Illini Basketball

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#127      
Homecoming 2019
SkyysNotFalling said:
what’re reasonable expectations next season?
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Well we can pencil in 2 losses already to Maryland. It is decided.
Friday The 13Th Horror GIF by filmeditor
 
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#128      
hodgesonfire
So much more depth on this team. Is nice to think everyone has two back ups who can also play. Especially after last years injury / illness problems. Am hoping that the coaches are quick to adjust in games so we always have the hottest players. So fouls aren’t such a big problem and so playing full court at full speed will wear down opponents
 
#132      
SkyysNotFalling
LvilleILL1 said:
21+ regular season wins, second weekend minimum.

Talent overall in college basketball is down next year, I think we could have a top 10 team.
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I’d be disappointed with a 21-10 regular season. With the age + talent of our roster, the continuity that we haven’t had since 2023-24, Brad having a little more fire after this season & a (knock on wood) healthier roster…. 20/21 wins would be a repeat of this year… I think this team should have single digit losses in the regular season and push for a top 3 seed come tourney time. HAVE to be playing in the second weekend.
 
#133      
ChiefGritty
SkyysNotFalling said:
what’re reasonable expectations next season?
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Play in and win our fair share of a lot big games between ranked teams in great environments. Be at our best come tournament time and make some noise. Cement ourselves on the heels of Purdue in the active pecking order of success and prestige among the real Big Ten schools.

chibar said:
How do you figure talent is overall down? Is it the end of Covid years supplementing the talent pool?
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Exactly. Going to be a younger sport next year, and I don't think the freshman class is quite as ballyhooed as this year's one, though that can change.
 
#134      
DReq
mysterio2525 said:
18 teams for a 20 game schedule
3 home and away = 6 games
15 teams left.... And you try not to play with yourself 😁
So 14 teams left you play once =14 games

6 + 14 = 20 games. Playing with yourself optional
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Why did I feel like I should wash my hands after reading this?
 
#138      
Second place is 1st loser
CleverHandle1 said:
Very early, indeed, and obviously taken with a huge grain of salt, but Lunardi has the Illini as a 7th seed with another potential matchup with the two seed Kentucky.

I could be wrong, but I believe he had Illinois as a 6th seed last year and facing three seed Kentucky. Unreal.
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Also, I think Lunardi posted that before AS committed by looking at the date and time?
 
#139      
Bigtex
Illwinsagain said:
As a too soon to guess, 14-6 in conference, 8-3 out of conference (no idea who we will be playing). 22-9 before post season.
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6 cupcakes
Missouri
Tennessee
Alabama
Arkansas (?) don't know if it was a multi year deal
Duke (?) don't know if it was a multi year deal
 
#141      
Piotyr
At least after this year we'll finally have an answer to that age old question, what is better, a college basketball team or the Serbian national basketball team?
 
#142      
redwingillini11
We better do no worse that 4-2 against NU, Maryland and Nebraska. Ideally at least 5 wins there...
 
#143      
LvilleILL1
chibar said:
How do you figure talent is overall down? Is it the end of Covid years supplementing the talent pool?
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Yes. No more covid seniors, which is a huge part of that. Also think the freshman class isn't as good. There were only 20-25 "big time" transfers, and I think we got one of those guys plus returned two who would have fit under that category. So just not as many teams are as deep/talented.
 
#144      
Mr. Tibbs
thats called “hotboxing”.
lighting a new cig off the one you are just about finished with. ensures no down time in your smoking experience .
 
#146      
CleverHandle1
Second place is 1st loser said:
His take is understandable. We have a lot of unknowns on this roster and we lost two NBA draft choices and our best paint presence in the offseason. There are few guys on the roster that none of us have EVER seen play.

Adding to that, I'm with Piper on this one. This team has this potential to be top 10 nationally on offense, but God awful defensively.

That puts us in the Iowa on steroids category.

This team is going to be extremely tall, but it's going to lack overall athleticism and explosiveness. We're probably going to run into similar issues that we did last year, BUT we'll be older, hopefully not disease ridden mid season and hopefully more consistent from three. We're going to shoot a ton of them.

Winning games 90-70 is very realistic and losing games 92-88 is very realistic. We just don't know and we won't until we go up against a top 15 caliber team.

Rothstein has us at #20 and Lunardi has us around 28-32. Both takes are fair.
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Yes, his take was basically spot on. I know Lunardi deserves criticism for past predictions, but he does get it right at times.

I was hoping a better seed going in, but there will be potential for that to happen. It's obviously very early and I am excited to see how this team develops.

Aside from Missouri and Alabama, I wonder what other top non-conference games BU will be scheduling.
 
#149      
ptgrd23
Times have changed. Used to be teams played mostly cupcakes before B10 schedule. With NET ratings Brad has decided to go Izzo route and load up with tough non conference games. I think it improves the team but makes 25-5 records much harder to achieve.

I hated losing at NW and Nebraska and losing at home to USC. Flip those games and we are 26-9 as we get #4 seed and lose 2nd weekend. Brad has to raise the floor of the team.
 
#150      
RabidDawgClassic
Second place is 1st loser said:
His take is understandable. We have a lot of unknowns on this roster and we lost two NBA draft choices and our best paint presence in the offseason. There are few guys on the roster that none of us have EVER seen play.

Adding to that, I'm with Piper on this one. This team has this potential to be top 10 nationally on offense, but God awful defensively.

That puts us in the Iowa on steroids category.

This team is going to be extremely tall, but it's going to lack overall athleticism and explosiveness. We're probably going to run into similar issues that we did last year, BUT we'll be older, hopefully not disease ridden mid season and hopefully more consistent from three. We're going to shoot a ton of them.

Winning games 90-70 is very realistic and losing games 92-88 is very realistic. We just don't know and we won't until we go up against a top 15 caliber team.

Rothstein has us at #20 and Lunardi has us around 28-32. Both takes are fair.
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This team CAN be better defensively, but it’ll have to be in a system that best utilizes the talent. I don't believe the system we used last year did that — primarily because of the youth and inexperience on the team. Drop coverage might work better with this unit, but I suspect it won’t. The concept of allowing only “bad twos” works only if the opponent misses as many of them as they take. Last year, teams recognized we were giving up mid-range shots and designed plays to utilize their best mid-range shooters to combat that. The system also doesn’t work when you can’t stop “good twos” near the rim.

Now, whether this is a Hamer thing or not, I don’t know. But it seems unlikely he’s installing and instructing a system Brad doesn’t want. Perhaps he’s not good at instructing or perhaps the system is flawed. Either way… we can be better defensively, but it’ll come down to recognizing the strengths of the players actually doing the defending and designing a system to best fit them.
 
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