Nice to see Kasparas in the picture. I guess Thomasilav will not arrive until next week?
Possibly. Either way no concern.Nice to see Kasparas in the picture. I guess Thomasilav will not arrive until next week?
Purdue may not have our raw talent, but they have a lot of veteran players who have multiple years of experience playing together, including on the big stage of the Final Four. I think Purdue have to be considered as favorites over us until we prove otherwise. Hopefully the underdog role will motivate our guys.Watched the recent sleepers segment where they bump us up to # 3 in the conference behind Indiana and Purdue after Riley committed. Is it just me or are people vastly overrating both of those teams?
I’m willing to concede that IU has more proven talent than we do, but how does it all fit together? Can Ballo and Reneau coexist? And MBako is likely playing out of position at the 3. They did seriously upgrade their guards but both are about 30% from 3. How will they space the floor and where are their driving lanes with the bigs clogging the paint? They bring in Goode but they’re likely sitting one of their top 3 players to give him minutes.
And I’m willing to write in Smith as first team all BIG, but Purdue doesn’t really have any other proven pieces. Loyer is hit or miss, can’t get his own shot and TBD what kind of looks he will get post Edey. Heide and Colvin are both big athletic wings but neither is proven. And their incoming big looks really good but is a freshman and likely won’t be able to go more than about 20 mpg.
We have a ton of question marks and unproven players too but we’ve got positional size, shooting and playmaking all over the court. I would take our roster over anyone’s in the BIG.
It doesn't suck AS badly, but still atrocious! Easily the ugliest floor in the B1G, if not the nation.....
Hope I’m just missing the /s
OR...they, including us who follow the team closely, haven't seen 80% of our roster play in a live game at the college level, on a team with expectations to win.Just the normal lazy journalism we’ve come to expect. The voters are painfully ignorant of most teams they do not cover on a daily basis, or have clear biases fully on display. Ranking teams based solely on returning ppg, etc.
If he can work his way into the competitive mix for playing time it'll only make practices more intense and our team that much better. Love it.Jake Davis…. I think we are getting a real deal and winner.
Coach Underwood said this week that the Illinois coaching staff underestimated Jake’s basketball abilities but they knew that he had a great shot. He is one of the players who impressed Coach ear
In the scrimmage schedule. Coach talked about the hard work of all the players and he said Davis has lost weight…no doubt to speed up.
I did some reading on Jake from his high school coach Jason Delaney and he had glowing comments. “He’s a loyal kid and he does the intangible things. Makes the extra pass instead of forcing up a shot. ... They’re getting the highest quality of person they can get. He’s the ultimate teammate. He’ll always put the team first and do the little things and focus on the details because he wants to win.”
He’s going to shoot the ball at a high rate,” Delaney said. “He doesn’t take bad shots. That’s why he shoots such a good percentage. He’s going to take good shots.”
From an IQ standpoint, he’s going to make his teammates better around him. He’s going to be in the gym, and he’s going to pull guys in there with him.
“Jake, two years ago, helped us to a state title,” Delaney said. “He’s just bringing that championship culture to Illinois. He’s going to make guys around him better because that’s what he does.”
“Even after he was done playing his senior year, we do 6 a.m. spring workouts, and he was at every one because, for him, it was important that he had the guys playing this year ready to go. He didn’t want a drop off in our program.”
I have no insight at all into how Booth is actually feeling about it all, but as I see it as an outsider, I would think Booth's future outlook is quite a bit better than almost anyone else on the team that's not an expected/potential starter this year. And of course I'm sure he wants minutes and would love to start, but we were in on Humrichous pretty early on in the portal season, so I'd think Booth would have been given an honest view of how that might go for him this year.It’s still SUPER early, and maybe no one has any idea, but do any insiders have a feeling on if Booth is feeling recruited over at all? Regret?
I feel like IF I were in his shoes, though I know guys like this have self confidence, I’d be feeling like I should have maybe picked a better spot to start or at least get big minutes.
