Illini, according to their fans, are a F4 team with best passer (Jakucionis) and player (Riley) and shooter (humrichous) and best big man (ivisic — who isn’t eligible yet).
It's a team that's been playing together for like 2 months and missing a couple guys. Will learn a little bit more on Sunday. But probably not much.
“The scrimmage won’t do anything to quiet concerns over the team’s 3-point shooting potential. Goode hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the game, but neither team hit another 3-pointer until the final minute.”
Yeah, I checked it out. Goode will come off the bench most likely which is probably a mistake.
Galloway was the biggest. He doesn't help the shooting any, unless he returns to his junior year but he's still a 5th year guy. and then Newton was out. Not sure what minutes he sees anyways but just interested in seeing him play finally and getting healthy.
Meh doesn’t really move the needle either way. Newton won’t see many mins at all this year and won’t be up to the speed of the game yet. He’s still at least a year out. Galloway…maybe he will win something worthwhile this year?
I don't know. But Galloway helps if there are other ball handlers on the court with him. Problem with last year, he became a primary ball handler. His junior year TJD and Hood-Schfino were ahead of him. So the hope is that having Rice and Carlyle will be a positive for him. He's a better slasher and driving off the ball swinging around the perimeter.
Goode shot 4 threes a game last year at UofI, making 1.6 on average.
I'm not sure Galloway starts at all. Rice, Carlyle, Mgbako, Reneau and Ballo were the starters for HH. 2nd team played pretty well with Cupps, Leal, Goode, Tucker and Hatton. I think that had more to do with having 3 5fh year guys in Leal, Goode and Hatton. They just played better team ball and hustled.
Woody says he will look at playing Mgbako and Goode at the 4. Meaning he never will.
Second team played well with that lineup?? Is that not a bit concerning? How can that lineup compete with the first team?
They just looked more cohesive. No surprise. No clue what things will look like when the actual season starts. There wasn't much to take from the scrimmage other than the bench guys tried harder.
The thing I noticed was that when Rice, Carlyle and Mbacko were on the red team, the white team was winning. The three then switched to the white team and all of a sudden the red team was winning. I know it ended in a tie but only because Mbacko hit a prayer bank shot at the buzzer.
Especially if the miss on Mullins today (likely to UConn) and only have Sisley as next years class.
They got a long way to go. Mgbako and one of Rice and Carlyle switched. I can't remember which. But that's something for Woody to figure out.
There is no if. Next year's class will be Sisley unless there is a late commitment again. It'll be dipping into the portal but as of now, Rice, Carlyle, Mgbako, Reneau, Cupps, Newton, Tucker should be expected back.
I keep seeing references to all of that talent for the Hoosiers. I just don’t think the talent level is that high. Ballo is a good piece but not a superstar, Rice and Carlyle high ranking coming out of high school but they seem to me to be average talent until proven otherwise. They didn’t have great seasons last year, just solid contributors, Goode shooting ability could turn into one of the better contributions from the portal. I could be proven wrong but I think with Woody as the coach, the hype they’re receiving is overblown.
Ballo was the best 5 in the PAC-12 last year. He was first team All-Conference (for the second time) and first team All-Defense. He is not a guy that demands the ball much so he loses some shine because he's not a prolific scorer, but he's a dirty work, active defensive presence. He has averaged at least 8.5 RPG and at least 12.5 PPG two straight years. If you look at per/40 MPG contributions compared to National Player of the Year Edey? Ballo was better at rebounds, FG%, and steals, and was close to Edey in a few other categories. And Edey was really, really dominant.
