Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Sure, I’ll put my beach house on it
You know when Coleman would sometimes catch a spot-up and right as he was about to shoot it, would see someone wide open under the basket and whip a pass to them? I saw this play developing many times with Ben on the ball and he just shot it every single time. It felt like the "be a basketball player" had been coached out of him. Feel free to shoot like 35% or whatever if you can make some other basketball plays every now and then. Would welcome this alternate universe version of BH back in a heartbeat.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
-We have added good shooting 21 year old JR 7 footer. Any big 10 team would love to have just one. Z was considered top 5 recruit when he went to KY.
-We just got mini "jokic" 6'9" 250 PF. turns 20 in January. He is 4 months older than Will Riley and is 6 months older than KJ who just completed their freshman year. So he is sophomore age.
We are returning - "get old stay old"
- solid SR PG who can score inside
- Soph 21 year old Great passing and shooting 7' center
- Redshirt JR Experienced great rebounding high energy wing
- JR Experienced good shooting wing
We have two solid incoming freshman guards
At end of 2024-5 season we started 3 freshman - KJ, Tomas and Will with 1st off bench Morez - so 4 of top 6 players were freshman. We were one of youngest teams in NCAA and we still got #6 seed and advanced to 2nd round.
It is only April 8th. More portal and possible high school reclass or Sarr on way.
I am very excited. We are not combining 10 new players. We have solid core returning. I think we have excellent shot at 4-7 seed depending on how things work out.
I just can't figure out how Purdue can get Smith and TKR to return when they are both obvious NBA first rounders. Its like KJ and Will not even going to NBA draft camp this year.
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Mirkovic already has 30 pounds on Ben. Ben was exposed as a starter. Was an awful "3 point specialist" as a starter (33%..which would rank ~220th of 364 D1 teams). Cool if he's the 8-10th guy even if he offers nothing Z/Jake wouldnt already as a limited minutes player. Z is better everywhere on the court. 2 different caliber players and athletes
Thankful we'll never have to hear Ben booty ball again
where he backs down a guy 6 inches shorter, get zero lift and clanks it off the front rim. The whole rationale was based off Domask and MVC 
Was just comical as clear Ben wasn't capable of ever doing it
Being 6'9 means nothing if you play 6'3 and lack the physical/athletic ability to use it to your advantage.
Thankful we'll never have to hear Ben booty ball again
where he backs down a guy 6 inches shorter, get zero lift and clanks it off the front rim. The whole rationale was based off Domask and MVC Was just comical as clear Ben wasn't capable of ever doing it Being 6'9 means nothing if you play 6'3 and lack the physical/athletic ability to use it to your advantage.
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I feel like I'd at least wait until the roster is complete to completely dismiss the team.
We've essentially made 3 moves - Ty, Z, and Mirkovic. Ty and Z are both plus athletes.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
I think we should tell the staff that we need athletes, dammit. cause time is running out and they're dumb dumbs
I will be interested to see how Mirkovic does. He looks to me to be a below average athlete and a poor leaper. He gets no lift on his jump shot. Now he's 6'9" and quite hefty with a big frame, so that will help. He also appears to be very skilled.
So while he may be playing more skilled players in Europe, where my fear comes in, he will be playing less skilled but more athletic guys in college. While that guy guarding him may not be able to shoot as well, they will be able to get in his face, alter shots, etc. Will his bball IQ and the offense we run be able to offset the lack of athleticism?
I could see booty ball work, because there aren't a lot of guys that can handle his size, and his shot looks pretty dang good, even fading away.
People seem to be comparing him to Humrichous. I will say, I was very negative on Humrichous from the beginning, because in clips I saw, he just didn't have the athleticism. Mirkovic looks much more skilled, but I have those same fears with him. Will he be able to defend on the perimeter? Will he be able to create offense? I suppose we shall soon find out.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Well and critically to the point everyone is fretting about, Z neutralizes plus athletes on the interior with his rim protection ability.
Z is a very different player than Tomi defensively.
