Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#651      
zentrails
Fly Illini Fly! said:
But to that I'd argue "staying in front" has nothing to do with being 6"1 instead of 6"7. It's about being a good defender.
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Yep, Rich McBride couldn't move well because of foot injuries but still became a very good defender for us by his final season.
 
#653      
Noblesville Illini
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Vaaks is a true PG. Everyone else is a secondary ball handling option.

The only reason you think he isn't a PG is because he's 6"7. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

His screen navigation and PnR ability (which by basketball norms defines a point guard) is terrific.

.....

For those still confused about point guard, please listen to this portion of the MLT interview:

24:53

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Actually looks 6’8” in this week’s pic! Just sayin’
 
#654      
Noblesville Illini
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
But that's kind of the point. He is 6"7, but that's a disadvantage because he isn't a traditional PG with superb quickness TO STAY IN FRONT OF OPPOSING TEAM'S quick guards.

Offensively we'll be fine, since we have so many creator options (and of course Vaaks).

Defensively, we don't have someone who can matchup with the quick PGs on other teams.
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Williams fits the bill nicely
 
#658      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
skyIdub said:
Basketball Universe: "Here's your 9th man Loyalty, you can relax now."


Loyalty: "OMG OUR NOT A PG THAT'S OUR PG IS TOO TALL!!"
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I don't believe anyone questioned our point guard play or the quality of it.

The uncertainty is regarding how we GUARD OPPOSING TEAM's PG with superb quickness (like a Jeremy Fears), since we lack that quickness at our PG spot.

It's not a point guard question; it's a defense question.

To that the answer would be Stojakovic, and then two freshman in whichever order (Coleman and Williams).

Williams will play because, besides Andrej, we have zero other SLAP prototype players (size, length, athleticism, physicality) on the roster. His role is super simple: be a great athlete and be great on defense. If he does it, he'll see the court.

Brown likely isn't ready. I think Zens might be ready, but he doesn't provide us what we lack.

And if JJ plays a significant role, something's gone horribly wrong.
 
#659      
HensonHall71
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
I don't believe anyone questioned our point guard play or the quality of it.

The uncertainty is regarding how we GUARD OPPOSING TEAM's PG with superb quickness (like a Jeremy Fears), since we lack that quickness at our PG spot.

It's not a point guard question; it's a defense question.

To that the answer would be Stojakovic, and then two freshman in whichever order (Coleman and Williams).

Williams will play because, besides Andrej, we have zero other SLAP prototype players (size, length, athleticism, physicality) on the roster. His role is super simple: be a great athlete and be great on defense. If he does it, he'll see the court.

Brown likely isn't ready. I think Zens might be ready, but he doesn't provide us what we lack.

And if JJ plays a significant role, something's gone horribly wrong.
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You are correct in that quick point guards have given us trouble the last couple of years even with Boswell on the roster. I think the disconnect with a lot of fans is our philosophy on defense is not predicated on having a super quick on ball defender

The staff has been pretty clear we’re going for positional size and we’re going to force quick guards to shoot over us on the perimeter and if they get in the lane just don’t give up anything at the rim and make them shoot mid range jumpers. On the other end the short quick guards are a liability for the other team on the pick and rolls and we’re willing to take that tradeoff

A quick guard who can shoot threes will be tough to handle again this year - guys like Boyd. But we won’t face too many of those. Guys like Fears we just have to avoid fouling - let him shoot all the threes he wants. I do think we’ll see more matchup zones this year from us.

If we can be top 20 in defensive efficiency through not fouling, defensive rebounding and not giving up shots at the rim, that is all we need with this offense
 
#660      
NarrowJ
HensonHall71 said:
You are correct in that quick point guards have given us trouble the last couple of years even with Boswell on the roster. I think the disconnect with a lot of fans is our philosophy on defense is not predicated on having a super quick on ball defender

The staff has been pretty clear we’re going for positional size and we’re going to force quick guards to shoot over us on the perimeter and if they get in the lane just don’t give up anything at the rim and make them shoot mid range jumpers. On the other end the short quick guards are a liability for the other team on the pick and rolls and we’re willing to take that tradeoff

A quick guard who can shoot threes will be tough to handle again this year - guys like Boyd. But we won’t face too many of those. Guys like Fears we just have to avoid fouling - let him shoot all the threes he wants. I do think we’ll see more matchup zones this year from us.

If we can be top 20 in defensive efficiency through not fouling, defensive rebounding and not giving up shots at the rim, that is all we need with this offense
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Really good post, agree with you that the archetype described is a pain for any team to defend.

I firmly believe the whole 'unable to stop quick guards' thing is just this:

hoopsfan47 said:
The fact is that no team has a defensive player who can stay in front of really quick PGs with a handle.
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Those guys are hard to stop, even for equally quick defenders. We have chosen to build our team around length / positional size which gives us our own set of advantages on offense against smaller players (why you see us attacking them every possession).

