Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#701      
Mojoman
Calvin said:
That's good to hear. It's possible we do well with DGL. Not that it helps, but expectations will be low since he's a true freshman, and wasn't in the RSCI rankings. He should fit the role this team needs, even if he's not a high level scorer this early in his career. You need mental toughness down the stretch, and someone who's good at the FT line. Lotta tick there if he's up for it. I just can't see Ty there late game without a big change in his FT shooting.
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Well, FWIW he is ranked higher than Braden Smith and about where Loyer was (120's 4 star). He is quicker and more athletic than both of them.
I think the hesitancy about playing him is certainly a result of the fiasco last year with Clark who couldn't beat a street cone off the dribble and was a chucker, and Epps who was not even a PG and was a chucker. Both were human turnstyles.

I bet if DGL does well early he gets more minutes as season progresses. He looks like he has a lot of attitude and a lot of game. We don't have anybody on the roster who has that quick of a pro hop.

 
#702      
Second place is 1st loser
Mojoman said:
Well, FWIW he is ranked higher than Braden Smith and about where Loyer was (120's 4 star). He is quicker and more athletic than both of them.
I think the hesitancy about playing him is certainly a result of the fiasco last year with Clark who couldn't beat a street cone off the dribble and was a chucker, and Epps who was not even a PG and was a chucker. Both were human turnstyles.

I bet if DGL does well early he gets more minutes as season progresses. He looks like he has a lot of attitude and a lot of game. We don't have anybody on the roster who has that quick of a pro hop.

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My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.
 
#703      
jjv0004
Mojoman said:
Well, FWIW he is ranked higher than Braden Smith and about where Loyer was (120's 4 star). He is quicker and more athletic than both of them.
I think the hesitancy about playing him is certainly a result of the fiasco last year with Clark who couldn't beat a street cone off the dribble and was a chucker, and Epps who was not even a PG and was a chucker. Both were human turnstyles.

I bet if DGL does well early he gets more minutes as season progresses. He looks like he has a lot of attitude and a lot of game. We don't have anybody on the roster who has that quick of a pro hop.

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The truth is that nobody knows how he will do this year but he could not have a better opportunity in college basketball this year since he ended up on a team without a point guard. At a minimum he is one of the most athletic guards the Illini have seen in a while and can finish around the rim.
 
#704      
Govoner Vaugn Fan
Second place is 1st loser said:
My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.
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Dee Brown was listed as 6'1", 160lbs as a Freshman. And 6'1" was probably on the optimistic side.
 
#705      
Mojoman
Second place is 1st loser said:
My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.
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We had a lot of guards abuse us with the way we play drop coverage. Everybody was given the alleged "tough 2" which was an easy pull up in our poorly executed scheme.
There are a lot of smaller guards his size that play effective high D1 basketball (Buie, Nowell, Trent Frazier, Dennis, Tyson Walker, etc).
You do need a level of quickness and footwork and most of all toughness. Hopefully he has it. Neither Clark or Epps had it on defensive end.
 
#706      
BashCtIllini
Mojoman said:
Well, FWIW he is ranked higher than Braden Smith and about where Loyer was (120's 4 star). He is quicker and more athletic than both of them.
I think the hesitancy about playing him is certainly a result of the fiasco last year with Clark who couldn't beat a street cone off the dribble and was a chucker, and Epps who was not even a PG and was a chucker. Both were human turnstyles.

I bet if DGL does well early he gets more minutes as season progresses. He looks like he has a lot of attitude and a lot of game. We don't have anybody on the roster who has that quick of a pro hop.

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PG is not a size, it's not even really a skill set, though the skill set does help. It is a mindset. It is about WANTING to setup teammates, it is about knowing how to do it. It is about knowing where I need to place the pass, not just being able to pass. It is about knowing when to push tempo, and when to slow it down. When to feed the hot hand. They need to know how to read a play developing, how to create a play when everything breaks down. That is what makes a good PG, not just being able to dribble and pass.

I think you're right on with the chucker mentality, and that is my fear with DGL. All of his clips show more of a scorers mentality than a PG mentality. So a guy with the skill set can play PG, but without the proper mentality, you're just a 5th player. A true PG is a force multiplier. They make their teammates better. The elite guys make their teammates better and can kill you themselves.

With the amount of talent on the roster, we don't need an elite PG. We just need a real PG that is good enough offensively that he can't be ignored. I'm not sure we have that guy. Well I feel confident saying we don't have that guy, the question is can we create one? Not that hard to work on your passing, but the mindset shift is more challenging.
 
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#707      
Johnny Lawrence
Second place is 1st loser said:
My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.
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Different games offensively but he can't be smaller than Tyler Ulis. Defenses is where I would worry the most at his size.*

*Having never seen him play
 
#709      
chief_1104
Govoner Vaugn Fan said:
Dee Brown was listed as 6'1", 160lbs as a Freshman. And 6'1" was probably on the optimistic side.
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I distinctly remember standing next to Dee Brown in line at Fat Don's in the 6pack in the fall of Dee's freshman year ('02 I think?). I didn't know it was him but my buddy excitedly pointed him out.

I did not know any of our recruits or incoming players at that point and remember looking at him and saying "people are excited about that guy? playing basketball? I'm taller and bigger than him"

I'm 5'11", for the record - and probably weighed about 165 at that time. But damn were they right to be excited about him. I'm of course not saying DGL is Dee - but size doesn't mean everything and yea 6'1" was DEFINITELY optimistic for Dee.
 
#710      
Big Jack
Second place is 1st loser said:
My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.
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#713      
InDaAZ
Second place is 1st loser said:
My concern with him (outside of him being a freshman) is his size. How does 6'1", 170 lbs translate into being a Big Ten PG? I'm not just talking about offensively, but defensively as well. Epps and Clark got abused on the defensive end. Multiple PGs had career days against us last year.
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HoopCity said:
Trent Frazier
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Speed, heart and grit can make up for a size deficit (see Trent Frazier).
DGL has another pretty good Frazier for a defensive guru…
IMG_3498.jpeg

not to mention getting some pointers from this guy…
IMG_3499.jpeg

He’s a Freshman, so there will be a learning curve, but I think DGL may turn into a solid rotation player at some point this season. 🏀

Edit: Since this is the recruiting thread, I might add that I haven’t given up hope that BU & Co. will pull in an uninjured vet PG transfer. That said, I’m excited to see them roll out the team they currently have. And we’ll get a Spanish sneak prevue!
 
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#716      
Mojoman
FWIW- DGL allegedly attacked the hole and dunked while supposedly guarded by TSJ who is a grown a$$ man.
You have to like that mindset.
If he is coachable and plays within the defensive system he should get some minutes and the rest is up to him.

Fck it. Lets just go with what we got. We might just surprise people.
 
#717      
jjv0004
Mojoman said:
FWIW- DGL allegedly attacked the hole and dunked while supposedly guarded by TSJ who is a grown a$$ man.
You have to like that mindset.
If he is coachable and plays within the defensive system he should get some minutes and the rest is up to him.

Fck it. Lets just go with what we got. We might just surprise people.
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Pretty sure we don't have much choice at this point.
 
#724      
FI_8905
FreshlySqueezed said:
No one outside of the Podziemski family saw this coming. He helped himself a lot in the pre-draft workouts.

Kid can shoot though and NBA teams love that.
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Can shoot, but is also a good ball handler and passer, and he can play above the rim. Defense needs to improve.
 
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