I don't think this is a good characterization. Dainja was our starter for a whole year and Epps and Goode played 20+ minutes per game. Nowhere near the MP scenario. Probably the only accurate one is Podz, who had to go to the WCC. Him and MP have two completely different builds and Podz was a young 19 yr old. MP has has plenty of time to develop. He just has no shot and no defense.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Listen to Podz, not his detractors. He didn't have to go to the WCC. He WANTED to go where he would play and be seen. He wasn't interested in going where he would play 18 minutes.
OTOH, why is he acting like a fool at WNBA games? Don't like that.
Again, I think it comes down to playing time. When I watched the early games in which he played decent minutes, at first, he looked lost on defense, but each game he got better. In one of the latter games, he kept in front of his man most of the time. And, he could have gotten better. AS was not considered to be decent at defense (right?), but eventually got much better. As far as shooting, he certainly could shoot in the Euro League he was in, with an average of 12 points a game. Don’t you think that would translate to the Big Ten eventually? Then he came here and played in a different atmosphere, and it just takes time to acclimate. Time he wouldn’t get because Wagler turned out to be so good. He would have been Illinois’ PG if it weren't for Wagler. That’s not a criticism or anything, just the way it worked out. Remember how many times KB missed some bunnies in his first year here? He got better. MP would have gotten better, too. Many posters here have pointed out that he could have been really good, but for the injury, the late arrival, and I think there were some other unfortunate factors that I can’t recall offhand.
He will be as good as he is, no matter the number next to his recruiting profile...
Maybe, but probably not after watching him in U18 FIBA, assuming he still got that opportunity w/o a top 20 ranking...
He showed me so much during those games, in how he plays every possession, goes after every loose ball, and doesn't worry about hunting shots. He is appropriately aggressive when the situation presents itself, and looks to make the right play. He was one of the few guys on that team who appeared to be playing for the name on the front of his jersey, rather than the one one the back.
The recruiting number helps with the off-season narrative, but that's really where it ends. Ultimately you have to perform.
What we have learned about this coaching staff, is that your ranking truly doesn't matter here. They will use practice to evaluate. The best combination of 5 (not necessarily the best 5) will play together the most.
I told you guys last year that Jaylan Mitchell and Jaxon Davis would not become ILLINI. Illinois took 2 players in the 2006 class that play his position. He hasn't shown that much improvement since his freshman year because he was bigger than kids his age. Mitchell recruitment reminds me of James Brown, who was highly recruited, Illinois passed on him and now he has left UNC and is now playing at Howard.
He is not a great shooter, but his stats from MEGA suggest can shoot. (nearly 50% FG & 33% 3's)
He only took 33 shots at Illinois from anywhere..., and rarely had the opportunity to get into the flow of a game.
What he really does well is get into the lane and distribute. We just had no need that skill set last season.
He is not a good defender, which is ultimately why he didn't play. Our offense was able to generate good shots, no matter which of our regulars were out there. MP was a liability on defense, so there was just no upside in his playing a lot.
As far as why didn't he play against Wisconsin when we were down to 6 players? I think this answers that question... We scored 90 points in that game... It was really back and forth the first half (we were down by 8 at one point), until we separated a bit late in the first. We needed our best players out there to stay in it... The game always seemed like we were in control, but never out of reach for WI. The Illini lead fluctuated between 5-12 points through most of the second half. By the time Wisconsin tied it, there was about 30 seconds left.
It was an extremely well-played game, and there was no point where it would have made a lot of sense to insert a guy into the game who hadn't played more than 6 minutes in 2 months...
We just couldn't get a stop when we needed one. MP wasn't going to fix that.
We're obviously talking about theoretical situations, but in the OT, we had nothing left, which was part of the issue defensively. We couldn't clear our defensive boards, which led to points.
You are correct that MP wasn't going to step in and be a lockdown defender. I totally agree. However, if he's in the game, buying at least a COUPLE of minutes, keeping a reasonable rotation to the game, are we in a better situation in OT?
We were 11 of 19 from the foul line, particularly bad in the OT, where Mirk was the biggest violator, followed by Wagler.
