Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#52      
thefalcon5
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2041508747458359389
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Im not sure even with Blackwell, retaining everyone who played meaningful minutes sans Keaton, and adding a couple bench pieces, that a team like that is 1st in the country.

That being said that team is a contender. We need to get Z’s shot back but Tomis performance in the tournament was awesome. Everyone else seemed to flourish towards the end of the year. Even saw something a bit extra out of Jake.
 
#53      
HailtotheChief
jrichisamazing said:
Seems like you are overcomplicating things. Our offense has adapted to our players pretty much every season. Blackwell can score at all 3 levels, takes care of the basketball, and gets to the line a decent amount.

That being said, he is the type of player our staff wouldn't overpay for. I'm assuming we are going to give him a healthy bag and then let our winning and development do the rest of the talking. If he wants more money he will end up elsewhere.
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I agree with this. While i think Blackwell deserves pd well. I do not see him as an NBA level talented player, athlete to demand some of these 4 or 5 million numbers being tossed around. Lets not forget he was the Badger #2 option. I would love to have him on board and maybe demand around what Mirk gets.
While we are more familiar with Blackwell since he is from the B10. There are some other elite guys out there that we maybe could get a stud 1 and 2 guard for what he may demand. The portal just opened today and there will be some other all conference level studs available. Its "Moneyball" time to try and maximize what you can get out of each dollar!
 
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#54      
RollChief
#55      
NarrowJ
I-L-L 1318 said:
Our 2 most successful years in recent history did not have a true pg--Loyalty: But who will be our PG?!
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I think its a perfectly valid concern to have.

Keaton, while not really a 'true PG', was amazing in his role and isn't a situation we can automagically duplicate.
 
#56      
AirTran
NarrowJ said:
I think its a perfectly valid concern to have.

Keaton, while not really a 'true PG', was amazing in his role and isn't a situation we can automagically duplicate.
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That is great observation. The spread offense - which Illinois runs numerous versions of, doesn't use a pure point guard. There is no key "distributor' of the ball. It's all about creating match ups.
 
#59      
AssemblyHallForever
Illini2010-11 said:
The Office Thank You GIF


I find it strange some are trying to talk not taking in Blackwell. The Illini legacy can ball and would make the team much better. As always, it comes down to finances, but he would fit well in Orange and Blue.
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It depends on who stays and who goes. Would Coleman be happy being the 6th man as AS, Blackwell and a pure PG will handle the backcourt. Davis as a backup 3 and Brown as a backup guard. We will be deeper next year which is a good thing. I am not sure that Brad has had individual meeting with each player looking forward. This may take tome before we know what our complete team looks like.
 
#61      
NarrowJ
AirTran said:
That is great observation. The spread offense - which Illinois runs numerous versions of, doesn't use a pure point guard. There is no key "distributor' of the ball. It's all about creating match ups.
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Right. We don't need distributor(s) per se, but we do need ballhandlers to replace Keaton & Kylan. If we do ink Blackwell, then we will definitely need another ballhandler.
 
#62      
Deacon05
PizzaHutParkingLot said:
More athleticism would raise our ceiling. We were #295 in pace per KenPom, and elite shot-making covered for it. Adding some pace in spots would generate easier looks and take some pressure off having to hit tough ones all game. A full season of Andrej should help there.

This has been mentioned already, but adding a tough, experienced, playable guard in the Petrović spot would be huge.
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We didnt slow pace just because of athleticism, we slowed pace because thats what kept us from taking poor shots. Our efficiency was so high because the coaching saw that the slower pace made for our best offense. At least that is the way I saw it.
 
#65      
AirTran
NarrowJ said:
Right. We don't need distributor(s) per se, but we do need ballhandlers to replace Keaton & Kylan. If we do ink Blackwell, then we will definitely need another ballhandler.
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Clearly you are right.

But our options (in terms of minutes) are far less limited than people think. The best player to replace Keaton at 1 / 2 - David Mirkovic. Not saying that will happen - but if everyone returns, the staff and the players are going to be looking for the best "fit" not necessarily a particular position as some others are suggesting. Other than Andrej (he's going to be on the weakside wing, which is going to cause all sorts of problems defending) Tomi and Z everyone else can adapt to who is on the floor.
 
#66      
Illini2010-11
AssemblyHallForever said:
It depends on who stays and who goes. Would Coleman be happy being the 6th man as AS, Blackwell and a pure PG will handle the backcourt. Davis as a backup 3 and Brown as a backup guard. We will be deeper next year which is a good thing. I am not sure that Brad has had individual meeting with each player looking forward. This may take tome before we know what our complete team looks like.
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Sure, it will take time for the roster to complete...we are literally in day 3 of our offseason.

I always see this type of post about players being happy with roles moving forward due to current recruiting process, and I keep coming back to this thought process:

The job of the coaching staff is to always look for ways to make the roster better (even if it means potentially changing a role for existing players). The job of the existing players is to put in the effort to make the job of recruiting over their role extremely hard. If they do not want to accept the change/battle for role, then they are likely to hit the portal.

When it comes to Blackwell, he is a 100% sign if he wants to come here at an agreeable NIL deal.
 
#72      
WeLoveNoOther
As I said in another thread, if we are going to insist on playing the 5 out system, we MUST have elite shooters. Missing wide open 3s at a high rate is a death sentence in a 1 and done tourney.

Blackwell is a high volume and pretty accurate shooter. Mirk seems to do pretty well when he's wide open, Jake as well. Not sure about the incoming freshmen.

Blackwell is also a moderate upgrade in athleticism, which is another need.

I totally trust the staff to nail this down with the resources now available.
 
#73      
Chuck Nuggets
Looked at Mason Martin's profile. I find it pretty encouraging his other two offers (per 247 at least) are Holy Cross and Saint Louis. Those are two programs that know how to find players.
 
#75      
HensonHall71
illini0440 said:
+ Mirk
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This ^ Our offense will be running through Mirk a lot more next year, so we don't need a traditional PG to initiate the offense every time down the court. Blackwell, Andrej, Coleman, Morillo can all handle it well enough to get it up the court if that is the concern, plus Mirk can always bring it up like he did this year with another PF guarding him.

I'm very excited to see what new offense Tyler draws up to take advantage of our skill set next year!
 
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