College Basketball 2011-2012

[Guest]

Arizona lost an exhibition game to D2 Seattle Pacific last night in Tucson. :)

[Formerly Snayke]

3 freshman for Kansas don't qualify, including Ben McLemore.

 

Pity.

 

I'm not surprised about 2 of them. The Canadian kid was a bit of a shock, but he probably isn't good enough to play at KU anyway.

 

this will be a pretty tough year for KU hoops. Not a lot of depth.

 

By tough year do you mean 25+ wins and a No. 3 seed in the tournament? I know they didn't bring in a superstar class, but they'll lose maybe four games in the non-conference portion and the only Big 12 game I think they'll lose is at aTm.

[illiniguy]

3 freshman for Kansas don't qualify, including Ben McLemore.

 

Pity.

 

I'm not surprised about 2 of them. The Canadian kid was a bit of a shock, but he probably isn't good enough to play at KU anyway.

 

this will be a pretty tough year for KU hoops. Not a lot of depth.

 

By tough year do you mean 25+ wins and a No. 3 seed in the tournament? I know they didn't bring in a superstar class, but they'll lose maybe four games in the non-conference portion and the only Big 12 game I think they'll lose is at aTm.

Don't they play Baylor twice?

[snoodmonger]

3 freshman for Kansas don't qualify, including Ben McLemore.

 

Pity.

 

I'm not surprised about 2 of them. The Canadian kid was a bit of a shock, but he probably isn't good enough to play at KU anyway.

 

this will be a pretty tough year for KU hoops. Not a lot of depth.

 

By tough year do you mean 25+ wins and a No. 3 seed in the tournament? I know they didn't bring in a superstar class, but they'll lose maybe four games in the non-conference portion and the only Big 12 game I think they'll lose is at aTm.

Don't they play Baylor twice?

 

A three seed is probably best case scenario this year.

 

And there's no way we only lose one Big 12 game.

[Formerly Snayke]

A three seed is probably best case scenario this year.

 

And there's no way we only lose one Big 12 game.

 

I just don't think there's a lot of depth. Once you get past KU-aTm-Baylor-Missouri, it looks pretty bleak. Self will coach circles around Scott Drew, so mark those games against Baylor down as wins.

[Guest]

The AP poll is out, in which voters ignore that Mizzou has 3 players taller than 6-6.

 

1 North Carolina Tar Heels

2 Kentucky Wildcats

3 Ohio St. Buckeyes

4 Connecticut Huskies

5 Syracuse Orange

6 Duke Blue Devils

7 Vanderbilt Commodores

8 Florida Gators

9 Louisville Cardinals

10 Pittsburgh Panthers

11 Memphis Tigers

12 Baylor Bears

13 Kansas Jayhawks

14 Xavier Musketeers

15 Wisconsin Badgers

16 Arizona Wildcats

17 UCLA Bruins

18 Michigan Wolverines

19 Alabama Crimson Tide

20 Texas A&M Aggies

21 Cincinnati Bearcats

22 Marquette Golden Eagles

23 Gonzaga Bulldogs

24 California Golden Bears

25 Missouri Tigers

[Smack]

Wisconsin at 15? Seriously? They have one good player.

[illiniguy]

Wisconsin at 15? Seriously? They have one good player.

Michigan is at 18 they have half a good player. College basketball is super top heavy this year. After about 6 it's a crap shoot right now.

[Guest]

Had a friend send me his Illinois preview. I've spoilered it because it's long as hell. Pretty realistic take on things, though.

