Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

#526      
IllniRook
Maybe this has been said, idk - don’t feel like thumbing through 20 pages of whining …

Bringing in Blackwell means you’ll have to pay him more than several, if not every player, you retained.

You think the staff wanted to take this “mercenary” approach - potentially creating resentment toward him from others?

Or do you think it’s plausible we backed off because: A) our team is already stacked with a bunch of returnees from a FF Team, a stud transfer, and 3 outstanding freshman - all who complement each other well B) with that collection of talent, it wasn’t worth tearing at the fabric of the current roster?

Everyone whining has forgot what EDG means - what BU said post FF loss, and obviously can’t be satisfied with a top 3-5 roster next year. This is worse than last off-season - at least then we were dealing with a lot of unknowns …

You’ve all become what you use to despise. Go root for Cal.
 
#527      
InDaAZ
chiefini said:
I consider myself an optimist, one who tries to see the glass half full. I have had a hard time reading these recent recruiting threads, but I’ve read every single post. I often don’t monitor game threads in real time because too many naysayers make it too difficult to read. I think there’s a few people here on Loyalty who need to take a break (or leave altogether). To keep on negatively questioning Brad’s recruiting strategy after the wonderful season of accomplishment our Illini team and coaches had must really make for a miserable existence. I’m still extremely proud, and I’m still happily celebrating a Final Four season, and I’m truly looking forward to watching these fantastic and loyal players come back to make another run at a NC. Here’s to toasting we get it. Victory, Illinois, Varsity! #IlliniForLife

Celebrate Chin Chin GIF by Arrow Video
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#528      
March2TheArch
socalini said:
I'm not saying any of those things. I literally noted that that was what the timing made it seem like in my first post.

It's irrelevant to my main argument that we could still use another guard.
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People on this thread act like driving discussion on hypothetical scenarios of adding a guard or a big for depth is some how an interrogation of the staff.

We’re not insiders. We’re here to have offseason discussion to kill 7 months.
 
#529      
PepeSilvia
illini0440 said:
Why do you think they went after Blackwell? The staff can recruit/want all the talent in the world. The players have to want it too.
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I just don't understand the Blackwell or bust part. If you have the resources to make a legitimate offer to Blackwell after all the retention and paying for Coleman and Morillo.

Then why not pivot and pursue a different guy? There are other extremely talented guards available that I think that Blackwell money could get and I'd assume one of them would have the right mentality of going to a loaded roster and playing 20-25 minutes or earning more.

If you told me that Illinois had spent everything they had on retention, Vaaks, Coleman, and Morillo I would get it. I just don't get having the resources to still make an offer to Blackwell with those guys and deciding your roster is set after he decides to go elsewhere.

Are they worried Coleman or Morillo would decommit if they add another piece? And if so why would that not have been the case with Blackwell unless they figured they would rather have Blackwell then one of them? Because a guy like Matt Able would be an incredible fit on the current roster(I think Able would arguably be a better fit than Blackwell with how good I think he could be defensively).
 
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#531      
Det_Illini_fan
Rich said:
Petition to move all the hyper negative posters to their own doom thread. Its nauseating.
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Okay okay, maybe we need to hit pause for a moment. Aside from maybe a couple posts that were noticeably bad and stupid, I haven’t really seen a ton of people be “hyper” negative. I feel like there’s some over exaggerated responses happening, and maybe it’s to be funny? Idk, I’m still a bit new around here.

Taking a chance to read all responses, I see one side celebrating everything about the roster construction, which is perfect! The other is side is also celebrating to roster construction, but with a couple small questions based on the previous season. Is that really being “hyper negative” though? Maybe my read is wrong, but I don’t think anyone is freaking out. I tend to see far more negativity on Reddit, which is why I left it to come here. Where we could have more thoughtful discourse and not knee jerk hot takes all the time.

Maybe we all need to take a break from Loyalty for a bit because there’s a lot of overreactions, drama, and bickering happening when virtually everyone is pleased with what we accomplished these past couple weeks.
 
#532      
Geno33
FI_890526 said:
I think they would consider a guard or a big. It might come down to what things look like in summer workouts. They added Petrovic in late July last year.
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And how did that work out!!
 
