Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Funny, who would have thought Ben and defense would be used in the same sentence a year ago. Also, I would pick Andre over Ben.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Sad I can only like this once.
Folks don't seem to remember what summer was like to only have reports that Sherron Collins was really silently committed to being the next Dee Brown or Alex Legion looking like a star in summer practice or how we were a shoo-in for Tim Finke as the next big thing as the future of Illini basketball.
Folks are just... spoiled and SUPER bored.
We should really bring in the coaching staff that helped develop Ben into a + defender and see if they can do the same with our other guys..
Z is going to have to play a lot of minutes. Who else do we have behind Tomi and Mirk?
the new assistant brought in last year (Crocker) did a nice job and with another year i expect even more. especially from the bigs.
One of the main take aways I had from the 49 second video posted yesterday was BU saying something along the lines of "we should be the best shot-blocking teams in the history of college basketball."
It seems like every year BU takes a piece of something from the prior year's championship team and incorporates it into Illinois' strategy. What made Michigan's team so good last year defensively was they were physically imposing, blocked so many shots and made it really really hard to drive into the lane, so your best shot was trying to shoot over them. Their defensive 2P% was 2nd in the country, block rate was 3rd, and Average 2 point-attempt distance was 4th.
I wonder if this is going to be the defensive strategy this year, making it as hard as possible to get to the paint, and if you do come to the paint, punishing you for it by blocking shots.
Definitely agree - you know that watching UConn score 30 points while we could barely hope to just get the ball over Donovan Clingan's arm/head caused a bit of stirring up in that gray matter lol
The only thing missing is a response to this along the lines of “oh, so now you’re saying I’m not allowed to say anything negative?!”
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
can some kind soul please send me a link to the Ubben court spycam?
DICKnaggie
- Champaign
There are pages of discussion on this. Look back a bit.
Boricua Illini
- Puerto Rico
I think that sorta has been the strategy for the last few years with slight tweaks...
Few years ago was allow no 3 pointers or layups..
Last year it was tweaked to allowing some 3 pointers (bad ones) and no layups...
Rebounding and allowing just one shot has always been a constant.
Now there is a difference between strategy and execution of said strategy, so I guess coach is willing his team to improve on the execution and become an *elite* blocking team.
Most underrated story line for me next year is Tomi playing more like freshmen Tomi OR even better with the physical transition.
It’s almost like we are all looking for the next Wagler in Coleman or expecting Andrej/Mirk to make that AA leap while we sleep on Tomi who can take us to the next level.
Andrej is going to take Kylan's role defensively, as the top point of attack guy (not Ben's).
My view is that there's always people that would beyotch even if you hung em with a new rope.
He won't have the usage and/or shots he did his freshman year. It's a much more talented roster with Vaaks / Coleman / Stoj / Mirk around him.
Tomislav 2025 | 2026 shot volume:
4.8 3pt attempts/game | 4.7 3pt attempts/game
5.1 2pt attempts/game | 3.3 2pt attempts/game
2.0 FT attempts/game | 1.6 FT attempts/game
9.9 FGA/game | 8.0 FGA/game
You can't expect a guy to have the same production, if he doesn't have the same role and isn't as much of a focal point.
Now, can he shoot 33-34% from 3 instead of 31%? Absolutely, and I think that would help a lot.
Honestly, I'd just like to see him rebound better. There were too many 1-3 rebound games from him last year.
Last edited:
Certainly, Tomi can play better than he did last year. If he gets stronger and stays healthy, he will.
As far as "leap" expectations, we have typically seen them with guys in their second year in the program, which may explain why Mirk and Stoj tend to be the favorites to make one. Certainly, if Z has added the muscle reports suggest, he can affect the game in new ways, too.
Tomi's results last year may be explained by nagging injuries, which I suspect were an issue. He has a ton of talent. I do think there is more there that can be unlocked. Same with his brother.
Personally, I think Mirk just has the "it" factor... Great raw tools & wildly competitive.
Last edited:
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
My Dad (RIP) used to say this all the time. Thanks for the reminder.
Oh, I would tell him "Yes, yes I would".
I agree that his improvement likely won't show up with massive number increases, likely no one's will. Fewer mistakes, capitalizing on more opportunities, and staying fresher to defend and rebound, though added strength and conditioning will be more indicative of what I would look for.
We've got a lot of hungry mouths to feed regarding counting stats.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
Strength of the elite 8 and final four team is everybody worked for the best shot the team could get.
We did not have any people going 1 of 5 (Mathew Mayer, Tre White) wanted to get their points. Andrej could have but was willing to defer to when the team needed him.
I am confident that brad will enforce passing and working the shot clock. Vaaks will have to learn to be facilitator. Coleman and Morillo looked like unselfish players on TV,
I am in SoCal and we are still waiting for Luka to take the step and make players around him better as opposed to scoring 40 points per game going 1 of 5 and not playing defense.
We did not have any people going 1 of 5 (Mathew Mayer, Tre White) wanted to get their points. Andrej could have but was willing to defer to when the team needed him.
I am confident that brad will enforce passing and working the shot clock. Vaaks will have to learn to be facilitator. Coleman and Morillo looked like unselfish players on TV,
I am in SoCal and we are still waiting for Luka to take the step and make players around him better as opposed to scoring 40 points per game going 1 of 5 and not playing defense.
This one was me. I have to own that take as potentially a poor one.
Don't think Tre White was like that. Sure he might've left for some of those reasons, but on the court in his one season, I don't recall it.
He played primarily off the ball, was really good on those corner threes, and crashed the glass. Brad used to talk about his ability to find the "easy" points without having to run much for him.
Mayer's FG% was 40.7% while Tre White was 50.7%.
Luka was 3rd in the NBA in assists/game.
3 point girl
- texas
Good luck with Luka. He never did in Dallas that's for sure. Still was a horrible trade though that us fans have not forgotten.
As a fanbase, we're passionate, which is great, but the pendulum swings way too far in both directions. If we win, there's 250 posts and happiness. If we lose, there are 800 posts and everyone should be fired.
This off-season.....there's nothing to complain about. We're coming off of a FF and an E8 two years prior. No coaching debates whatsoever.
With regards to recruiting/NIL, we retained everyone targeted, we brought in a big time transfer and the #1 rated recruits in IL, MO and WI. Nothing to be negative about there.
So, what's left? Well, we settled on the 9th man debate and why Petrovic didn't succeed here, which I believe initially led to the 9th man debate.
Our fanbase is therapist's dream.