I’m just going to cackle myself to sleep knowing we held a team to 51 pts in an Elite Eight game and went home
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Hang in there, my friend. We’re on your side.
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There’s probably nothing that anyone can say that’ll make you feel better, but we’re pulling for you. F—- cancer; let’s hope it’s nothing. And let’s hope that things turn around for you at work also.
We’ll all be back dissecting games on these threads sooner than we think. 
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Well NBA draft on potential, not production. Franz has the defensive production and some of the offensive production, and he’s only 19 years old. Incredibly young for his age yet is a good player. His 3 pt shooting % isn’t bad but it could be a lot better considering his FT % is pretty darn good.
He fits the new age wing player profile that NBA look for. He’s long, rangy and is switchable on defense.
Hate this for Franz. Definitely hate this for the seniors. Hate that Livers had to sit and watch. This squad will be one of my faves. Let’s hang some more banners next year.
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Look at some of the lottery picks in 2020 Jalen Smith, Aaron Nesmith, Kira Lewis Jr, Toppin, Haliburton, Vassell etc… Looking at that list are we talking over under 2.5 busts?? I will probably take the over. We all agree Wagner has the talent to play in the NBA but being a lottery pick doesn’t guarantee a thing. What’s more important is finding the right fit and getting that 2nd NBA contract.
Is it me or does Franz jump shot just seem weird? He’s obviously an elite defender with amazing physical traits, he just needs to develop a more consistent jumper. He’s got a good motion but it’s kind of like a knuckle ball up in the air. Very little movement on it which feels like gets him a lot of unkind bounces.
You have 6 seconds left and have to go the length of the court. You’ve got to get a shot off. We got a pretty solid one. Really, you just don’t want to be in that situation in the first place - it’s a low-percentage play regardless.
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It’s more of a set shot with low/slow release. It’s not fluid like you see some of the good shooters. He’ll need to tweak his shot mechanics if he wants to be successful in the NBA.
I’m not saying every bad performance. Sometimes it’s match-up, sometimes it’s a mental thing, sometimes it’s luck. But a performance that bad is very very anomalous, particularly when it’s about things that aren’t usually fluky. The 95% confidence interval of a 70 possession game over a season is about +/- 11.5%. That was a bottom 5% outcome there…
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I mean there’s always going to be more busts than not. Franz can’t dictate where he goes so ultimately that’s irrelevant. The nba is the best place for him to improve his game.
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That’s exactly what every Illinois fan including their coach thought last year about All Americans Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, but both players bypassed the NBA and opted to return to Champaign.
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Right? UCLA scored 24 second half points, after scoring 25 vs Alabama (and then 23 in overtime). I remember saying that if UCLA only scored 25 points in a half against Michigan, I’d take it.
Some days you get the bear; some days, the bear gets you.
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If you take away his go-to move, driving down the right side of the lane for a hook, most of his offense is gone. UCLA took that away completely. The NBA will be looking at that.
I personally think Franz could shoot 0% from three and he won’t go undrafted, and I was his biggest critic at the beginning of the year. He does so many things beyond shooting and he’s younger than every other projected lottery pick. Bad game, hate that it happened for him. He’s a pro.
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Difference is neither players were ever projected to be a 1st round pick. Franz is projected to be a lottery pick which is a totally different situation
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Just remembered this loss killed my bracket. great.
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I just want to say one more thing since I’ve been up for like 18 hours straight now and need sleep. I get my first vaccine shot tomorrow and need to not crash on the way. Dying on my way to not die would be too ironic for my taste.
This place is awesome. We just suffered a heartbreaking loss in the Elite 8 and the level of toxicity is like 1% at most. Yeah we’re all pissy and upset, but there’s hardly any (if any at all) mean spirited comments about players, people lashing out at each other, fighting about the world ending, etc. Sure there’s discussion on why this happened and what could have prevented it, but it’s not… flame war level. Not even close. There’s a ton of positivity about the future, there’s a bunch of positivity about this year as a whole, and there’s just a really great vibe about this place that isn’t on other sites, which are, to be frank, complete sh** shows in times like these.
It’s been a rough year personally, as it has been for everyone, and I want to thank this site and all of you on it for being a little sanctity of normalcy through it all. @umhoops your coverage of this tournament was better than anything I’ve seen (I’m sure previous years were the same) and I don’t know how I went through March without it before this year.
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Yes, without question this was a bottom 5% outcome. But the law of large numbers applies: in a 28 game season, you’re going to get 1-2 5% performances per year on average. Michigan got one at Minnesota and one tonight.
Agree. Not sure if a lottery-quality player. But the possible upside on his 3 point shooting will keep him in. If he was a reliable shooter he’s an easy top ten guy I think. Versatile and will be an impact defender.
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