Keaton played 44 minutes, which is ridiculous. Ben H played 43 minutes, which is ridiculous. Jake D played 37, TI played 37, Mirk played 33 and Z played 30. Off the bench, Lee played 1 minute. That was Brad's choice for 1 minute of play. Lee. Why? Even if we whittle it down to 1 minute and the choice between MP and Lee, why Lee? If it was for defensive purposes, then we know our answer as to why he didn't get any PT whatsoever.
Could he have been that bad? Defense is generally about effort, focus, grittiness, lateral movement and positioning, being connected with teammates and in many instances, size. 6 of those qualities leads me back to practice and what Brad wasn't seeing and 1(size) is a physical issue. Can't help that. If he was being bullied, then you can write it off as it just not being a fit.
This is purely ridiculous conclusions that I could be coming to, but knowing how Brad feels about practice, how he feels about EDG and defense, MP not even getting in during supreme mop up duty and when HAVING to go to the bench, Lee was gone choice.....it sure doesn't paint a great picture as to what was going on in practice.
#Development
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Maybe if we took our best players off the floor and replaced them with our worst players, we wouldn’t have even made it into overtime.
???? Every team ever created has a bench that isn't to the talent level as the starters. That doesn't mean that you don't substitute, UNLESS the drop off is so bad because the bench is 100% unplayable. What you're saying is the MP provided absolutely no value to a winning cause, even in the most dire of circumstances and running with a 1 man rotation, at the Center position, was the best option. That's a pretty damning statement.
What's interesting about your take is that it's made on a forum that's argued about having a 9th man for two months.
We were up 12 points in that game. So, the same group that got us up 12, got outscored by 14 with the ONLY guard sub being Lee....for 1 minute.
To be clear, I'm not saying that you're wrong. It's as good of a take as anybody else's. It's just an extremely strong statement and Few is seeing something in MP that Brad had absolutely no use for.
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Well, first, I don not think the writer was talking about facilitation skills and experience he gained at Illinois. You do know that he was a very well-respected PG in whatever Euro League he was in, yes? He was even considered for the MVP award for that league. Averaged 12 points a game. And do you think that the Illinois staff evaluation did not also see those skills last year? Of course, they did. You even admit Brad has an eye for talent. Was his evaluation of MP wrong last year? It is why they recruited him, and if not for KW, he would have been Illinois’ PG last year. As we have witnessed before, it can take some time to adjust to Big Ten play. But I do not doubt he would have. Did you see the post of the schools that are interested in him? And I quote the Twitter post, "Sources indicate MASSIVE high-major interest in the former Illinois playmaker since entering the transfer portal.” Do you not think that they, too, see his potential in regard to the skills that he has acquired over his time in the Euro League? And those schools are high-major schools. So, some people, who know better than you or me, seem to think he has what it takes to play at a high major school.
As to the Wisconsin game, why is it that you don’t single out Lee as well? He only played 1 minute. You asked if anyone could explain why he did not play, and I think Emerson Bigguns posted a good analysis of why MP didn’t play (about two or three posts above this one). Could be right, could be wrong, but it is a very plausible explanation.
I don’t understand what no playing time whatsoever and his being pretty ticked and saying something during a timeout have to do with his potential, his skills, and what the writer wrote, that he was a great teammate. Which was the whole point of my original rebuttal. You moved the argument. But who knows what set that off? You don’t; I don’t. He may have had some personal problems that manifested themselves during the game. And it certainly has not been unheard of for an Illinois player to have words with a coach. And how many posts have there been over the years that someone writes that so-and-so doesn’t look happy? And it turned out to be nothing. I think it happened to Ty once, but I don’t know that for sure. And as far as where the writer got his or her information about being a great teammate, first, journalists generally have sources to back up their assertions. And why would he/she write it if it was a bald-faced lie? You know these guys, like Jeremy Werner, keep in touch with the people who have similar positions at other schools. Werner has even had writers or podcasters or whatever from other Big Ten schools on his podcasts. It’s how they can write things as this writer did. I would not doubt that the Gonzaga writer contacted someone like Werner or maybe even someone with the team to get a feel for what kind of teammate MP was. I also don’t think the Gonzaga writer would risk his reputation by writing something that was not true. I would put more credence into that than some perception about MP’s alleged being ticked off, which I did not see anyone verify when it was talked about back during the season. I mean, yes, he was ticked, but no one could explain or verify the reason.
