Captain 14
- The Last Best Place
Does anybody else read this from the bottom up or is that normal?
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
You are correct...dunno what my thought was but AS should be expected between 16-20 and Vaaks could as well as Mirk. But my overall point is that no single player will be depended upon to lead the team as they all are proven scorers against elite competition. This team should be as offensively efficient as last year's team. But a big key will be AS improving his % from the arc significantly...as well as a couple or three frosh getting confident and consistent....which is always a crap shoot. I would love to see Jake continue to improve on both ends.
I still don’t see how there is a limit. Some teams want to make it a grind game and keep possessions and shots low and others want to run and get shots up within a certain time on the shot clock.
If they’re made baskets that’s a different story. Then there are other aspects to the sport, like rebounds, creating turnovers with the defense.
The number of possessions can be manipulated.
I think Andrej has that shot from distance, but it seemed to me that he was often hesitant to take it, even with an open look. Maybe confidence is the only thing lacking. Somebody has to help him flip a switch.
Think they have a real shot to go undefeated in the regular season. There’s just nobody in the ACC that matches up with that talent and depth of talent.
There’s really no premise to support Blackwell’s overrated. He averaged 19 a game in the BIG on a very good Wisconsin team, which was a top 10 offense. Just had a brutal first round loss.
He was the second best player since Nick Boyd was phenomenal. In reality, there’s no player in the portal who was as good as Boyd last season.
Not so much related to Illinois basketball and I'm cheering for the Spurs but this set by OKC was absolutely gorgeous.
Would love to see Illinois start to incorporate more off ball movement and screens to put more pressure on defenses. You have a roster with a bunch of veteran players and good passing bigs so you can be a lot more creative than just running dribble hand offs and two man game at the top of the key.
Let’s make a friendly wager on them coming out of the regular season 31-0. Highly, highly doubt that.
Also we’ll see on Blackwell. Like I said the only thing he does at a high level is score the basketball. Not really close to being a great defender and has shown next to zero playmaking ability.
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I mean, Duke plays the #4, #6, #7, and #9 teams in Torvik in just their OUT OF CONFERENCE schedule, and #8 and #10 IN conference. They will have played 6 of the top 10 teams this year. I mean, yes, I think Duke is going to be good, but it'd be hard to wager on them going undefeated in the regular season.
Incredible ball movement - reminds me a bit of our 2005 team.
I still love watching the NBA.
i think (hope) we have sufficient ball handlers. If we are going to add a piece, I wish it were a strong 6-9, 250 lb
ish super senior who could come off the bench to defend a big 4 or post man and take a few of Z and Tomi's fouls.
Also push those two around in practice, help them develop their post games under some physical duress. Oh,
and if this a true holiday wish list, make a Humrichous % from 3. A particularly good fit against Wisconsin, Iowa,
Mich. st.
ish super senior who could come off the bench to defend a big 4 or post man and take a few of Z and Tomi's fouls.
Also push those two around in practice, help them develop their post games under some physical duress. Oh,
and if this a true holiday wish list, make a Humrichous % from 3. A particularly good fit against Wisconsin, Iowa,
Mich. st.
hooraybeer
- Peoria, IL
that set results in a good shot 10/10 times
Did some stat comparison with and without KB, KW and BH.
Not sure this is accepted method but calculated efficiency as follows:
Total points/(attempted shots+ turnovers - offensive rebounds)
Total. 1.46. Minus the 3. 1.48 Three only 1.42
Three represents 39.8% minutes, and 40.5% points
As the two with big minutes were guards the rebounds could be affecting the results because I think the offensive rebounding is our efficiency edge. The question with Vaaks will be rebounding and defense but we only need a jump from one existing players to match last year.
Not sure this is accepted method but calculated efficiency as follows:
Total points/(attempted shots+ turnovers - offensive rebounds)
Total. 1.46. Minus the 3. 1.48 Three only 1.42
Three represents 39.8% minutes, and 40.5% points
As the two with big minutes were guards the rebounds could be affecting the results because I think the offensive rebounding is our efficiency edge. The question with Vaaks will be rebounding and defense but we only need a jump from one existing players to match last year.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
It may not change the result, but add in "0.475 times free throw attempts" since those are just like FG attempts but aren't recorded anywhere (SMH)
Beautiful basketball. We did have some possessions like this last year. The game where we robbed the f'ing bank comes to mind. But I do think the true beauty of our historically great offense is its simplicity. However, that's also what people like the least about it.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
It feels like he should be about 50 years old by now.Harrison Barnes
Let's not ruin the party, saying we are going undefeated is crazy talk!!! Plus Coach Brad loves adversity and teaching lessons through out the season!! Ill take being the top 4 rated underdog with a chip on our shoulders.... ILL
Our offense is and will always be predicated on hunting the right matchups with elite level scorers. And then playing off of it with elite floor spacing.
That’s not to say it’s the definite right or wrong way to do things… but it’s what’s worked for us.
If you have a 6”2 guy guarding 6”7 Stojakovic or 6”7 Vaaks… you don’t need to over complicate your offense. Same thing with Cluff guarding Keaton @Purdue.
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His tourney highlight tape was terrific:
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I don’t disagree with this, and clearly you can’t argue too much with the results. That being said. I will still contend this type of wrinkle would be a good way to reduce the stagnation issues that did pop up in games last season (like in both UConn games).
I’ll concede that it would be hard to do something like this as a “change of pace” compared to a team like UConn that designs its entire offensive system around this type of movement. I just feel like the only thing that can really slow down Illinois offensively is when they stand around and rely on a two man game too much. If you have a set or two to get all five players moving, maybe that gets you out of the stagnation issues easier.
I never said I think they'll go 31-0. I said they have a "real shot." Even if it's 40%; it's a real shot.
There's just no other team who can match up with that level of talent. It's just by chance can you catch them on their worst night and you on your best night.
And they will somehow not make a final four with that roster. Watch.I feel like one of the more crazy stories is that of this guy:
Sebastian Wilkins, Brewster Academy Bobcats, Power Forward
Sebastian Wilkins is a 6-8, 215-pound Forward from Groton, MA.247sports.com
He was a top 35 recruit who redshirted this past season because he wouldn’t get playing time. Think about that: a top 35 recruit coming to Illinois, or anywhere not named Duke, and redshirting.
Then, to make matters even more absurd, he chose to come back this season, and will be entering the year as the presumed 11th man. Literally, the 11th man.
And if it isn’t him, then it’ll be one of their top 15 recruits — Rippey, Howard, or Williams. Or 16 year old Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, who’s being labeled as one of the most high-ceiling big men for the next few years. Or Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski, who’d start on like 90% of rosters.
Plus, they landed a go-to scorer in Blackwell from the portal. And Boozer, Foster, Sarr, Ngomba all returned.
How on earth do you put together that much talent on one college basketball team?
Ok, not getting into a semantic argument about what exact percentage "a real shot" is...
So it sounds like we agree its pretty darn unlikely they go undefeated
So, who would like to take a stab at our player's points per game?