Overall team athleticism was definitely a factor in our defensive struggles last year, but I feel like youth and inexperience is being underrated as a contributor as well. In both respects Will Riley is escaping the culpability he deserves in this thread's hilarious stereotype-fest.
I think our lack of physicality and athleticism is a bit overstated.
Another year of Boswell will do wonders for us. He'll likely be a 1st team all-defensive candidate.
Also, it hasn't been talked about a lot but with the additions of big Z and Murkovic, it allows you to play Rodgers even more minutes which adds more physicality and athleticism to our lineup.
Finally, roster construction isn't over. Sarr is an athlete and yeah I agree the remaining adds should also be focusing on athletes and physicality.
Overall I like our adds and our floor is really high.
Another year of Boswell will do wonders for us. He'll likely be a 1st team all-defensive candidate.
Also, it hasn't been talked about a lot but with the additions of big Z and Murkovic, it allows you to play Rodgers even more minutes which adds more physicality and athleticism to our lineup.
Finally, roster construction isn't over. Sarr is an athlete and yeah I agree the remaining adds should also be focusing on athletes and physicality.
Overall I like our adds and our floor is really high.
Oh I love the Brad Underwood bubble team takes!
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Yes… say whatever you will about Brad, but he’s never had a team on the bubble.
Not to say that there aren't sports franchises operated as businesses that want to win, but running it as a business would prioritize profits over winning. The Pittsburgh Pirates have finished above .500 4 times in the past 32 years. They profited $47M last year and $68M the year before that. They consistently have one of the lowest payrolls in MLB year after year. There's no sign whatsoever that the owner isn't perfectly fine pulling in a tidy profit while watching his franchise's, like all sports franchises, valuation go to the moon. https://www.si.com/mlb/pirates/news/new-report-raises-questions-pittsburgh-pirates-financialsOk….. hang with me here…… what stops someone from buying an Athletic Department and then running it like a business? I am not a Business major, (Psych is my game) but let’s take the enterprise value. Someone like Shad Khan says “I see the ability to make some money and support and be involved in University of Illinois athletics. I’ll buy the Athletic Department.”
Whitman becomes General Manager and then they go full business model as opposed to the charade of being “amateur athletics.” Obviously an owner would be responsible for all rules and stipulations of an athletic department.
I am not saying that, on paper, what you're proposing doesn't sound good in the abstract. But, who's to say Shad Khan wouldn't operate like Robert Nutting viewing profits as the primary, secondary, and tertiary objectives of running the organization; instead of Steve Cohen who already has more than god, knows he'll profit at least 2 billion (probably significantly more) when he decides to sell them, and couldn't care less about throwing money at everything.
Not everything should be "run like a business"...
Why, what player killed us most. TKR and other big guys. David Mirkovic can be just fine in the type of role. It's not like Queen and TKR are fast up n down the floor.
The Skyy year we were in, but it wasn't a super confident lock.
Regardless, Brad talked about getting older and we are recruiting more young Euro players. Maybe Brad is ahead of the curve. I believe the Euro player intelligence and tactical understanding of the game interests Brad greatly. We have three bigs that can shoot and pass, plus Ty who can pass and play with physicality.
I understand we are not hyper athletic, but if we can build a team around some really cool offensive concepts, we could be fun to watch. It really comes down to the last few guys and their roles.
I agree with you 100% here. It's better you say it than me because I don't feel like being attacked today. There are a couple of guys where negative commentary attributed to them is off limits. This is one of those guys.
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But I also think Coleman did that because he doubted himself. Super smart guy but definitely second guessed himself way too much.
But yes, Ben could use a lot more of Coleman’s attitude.
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How did Ben get attacked again? Lol. It's a month after the season ended, Ben isn't on the roster and he's still taking cracks. Don't ever change Loyalty!
In the manner of say a Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic in the NBA!? I definitely understand the reservation. Hopefully, he gives us that type of play, then I can overlook the explosive athleticism.
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He does look pretty similar to Koby Brea
So what your saying is that I am not completely off the mark.
Where are you seeing the Purdue players mocked in the first? I've seen them both late second / undrafted in projections.
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