You're wanting Booth to assume that next year he won't have another portal transfer to compete against.I have no insight at all into how Booth is actually feeling about it all, but as I see it as an outsider, I would think Booth's future outlook is quite a bit better than almost anyone else on the team that's not an expected/potential starter this year. And of course I'm sure he wants minutes and would love to start, but we were in on Humrichous pretty early on in the portal season, so I'd think Booth would have been given an honest view of how that might go for him this year.
But at least Humrichous is out of eligibility next year, and right now we don't really have another player that is all that close to Booth in terms of his unique niche and role as a stretch 4.
Ty will presumably be competing again with Tre White next year for wing minutes if they both are still around, and that's assuming that Will Riley turns out to be a one and done.
Our backcourt seems like it will be absolutely loaded again, especially if KJ comes back for year 2. (and if we somehow also land Jasper Johnson??!??). That will be a bloodbath in practice. Honestly don't see how we keep everyone there - something's gotta give (most likely we don't get Johnson).
Morez and Ivisic are both freshmen at the 5 spot. (Also presumably JasonJ is in the mix here I guess? We'll see how he develops)
Conclusion: Out of our current roster, Booth has the clearest path/least direct competition to earning a starting role as an upperclassman if he can impress the staff and if he sticks around. (Oh and Booth could conceivably even develop enough perimeter game and prove himself as a perimeter defender to play a wing role, too)
Looks like I was running to my toilet to spew on Unofficial but didn’t make it and puked on some poor wood table
To be fair, it is better than their old mural.Whatever happened to just having a basketball court? We gotta put a mural on the floor now? #oldmanyellingatcloud
Agreed......Every Day Guy.....or is this still a thing?This Jake Davis kid is the caliber of player that we WANT!!! Frazier, Damonte, Ayo, TSJ, etc..... EDG's, DOGGS! Crazy to even contemplate what the possibilities are with this group of players.... Color me excited!!!
Every fan base inflates/overrates their roster.OR...they, including us who follow the team closely, haven't seen 80% of our roster play in a live game at the college level, on a team with expectations to win.
While I agree that journalism is lazy, our inflating of our roster before seeing any of it is just as awkward of a take.
This isn't a plug and play roster. A whole lot needs to be ironed out.
I'd agree in theory, but the roster turnover is so crazy and so widespread every offseason (and includes TRULY high-talent guys, not just those buried on the bench the previous season) that I think journalists and other people who make these lists shouldn't penalize a talented team just because it's a bit of a "mystery." While our level of replacing/reloading is certainly above average this year, the days of returning our 2005 squad after our 2004 season are obviously pretty much gone, too. We are at a point where we pretty much have to judge teams based on their assumed talent level, and ours is pretty good.OR...they, including us who follow the team closely, haven't seen 80% of our roster play in a live game at the college level, on a team with expectations to win.
While I agree that journalism is lazy, our inflating of our roster before seeing any of it is just as awkward of a take.
This isn't a plug and play roster. A whole lot needs to be ironed out.
Very true. But there is a lot of film out there, and these guys are high-3/4/5 star players. If they were headed to a blue blood they would be touted by the national guys WAY more than they are heading to Illinois. Same ol song and dance from the media.OR...they, including us who follow the team closely, haven't seen 80% of our roster play in a live game at the college level, on a team with expectations to win.
While I agree that journalism is lazy, our inflating of our roster before seeing any of it is just as awkward of a take.
This isn't a plug and play roster. A whole lot needs to be ironed out.
No obviously he can’t assume that. That’s something he might have to deal with - honestly it’s likely just for the sake of depth.You're wanting Booth to assume that next year he won't have another portal transfer to compete against.
The hope obviously is that we've recruited the EDGs that will respond to being on the bench by working harder.
Just trying to show what some of the most well known ranking sites have him at. Maybe quit trying to make everything seem like such a problem...? Even the simplest of things...?No problem if he's 19 or 12. That's elite territory. But if it gets you off, just quote whatever source ranks him highest. That's what most fans do.