Sigh. I can only take this to mean Jake Davis and Z touched the space jam basketball
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
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Sigh. I can only take this to mean Jake Davis and Z touched the space jam basketball
Remember the player Caleb McConnell at Rutgers? That would be my comp for Williams.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
facts, schmacts
I just wanna know which of those 3 favor cottage cheese the most?
Logically it is duke. We would also then be 3-0 at Cameron while having a losing record against Duke overall which would be an awesomely silly stat.
However despite that I really want to shed the uconn monkey. Spank those punks.
Seeing Hurley walk into the locker room with his head hanging low will be a top 5 Illini moment if we can finally have a quality game against UConn’s voodoo black magic.
Had to correct this part for you lol
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
I guess I will jump in on this 8th/9th man debate. Sometimes, it is more important for a bench player to be really good at one thing, as opposed to being the best basketball player. If one of the players can't handle the rock, can't hit the 3 ball, but can play really good defense and rebound, they may be ranked well over 100, but serve a purpose coming off the bench to stop a run by the other team. It's not who is the best player sometimes, but who can provide what you need.
Ok, jumping back out of the fray.
If anything, our bench is more versatile than last year. In reality, Ben was just taller Jake Davis. The Venn diagram circles overlap in a lot of the right places on who will be coming in without a huge drop off in either scoring or defense and simultaneously providing matchup problems.
Plus a few young talented guys that want to prove themselves. If Landon, Morillo, and Lincoln can earn minutes on this team, I have a lot of optimism for a long season and postseason.
Plus a few young talented guys that want to prove themselves. If Landon, Morillo, and Lincoln can earn minutes on this team, I have a lot of optimism for a long season and postseason.
I also offer the argument that some guys might not get huge minutes, but having specialists in a facet of the game also means in practice the other guys either learn from the specialist or go up against the specialist to better understand how to beat that. The starters can learn just as much from the 6-14 guys by practicing against guys who would otherwise be higher up the bench (or even starting) on other mid to high major programs.
The minutes debate feels moot. There are far more ways they can make an impact on the court, and that gets overshadowed if we keep debating about a battle for 5-10 minutes. Coaching staff are far more intelligent than we are at managing who plays when.
good luck actually convincing people of this lol
It's an interesting question.
UConn - gets the monkey off the back, could be suggestive that we've gotten "over the hump".
Duke - nothing sweeter than beating Duke at Cameron
Michigan - conference game, defending champ
I remember stating that was a team I didn't want to face in the tournament last year and I got toasted for that take. Turns out I was right, I would have rather faced Duke.
Yes. Another loss this year means a Brad on Daddy Dan's shoulders meme will swirl the interwebs. Would rather not see that.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Last time you warned us about a Freshmen that was "surprising," he was the 5th pick of this year's NBA Draft with the first 4 picks having outstanding talent.
Now, I am not saying Williams will be a 2027 1st Round Draft pick, but this bodes well for a great run to a Final Four. Also, if these guys stay, the future will be very bright and just maybe BU and staff won't have to bring in 6 new guys to the fold.
I’ll go ahead and take it from here. Reading between the lines, it looks like QC, Morillo, Brown, and now Williams will be Waglers and thus lottery picks in next year’s draft, and the Illini will have the biggest presence in a single draft class ever witnessed in pro sports
… /s, but the serious note: I’m very excited, looks like the read on talent has been great and we might have a better depth than even some powerhouses like USC.
Okay, the USC part might have been /s too
All of them? There’s probably a 0% chance of that happening (assuming we don’t have a rash of Achilles tears).
Where the #9thMan becomes the #6thMan?
Duke was the best team in the country last year.
They beat Michigan head to head, and were the #1 overall. Also had the NPOY in Boozer.
From a pure basketball perspective, there’s really no argument for UCONN here.
It’s not a road game. It’s not the best team on that list. It’s not a conference game.
Perhaps the social media part (memes, discourse, couch fan narratives) is the priority for a lot of people though.
Well, if they can’t even get 5-10 minutes, then it’s not necessarily an “impact on the court.”
It’s an impact off the court in practice, locker room, being a good teammate, etc.
I think adds a bit to it, at least for me. In the match ups we’ve had, aside from FF, we haven’t had a big advantage in the crowd. With it being at the United Center, this year, part of getting the monkey off our back will need to come from ensuring we beat them when the crowd is in our favor. Again though, we didn’t prove we could do that last season in the FF, and we should have.
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