Way too early NBA draft thread 2021

[LateNight]

Curbelo, tho

[DuckIII]

Ayo’s complete inability to take advantage of the high double as a passer is a really bad look for his last game heading into the draft.

And is very surprising to me.

And Brad Underwood with a coaching performance that makes Boylen look like Pop.

[DuckIII]

Curbelo, tho

The only two guys who showed up to play are the freshmen.

[TheSuzerain]

Curbelo, tho

He easily seems like the best talent on the team. If he can add a 3 ball at all, then his offensive game is great.

And he's active/instinctive defensively.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

How many times has that big boy stripped Ayo??? Jesus Christ.

[Bulliever2020]

I'm having waking nightmares of Zach on Friday with all these Ayo strips.

[DuckIII]

Ayo lost a bunch of money today. That was a pretty pathetic effort against a team that they should have been able to easily exploit. It's nauseating watching teams unable to find wide open players against teams that constantly double team everything. Illinois' guards have been poor against ball pressure all year.

That high double creates an automatic 4 on 3 for a team that has any idea what to do with it. You split the double or you pass over it. Curbelo split it effectively a few times and then lost the ball once so Underwood benched him for 4 minutes.

Ayo could have easily passed over it, but dribbled side to side instead.

And Underwood did literally nothing to adjust or try something new. Ever. Illinois should have shredded that gimmick defense and instead just played right into it.

As a fan it’s easy to get over a game like this because Illinois deserved their ass whoopin.

[JohnnyTapwater]

You hear that noise?

That's the sound of Ayo's stock coming back to earth.

Cockburn is a presence though - I like him a lot.

[Payt10]

Ayo lost a bunch of money today. That was a pretty pathetic effort against a team that they should have been able to easily exploit. It's nauseating watching teams unable to find wide open players against teams that constantly double team everything. Illinois' guards have been poor against ball pressure all year.

That high double creates an automatic 4 on 3 for a team that has any idea what to do with it. You split the double or you pass over it. Curbelo split it effectively a few times and then lost the ball once so Underwood benched him for 4 minutes.

Ayo could have easily passed over it, but dribbled side to side instead.

And Underwood did literally nothing to adjust or try something new. Ever. Illinois should have shredded that gimmick defense and instead just played right into it.

As a fan it’s easy to get over a game like this because Illinois deserved their ass whoopin.

It reminded me of their game against Baylor earlier in the season when they couldn't do anything against their pressure defense.

The combination of Illinois not knowing what to do with the traps and them just willingly allowing themselves to be doubled by not pushing the ball and playing slow was frustrating to watch.

I don't know what Underwood was doing all game. No adjustments on either side of the ball, and his substitutions late in that game made no sense. I thought Adam Miller was playing tough down the stretch, and he took him out with 3-4 minutes left after making a couple of plays. Tough way to end the season.

[TheSuzerain]

You hear that noise?

That's the sound of Ayo's stock coming back to earth.

Cockburn is a presence though - I like him a lot.

Cockburn isn't NBA caliber. Will be exploited. defensively. And he's not that dynamic offensively.

[Chi town]

Considering the Bulls guards suck against pressure... Ayo doesn’t look like he’d help much against pressure either. That exposure is no bueno.

[Chi town]

Watch on YouTube

[JohnnyTapwater]

You hear that noise?

That's the sound of Ayo's stock coming back to earth.

Cockburn is a presence though - I like him a lot.

Cockburn isn't NBA caliber. Will be exploited. defensively. And he's not that dynamic offensively.

Yeah - I don't think you'd bring Cockburn in for anything other than having a stout inside presence that will rim run, finish, and rebound.

Definitely an upgrade to Gafford IMO.

[Almost Retired]

Ayo playing dumb

Cockburn looks like a non-prospect

Let's see if they can come back

Ayo picked a bad day to have his worst game of the season. Loyola really got after them defensively. And this game exposed Ayo's bad handles. Did Krutwig poke away 2 steals from him out high? Unacceptable. This game cost AYO at least 5 draft slots. I still think he's a first Rounder, but I no longer consider him a Lottery pick. He got beat too many times off the dribble too. Not the on ball defense I'd seen from him in earlier games.

As for Kofi I'd still gamble on him if we had a 2nd Second Round pick. The player I wish we could get would be a guy with Kofi's body and Krutwig"s footwork, passing ability and soft touch with that over the shoulder floater. The kid doesn't look like a BB player but the results say otherwise.

I'm an Illini Alum, and I'm disappointed for sure. But I can do nothing but congratulate Loyola on a terrific well played game. Moser has got to be one of the best coaches in College basketball at this point in time. I rank him up with Scott Drew of Baylor, Jay Wright of Villanova and Mark Few of Gonzaga. That was a well prepared team that executed it's game plan to perfection. They cut the head off the snake and the body followed.

Unless we get lucky on the draft lottery all the really great playmakers that would be ready to help us right away will be gone. I think Giddey has potential but defensively he might need a year or two to blossom. After watching Baylor closely I'm wondering if Davion Mitchell might be just the guy we need to play opposite of Zach. He's got the experience, the toughness, the defensive tenacity on ball....watching how he roams the defensive end when he's not the on-ball defender was enlightening. He really knows the game. And he's got sufficient size at 6-3" and he's strong in both his upper and lower body. We could do worse.

[Almost Retired]

You hear that noise?

That's the sound of Ayo's stock coming back to earth.

Cockburn is a presence though - I like him a lot.

Cockburn isn't NBA caliber. Will be exploited. defensively. And he's not that dynamic offensively.

Yeah - I don't think you'd bring Cockburn in for anything other than having a stout inside presence that will rim run, finish, and rebound.

Definitely an upgrade to Gafford IMO.

You draft Cockburn and hire Krutwig and a ballerina choreographer as assistant coaches. You teach him footwork, passing from the post, and how to use your body to hold off defenders while you nail 5 foot over the shoulder floaters. Krutwig put on a clinic most of the game.

[No-Man]

Ayo playing dumb

Cockburn looks like a non-prospect

Let's see if they can come back

Ayo is also a non prospect really

[StunnerKO]

Loyola really shouldn’t have been seeded as low as they were

[TheSuzerain]

Loyola really shouldn’t have been seeded as low as they were

This is definitely true. Loyola is Kenpom #9 right now.

They should have been like a 6th seed.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Looks like Cade is going to be prepping early for the draft.

[The Box Office]

Cade is in my big board at spot number 3. He cannot move up on my list. He's a great perimeter defender (as long as he guards SFs) and I love that part of his game. However, he's probably not a prime time performer.

- His first March Madness game was horrific against Liberty, who I considered weak competition. 3-14 from the field, 2-8 from 3pt, 1 assists, 2 steals, 15 points. Inefficient.
- His 2nd game was eh so so. The 2nd game was supposed to be Cade's bounce back and he didn't do it. His 6-20 from the field and 3 assists are disastrous. I love his 5 steals. I do not like his 11 3pt attempts. The hell? Wasted possessions. I like his 24 points, but he had to take 20 shots to get there. Inefficient.