#538      
Illini4Chief
"FUTURE TIMES" reports, a move by NCAA basketball to allow 7 players on the court and do away with the 5 player Basketball system.
 
#541      
Gunner22
lstewart53x3 said:
Seems pretty simple to me:

— Heading into the off-season the staff prioritized retention, replacing Keaton as an on-ball creator, and the pursuit of Blackwell.

— They succeeded in both retention and landing an on-ball playmaker.

— The day Andrej agreed to return, we fell out of the running with Blackwell. 48 hours after that, our 5 star recruit who had committed, but had not signed, signed.

— The timing hints that either one or both of Andrej and Coleman would not be on next year’s team if the staff continued to pursue Blackwell.

— You can disagree with that decision and wish the staff would’ve prioritized Blackwell over #TheRetention, but based on the timeline, I don’t think there’s a world in which all 3 of Blackwell, Andrej, and Coleman are on next year’s team regardless of resources.

— I’d like some extra depth at guard too, but as others have pointed out, it doesn’t seem like it’s easy to attract a player better than Ethan Brown who’s also willing to be the 9th man in the rotation. Justin Harmon was pretty much that for the E8 team and in the NCAAT that year he literally averaged 1.25 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. Not sure a guy like that raises our ceiling or floor all that much.
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I had heard that Andre did not want Blackwell . . . not sure if true or not
 
#542      
CoachHooleyHoo
krushdad said:
I hope not. Let Jake come in and provide a heater off the bench. In big games it is tough to dig yourself out of a hole. We were able to against Iowa and Houston, but we were playing with fire, with Dre on the bench. Let Jake have his 10 to 15 minutes a game, but let's not play from behind to start the game.
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The offense was predicated on spacing and Jake absolutely provided that. His defender could never help which provided opportunities for others.
 
#547      
aaeismacgychel
okrush said:
Don’t pretend the above isn’t an exaggerating also. Only McBride got above 9 points per game (10.0). All those guys you mentioned were one dimensional even if they had roles to play. I enjoyed that team but my point was don’t compare it to this one.
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There's no exaggeration. Let's do a thought exercise: Say one of our freshmen next year was guaranteed to shoot over 48% from 3 in medium high volume. You wouldn't consider that exceptional and take that in a heartbeat? A Jake Davis who shoots 48.2% instead of 40.6%? And what if Vaaks comes in here and shoots over 40% from 3 on extremely high volume. Is that not adequate enough for you? That's Alfonso Plummer level shooting...

And yes, our team last year was better and more talented than that one was. But why trash former teams and players in absolutely nonsensical manners? There have been some strange strange strange arguments this thread.
 
#548      
Det_Illini_fan
true story, I’ve never had cottage cheese before. I was thinking about getting some and heading to a park for a picnic this afternoon.

That way I can touch grass after the rollercoaster reactions here. I think both sides could use a bit of touching grass. I-L-L
 
#549      
HereSoIDontGetFined
Homecoming 2019 said:
A Final 4?
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And that worked out because we didn't have to rely on him.

We thought Petro was going to come in and be a standout because of his experience and that Wagler would be a decent shooter but otherwise a freshman. That didn't work out. Instead, those roles were more or less reversed, with Petrovic being an even worse shooter than we thought.

If Coleman comes in and is immediately Wagler level, then that's great. But that seems unlikely.

I think it's more likely we are simply a different type of team this year. I think Crocker has his work cut out for him in planning on the defensive end. Boswell covered up a lot of problems for us there.
 
#550      
Homecoming 2019
HereSoIDontGetFined said:
And that worked out because we didn't have to rely on him.

We thought Petro was going to come in and be a standout because of his experience and that Wagler would be a decent shooter but otherwise a freshman. That didn't work out. Instead, those roles were more or less reversed, with Petrovic being an even worse shooter than we thought.

If Coleman comes in and is immediately Wagler level, then that's great. But that seems unlikely.

I think it's more likely we are simply a different type of team this year. I think Crocker has his work cut out for him in planning on the defensive end. Boswell covered up a lot of problems for us there.
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I'm not gonna speculate just like I didn't with jhey and the cubs in 2016. All I know is we added petro and made a final 4
 
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