My favorite part was the IU game with the crowd reactions
NBA Draft
- Status
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- Batavia
Did Coleman shrink?
No, TJ grew
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Yaxel withdrawing and enrolling at scUM. A UM admission mishap here would be great...
Homecoming 2019
- Chicago
So when does Morez transfer again?
Who??? /s
But in all seriousness, their front court could potentially give us some problems. In my opinion, I am not sure if Cadeau can be efficient enough to put them in that upper echelon.
He’s gonna be a problem
My hot take: Mirkovic will be a better value and potentially a better overall player for us than Morez would have been.
Morez was one of the top O rebounders in the sport last year, and was a pretty good help defender with a fantastic motor. However, his offensive game was very limited and all those highlight blocks covered up the fact that Morez was pretty awful guarding in space and prone to fouling when guarding on the block.
Mirk has similar size (6’9, 250), by all accounts also has a great motor, is a strong rebounder, particularly when he’s played against a peer age cohort, and has a much more polished offensive game. Obvious questions on defense but Morez has those too. If Mirk can give us ~75% of Morez’ rebounding, that plus the improved offense should be a wash and might even be a better overall player.
Rumor is the deal that Morez agreed to and backed out of gave him $1M. If Mirk is 60-70% of that he’s likely a better value if not better overall player.
I think I prefer Yaxel, Morez, and Mara on Michigan over Morez, Mara, and someone like Jamir Watkins. The first 3 require someone to be on the bench or playing way out of position. Replace Yaxel with a top wing makes way more positional sense for Michigan. And its not like Michigan is going to sit on that $4 million if Yaxel leaves
I think Jamir Watkins and RJ Luis are still available if they drop out. I would take either one with the Will Riley money. I think that would put us in final four discussion. RJ would have to commit to the team rather than stats though.
Based on fit and character I feel like RJ is a pass for this years team…even with his high skill level
hopefully when they play us, Morez tries to prove his outside shot prowess, and goes 0/12 from 3 in the 12 minutes he'll be playing.
I agree that Watkins would certainly be a better fit on the Illini, and that Watkins is probably the player with better character. I would certainly prefer adding Watkins to next season's Illini team. But if it was only Luis that Illinois could sign, I'd make that addition. I would hope that the character of our coaching staff, and that of our returning players, would keep RJ Louis in line, and that would lead Illinois to a possible FF appearance in 2026.
Last edited:
I like to think I have pretty reasonable expectations for the roster but if you added Watkins or Luis I genuinely think it's the best roster in the country on paper.
They would just have so much size, athelicism, and experience paired with an embarrassment of riches on offense of guys that can get a bucket.
Also, I'm not completely up to date on every portal team but I think the field is pretty wide open this year and none of the blue bloods have really built rosters that truly wow me.
More likely, based on or recent history, he's the guy that goes for 20 points over his average at State Farm Center. Hopefully not, but wouldn't surprise me.
Morez had the highest PER of anyone on the team. No outside shot, but this is college --you don't need dominant post players to stretch the floor. He may not fit here with the twin towers, but he's still a baller. Will be interesting to see how it plays out next season. Both teams should have excellent front courts
Morez leaving is a huge loss for us and huge gain for Michigan.... Anyone saying otherwise is being a spin doctor.
Not sure it could have been avoided or what went on behind the scenes but this one sucks for me. I'm hoping mirkovic is good and ready to play at this level right away
In all honesty... if Morez was here, I doubt Ty is here.
No one can say this with any certainty right now. Personally I think he made a mistake. Yes, there may have been issues causing the relationship to go South, but no one has said or hinted at anything outside of the Fathers influence. We've seen this type of thing play out before here. In recent memory, there has been 1, yes 1, player that has moved on and improved their situation in any significant way. The Michigan roster has a few players that can take minutes, and a starting job, away from him. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if that happens. Had he stayed at Illinois I think he'd have been a lock to start and a player or 2 would not have been added. Just my 2 cents (we gonna have to stop saying that pretty soon, no more pennies). I think his loss in the lineup has been more than adequately remedied, some might say improved. Time will tell.
Is it though? Z is an upgrade as a 5 man, and we also wouldn't have Ty. He's a good player, but it worked out well for both parties. It's just the fan antagonism of how it played out: 1) leaving and him and his circle talking smack on their way out 2) going to Michigan of all places.
I tend to agree. It was a huge loss, but we filled that void with guys who are at least comparable. I think Mirk is going to surprise a lot of people.
- Status