 

 

Now that the football season has started it's inevitable regression to the norm, it's time to talk basketball. I sat through the Orange & Blue Scrimmage over the weekend and with 7 new guys it's tough to keep track of who is who. So for this run-down I've included the team picture, which hopefully you can see in the email and if not it is attached. Keep in mind the best PG in the team picture is in a suit in the bottom left (Chester Frazier) and the best three point shooter in the picture is in a suit in the bottom right (Sean Harrington). In fact, the highlight of the Orange & Blue Scrimmage was the halftime 3 point shooting contest between the players and the coaches where each team had to make 3 three point shots from each of the standard locations along the three point line. While the deck was stacked in favor of the coaches, who had an extra ball to shoot and a couple extra cheerleaders to rebound, Harrington carried the coaching staff making 10 of the 12 shots required to get to the final baseline position. At that point, Chester Frazier got hot and drilled three consecutive shots to clinch the win from the coaching staff. But on to the actual players for the coming year in order of expected impact to this years team (in my opinion anyway)

 

#44 sophomore PG Keven Berardini: a walk on who won't see any meaningful minutes this year or ever.

 

#25 sophomore G Jean Seles: a walk on who won't see any meaningful minutes this year or ever. His main contribution will be communicating in French with Ibby Dimje.

 

#23 freshman F Ibby Djimde: Djimde was a last minute pickup from Mali by way of prep school who surprisingly cleared eligibility hurdles. He was billed as a 6-8 project who already had the size and strength to be a defensive and rebounding presence once he learned to play the game. However, as you can tell looking at the picture, Djimde is no where near as tall as Tyler Griffey who is also listed at 6-8. He was a total non-factor in the scrimmage and figures to be at least 2 years away from competing for playing time.

 

#21 freshman G/F Devin Langford: Langford is listed as 6-7 and was announced as a "wing" during the introductions to the scrimmage. He wasn't a highly ranked recruit and was injured during the Illini summer trip to Italy. While he didn't do anything special in the scrimmage he did show some athleticism and didn't look overwhelmed. Unfortunately Langford evidently has a broken finger that will keep him out 8 weeks which eliminates any chance he contributes much of anything this year.

 

#20 freshman F Myke Henry: Henry is a bulky 6-6ish SF from Chicago who was ranked in the 50-60 range based totally and completely on his ability to score. He's a good shooter who is more than willing to launch shots from inside or outside. Unfortunately he's on record as saying he's not used to playing defense and therefore has struggled in practice thus far. But unless Weber opts to go really small and Henry gets time at PF, he's not likely to see much time at SF if he doesn't play defense given the other options at that position.

 

#4 sophomore G/F Crandall Head: Head is the highest ranked recruit of any of the swingman and showed a few glimpses of promise when finally given a few minutes late in the year out of desperation. He's a very athletic player but has reportedly struggled in practice and was only noticed in the scrimmage when being dunked on by Joe Bertrand. Head is going to have to earn his time by playing lock down defense but for now he's clearly at best #4 in the SG/SF rotation.

 

#15 freshman F Mike Shaw: Shaw is listed at 6-8 but probably is closer to 6-6. He's a prospect in the lower end of the top 100 lists and there is some fan optimism around him because he has a reputation of a rebound and he chose Illinois over Michigan State. Shaw almost has to get some minutes at PF by default because the other options are to play an SG/SF out of position. If he can defend and rebound at an adequate level and throw in a garbage basket or two every now and then it'll be a good sign. He got a few rebounds and a dunk in the scrimmage but certainly didn't stand out in any real way.

 

#1 junior SG DJ Richardson: Richardson is a known entity and will likely start all year long at the SG position. Hopefully his shooting is a little more consistent this year as he really struggled towards the end of last year. But you pretty much know what you are going to get with DJ. If only he could handle the ball a little better he'd have a chance to be great but he just doesn't seem to have that ability.

 

#13 frehsman G Tracy Abrams: The 6-1 Abrams is another top 60 prospect coming out of Chicago. It was hoped he'd be the starting PG for the next four years but early returns say he's more of a shooter/scorer than a distributor. A lot of people were suprised last week when Weber compared Abrams with none other than Allen Iverson. Of course, Weber then explained that Abrams, much like Iverson, just doesn't have the desire necessary to excel in practice but when game time comes around they're ready to go. In the scrimmage Abrams looked solid offensively and played with good effort on the defensive end. I think you can safely pencil him in for 10-15 minutes if not more as both the backup PG who will also get a few minutes at SG.