Jeremy Fears:

- 19 & 7 on 8/10 shooting vs UNC (Elite defender Trimble couldn't shut him down)
- Averaged 19 & 12 vs UCLA (Dent, small quick defender, didn't shut him down)
- Averaged 26 & 8 vs Michigan (Michigan with smaller guards, Cadeau/Cason, didn't shut him down)
- Some of his worst games were against Eastern Carolina, Oakland University, North Dakota and Penn St so maybe we should have taken on some of their guards as transfers?

Nick Boyd:

- Averaged 18 & 6 with 3 stl in 2 games vs Michigan
- 29 pts 4 ast vs Michigan St
- 20/8/5 line vs UCLA
- His 5 lowest scoring outputs were vs Ball St, Central Michigan, Minnesota, Penn St and Oregon so maybe we should emulate what those programs did last year?

And I hate using Donovan Dent as an example, because he honestly had a subpar season, but he dropped 23/6/12 on Michigan St and Jeremy Fears himself, so maybe these guys are just really good basketball players and hard for any team to stop.
 
#662      
wc_illini
HensonHall71 said:
You are correct in that quick point guards have given us trouble the last couple of years even with Boswell on the roster. I think the disconnect with a lot of fans is our philosophy on defense is not predicated on having a super quick on ball defender

The staff has been pretty clear we’re going for positional size and we’re going to force quick guards to shoot over us on the perimeter and if they get in the lane just don’t give up anything at the rim and make them shoot mid range jumpers. On the other end the short quick guards are a liability for the other team on the pick and rolls and we’re willing to take that tradeoff

A quick guard who can shoot threes will be tough to handle again this year - guys like Boyd. But we won’t face too many of those. Guys like Fears we just have to avoid fouling - let him shoot all the threes he wants. I do think we’ll see more matchup zones this year from us.

If we can be top 20 in defensive efficiency through not fouling, defensive rebounding and not giving up shots at the rim, that is all we need with this offense
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To be #1, I think we'll need to be better than #20 on defense (we were #20 last year at KenPom and Torvik). We especially need to play better defense against good teams than we did last year.
 
#663      
Fly Illini Fly!
wc_illini said:
To be #1, I think we'll need to be better than #20 on defense (we were #20 last year at KenPom and Torvik). We especially need to play better defense against good teams than we did last year.
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To be #1, you need to be top 10 in both offense and defense. Heck maybe even top 5 in both.

However, I'd question how realistic those views are about being #1. We don't have the defensive profile of a Michigan / AZ from last year. Yes you can claim our size will bother teams, but fact is those top 5 defenses just look... different. Athletically and physically.

If you're the top offense (which Torvik projects for Illinois) and a top 20 defense...it very likely implies you're a top 5 team, in the elite 8 or the F4. I really don't see anything wrong with that. It's NEVER championship or bust.
 
#665      
Fly Illini Fly!
NarrowJ said:
And I hate using Donovan Dent as an example, because he honestly had a subpar season, but he dropped 23/6/12 on Michigan St and Jeremy Fears himself, so maybe these guys are just really good basketball players and hard for any team to stop.
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His Purdue game was outstanding: 23pts and 13ast.

Was one of those guys that when's he's cooking, is as good as any PG in the country.

Unfortunate injuries for UCLA last year. I remember they stuck with Purdue until the very end without Dent and Bilodeau.
 
#667      
Fr8trn16
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
I don't believe anyone questioned our point guard play or the quality of it.

The uncertainty is regarding how we GUARD OPPOSING TEAM's PG with superb quickness (like a Jeremy Fears), since we lack that quickness at our PG spot.

It's not a point guard question; it's a defense question.

To that the answer would be Stojakovic, and then two freshman in whichever order (Coleman and Williams).

Williams will play because, besides Andrej, we have zero other SLAP prototype players (size, length, athleticism, physicality) on the roster. His role is super simple: be a great athlete and be great on defense. If he does it, he'll see the court.

Brown likely isn't ready. I think Zens might be ready, but he doesn't provide us what we lack.

And if JJ plays a significant role, something's gone horribly wrong.
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Lincoln Williams can guard him.
 
#669      
wc_illini
Fly Illini Fly! said:
To be #1, you need to be top 10 in both offense and defense. Heck maybe even top 5 in both.

However, I'd question how realistic those views are about being #1. We don't have the defensive profile of a Michigan / AZ from last year. Yes you can claim our size will bother teams, but fact is those top 5 defenses just look... different. Athletically and physically.

If you're the top offense (which Torvik projects for Illinois) and a top 20 defense...it very likely implies you're a top 5 team, in the elite 8 or the F4. I really don't see anything wrong with that. It's NEVER championship or bust.
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I definitely agree with everything you said except I'm conflicted about the bolded part.

I think "natty or bust" is too extreme since it's a single elimination tournament. Being in the top tier in final Torvik/KenPom is the more "controllable" goal, and if our defense holds us back from that, it will personally be a letdown after all the excitement going into next season.
 
#670      
JDL70
Big Jack said:
I am not certain about Slovania but I can confirm none of our staff was in Montenegro yesterday as I did not see them. On an another note let me tell you Montenegro is beautiful, unlike central Illinois, Mirc must have only been interested in playing for Brad.
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Having been to Montenegro, Croatia and other countries in that area of the world I will confirm that this area is very beautiful and the people are very nice. Also great restuarants.
 
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