Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#651      
Hummer seems like a nice kid but he was truly dreadful last season. Either he improves a lot or Ty plays a lot more than him I don't think it's that complicated.
If you compare their stats from the last year that each played, I don't think that you can argue that Ty was significantly better than Ben. Each had strengths and weaknesses:

Ty: 23min. 53/0/58 6.2 pts. 5.3rebs. 76assists 48TOs 17Steals 15Blocks
Ben: 26min 37/34/71 7.6pts. 3.8rebs 31assist 17TOS 16Stea;s 23Blocks
 
#656      
Now that the roster is likely finalized, I’ll reboot the minutes conversation. I see 8 core guys with Davis adding on 5-10 spot minutes per game. Freshman might play some too, but left them off the list for simplicity:

Petrovic: 30
Boswell: 30
Stojakovic: 30
Ty: 25
Tomi: 25
Big Z: 20
Ben: 15
Mirkovic: 15
Davis: 10

Breaking that down by position (offense only, I assume defense will be based on match ups and the combination of players in the game at the time):

1: Petrovic (30) / Boswell (5) / Ty (5)
2: Boswell (25) / Stojakovic (5) / Ty (5) / Davis (5)
3: Stojakovic (25) / Ty (5) / Davis (5) / Ben (5)
4: Ty (10) / Mirkovic (15) / Ben (10) / Big Z (5)
5: Tomi (25) / Big Z (15)
 
#657      
Now that the roster is likely finalized, I’ll reboot the minutes conversation. I see 8 core guys with Davis adding on 5-10 spot minutes per game. Freshman might play some too, but left them off the list for simplicity:

Petrovic: 30
Boswell: 30
Stojakovic: 30
Ty: 25
Tomi: 25
Big Z: 20
Ben: 15
Mirkovic: 15
Davis: 10

Breaking that down by position (offense only, I assume defense will be based on match ups and the combination of players in the game at the time):

1: Petrovic (30) / Boswell (5) / Ty (5)
2: Boswell (25) / Stojakovic (5) / Ty (5) / Davis (5)
3: Stojakovic (25) / Ty (5) / Davis (5) / Ben (5)
4: Ty (10) / Mirkovic (15) / Ben (10) / Big Z (5)
5: Tomi (25) / Big Z (15)
Finalized? Is it?
 
#658      
Now that the roster is likely finalized, I’ll reboot the minutes conversation. I see 8 core guys with Davis adding on 5-10 spot minutes per game. Freshman might play some too, but left them off the list for simplicity:

Petrovic: 30
Boswell: 30
Stojakovic: 30
Ty: 25
Tomi: 25
Big Z: 20
Ben: 15
Mirkovic: 15
Davis: 10

Breaking that down by position (offense only, I assume defense will be based on match ups and the combination of players in the game at the time):

1: Petrovic (30) / Boswell (5) / Ty (5)
2: Boswell (25) / Stojakovic (5) / Ty (5) / Davis (5)
3: Stojakovic (25) / Ty (5) / Davis (5) / Ben (5)
4: Ty (10) / Mirkovic (15) / Ben (10) / Big Z (5)
5: Tomi (25) / Big Z (15)
If the offensive scheme is 5 out - I would make some adjustments:

Petrovic: 30
Boswell: 30
Stojakovic: 30
Tomi: 25 (probably 30)
Big Z: 25
Ben: 20
Mirkovic: 15
Ty: 15
Davis: 10
 
#659      
don't think davis gets 10 MPG. didn't even get that last year, and a majority of his PT was due to the bug that ran through the team.

ben and mirk will be 10-15 each.

tomislav having to play 30 minutes is by no means what you should plan for, and there's zero reason for it with the frontcourt depth they've gathered. tomi 25/ z 20.

stojakovic, boswell, petrovic will probably all be around 30.

ty has the widest spectrum of possibilities imo, but will in all likelihood be in the 15-25 range.
 
#660      
Now that the roster is likely finalized, I’ll reboot the minutes conversation. I see 8 core guys with Davis adding on 5-10 spot minutes per game. Freshman might play some too, but left them off the list for simplicity:

Petrovic: 30
Boswell: 30
Stojakovic: 30
Ty: 25
Tomi: 25
Big Z: 20
Ben: 15
Mirkovic: 15
Davis: 10

Breaking that down by position (offense only, I assume defense will be based on match ups and the combination of players in the game at the time):

1: Petrovic (30) / Boswell (5) / Ty (5)
2: Boswell (25) / Stojakovic (5) / Ty (5) / Davis (5)
3: Stojakovic (25) / Ty (5) / Davis (5) / Ben (5)
4: Ty (10) / Mirkovic (15) / Ben (10) / Big Z (5)
5: Tomi (25) / Big Z (15)
We don't have much depth in the guard positions (except for the fresh). Ty and Jake can play some but they might not be ideal for guards. I really think we need a b/u PG or 2G. (somebody who can handle the ball)
 
#661      
tomislav having to play 30 minutes is by no means what you should plan for, and there's zero reason for it with the frontcourt depth they've gathered. tomi 25/ z 20.
He played 27 mpg last year including games in which he was recovering from mono. He also came into the program later and thus had less conditioning time with Fletch. Add to that he's arguably our best player and not super foul prone, I bet he'll be back around 27-30 mpg.
 