 

#32 freshman F/C Nnanna Egwu: Egwu is a legit 6-10 and while not bulky he does have some muscle on him. He's reasonably athletic and should develop into a very good if not great defensive player in the post. The only real question is whether that development takes place this year or somewhere down the road. He has a few moves in the post but most of his offensive figures to come off the glass and in transation as he runs well for a big man. Illinois really needs 20-25 quality minutes from Egwu from a defense and rebounding standpoint. He struggled against Leonard in the scrimmage but that is to be expected.

 

#0 senior PG Sam Maniscalco: Maniscalco is a transfer who sat out last year at Bradley with ankle problems. For the previous two years he was a solid PG in the Missouri Valley Conference. All reports are the ankle is fully healed although they are still limiting his practice somewhat. Assuming he's healthy Maniscalco will start and be a serviceable point guard and get 20-30 minutes a game depending on the progress of Abrams. In the scrimmage he handled the ball without issue and shot well from three point range, even making a three pointer at the buzzer to win one of the quarters during the scrimmage.

 

#2 sophomore SG/SF Joe Bertrand: After a redshirt year and a year spent on the bench, Bertrand emerged as a solid player during the Italy trip and looked like the starting SF from where I was sitting at the scrimmage. He's a legit 6-5 and is easily the most athletic guy on what is a reasonably athletic team. During the scrimmage he drove the lane more than anyone else, he picked up offensive and defensive rebounds over and around the forwards, and he even made some perimeter shots. If it wasn't for the fact he's been on the team two years and barely played thus far I wouldn't be worried at all.

 

#3 junior SG/SF Brandon Paul: We know Brandon Paul is a streaky shooter. We know he's really athletic. We know he's a capable defender. We know he takes questionable shots and makes questionable decisions. But at the end of the day, we know he's going to be a solid player that the Illini can count on. If he raised his game a level over the summer, and he definitely has the talent and athleticism necessary to that, then there won't be any more questions about who the go-to guy is on this Illini team. He didn't dominate the scrimmage in the way I'd hoped, but he did have a decent game.

 

#42 junior PF Tyler Griffey: Griffey absolutely has to go from non-contributor to a 25 minute a game PF. He'll definitely be an asset on the offensive side of the ball as he is the best shooter on the team from 3 poing range on in and has shown the ability to pass and move inthe motion offense. He won't be a traditional bang under the boards PF but he has to provide some defense and rebounding without getting into foul trouble because quite frankly there is no-one else ready to play PF if Griffey can't get it done.

 

#12 sophomore C Meyers Leonard: Like Griffey the Illini absolutely positively need Leonard to be a 25-30 minute a game center. Unlike Griffey, Leonard has a chance to be a special player. He is every bit of 7-2 and he's strong and athletic and has a mean-streak. They need him to dominate in the post on both ends of the court. They need him to score, rebound, block shots, and run the court. He showed glimpses of being able to do that last year but was more often lost on offense, lost on defense, or sitting the bench in foul trouble. If Leonard can be consistantly good this year it'll go a long way towards making the Illini consistently good. If he jumps to great this year then there are likely more than enough pieces around him for the Illini to be very good. Unfortunately, I think Leonard is still a year away from being great, if not two.

 

The pressure is squarely on Weber this year and anything less than an NCAA appearance will likely lead new AD Mike Thomas to determine that Illinois needs a new head coach. With Maniscalco being the only senior and a lot of young athletic talent both on the roster and in the pipeline the Illini job should be very appealing to coaching candidates and you have to figure Thomas will be looking to make an impact with his first hire (unless of course the football team finishes the year without any more wins) and opens up the pocket book for a big name.

