm confident we can become one of the best offensive teams in the country, but it's going to take a lot defensively," Stojakovic said. "We have to hone in on the little stuff. It's going to start with the guards, [we] have to set a tone that's going to maybe be surprising to some people. We're ready to surprise people defensively and I think we're going to do great things."
Click to expand...
The fact that AS is specifically talking about defense (this early) bodes well. I am hoping it will be a central focus, and a liability becomes a strength.

We all have to admit at times last year, the defense was truly atrocious. This is encouraging. Great find with Andrej's quote.
 
#764      
Gbop
I thought defense was optional with this coaching staff.
 
#766      
RabidDawgClassic
CleverHandle1 said:
The fact that AS is specifically talking about defense (this early) bodes well. I am hoping it will be a central focus, and a liability becomes a strength.

We all have to admit at times last year, the defense was truly atrocious. This is encouraging. Great find with Andrej's quote.
Click to expand...
Not to yuck your yum here, but Matthew Mayer said he wanted to be Big Ten defensive player of the year. 😂

Talk is great… I hope AS can back it up.
 
#770      
Rebounding Dog
I have no clue to why Boogie Fland keeps coming up! No no and no…. we are solid in that position.
Jones or Jovic is an addition that makes sense. Jones for rebounding and dawg like D.
Fland would be a discussion prior to landing Petrovic…. but not now. stop the nonsense!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back