#662      
don't think davis gets 10 MPG. didn't even get that last year, and a majority of his PT was due to the bug that ran through the team.

ben and mirk will be 10-15 each.

tomislav having to play 30 minutes is by no means what you should plan for, and there's zero reason for it with the frontcourt depth they've gathered. tomi 25/ z 20.

stojakovic, boswell, petrovic will probably all be around 30.

ty has the widest spectrum of possibilities imo, but will in all likelihood be in the 15-25 range.
There are like 80 min between the 2 guards. These minutes are going to come from Petrovic/Boswell/Ty/Davis so yes I can see Jake getting 10 min unless we add a b/u guard. Ty and Davis are three but they will probably have to eat some minutes here. We can play big and let Andrej drop to 2 but unless it is proven effective, I don't think it is an ideal lineup.
 
#663      
He played 27 mpg last year including games in which he was recovering from mono. He also came into the program later and thus had less conditioning time with Fletch. Add to that he's arguably our best player and not super foul prone, I bet he'll be back around 27-30 mpg.
fatigue was a factor last year. ending up at 27mpg had a lot to do with the lack of frontcourt depth (basically not having another big after morez went down).

z is an excellent option at the 5 this year, and so is mirkovic if needed.
 
#665      
Have you met my friend Brad Underwood?

BH is old, experienced, has length, and was one of our best shooters last year. He's not going to be relegated to a Jake Davis role.

And Ty, even as a starter in 2023, only played 23 minutes a game. I bet they'll be within 5 mpg of each other.
Even if this were true and he was the tallest midget on our historically pathetic shooting team … I feel it’s a disingenuous phrasing. Was Ben the third best three-point shooter and NINTH best overall shooter (below Jake Davis in both categories, FWIW)? Sure. However, he was brought here specifically to hit threes … and he hit 34% of them, including WAY too many games where he couldn’t hit one to save his life.

Considering the circumstances under which we paid for him to get this opportunity, I actually don’t think it’s unfair at all to say his performance last year was objectively bad and undeniably disappointing. Ben seems like a great kid and I’m actually glad he’s back … but my worry is that if he’s getting too many minutes, it means our shooters are worse than Ben … and that puts a SERIOUS cap on our ceiling.
 
#666      
So glad I stopped by this evening to be able to read the 9 millionth carbon-copy-repetitive-dementia Ben Humrichous slander post 6 weeks after the season ended

Now that I've said that:

dave chappelle what GIF
 
#667      
Even if this were true and he was the tallest midget on our historically pathetic shooting team … I feel it’s a disingenuous phrasing. Was Ben the third best three-point shooter and NINTH best overall shooter (below Jake Davis in both categories, FWIW)? Sure. However, he was brought here specifically to hit threes … and he hit 34% of them, including WAY too many games where he couldn’t hit one to save his life.

Considering the circumstances under which we paid for him to get this opportunity, I actually don’t think it’s unfair at all to say his performance last year was objectively bad and undeniably disappointing. Ben seems like a great kid and I’m actually glad he’s back … but my worry is that if he’s getting too many minutes, it means our shooters are worse than Ben … and that puts a SERIOUS cap on our ceiling.
He was disappointing AND he was one of our best shooters. Both are true.

He's going to get his opportunities. If he comes out next year and is still a 34% shooter in January, then his minutes will fade. But I think it's just as likely that he gets back to 40% in a lesser role.

I mean, we love to talk about offseason development. Why can't Ben develop into a better shooter? He's proven in the past to be a decent shooter. There's at least something to work with. People were ready to believe Ty could transform into a respectable shooter in one offseason with no proof that Ty is even remotely capable of taking a jump shot. But with Ben we assume he's going to be the exact same player he was last year.

Look, honestly, I wasn't even trying to defend Ben. My point is that Brad will feature him in a fairly significant role, at least to start the year. I think it's unlikely that Ty's minutes will increase from his last year and Ben's will decrease from his last year to the extent that Ty is "well ahead" of Ben in the rotation. Just not how Brad operates.
 
