UConn's bench that year averaged 53 minutes per game, as the starters averaged less than 30 minutes per game.
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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A large part of that was Clingan (22.5 mins/gm). He still has issues with high minutes in the league.
Lol what did I just read?!
Nice to see we are entering the insane takes stage of the offseason. Petrovic and Mirkovic are guys that would have never gone to college pre NIL, both would have been getting 2-3 million if they were in college last year. Comparing them to Morreti and BBV is just crazy.
ginabackes00
CrazedUIFan
I might be repeating what's been said, but Ty is going to valuable to this team because he is so versatile defensively and he can pick up some PG reps if we're in need. His level of energy and strength, along with Boswell, are exactly what Brad wants from his team. I can see Ty helping alter a game when we're flat. I don't expect him to be an outside threat, but he's always been a beast on the boards.
I'm not saying Ty will/won't/ should/ shouldn't get more minutes than Ben. I'm just saying I highly doubt Ty is way ahead of Ben on the depth chart. It would surprise me if Ty played 10 mpg more than Ben, for example. Brad's not going to give up on BH as many here have. We will rely on him a lot less though and I expect a shorter leash on the nights when his shot isn't falling.
This was my long winded, unpopular takeaway and it's the SI takeaway.
The new guys are going to have the prove to be upgraded. They may happen after game one, game 10, game 20 or not at all.
We just don't know..
The point, as unpopular as the opinion as it is, is that we have absolutely no clue what these guys can do. I remember when the Petrovic announcement was made. 1/3 of the board asked, who? 1/3 asked if this is was a good thing and 1/3 was making an opinion after watching YouTube.
Anyone who thinks they can make heads of tails out of this, as we sit here today, is lying. Honestly, we don't even know what Big Z gives us in the big picture and he's played a year and a half of college ball.
We're in uncharted waters. We have really leaned into the European market to build our roster.
I don't care who would have been getting what with regards to NIL. That doesn't equate to production. See Ben, see Booth, see Storr, etc.
This whole situation is no different than the Podz situation. We brought on Skyy and pretty much ran him off. How did that work?
This thread started based on SI's opinion that Ben would start to begin the year and the thrust behind my post is that I think they're right. I don't see Brad starting the season burying Ben two deep, though it might end up that way. I'm not trying to put anyone down, but the facts are the facts. We've seen Ben play live and Brad is comfortable. None of us of seen Petrovic or Mirkovic. None of us.
Let's keep the posts to the original context, which was the SI opinion, which I agree with. JMO
Anyone who thinks they can make heads of tails out of this, as we sit here today, is lying. Honestly, we don't even know what Big Z gives us in the big picture and he's played a year and a half of college ball.
We're in uncharted waters. We have really leaned into the European market to build our roster.
I don't care who would have been getting what with regards to NIL. That doesn't equate to production. See Ben, see Booth, see Storr, etc.
This whole situation is no different than the Podz situation. We brought on Skyy and pretty much ran him off. How did that work?
This thread started based on SI's opinion that Ben would start to begin the year and the thrust behind my post is that I think they're right. I don't see Brad starting the season burying Ben two deep, though it might end up that way. I'm not trying to put anyone down, but the facts are the facts. We've seen Ben play live and Brad is comfortable. None of us of seen Petrovic or Mirkovic. None of us.
Let's keep the posts to the original context, which was the SI opinion, which I agree with. JMO
The comps may be absurd, but the questions surrounding these guys are legitimate. We just don't know. Keep in mind, the thrust into this discussion is SI's opinion that Ben starts. As we know, some(a few in particular) loathe Ben getting more than five minutes a game. There is zero evidence that his productivity in year 2 won't be better that the overseas guys in year 1.
The off-season, in this new era, is a total crapshoot. Last year, some were adamant that DGL was going to be a huge contributor, though he never showed that he had that upside.
Until the season starts.....it's YouTube vs our own, in person, eyes. I think SI got it right.
The off-season, in this new era, is a total crapshoot. Last year, some were adamant that DGL was going to be a huge contributor, though he never showed that he had that upside.
Until the season starts.....it's YouTube vs our own, in person, eyes. I think SI got it right.
This paragraph is end to end nonsense. If Petrovic is "more in line" with what Moretti was, that'd basically be KU with AJ Storr.... even worse. At most 5% chance that Mirkovic turns out like BBV.
And no, no one is evaluating them based on a five minute YT clip. There's general, in-game statistics and data from these guys in what is one of the best professional leagues out there with numerous high-level former college and NBA players.
AdmiralBet ABA League - 2024-25 Standings and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
AdmiralBet ABA League - 2024-25 Standings and Stats
aws.basketball-reference.com
Mirkovic is 6th in the league in rebounding. Petrovic is top 10 in the league in scoring, 2nd in assists, 3rd in FG percentage. If you compare stats between the players, he may very well be a top 5 or so player. Please tell me what about that screams a Moretti-level, 5 minute a game guy??
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There ya go guys….Brad will be retiring here
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blackdog
- Champaign
This paragraph is end to end nonsense. If Petrovic is "more in line" with what Moretti was, that'd basically be KU with AJ Storr.... even worse. At most 5% chance that Mirkovic turns out like BBV.
And no, no one is evaluating them based on a five minute YT clip. There's general, in-game statistics and data from these guys in what is one of the best professional leagues out there with numerous high-level former college and NBA players.
AdmiralBet ABA League - 2024-25 Standings and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
AdmiralBet ABA League - 2024-25 Standings and Stats
Mirkovic is 6th in the league in rebounding. Petrovic is top 10 in the league in scoring, 2nd in assists, 3rd in FG percentage. If you compare stats between the players, he may very well be a top 5 or so player. Please tell me what about that screams a Moretti-level, 5 minute a game guy??
Mirkovic being on the World team at Hoop Summit tells you all you need to know. That’s the top 30 or so players at his age that exist anywhere on planet Earth (I’m including the US hoop summit team here of course).
And then you have Petrovic who is 22 and an MVP candidate in the same league (which mind you is the same league Tomi played in the year before Illinois).
If you are gonna peg these guys as literal zero star recruits then you’re just trying to be delulu on purpose.
In the Final Four, the starters (save Clingan) hardly left the floor.
This reads like satire. Petrovic regularly plays - and excels - against former Big Ten standouts who are now pros in the ABA. I suppose you can say he doesn't have the natural talent KJ does, but the experience factor is precisely why we recruited him. I suppose Ben will be better at some things, such as the English language, giving directions to Ubben, and occasionally three-point shooting. But analysts nationally are raving about this pickup for a reason.
Fact is, we used to go to Europe to supplement our roster. Brad and OA went to Europe to get a guy once and came home with Giorgi instead. Then we can got Matic. And Moretti. We weren't looking at any of these guys we got from Europe as anything but depth pieces until last year. Giorgi happened to end up being much better than that. But this year is different because the quality of player we can get now is far higher. We can get actual professionals who might sniff NBA rosters one day as opposed to the third guard in the Italian junior national team or our second choice for backup center.
Soooooo, you're not confirming that Brad is on the hotseat that has been claimed in the last several months?!
Will finish as our all-time wins leader, if so.
Also, just realized that after this season, BU will have been here for as long as Weber was.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
our lunatic fringe is the best
10 mpg delta is a big delta so I think you are probably right there.
I don't see how Underwood tops Lou's 423 wins over 21 seasons.
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