Mirk is shredded.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
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OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I think I figured it out. The "Talent" rating for Cal exactly agrees with the weighted average of the RecruiT-Rank for their players (after filling in missing values for two of their freshman using reasonable estimates). I then compared the RecruiT-Rank of their players with the 247 Composite Rating of those players (using the original rating out of high school for upperclassmen), and those are almost a perfect line. I went back and tweaked my estimated RecruiT-Rank for the two freshman using that line, and the weighted average for the team was still almost exactly the same as their Talent rating.
If that's true, then Talent is a severely out-of-date measurement for upperclassmen and can be ignored. So USC's players were more heralded out of high school than ours, but who cares now?
Basket Under Review is doing a preseason top 100 player list. They’ve released their honorable mentions and 100-76 so far.
HM:
Jacob Coffie (USC)
Eian Elmer (WIS)
Sam Orme (NEB)
Eric Dailey (UCLA)
Jaylen Petty (UCLA)
Tomislav Bujan (MAR)
93. Pharrel Payne (MAR)
92. Wesley Yates (WAS)
88. Braden Frager (NEB)
86. Nikola Kusturica (UCLA)
85. Stefan Vaaks (ILL)
76. JP Estrella
Don’t agree with a lot of this list so far…
Vaaks has the 11th best odds to win the Wooden in Vegas… 85th??
HM:
Jacob Coffie (USC)
Eian Elmer (WIS)
Sam Orme (NEB)
Eric Dailey (UCLA)
Jaylen Petty (UCLA)
Tomislav Bujan (MAR)
93. Pharrel Payne (MAR)
92. Wesley Yates (WAS)
88. Braden Frager (NEB)
86. Nikola Kusturica (UCLA)
85. Stefan Vaaks (ILL)
76. JP Estrella
Don’t agree with a lot of this list so far…
Vaaks has the 11th best odds to win the Wooden in Vegas… 85th??
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Thanks for digging into that.
The best measure of top end talent on each team is likely the Vegas player of the year betting odds, which we come out way ahead of USC in.
But I’ll concede that those odds don’t account for which team has the better bench. Does that favor USC? Maybe.
If you remove the 5 top projected contributors from USC according to Torvik and do the same for Illinois, USC comes out ranked 73 while Illinois falls to 80.
So USC might be slightly deeper. But if I could choose between having the better 1st, 2nd, and 3rd man and having the better 9th and 10th man, I’ll take the top end talent.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
If Brad and Muss swapped teams tomorrow, I'd bet on Brad to finish higher in the B1G.
If the portal NIL era is teaching us anything, it's that grab bags of high expected value individuals in a context that doesn't organize and maximize them well is often a path to nowhere.
I don't see any reason to trust the USC situation, whereas Illinois with Brad and this kind of continuity is about as high floor as it gets.
Thanks! I got it done today. Go Illlini!
I'd say typical is 7 at 10+. Guards can often play heavy minutes, but bigs usually have a back-up or need their fouls managed.
Specifically for Illlinois, last few years, we've had 6th - 8th over 10 min:
Ben - Jake - Big Z
Tre White - Morez - DGL
Luke - Justin - Dain
Part of what makes Brad's calculus work is that he bets on character over characters. I don't know much about the character of the guys at USC presently, but Muss should have seen the Chad Baker-Mazara drama coming from miles away...
Despite some rosters that looked decent on paper, they have yet to finfish better than 9th in the B1G.
85 is too low. 11 is too high.
Somebody needs to sell me on Michigan State because I don't see it. They have 1 really good player.
New ESPN bracketology. espn bracket
Illinois 1 seed in what I think would be a great bracket.
would stomp either Auburn or Ohio State in second round
get to beat either Kansas or Tennessee in sweet 16. nether of those teams can score with us.
elite 8 we would likely play either Virginia as 3 seed or Texas as 2 seed. likely give Sean Miller another elite 8 loss.
Illinois 1 seed in what I think would be a great bracket.
would stomp either Auburn or Ohio State in second round
get to beat either Kansas or Tennessee in sweet 16. nether of those teams can score with us.
elite 8 we would likely play either Virginia as 3 seed or Texas as 2 seed. likely give Sean Miller another elite 8 loss.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I don’t know. As the lead guard, Vaaks will likely be the highest usage player on a projected 1 seed. 3rd team All American equivalent is definitely in play.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
As of right now, this looks like a
Of course, the way the season shakes up will change a lot of things.
Some of the incoming freshman are further along than expected. Going to be some tough calls.
This isn't just from the staff, so not just your typical "rose colored" assessment during the summer.
This isn't just from the staff, so not just your typical "rose colored" assessment during the summer.
Vaaks / Mirk / Andrej are the engines to our offense.
Tomi and QC are a slight step below, but will be very productive.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Cracking the top 7 won’t be easy.
Vaaks
Coleman
Andrej
Mirk
Tomi
Z
Jake
^^^ That’s an incredibly established top 7. Even Jake, who could be described as the weakest of those 7, was a starter on a Final Four team last year.
8, 9, and 10 are completely up for grabs. With Morillo being the highest ranked recruit of the remaining freshman, you’d think 8 would belong to him. But it sounds like there’s gonna be a battle for that spot.
Really hoping for one of Morillo or Williams to pop. Both offer different upsides in the immediate if either one do.
Williams on one hand gives you an element of speed and athleticism defensively and in transition we really only have from Andrej currently. While Morillo with his height and versatility and onball skills seems like a perfect match offensively for what this group does.
With news of Kitt putting together a monster summer i think the talent evaluation of this staff is just operating at an insanely high level right now. Brad gets a ton of credit for adjusting to his personnel, as he should. But I'm thrilled he's settled into a bit of a style and type here - doubling down on strenghts.
Williams on one hand gives you an element of speed and athleticism defensively and in transition we really only have from Andrej currently. While Morillo with his height and versatility and onball skills seems like a perfect match offensively for what this group does.
With news of Kitt putting together a monster summer i think the talent evaluation of this staff is just operating at an insanely high level right now. Brad gets a ton of credit for adjusting to his personnel, as he should. But I'm thrilled he's settled into a bit of a style and type here - doubling down on strenghts.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Somebody needs to sell me on Michigan State because I don't see it. They have 1 really good player.
#1 donkey kicker in the land
Somebody needs to sell me on Michigan State because I don't see it. They have 1 really good player.
Sadly, I think i do. I'm a big Scott fan, and Glenn is a really nice player. Their backcourt and depth along with it is good.
Gotta replace a strong frontcourt though, so for sure flagging that.
I'd take them second at present moment over Michigan though.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
these are the type of problems we want
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