#669      
Now that the roster is likely finalized, I’ll reboot the minutes conversation. I see 8 core guys with Davis adding on 5-10 spot minutes per game. Freshman might play some too, but left them off the list for simplicity:

Petrovic: 30
Boswell: 30
Stojakovic: 30
Ty: 25
Tomi: 25
Big Z: 20
Ben: 15
Mirkovic: 15
Davis: 10

Breaking that down by position (offense only, I assume defense will be based on match ups and the combination of players in the game at the time):

1: Petrovic (30) / Boswell (5) / Ty (5)
2: Boswell (25) / Stojakovic (5) / Ty (5) / Davis (5)
3: Stojakovic (25) / Ty (5) / Davis (5) / Ben (5)
4: Ty (10) / Mirkovic (15) / Ben (10) / Big Z (5)
5: Tomi (25) / Big Z (15)
This is where I was at:

Petrovic (30 minutes), Ty (10 minutes)
Kylan (30 minutes), Lee (5 minutes), Ty (5 minutes)
Andrej (30 minutes), Ty (5 minutes), Davis (5 minutes)
Mirkovic (20 minutes), Zvonomir (10 minutes), Ben (10 minutes)
Tomislav (25 minutes), Zvonomir (10 minutes), Jakstys (5 minutes)

If you sum the minutes we're pretty close, I just have them spread out a bit more to the really deep bench guys.
 
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#671      
This is where I was at:

Petrovic (30 minutes), Ty (10 minutes)
Kylan (30 minutes), Lee (5 minutes), Ty (5 minutes)
Andrej (30 minutes), Ty (5 minutes), Davis (5 minutes)
Mirkovic (20 minutes), Zvonomir (10 minutes), Ben (10 minutes)
Tomislav (25 minutes), Zvonomir (10 minutes), Jakstys (5 minutes)

If you sum the minutes we're pretty close, I just have them spread out a bit more to the really deep bench guys.
This looks right except for jakstys
 
#672      
He was disappointing AND he was one of our best shooters. Both are true.

He's going to get his opportunities. If he comes out next year and is still a 34% shooter in January, then his minutes will fade. But I think it's just as likely that he gets back to 40% in a lesser role.

I mean, we love to talk about offseason development. Why can't Ben develop into a better shooter? He's proven in the past to be a decent shooter. There's at least something to work with. People were ready to believe Ty could transform into a respectable shooter in one offseason with no proof that Ty is even remotely capable of taking a jump shot. But with Ben we assume he's going to be the exact same player he was last year.

Look, honestly, I wasn't even trying to defend Ben. My point is that Brad will feature him in a fairly significant role, at least to start the year. I think it's unlikely that Ty's minutes will increase from his last year and Ben's will decrease from his last year to the extent that Ty is "well ahead" of Ben in the rotation. Just not how Brad operates.
Truth of the matter is... you have to be a REALLY bad shooter to not be one of the best shooters on last year's team.
 
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#673      
He was disappointing AND he was one of our best shooters. Both are true.

He's going to get his opportunities. If he comes out next year and is still a 34% shooter in January, then his minutes will fade. But I think it's just as likely that he gets back to 40% in a lesser role.

I mean, we love to talk about offseason development. Why can't Ben develop into a better shooter? He's proven in the past to be a decent shooter. There's at least something to work with. People were ready to believe Ty could transform into a respectable shooter in one offseason with no proof that Ty is even remotely capable of taking a jump shot. But with Ben we assume he's going to be the exact same player he was last year.

Look, honestly, I wasn't even trying to defend Ben. My point is that Brad will feature him in a fairly significant role, at least to start the year. I think it's unlikely that Ty's minutes will increase from his last year and Ben's will decrease from his last year to the extent that Ty is "well ahead" of Ben in the rotation. Just not how Brad operates.
I think we mostly agree. 🍻 I just hope Ben has a shorter leash/less time this year. If he can hit threes like we all thought he could, fans’ frustrations will be a distant memory!
 
#674      
He was disappointing AND he was one of our best shooters. Both are true.

He's going to get his opportunities. If he comes out next year and is still a 34% shooter in January, then his minutes will fade. But I think it's just as likely that he gets back to 40% in a lesser role.

I mean, we love to talk about offseason development. Why can't Ben develop into a better shooter? He's proven in the past to be a decent shooter. There's at least something to work with. People were ready to believe Ty could transform into a respectable shooter in one offseason with no proof that Ty is even remotely capable of taking a jump shot. But with Ben we assume he's going to be the exact same player he was last year.

Look, honestly, I wasn't even trying to defend Ben. My point is that Brad will feature him in a fairly significant role, at least to start the year. I think it's unlikely that Ty's minutes will increase from his last year and Ben's will decrease from his last year to the extent that Ty is "well ahead" of Ben in the rotation. Just not how Brad operates.
I can't wait to see how your common sense and rational sentiment will will stand up against the "Ben is the reason we lost" mob.
 
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