 

In summary I think Illinois will be OK at PG with Mansicalco, Abrams and/or Paul. I think they'll be good at SG/SF with a rotation featuring Paul, Richardson, Bertrand and hopefully Head. It all boils down to whether they can get something approaching 80 quality minutes from some combination of Leonard, Griffey, Egwu, and Shaw. If they can, Illinois has a chance to finish in the top half of what figures to be a very mediocre B1G once you get by Ohio State. But I have a hard time believing that the big men will all make the leap needed for this team to be anything better than just OK. I also don't trust Weber to adjust his approach to take advantage of the depth or overall athletic ability by playing uptempo and going 10 or 11 deep in an attempt to out-athlete other teams. So put me down for a 9-4 or 10-3 pre-conference record thanks to an easy schedule. However, when push comes to shove in the B1G I just think too many things have to go right for this team to end up in the top 5. They need solid minutes from multiple freshman. They need not one but two big guys to be much better than expected. They need the head coach to let young players play through their mistakes rahter than yanking them after the first mistake or screaming "MOVE" the entire time they are in the offensive zone. That equates to 8-10 in the conference, 1 and done in the B1G tourney, and a new coach come April 2012.

 

[illiniguy]

I think your buddies pretty dead on Tim.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

I never want the team to fail, but the program needs fresh blood at the top. Weber simply isn't cutting it.

[Guest]

I think your buddies pretty dead on Tim.

I'm pretty sure the only way this particular team is good is if Bruce turns them loose to run and pressure more. We have great depth, but we're weak in terms of star power. The lack of a quality point guard will also hurt us in running Bruce's motion offense in the half court.

 

I just don't see Bruce going to a full court game, though.

[illiniguy]

I think your buddies pretty dead on Tim.

I'm pretty sure the only way this particular team is good is if Bruce turns them loose to run and pressure more. We have great depth, but we're weak in terms of star power. The lack of a quality point guard will also hurt us in running Bruce's motion offense in the half court.

 

I just don't see Bruce going to a full court game, though.

I look at it like this he's afraid uptempo could result in some blowout losses since we could struggle to score, so he will keep the pace slow. But, like you said we can't win big playing slow down ball with this roster.

[illiniguy]

I never want the team to fail, but the program needs fresh blood at the top. Weber simply isn't cutting it.

Short of landing Anthony Parker or a sweet sixteen he's gone, IMO.

[Guest]

I think your buddies pretty dead on Tim.

I'm pretty sure the only way this particular team is good is if Bruce turns them loose to run and pressure more. We have great depth, but we're weak in terms of star power. The lack of a quality point guard will also hurt us in running Bruce's motion offense in the half court.

 

I just don't see Bruce going to a full court game, though.

I look at it like this he's afraid uptempo could result in some blowout losses since we could struggle to score, so he will keep the pace slow. But, like you said we can't win big playing slow down ball with this roster.

If we continue to play Bruce's normal offense, then my buddy is right that we have to hope for a big breakout by the big men.

[illiniguy]

I think your buddies pretty dead on Tim.

I'm pretty sure the only way this particular team is good is if Bruce turns them loose to run and pressure more. We have great depth, but we're weak in terms of star power. The lack of a quality point guard will also hurt us in running Bruce's motion offense in the half court.

 

I just don't see Bruce going to a full court game, though.

I look at it like this he's afraid uptempo could result in some blowout losses since we could struggle to score, so he will keep the pace slow. But, like you said we can't win big playing slow down ball with this roster.

If we continue to play Bruce's normal offense, then my buddy is right that we have to hope for a big breakout by the big men.

Which we do have the chance for, whenever the light clicks for Leonard we will get a lot better. No one in college basketball has the tools to match up with him. I just don't think it's gonna happen this year.

[Guest]

I think your buddies pretty dead on Tim.

I'm pretty sure the only way this particular team is good is if Bruce turns them loose to run and pressure more. We have great depth, but we're weak in terms of star power. The lack of a quality point guard will also hurt us in running Bruce's motion offense in the half court.

