Gary Parrish pegs Gophers for 6th & NCAA bid

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That is a fair prediction considering our available roster at the moment.
 

Agreed. Thinking 4th if both Mbakwe & White return by the Big 10 season, 5th-6th (maybe 7th) if only one returns by then. Even if either/both come back just before the Big 10 season, there's going to be some rust to shake off. It will take some time (first few weeks of Big 10 season) before we reasonably should expect them to hit their stride. That could be costly in terms of an extra win or 2.
 

Fair enough Gary, but I'm definitely not sold on Ill like many people seem to be. They appear to be getting a little extra love based on prior success. Great recruiting class, and some depth, but sounds more like us last year.
 

I was going to say the same thing. I really don't think Illinois is going to be that good. I also think Michigan has been slightly overrated. The newest rankings are more accurate though. Before I saw them as high as 10 by some sites I believe.

Originally I thought we'd finish 4th after Ohio St, but with the recent changes, I'd probably go with 5th, although I wouldn't be surprised if we got 4th.

inflectionpoint said:
Fair enough Gary, but I'm definitely not sold on Ill like many people seem to be. They appear to be getting a little extra love based on prior success. Great recruiting class, and some depth, but sounds more like us last year.
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I for one think the Gophers are going to do better than advertised. But since they haven't done anything yet, it's fair.
 


Why wuld gary Parrish's opinion be any more credible than anyone else who watches a lot of college basketball?
 

I guess my question about some of you not thinking that Illinois is not going to be that good is why? Illinois returns its three leading scorers from a team that finished second last year. They lost two starters who fans didn't even want to get playing time before last season started (Frazier and Meacham). Both had nice senior years but only averaged about 15 a game between them. So lots of scoring returns and Illinois adds some really good freshmen. DJ Richardson will start for sure, and it looks more and more like Brandon Paul will, too. Alex Legion, a former top 40 recruit who was terrible last year after becoming eligible at midseason, had 29 in a recent public scrimmage. There may be hope there. McCamey has lost 18 pounds and is playing very well. And Davis and Tisdale are as good as there is in the league on the front line. Davis is the leading returning rebounder in the league and Tisdale is an outstanding shooter.

Good depth, too.

C 7-1 Mike Tisdale(Jr), 6-9 Tyler Griffey(Fr), 6-10 Rich Semrau(Jr), 6-10 Stan Simpson(Fr)
F 6-10 Mike Davis(Jr), 6-7 Dominique Keller(Sr), 6-9 Bill Cole(Jr)
G 6-3 Brandon Paul(Fr), 6-4 Alex Legion(Jr)
G 6-4 DJ Richardson(Fr), 6-5 Joseph Bertrand(Fr)
G 6-3 Demetri McCamey(Jr), 6-1 Jeff Jordan(Jr)

Yes, Illinois needs a couple of its freshmen to come through, but that is true with most teams these days. Comparing Illinois to Minnesota last year is not quite true. Not a slam to you guys, but this Illinois team is a good shooting team. If they shoot well, you know that Weber teams will always play good defense. I see Illinois somewhere between 3rd and 6th in the league.

One thing, if this is not Illinois' year, then teams better get them this year because the only player Illinois loses for next year is Keller. And Illinois adds a top five recruiting class led by 6-6 Jereme Richmond, 7-0 Myers Leonard, and 6-4 Crandall Head.

I always enjoy watching your team and wish you well other than against Illinois.
 




combes1 said:
I guess my question about some of you not thinking that Illinois is not going to be that good is why? Illinois returns its three leading scorers from a team that finished second last year. They lost two starters who fans didn't even want to get playing time before last season started (Frazier and Meacham). Both had nice senior years but only averaged about 15 a game between them. So lots of scoring returns and Illinois adds some really good freshmen. DJ Richardson will start for sure, and it looks more and more like Brandon Paul will, too. Alex Legion, a former top 40 recruit who was terrible last year after becoming eligible at midseason, had 29 in a recent public scrimmage. There may be hope there. McCamey has lost 18 pounds and is playing very well. And Davis and Tisdale are as good as there is in the league on the front line. Davis is the leading returning rebounder in the league and Tisdale is an outstanding shooter.

Good depth, too.

C 7-1 Mike Tisdale(Jr), 6-9 Tyler Griffey(Fr), 6-10 Rich Semrau(Jr), 6-10 Stan Simpson(Fr)
F 6-10 Mike Davis(Jr), 6-7 Dominique Keller(Sr), 6-9 Bill Cole(Jr)
G 6-3 Brandon Paul(Fr), 6-4 Alex Legion(Jr)
G 6-4 DJ Richardson(Fr), 6-5 Joseph Bertrand(Fr)
G 6-3 Demetri McCamey(Jr), 6-1 Jeff Jordan(Jr)

Yes, Illinois needs a couple of its freshmen to come through, but that is true with most teams these days. Comparing Illinois to Minnesota last year is not quite true. Not a slam to you guys, but this Illinois team is a good shooting team. If they shoot well, you know that Weber teams will always play good defense. I see Illinois somewhere between 3rd and 6th in the league.

One thing, if this is not Illinois' year, then teams better get them this year because the only player Illinois loses for next year is Keller. And Illinois adds a top five recruiting class led by 6-6 Jereme Richmond, 7-0 Myers Leonard, and 6-4 Crandall Head.

I always enjoy watching your team and wish you well other than against Illinois.
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I think the Illini will finish among the Top 5 in B10. Mich St and Purdue are 1-2 but any of several others are capable of 3-4-5 finishes, including Illinois.

I liked Bruce Weber as a Boiler assistant and still like him as U of IL head coach.
 

I hope you're right Combes. I'm banking on the Illini for one of my NCAA pool sheets. They're a little bit under the radar right now, not a bad place to be.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I hope you're right Combes. I'm banking on the Illini for one of my NCAA pool sheets. They're a little bit under the radar right now, not a bad place to be.
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combes, what do you think of their pt. guard situation?? Can McCamey run the point? Seems like you're going to be playing a lot of off guards at the pt. Frazier didn't score much last year but he was arguably (did he win Def. POY?) best defensive player in the league last year. And when you have Lucas, Battle, E'tuan, Turner at the guard positions, you're going to miss his defense a lot in my opinion. With the youth in the backcourt is why I think I'll pick Illinois just behind the "other" teams in that category of OSU, Michigan and Minnesota. I think they are a 5th or 6th team in the league but they certainly could finish 3rd, no question.
 



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