Game 23 Illinois: Illini made the plays to win

[jonS]

Giorgi B. averages 12.2 pts/game, got 35 against RU; averages 54.3 FG%, today 77.8%; averages 62.7 Free throw %, today 87.5%. GB was unreal today to the detriment of RU.

He also was very good using his off-hand when shooting....very impressive player and only a freshman

 

[RC85]

apparently giorgi plays much better at home than away

hmmm

 

[RUChoppin]

Giorgi plays much better with a loose whistle, too. Under the basket, he's very active with hard forearms to the backs of players heads/necks and grabbing and pulling players by the arms/shoulders. Away from the basket, he tends to lean in to make contact on screens, sets his feet wider than allowed to block defenders' movement, and reaches in when he hedges out on guards.

Those are all things that freshman bigs do, but that they also frequently get called for. In this game, most of that type of contact was let go (for him and everyone else), so he was able to stay on the floor much more than he would have in a more tightly called game - and that let him continue to work on offense, rather than sitting on the bench in foul trouble.

He's fouled out 7 times this year, and gone to 4 fouls 7 more times (14/24 games he's reached at least 4 fouls). He's averaged 6.1 fouls per 40 min against the rest of their schedule (6.2/40 min in conference games), and 3.3 against us. It was also the most minutes he's played in a game all year, at 36... mainly because he wasn't in foul trouble. He didn't pick up his first foul until 7:37 left in the first half, and didn't get his second until 9:59 left in the second. The only game where he had fewer fouls called per minute played was against ETSU.

These are all things he'll improve as he gets more experience - and I expect him to be a force in the B1G as he continues to refine his game. Yesterday, though, we just got caught on a very "let them play" night, and he took full advantage.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Caleb is that dude. Ive been saying this since late december but he has the highest ceiling of any player on our team, he does a lot of things really well. And he is an absolute sniper when open from there. He has a really pretty shot

Ummmm. What about Mathis

 

[RUonBrain]

Ummmm. What about Mathis

Yes yes

How about the Mathis block on the last shot attempt in regulation?
Great play without fouling.

 

[BillyC80]

Ummmm. What about Mathis

Love Mathis but he’s not a sniper from three (yet), nor does he have a pretty shot (yet).

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We are talking about a ceiling. Mathis has given ability that most will never have.

 

[RU-ROCS]

There's a lot to like about Harper's game, his high IQ and his swagger, but his 0-7 from 3-point land really hurt v. IL. Many of those shots were wide-open looks. He needs to get more arc on his 3-point shot, as right now it's very flat. He had very good numbers from 3-point land in high school, so hopefully he can find his stroke from deep more consistently and avoid that type of shooting night. If he can consistently hit a 3-point shot, muscle up in the weight room and possibly still grow and inch or two to fill up his size 19 shoes, he will be a real handful for opposing defenses in the future.

 

[bac2therac]

We are talking about a ceiling. Mathis has given ability that most will never have.

agree here..people are sleeping on him right now because Caleb was sensational but Mathis has already delivered multiple games and headniess in all facets of the game on both sides of the ball.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Ummmm. What about Mathis

I think caleb has a higher ceiling than mathis. Will mathis wind up being the better player? Maybe. But were talking about ceiling here. Mathis is really athletic but you cant teach calebs god given length

 

[BillyC80]

Funny, if you wanna talk about high ceilings, you could put all 4 of our freshmen into the conversation. Love their game and they all bring something different and valuable. So pumped about this team.