 

I just don't see Bruce going to a full court game, though.

I look at it like this he's afraid uptempo could result in some blowout losses since we could struggle to score, so he will keep the pace slow. But, like you said we can't win big playing slow down ball with this roster.

If we continue to play Bruce's normal offense, then my buddy is right that we have to hope for a big breakout by the big men.

Which we do have the chance for, whenever the light clicks for Leonard we will get a lot better. No one in college basketball has the tools to match up with him. I just don't think it's gonna happen this year.

I think he and Paul both take steps forward this year, but it won't be enough in the end.

[illiniguy]

I love Brandon Paul and really hopes he becomes what I think he can this year. Man if Bruce was a bit better at roster management he would have done pretty well at Illinois.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

I love Brandon Paul and really hopes he becomes what I think he can this year. Man if Bruce was a bit better at roster management he would have done pretty well at Illinois.

 

Paul must average 15+ for this to be a successful season. He really needs to flourish or we will be in some serious trouble. I am anxious to see what Egwu can do, he is going to be fun to watch.

[Exile on Waveland]

Well, evidently I'm the most optimistic person on the board regarding Illinois. They have the third most talented roster in the league. I think they finish top-4. I can understand the pessimism after last year; but I'd be pretty surprised by 8-10. (I'm also not nearly as high on Wisconsin or Michigan as most everyone seems to be.)

[illiniguy]

Well, evidently I'm the most optimistic person on the board regarding Illinois. They have the third most talented roster in the league. I think they finish top-4. I can understand the pessimism after last year; but I'd be pretty surprised by 8-10. (I'm also not nearly as high on Wisconsin or Michigan as most everyone seems to be.)

I like the talent we have, but there isn't much experience and our coach has been awful the past few years.

[frozenpondblue531]

For anyone who shares a deep interest/passion for non-BCS conferences (and if you're not which I suspect of 99%, move past this post), Oral Roberts (they upset Kansas by like 7-9 points in their home opener in 2007 when KU was ranked #3) switched from the Summit to the Southland. Of course, the Summit League is the conference Chicago State infamously passed an invite thinking they were a lock for the Horizon.

 

Anyways, ORU downgraded in Basketball competition. Especially when you factor some of the Southland's better schools are moving to the WAC. But it makes more sense geographically for the Golden Eagles (rather than drive to Michigan, Indiana, WIU, & Dakotas). It additionally moreso enables ORU the ability to dominate a weak conference for more yearly avenues to the NCAA Tournament (as opposed to some pretty good teams from the Summit in recent years who were often close to NCAA wins: i.e. NDSU, Oakland).

 

ORU wasn't happy with the conference tournament's annually awarded to Sioux Falls, SD rather than Tulsa. Perception was the Dakota schools were mainly newcomers and accumulating too much power.

 

The Summit's expected to try to pluck Eastern Illinois from the OVC, or new D1 school Northern Kentucky (who the Ohio Valley might grab... NKU would choose OVC being located right in the geographical footprint). If the Summit gets neither, their options are North Dakota (albeit bad blood between UND & the Summit) or a Minnesota D2 school like Minnesota State. The Summit recently released outlier Southern Utah, who posed as an atrocity to every other school in the conference.

[SpongeWorthy]

lol @ Jordan Taylor being preseason first team all-American.

[CubInOK]

Most people who go to Oral Roberts don't care about Oral Roberts. They kept getting passed over because they kept putting the Summit tournament in a high school gym.

 

Then again, if most of the posters ever met anyone who went there, they might not really care for ORU either... oh wait, everyone here knows someone who went to ORU back when they had a law school.

 

 

http://www.google.com/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://atlantapost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Michele-Bachmann.jpg&sa=X&ei=v4evTqztEsWQsQKo8OXmAQ&ved=0CAsQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNGwmhebuMnrDblYw0dPNlLNlcbMMQ

 

[Formerly Snayke]

I lol'd when I heard she went there.