In fact, I just don’t understand your (and PasadenaIllini) antipathy toward Petrovic, especially since I and others have provided thoughtful rebuttals to your assertions. Should I do it again? I think I have posted several times a rebuttal that you did not respond to. It seems that you just ignore anything that doesn’t jibe with your opinions. Others have pointed out, in regard to not getting much playing time, that it had more to do with just not getting enough practice time with the team and not getting enough minutes on the court in actual games, that he was injured, and probably some other things. He just had some bad luck. And here is my own rebuttal for the umpteenth time.
After the UTRGV game (I think. It’s been a while):
Dariush Takhtehchian, M.D
@takhtehchianmd
22-year-old Mihailo Petrovic. As advertised. Already has 12 pts, 3 dimes, 2 boards in 12 minutes
Someone here posted, "I need more Mihailo."
And another: I'll go out on a limb here and say we got a good one in Petrovic.
Really good, really quick.
And there were a few other similar posts.
And if I remember correctly, he played well against Southern U. It wasn’t just at garbage time. I think it was in the first half. MP took over the PG duties, and KW played wing. Worked pretty well, but then, Southern was not much competition. The point is, he has played well when he gets significant minutes.
And one other thing: MP is/was 22; he played PG in a Euro League that, I believe, is pretty on par with the Big Ten. At least, it was a pro league. Do you think the Illini staff did not have confidence that he could handle PG duties in the Big Ten?
He definitely did not play like a chicken with its head cut off.]
By the way, you don’t need to double-space between sentences. That was only if one was using a typewriter. Think of the time you will save.
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Good choice.
I heard Mitchell looked good recently . He’s also been hurt the last several years.
You ok Mr/Mrs. Petrovich? Nobody is picking on MP, but you're feeling the need to rush to his defense and it's not needed. You just wrote a book that the vast majority of the people here won't bother reading and you're talking to me about saving time? Are you serious? Lol
Your post is WAY too long to even begin to respond to in full and it's also full of lunacy. I don't even know if you're confusing my comments with someone else's or if you didn't read my last post when I did bring up Lee? His 1 minute was the choice for Brad. Feel free to answer my question. Why did Lee get the minute? Instead of addressing the questions, you used Southern U and Rio Grande as baselines and instantly lost credibility. You're searching for data to support a meaningless argument. The opening tip against those guys is pretty much a race to when the subs get extended playing time.
What I don't understand is the personal dig? Not sure it was necessary, but hey...you do you. Hope it helped your day.
No kidding!
. Good God.....the amount of time that must have taken is insane!
I copied and pasted in an AI for a summary and the AI killed itself. take that skynet!
Just an absolutely wild amount of text here.
Anything 4+ paragraphs is a no from me dawg.
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
Why? If you're the #20 played in 2028, and fall to #40 in 2027, then the value of that player dropped significantly after the reclass.
In 2028, there were 19 better options of players to choose from.
In 2027, there are now 39.
Thats a significant discrepancy. Yes the player is the same player and person, but in the previous setting, his value was a lot greater than in the new setting.
Now, if Pettigrew is #20 and falls to #25, then the difference isn't all too worthwhile.
Can you please explain what you mean by "value" in this context?
Were there? There were 19 guys perceived to be better, but scouting is pretty far from an exact science. If that wasn't one of your takeaways from last season, I'm not sure what to tell you. Players are not limited by their rankings, like in a video game... There may be a discrepancy in what they can reasonably expect in NIL compensation, but it has no real effect on their ability to impact winning.
Obviously, Wagler was the outlier among outliers, but in recent years there are routinely one and done players who were ranked outside the top 50.
Wagler wasn't even the only 1st rounder this year who was outside the top 100. Ebuka Okorie was #121 on 247's final rankings...
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