What always jumps out to me is MSU only having 2 players not in the top 100. Izzo is a top recruit merchant.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Not all sports are played in front of even a single fan, I think was his point
I just played 5-on-5 with my teenage son and his buddies (yikes, I'm old) and there were no fans or reporters or tv crews present
View attachment 50544 But was $$$$ involved? And by the way, I'm not with the IRS
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
1m4tr
Cliffmas
If there ever was a Slytherin coach, Mick Cronin would be it.
Illinois has been ball handling challenged in the recent past. Last season was certainly not one of those years.
I wanted to argue that Izzo would be more Slytherin than Cronin, but I think he's more of the goblin banker than a wizard...
Having just returned from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, I have two responses.
1. We need to have a recruiter posted permanently in the region. At 6', I was frequently towered over.
2. All of those regions are gorgeous. Central Illinois, not so much.
MadtownIllin
- Madison, WI
After and recently returning from these countries, I can verify the observations and can add that the women's team might also benefit..
Hope you enjoyed your trip! As someone from Central Illinois, when I visited Montenegro, I couldn’t believe a place like that existed. Absolutely stunning.
Croatia is also beautiful, funny enough a lot of westerns in the 60s were shot in the mountains around Zadar because it was cheaper to do it there than in the U.S. (or so a tour guide told me). The country is incredibly clean, respectful and welcoming in my experience, and it didn’t feel like you were tripping over other tourists the whole time like in parts of Italy.
Going in between Croatia and Bosnia was crazy because of all the reminders of the Yugoslav wars, it’s crazy to think there was a hot war like that so recently in that region.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Quad Cities-style? Or just not a fan of triangles?
He wasn't near as helpful the following game against Wisconsin (when we needed anyone who could dribble the ball besides Keaton; both Andrej and Boz out).
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Yeah, even though he does have good handles for a PF, you don't want him to overhandle. In that regard, Jake and Ben were really smart last year - they just didn't put the ball on the floor that often. Sometimes not dribbling at all is the best option.
I mean you're the one who claimed it's "indisputable" that Coleman is our point guard.
.....
FWIW, Vaaks is the only one on this roster with natural PG ball skills.
Coleman is very good, but he's more 2 than 1 (which is COMPLETELY fine).
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Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
We can slide Mirk into this convo as well.
You used the word indisputable, I was playing off that.
Vaaks is not the only person on the roster with natural PG skills. That's laughable. Again, describe what a point guard is. Nobody has. To me its the primary ball handler. Coleman and Morillo are both capable. This is a dead debate at this point. Only time will tell.
Keaton wasn't known to be a ball handler coming into last season......at all, more of a 2. Coleman is more of a 2 as well but can handle the ball no problem. I think it will be a mixed bag of Vaaks, Mirk and Coleman handling the ball.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
There’s also 2 types of needs for “primary ball handler”
There is the guy that initiates and runs the offense - that was wagler
And there’s also the guy that can handle the ball in the backcourt with guys draped on him, break down press, break down the double teams in high leverage late game - more often then not, that was Kylan for us.
A lot of times, that’s the same guy. For us last year, it wasn’t.
I think through all the guys back we have no issues with #1 for most games and situations, it’s the question of what does that look like in the tight end of game sequences. It’s also June…
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