Illini Zip

I hope I'm wrong Let'sGoZips94. I like the parity myself, it makes for a better March Madness experience. You never really know for sure how rule changes will play out exactly. Some players might go the Mid-Major route coming out of high school for exposure and playing time, but most will want to eventually test their skills on the biggest stage possible. Also consider that without a penalty in place a player is more likely to take a modest advancement from a low Mid-Major to high Mid-Major. And then, maybe from high Mid-Major to a P5 university as a grad-transfer. I watched the Eastern Michigan game with very few fans in the stands. I can't imagine Mid-Majors are taking this lightly as I said before. And as NWAkron points out, this has the potential of turning the Mid-Majors into a farm system. I blame the NBA for all of this by the way. They come calling earlier and earlier, and often way too early. Now it looks like the P5 conferences are wielding their influence inside the NCAA so they can do to the Mid-Majors what the NBA is doing to them. Not good.

I agree with this. The majority of the recruiting will still be high school players, but this greases the wheels of mobility. Talent will rise and fall more often and easily to fill those occasionally empty roster spots and needs at P5 Schools. This will kill parity. Say goodbye to Cinderella. The end result is the product at the P5 level will only increase and the product at the Mid-Major level will be watered down. Size, speed, talent and athleticism that is missed or developed early on coming out of high school will now make it's way up the ladder more often without a penalty in place. Only players who have loyalty to teammates/coaches, have reasons for staying close to home or are legacy products to a specific university will stay back.

I imagine that the amount of poaching likely to take place with this rule change will lead to Mid-Majors eventually having to file a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA. Maybe all Mid-Majors would leave and form their own association which would kill the greatness of March Madness, but protect the investment these universities put into the development of student athletes. Just thinking out loud.

I have mentioned before that bigs in this offense need to be able to shoot efficiently away from the hoop. At Illinois we always had a Stretch 4 type player the size of Sayles or even bigger who could hit that shot at a very high percentage. I expect to see a big jump in that capability next season.

I think Utomi can easily play the 3 through 5 positions depending on the match-ups. The problem is we are so thin at the 4 and 5 right now and we need to use Utomi where we typically wouldn't. I think spending the last few games battling these monsters for position is wearing down his legs and effecting his outside shot.

I think some of what we are seeing is our guys are not in rhythm. You have player rotations where they are just not used to playing a lot together. That is what happens when previous bench players like Smith and Kostelac are now getting extended minutes. They are all thinking more than just reacting.

That said, he needs to stop shaking his head and stay aggressive.

He is there. edit: With a cast on his wrist.

Kostalac starts?!!!

I believe you are talking about class balance. I have noticed that it's out of whack too. I'm not sure what Groce has in mind there, other than there might be some natural attrition. Sometimes these things just work themselves out in time.

Amen, you and Let'sGoZips94 are all over it!! I would just add that Kostalac has to trust that once he beats his guy to the spot, walls off and stops the dribble drive that his teammates are going to drop down and help double or triple team.

I agree, a red-shirt year would have benefited Kostalac a great deal, but I don't think I have ever seen a player red-shirt after his Freshman year. Medical red-shirts and transfers are the obvious exceptions to the rule. Talking about someone 6'-11" having a figure is quite funny to me.

I appreciate the warning lilroodude. I too will learn to live with the inevitable and will be sure to double-up my blood pressure meds before tip off.

Speaking of lousy calls or no-calls. I have seen a lot of post players getting away with using the "chicken wing" to get around a defender. Poor Kostelac who has his own short-comings at this point has to deal with this too I guess.

I know we have yet to officially get the road-monkey off our back, but the refs kind of just treated the Zips as the visiting team on their own home court and they still prevailed. The Zips impressively took a huge step forward with mental toughness. I am hoping going forward, regardless of who is on the court the Zips start to gain more and more confidence and swagger and push through adversity with consistent effort. That way Angry Groce is free to direct his ire at lousy calls instead of his own team.

We will, we will...ROCK YOU!!!!!

Now maybe you all understand better why I choose to divide my time, passion and loyalty between two programs. Players are often willing to run through walls for Groce. They know he sincerely cares for them and that he is in the trenches fighting right along aside them. Go Zips!!!

I am feeling a lot better about Cotton. I think Zip basketball is going to be in good hands next year. Zips!!!!

I share your enthusiasm for this guy and for pretty much the same reason I think, his versatility. I know he wanted better offers out of high school, but I am baffled as to why this guy wasn't already playing D1 ball somewhere. Groce doesn't always land the guy he wants, but he's been a pretty solid talent evaluator. I personally want to see Toles on the court with other D1 talent to see how his speed and agility holds up, but I think the sky's the limit for him. Parrish is the other Zip I believe to have an extremely high ceiling.

Ah, he even has his own thread. I should have looked harder, my bad. Thank you Lilroodude!!!

I know this topic has likely been covered at some point and it doesn't belong in this thread. But since it's slow today maybe some of you will humor me and answer my questions about Lepear Toles. He is from your general area, has anybody watched him play in person, thoughts? I think he's a steal from the clips I see. There is no way he is a 2 star prospect in my opinion. He is 6'-6" with smooth guard skills. I see him playing 1 through 3, possibly the 4. Groce has used shooting guards and small forwards to initiate the offense in the past so it's not an impossibility for him to play the point. Tony Carr at Penn State, point guard - 6'-5", is a nightmare for small guards. Also, does anyone know why Toles went the military academy and junior college route? Grades perhaps? Did he have any good offers coming out of high school? Finally, does he have 3 years of eligibility left starting next year? I would appreciate any feedback, thanks.