Good Morning, Illini Nation: Actual basketball at the NBA Draft combine
May 18—Welcome to "Good Morning, Illini Nation," your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He'll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood's team:
Shooting drills and body measurements have their place at the NBA draft combine. But actual basketball? That's the good stuff. The first two five-on-five scrimmages at this year's combine went down Wednesday in Chicago, with Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins both competing.
Shannon got the start for Team Bailey in its 107-88 victory against Team Bradds. The Illini guard finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists in 16 minute, 38 seconds of playing time. Shannon missed both of his three-point attempts and went 4 of 6 from the free throw line. But he still made an impact. Looking at plus-minus for a single game is not without its faults, but Shannon was a wild plus-31 in essentially half that many minutes.
Hawkins also got the start for Team Hines in its 122-95 win against Team Richman. The Illinois forward played just shy of 20 minutes and went 1 of 4 from the field and 1 of 2 at the free throw line to finish with three points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The argument can be made, however, that former Illinois guard Brandin Podziemski outperformed both Shannon and Hawkins. It's actually not all that difficult of an argument to make. The Santa Clara guard did lose to Hawkins' team, but he flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
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Terrence Shannon Jr.
What feedback would @Sn1per_T need to remain in the @NBADraft?
The @IlliniMBB star spoke to @TheAndyKatz at the Combine in Chicago: pic.twitter.com/Ejy0N2v01r
— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) May 17, 2023
Height without shoes: 6 feet, 5 1/2 inches
Weight: 220 pounds
Standing reach: 8 feet, 6 inches
Wingspan: 6 feet, 8 inches
Hand length: 8 1/4 inches
Hand width: 8 inches
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins swipes the ball away from Bates and delivers a no look pass to Jordan Miller who spins baseline and finishes the lay pic.twitter.com/TiSfn4cb3Z
— Aram Cannuscio (@AC__Hoops) May 17, 2023
Height without shoes: 6 feet, 8 1/2 inches
Weight: 224.4 pounds
Standing reach: 9 feet, 1/2 inch
Wingspan: 7 feet, 1/4 inch
Hand length: 8 3/4 inches
Hand width: 8 3/4 inches
Brandin Podziemski
Strong showing at the NBA draft combine for Santa Clara's Brandin Podziemski. Did a nice job of blending his scoring and passing making great reads out of pick and roll and hitting tough shots off the bounce. pic.twitter.com/ArImTJTyAP
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 17, 2023
Height without shoes: 6 feet, 3 3/4 inches
Weight: 203.8 pounds
Standing reach: 8 feet, 1/2 inch
Wingspan: 6 feet, 5 1/2 inches
Hand length: 8 1/4 inches
Hand width: 10 inches
