Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#101      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
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#102      
Brosky
It's good to see all these guys working their tails off in early summer workouts. I'm kind of fascinated with Williams; to me, he's the mystery man.
 
#103      
grue2
Fly Illini Fly! said:
#9thMan!
... Can jump out of the gym + has long arms at 6'6. ...
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I think we need some standards on "can jump out of the gym". I propose the standard be that they can consistently place a penny on top of the backboard, or remove it.
 
#104      
Fly Illini Fly!
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
I hope we don't up our pace next year.

More possession = less efficient offense. It's been a direct correlation.
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lstewart53x3 said:
Just depends on personnel. Had the #3 ranked offense in ‘24 with TJ that played with pretty good pace. #66 nationally in tempo (#308 last year).
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I do see both sides to this.

Truth is, the likeliest scenario is that it increases from last year. Since December 1st, we only had 3 games above 68 poss per 40 (OSU, Oregon, USC). It’s just likelier than not that it increases.

However, would probably prefer it doesn’t go up too much. There’s only so much firepower a team can possess, to match whatever possession total with elite efficiency.

If you want to score 1.25ppp, you only need about 82pts to do it on 65.7 poss (which is what we averaged last year).

In contrast, you’d need to score 90 to reach that efficiency on 72 possessions (we were at 72.4 in 2025). It’s not impossible — you’ll often see a team like Alabama do it — but it’s just rare to see high level CBB games played in the 90s, especially against legit B10 defenses.

Plus, we’re an elite offensive rebounding unit, so you can have more prolonged/high-quality possessions despite having less in quantity (all while winning the possession battle against the opposition).

….

The “middling ground” for pace is generally around 68. Meaning, there’s 365 teams, if you look at 182nd, it’s usually somewhere around 68 per 40.

The fastest teams last year in terms of pace:

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Slowest:

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#113      
ChiefGritty
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
I hope we don't up our pace next year.

More possession = less efficient offense. It's been a direct correlation.
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This is totally looking through the wrong end of the telescope.

Seek the most effective and efficient possession strategies for the players you have, tempo is just a byproduct of that. You don't dictate a tempo in hopes of that producing efficiency, it's the other way around.

When you have Terrence Shannon, barreling to the rim in transition is a more efficient possession than having him create from the top of the key late in the shot clock. When you have Keaton Wagler it's the opposite.

Brad and Tyler really get this and have been very intelligent and creative in maximizing it. Our KenPom offensive rating is going to continue to be very impressive, I think we should have zero doubt of that. If we spring a leak it will be elsewhere.
 
#116      
Trueblue777
Insiders; is Illinois going to give the final scholarship to Ed Stasys the 6-8 power forward from Benet Academy?
 
#117      
ptgrd23
WyattEarp said:
I would not be surprised to see more opportune fast breaks this year.
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I think our half court slow pace worked well. However if somebody is slow getting back we should push the pace if we can get an easy layup. We passed on these opportunities last year. If there is no advantage no need to push the pace (Andrej this means not going 1 on 2 just because the defense is not set). TSJ could do it because he was strong enough to finish and consistently get the foul called. Andrej only gets the foul called half the time. He also gets stripped too much (small hands?).

I hate to see our team walk it up the floor or dribble in place far away from hoop. We should always be probing for the great shot - it tires the defense out both physically and mentally.

Lincoln Williams and Quentin Coleman are athletes. They can push the pace. Our bigs need to learn to throw outlet pass. Jake also runs well. If Lucas is coming off the bench he should be fresh and able to run. He did it at Nike Hoops classic.
 
#119      
Poe's Law
I think sending five guys to the defensive glass to end possessions has been a net positive even with fewer transition buckets.

Also this is a reminder (or a chance to be corrected) that offensive rebounds extend a possession in kenpom tempo. So our penchant for offensive rebounds reduces our tempo (less time remaining and fewer total possessions).

Yes you can trust your eyes that we frequently walked the ball up the court, just not as slow as kenpom might have some believe.
 
#120      
Trueblue777
ptgrd23 said:
I think our half court slow pace worked well. However if somebody is slow getting back we should push the pace if we can get an easy layup. We passed on these opportunities last year. If there is no advantage no need to push the pace (Andrej this means not going 1 on 2 just because the defense is not set). TSJ could do it because he was strong enough to finish and consistently get the foul called. Andrej only gets the foul called half the time. He also gets stripped too much (small hands?).

I hate to see our team walk it up the floor or dribble in place far away from hoop. We should always be probing for the great shot - it tires the defense out both physically and mentally.

Lincoln Williams and Quentin Coleman are athletes. They can push the pace. Our bigs need to learn to throw outlet pass. Jake also runs well. If Lucas is coming off the bench he should be fresh and able to run. He did it at Nike Hoops classic.
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Andrej is not exactly slow either, he has some wheels.
 
#121      
Emerson Bigguns
ptgrd23 said:
I think our half court slow pace worked well. However if somebody is slow getting back we should push the pace if we can get an easy layup. We passed on these opportunities last year. If there is no advantage no need to push the pace (Andrej this means not going 1 on 2 just because the defense is not set). TSJ could do it because he was strong enough to finish and consistently get the foul called. Andrej only gets the foul called half the time. He also gets stripped too much (small hands?).

I hate to see our team walk it up the floor or dribble in place far away from hoop. We should always be probing for the great shot - it tires the defense out both physically and mentally.

Lincoln Williams and Quentin Coleman are athletes. They can push the pace. Our bigs need to learn to throw outlet pass. Jake also runs well. If Lucas is coming off the bench he should be fresh and able to run. He did it at Nike Hoops classic.
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Agreed. It's really a matter of personnel. TJ has other-worldly open court abilities. Ayo has similar, but different ones. (insane speed/power, vs elite euro-step and touch) This is backed up by their ability to do the same things against the best players in the world.

Andrej has good speed, but his biggest advantage is in his first step and ability to finish through contact. Those traits translate well in the half court. I feel like he tried to force things in the open court when he got opportunities, which is why the coaches pulled back the reigns a bit.

The offense the last couple of years has revolved around matchup hunting, and we've done it so efficiently there is little reason to push the pace. We are a BIG team now, so a high pace has more of a tendency to work against us. The more possessions, the more our giants have to lumber up and down the court. The cumulative effect can make it more difficult for them to give a max effort on defense and crashing the boards.

We will have to wait and see if any of the freshmen have any of the TJ/Ayo traits that would make it worth it to try and beat the defense down the court. I suspect we will continue to slow the pace and make possessions more valuable and save the legs of our big guys for the defensive end.
 
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