The word of whom?
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Heās suffering from an excess of choices. They call it the paradox of choice. When my sister was in HS she had a composition book filed with school rankings by various criteria. Dozens of criteria. Didnāt help. Heās doing the same thing.
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We did not make the final 6 for Mark Alstork, but Illinois did. I know we have no room at this point in time but no idea why heād go there with their 7 guards on roster.
Iām reaching a little, but ---- New coaching staff at Illinois has no allegiance to the roster they inherit?
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No doubt about it, just doesnāt seem like a great fit. Although underwood is 100% offense so it should be a fun offense to play in. Just a lot of guards and underwood wanted Aaron Jordan and D.J. Williams to stay at Illinois so Iām guessing he atleast wants to see what they can do in his system.
No surprise after adding Simmons.
Louisville if Mitchell leaves is his best bet on all facets. Start/ big role and winning. I hope thatās where he goes, would root for him in the side. Snider, alstork, adel, Spaulding, Mahmoud. Thatās a very good upper class lineup. King and others off the bench. I know heās got A few top 100 guys if I recall.
Lou is gonna be real good next year.
Not a huge surprise, but the guy who committed to Michigan still plans on going to Michigan.
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The Illini will most likely be playing a 4 guard line up next year.
Alstork would allow the Illini to redshirt Damonte Williams who missed most of his senior year and will miss much of the Summer with a knee injury.
I think their rotation looks something like thisā¦
Lucas/Frazier
Coleman-Lands/Frazier
Alstork/Jordan
Smith/Alstork
Finke/Black
PT would not be an issue. But yeah like everyone else I think heād be crazy not to pick Louisville.
That lineup would get destroyed vs 10 other big ten teams. I also see alstork going to Louisville but who knows, kids make poor ābest fitā decisions all the time. Illinois is going to be pretty bad next year. We think Wilson/Wagner were inconsistent, Finke and Black are worse players and they were way more inconsistent. They currently have 3 guys over 6ā3 and I wouldnāt want any of them on my team. They need bodies for 17-18 very badly so regardless of skill level, theyāll be adding a few transfers.
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Are you still as optimistic as previously about DJ returning? At this point, I lean towards thinking he remains in the draft.
Everything up to this point tells me he will be returning to school. Thatās based off the talks among the players and what heās been telling his teammates and the feedback heās gotten from teams. NO ONE has told Wilson they will for sure take him in the draft. He has been told heās an option but I just canāt see a team taking him first round. Iām in complete disagreement with Brendan Quinn on him not being able to improve his draft status for next year. Him being more consistent for a whole year alone would put him 18-22 range without question. Now if he can average about 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks for a season, borderline lottery IMO. Iāve loved DJās potential for years and heās got another level in him. One more year of improvement and he can step in and play right away in the NBA. Brogden is a perfect example, got better every single year and waited until he was ready to play in the NBA before deciding to leave. Guys like Trey Lyles, Patrick Patterson, Lavoy Allen, Thomas Robinson, Andrew Nicholson, Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones are not as valuable as DJ. He can play D and dribble better than all of those guys and probably shoot just as well as any of them. A year of consistency and improvement can go a very long way for Wilson.
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Most likely.
Read on Twitter that Louisville doesnāt want to add anyone else to the roster. Probably getting adel back IMO. Illinois could land alstork. Just donāt see him wanting to be on a bad team.
With a team that small, Illinois is going to have to go full Underwood next year. I wonder if uptempo offense and full court pressure defense is a plus for Alstork. Then again, at least he knows heāll get minutes there.
Then again, Mo Bamba just committed to a program that went 11 - 22 last season.
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Very true. Illinois can try that style but they just donāt have the personnel for that. The roster has maybe 1 defensive player in Nichols and the rest are poor defenders. Itās going to be very tough for them to win big ten games.
As I stated before, I wouldnāt want alstork on my team but would be happy if he landed on another big ten team. Not impressed by his game at all.
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Agreed. If they play that style right away they will be susceptible to having games get away from them and getting blown out. That said, would they defend any better in the half court? Might as well put your style in right away if you are truly committed to coaching that way.
Very good point. They need a roster makeover and underwood has already missed on a lot of guys IMO. Moore, tilmon, Bragg were all guys who would fit his system well and theyāre all playing elsewhere. Next year is HUGE for Illinois and they better hope Ayo stays home and goes to Illinois.
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Crap I forgot all about Kipper in my rotation.
Lucas/Frazier
Coleman-Lands/Frazier
Alstork/Smith
Nichols/Smith
Finke/Black
Revised but still not great.
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