Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Hard to argue with that logic.
Purdue is bringing back the 3rd and 4th string guards from a big ten team that finished 6th
Coen Carr, KJ Lewis are both too high.
omg I didn't realize how much he sounds like the drunk guys trying to elaborate how cool Bill brasky was.... and he is even doing that poorly!
I for one with raise a glass to Josh Whitman and Bill brasky!!!!
Josh Whitman's tears cure cancer.... too bad he never cries!
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The only depth that matters in my opinion is the replacement of a player that is injured and out for a sustained period. For Tomi-Z, for Dre-Jake, for QC- Jake, for Vaaks-Morillo, for Mirk-Z. All of these would hurt and strategies would be affected but none to the extent of MSU losing Fears. Having a 10 be equivalent to the 6 doesn’t have much value unless you lose a player for a sustained period of time because the 10 isn’t going to play anyway. Having that depth may help you in practice but also may cause you team morale problems.
This, in theory, would be the takeaway. HOWEVER, if ANY team loses a bonafide starter and critical piece of the equation for a significant amount of time.....there is absolutely nothing that the 9th man on the roster is going to do to mask that.
If MSU loses Fears, their ceiling crashes down on them. They have absolutely nothing to replicate him.
For us, we know the cast of characters that make the engine run. If we lost Mirk, Drej, Tomi, etc.....there is absolutely nothing we can do to replace that type of production and experience.
Last year, if MI lost Yaxel, Morez or Mara.....with all due respect to Tschetter.....they would have been screwed.
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Nate = 9th man?
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I’m really glad we have coaches now who don’t have to rely on cheesy mnemonic devices or inspirational wall hangings to fire up the team. I shudder at both O.S.K.E.E and Together-n-Toughness (TNT) bracelets. While anecdotal, I’ve found that leaders who rely on those techniques are usually covering up their own leadership insecurities - much like a Stuart Smally “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough” routine.omg I didn't realize how much he sounds like the drunk guys trying to elaborate how cool Bill brasky was.... and he is even doing that poorly!
I for one with raise a glass to Josh Whitman and Bill brasky!!!!
Josh Whitman's tears cure cancer.... too bad he never cries!
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
3rd place games are the most useless games in sports.
But they’d draw ratings and money, so it’ll probably happen.
I had to mute him after this. Insane!
He isn't biased against us. The outlier is Purdue, which is idiotic, but he's a grad.
I have know issues with whoever debates MI, MSU and UI. Those are clearly the top 3.
Yeah, however, I sure would have loved watching another game with, Boz, Ben and Keaton!
The logic is correct, but at the same time Purdue's guard situation destroys the rationale for his top 5.Hard to argue with that logic.
Purdue is bringing back the 3rd and 4th string guards from a big ten team that finished 6th
I don't think that we can completely disregard his comments about our guards. The backcourt is a relative unknown. Our starting guards from last year are holding NBA contracts. If we're going to spring a leak, it's in the backcourt. His point is valid there, but the Purdue take is just awful.
It would end up being like some of the Bowl games in football, where a bunch of the best guys decide not to play. No one is risking generational wealth to hoist a 3rd place trophy. (If they even had one...) No one would remember the game 48 hours later, anyway...
I agree. If you wanna say you’d take Michigan and MSU’s guards as a more sure thing than ours, ok. Just don’t do that with Purdue ha.
That said, is boiling your whole analysis just down to backcourt all that smart? My guess is when Edey was at Purdue, he didn’t rank Purdue #1 solely cuz guard play.
Just like im quite sure he factored Cluff and TKR into his Purdue preseason first place projection last year
We did about as well as we could've. Vaaks is the best or second best shooter in the portal, with primary initiator ball skills. Could very well be a first rounder.
Coleman is a top 15 recruit, and a five star. He could very well get drafted. Tremendous shooter as well, an insane rebounder for his position, and very good motor. Can definitely be an asset defender.
You can't really critique the personnel and who we brought in, other than just saying "we lost the two guys from last year." (who are both great players, no doubt)
We actually didn't use them when they were usable though. There were plenty of 20 pt games with 5 minutes left when we stuck with our starters.
I trust Brad's talent evaluation plenty when it comes to starters, but I question how he uses those 9-15 scholarships. He always said they were gold. But now it seems like its more for developmental players instead of vets that can contribute now. Which reduces our depth. We can't expect a Keaton Wagler to emerge every year.
Well for 1, Andrej hurt himself at Michigan St, so the staff should've had been prepared if he had to sit that game out. Shows what they thought of the bench players.
2. Yes they play a difficult schedule, but thats not the point because they were healthy. Its when they are shorthamded or in foul trouble, does Brad trust HIS recruits THAT HE evaluated to step in and do the job. He showed from 9-16, he doesn't.
I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that we did the best we could and I also agree that we can't critique our back court yet. It could be the best in the conference.
He did qualify his comment by adding "at the moment" at the end of his statement. At the moment, it's hard to argue that our guard play is going to be better than MI or MSU. We've seen them in action and they've very good.
His comment regarding Purdue remains moronic. That's being diplomatic.
I’d double check that. They played 19 and 18 games, respectively.
Agree that we can't completely disregard his comments but at the same time I think the logic is flawed.
You need a good lead guard to be the best team, but I don't think you need the best lead guards to be the best team. There were better lead (potentially best) guards last year for B1G teams than the knowns we had on our roster, yet few credible ranking systems were putting Ohio St ahead of us because of Bruce Thornton.
I think his statement is obtuse, and the reality is you need a great all-around team. Michigan won last year not just because they had Elliot Cadeau, but because they had Elliot Cadeau, who could facilitate to one of the best front-courts in college basketball, along with other complementary pieces. Florida won the year before not just because they had Walter Clayton, but because they had Walter Clayton who could facilitate to one of the best front-courts in college basketball, along with other complementary pieces.
This year, Michigan's frontcourt has taken a step back (still good, but probably not the best in college basketball), they've now lost a big piece in LJ Cason, and they've lost a ton of coaching firepower. Michigan State has the best lead guard in the league, but a giant question mark in their front court (a much larger one then Illinois' guard question mark).
I also agree with MLT that there is a big mental hang-up with jumbo guards and their ability to function as PGs, which led to so many having a hard time labeling guys like Keaton and KJ as PGs.
Germanboxers
- Fort Wayne, IN
Did I see Mirk try to dunk it on Z?!!