"I'm tickled by fans who literally think sports are about the fans."Have you seen the prices? NOTHING is fan centric anymore — at least not the fans that have 7am jobs and kiddos under four.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
It's a luxury but in those last couple games in late March/April, it may feel more like a need. A hidden benefit in that your top guys are just that little bit fresher in the really big games. It's kind of picking nits but when you aspire to cut down the nets every aspect of the program has to be in top form. Leave no stone unturned. That's why I like the approach Brad is taking to just come out & say what the objective is. Make it real & then approach every day & every aspect of the season with that mindset. What things can we tweak or change to make just that fraction of a percent better that can really matter in the end of the year. Thats the stuff that sets the great programs apart.
Bit nervous with Mirk saying he wants to change his role, style of play and have the ball in his hands more?
Trust the staff, but it feels like between the internal/external expectations and new guys this will need to be Brad's best coaching year for this to end where we all want.
If your top 5 are splitting 120 - 140 minutes; they aren't necessarily being taken out of rhythm. That still leaves enough tick for 6 bench guys to get 8 +, with some getting starter or near minutes.
The problem I see is the starters are usually quite a bit better than the guys on the bench. You're lucky to have three that can rotate in and consistently help the team, or at least not do any damage.
As for player development, I think most of that takes place in practice and the weight room.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
I wonder what the past 5 or so NCAA champs had as far as minute distribution for bench players in the months of Jan/Feb/Mar?
DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
Really, the single factor you would need to evaluate is "end where we all want" and by that standard it would be the best coaching year in Illinois history, actually.
I don't have time for a deep dive on exact stats, but for the past 5 champion teams, its been 7-8 of the best players playing 10 or more minutes down the stretch through the tournament. It's rarely 8 players in 1 game, for champions it tends to be 7 that have 10 or more.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
No, we haven't ... and I definitely agree it should be on a weekend. Where it seems like we disagree based on your tone of your posts is that it was objectively a smashing success for our program to draw nearly 18,000 fans at 8:00 pm on a weeknight in a pro sports city given that our last couple games there in the Groce Era were total duds and there were people on this very board questioning if the UC game should even be brought back. Whether or not it should have been on a weekend is a separate issue from recognizing the amazing fan support we had that night. In other words, if you had said "The UC crowd was definitely impressive last year, but it would have been even better had it been on a Saturday" ... no one would have said a thing. But your take came across as overly negative given how great of a vibe our fans were able to create in the UC that night.
That's my recollection as well. I think UConn had a 6-man rotation in their dominant 2025 season. The last time I can remember a NC calibre team going super deep was Arkansas in 1994. I think they had 9 guys playing substantial minutes. Maybe there is a Cal's Kentucky teams where he had top 10 guys coming off the bench.
Again coaches (ours and everyone else's) just rarely do the 10-man rotation thing because it rarely is a positive. You want your best 5 on the court together as much as possible.
Our top 5 are almost assuredly Vaaks, Coleman, Andrej, Mirk and Tomi. If healthy and not in foul trouble, you can count on those 5 playing more or less 30 mpg each. Beyond early season blowouts/injuries/foul trouble, that just doesn't leave a lot of minutes for the others. And I'm guessing that remaining 50 minutes or so will be mostly Z and Jake.