Been watching every Illini team since the mid 50s. What I can say is that TSJr. has a talent unique to any Illini team since then and there is no one even close. He can be whatever his team wants him to be in order to win. It would be nice to see him improve his 3 pt. shooting a bit, but that happens to almost all NBA players simply due to the fact they have the time for specific work. He should be a terrific professional and teammate... nothing has ever indicated otherwise.
NBA Draft
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
In the French national league instead of the Euroleague and the Eurobasket national team competition which Luka made the All-Tournament Team for on a gold medal winning Slovenia team at age 17, before Wemby had ever played for the senior French team.
You're right though, Wemby was dominating a good adult level of competition, he's in that class of players.
Pau Gasol was also doing that before entering the NBA draft, but he was already 20.
Shannon has done some incredible work on his 3 point shot throughout his college career...going 25% on 1.2 shot per game in 2019 to 36% on 6.7 shots per game last year is pretty amazing
illiniswish09
- Northwest Suburbs
As much as it pains me to say it being a Bulls fan… TSJ to the Knicks would be an awesome fit.
drsmitty74
- Rochester
Or Lakers......(wishing)
Has anyone ever seen Edey look tired? On the floor or on the bench? I can't recall a single time.
Loyalillini10
- Urbana, IL
I think he would fit well there too. Hopefully, Thibs would trust TJ more than he does other rookies.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
I do remember cheering from Frankie, when he was with the Knicks for a bit (and actually played well).
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The case for Knecht is that the shot is elite, not just in terms of them going in, but that he is extremely crafty in finding different ways and different platforms to get the shot off, even with defenses keyed on stopping him. Being able to shoot on the move like that is rare, especially at his size, and very handy in the NBA. Plus he's got high level craft attacking closeouts (which his shot brings him a lot of opportunities to do) and can finish well at the rim.
Teams think he's a high probability Max Strus.
The problem is that he can't guard, NBA length and athleticism won't stop his scoring but will limit it, and he's not much of a facilitator at all.
Strus isn't even that great, but I see more of a Corey Kispert or a Doug McDermott. Not a needle mover. Why on earth am I taking a guy like that so high in the draft? Ahead of Cody Williams or Rob Dillingham who have massively more upside? Insanity.
Besides Michael Jordan, Frankie was my first "favorite player". So, his first game with the Knicks was appointment television for me. After a long wait, he finally got into the game and proceeded to shoot a corner three off the side of the backboard. The commentator effectively said, "Welcome to the league, rookie." As a kid, it was hard for me to watch him fall from point god at Illinois to a punchline in the NBA that quickly.
I lived in NYC at that time following him and Frankie was starting to come into his own. Even went toe to toe with Kobe one game...Kobe was even quoted as saying "who is this dude".
Then they traded for marbury and his role disappeared and that was pretty much all she wrote. NBA is very much about role and opportunity.
Heady times. Frankie taking over games, making plays no one else could. Absolutely electric player on some great teams. Will be nice to see Illini going to the pros again. There's a ton of talent on the roster, and TSJ will continue the line.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Billy Donovan has been so important for Ayo. Understood and wanted to unlock what he brought to an NBA floor from day one.
Lakers take TSJ with pick 17 and Bronny with pick 55, I'm locking it in!
In his first two years when they were still working on his conditioning and he split time with Trevion Williams.
The average spot for the above picks is 25.9, late first round.
For reference, Ayo was drafted in the second round at pick 38. Out of the totals for the 2021 draft class, he is:
6th in minutes
12th in points
15th in rebounds
7th in assists
& 1st in games played (233)
Safe to say, he has exceeded his draft slot. I fully expect TSJ to do the same, especially considering that the 2021 mid to late twenties was guys like Quentin Grimes, Bones Hyland, Cam Thomas, Jaden Springer, Day'Ron Sharpe, and a guy called Santi Aldama, who I'm pretty sure was in the cantina band from Star Wars.
For reference, Ayo was drafted in the second round at pick 38. Out of the totals for the 2021 draft class, he is:
6th in minutes
12th in points
15th in rebounds
7th in assists
& 1st in games played (233)
Safe to say, he has exceeded his draft slot. I fully expect TSJ to do the same, especially considering that the 2021 mid to late twenties was guys like Quentin Grimes, Bones Hyland, Cam Thomas, Jaden Springer, Day'Ron Sharpe, and a guy called Santi Aldama, who I'm pretty sure was in the cantina band from Star Wars.
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lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
What kind of contracts do guys get in the mid 20’s?
Loyalillini10
- Urbana, IL
Come on man, don't make me buy a Lakers jersey.
One consensus I have seen on various draft board discussions is that TSJ is more ball dominant than Knecht. TSJ needs the ball in his hands to be effective whereas Knecht does not. TSJ has much higher usage rate than Knecht. All of this is apparently a significant ding against TSJ and in favor of Knecht in modern NBA. In a weak draft like this year, most teams are looking for effective role players who can support their existing star/franchise pieces.
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The news going around is JJ Redick wants LeBron off-ball this season
I don't get it. TSJ is ball dominant? I guess perhaps I don't understand the definition. If he is, and he has a high success rate at getting to the basket and scoring points, what's the problem? With pretty darned good defense on top of that. Now my memory could be in tatters as I'm a few inches into my 1.75L bottle of Crown a good friend gave me this morning..... but I don't recall TSJ needing to have ANYTHING run for him this past year. And he still got his points in a VERY productive manner. If you, or they, are implying that TSJ is a ball hog that is detrimental to the rest of the offense, then I have to disagree, strongly!
I think people are overlooking the fact that TSJ already was a very effective role player at TTU and would be no stranger to playing off ball, focusing on defense, transition o, and catch and shoot 3s.
He really didn't even have the ball in his hands a ton at Illinois. Both Domask and Mayer tended to have the ball in their hands more in the half court.
I think TSJ is basically tailor made to be an immediate role player at the NBA level in a way that most guys aren't capable of.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him make an all rookie team and if he ends up in the right situation he could be a dark horse ROY candidate if the top of the class struggles.
Its a weak class so he could legitimately be a top rookie if he had a Jaime Jacquez type season.
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