Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#1,251      
Illwinsagain
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
Yeah, I dont see it.

Morillo is our projected 8th man. If those guys were that good, then the rankings gap between them and Morillo wouldn't be 100-150 spots. That's a very sizeable difference (again, Wagler was the exception).

The top 8 is the top 8.

Whether one of those guys can be the 9th man and provide 5-10 minutes, would be my question.
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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.
 
#1,252      
WyattEarp
GForce said:
Shroedinger's Illini
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Nerd Alert GIF
 
#1,253      
BalloonsTheElephant
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.
 
#1,254      
Det_Illini_fan
Illwinsagain said:
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.
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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.
 
#1,257      
HoopsterMan
Brosky said:
UConn. I'm getting sick and tired of losing to those guys.
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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
 
#1,261      
CleverHandle1
LvilleILL1 said:
Morillo, Williams, and Brown have all looked like guys that can contribute. Hence why the staff will continue to evaluate and give them all chances.

Said it months ago on Brown, he was very under ranked. Morillo is a very talented player offensively and will make an impact. Williams has been the biggest surprise of anyone, which is great for depth.
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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.
 
#1,263      
Det_Illini_fan
CleverHandle1 said:
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.
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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
 
#1,266      
Fly Illini Fly!
Illinisnake said:
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.
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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.
 
#1,267      
Fly Illini Fly!
HoopsterMan said:
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
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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.
 
#1,268      
Fly Illini Fly!
Det_Illini_fan said:
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.
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Det_Illini_fan said:
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.
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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.
 
#1,269      
Det_Illini_fan
Fly Illini Fly! said:
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.
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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.
 
#1,270      
Fly Illini Fly!
Det_Illini_fan said:
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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Well, wins on the road are significantly more fruitful for your tournament seeding than at home / neutral.

UConn wouldn’t be a road win. Michigan or Duke would be.

UConn isn’t a conference game. Michigan is.

UConn isn’t the best team. Duke is.

Again, taking out the social media narratives, the other two would be more beneficial victories in comparison.
 
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#1,271      
Det_Illini_fan
Yeah no, that’s why I said “for me,” but also the fact that it’s not a road win makes stakes a bit higher in terms of pressure as it’s a must win scenario. Not that it helps our ranking, seeding, or record as much as the others. But that having it a semi-win game makes it a “we can’t lose this game.”

Like an early mid-major non-con game a bit. We NEEDED to beat Colgate or UT Rio Grande last year because of the advantage we have, and it reflects “worse” on us to not get the win. Maybe compare it to Alabama’s semi-home and semi-home with us. We lost in Alabama and then lost in Chicago. We shouldn’t have let the latter happen; not that it was a better win, but that it’s a worse loss.

Different school of thought or perspective I guess. If it’s the win you want most, would you rather take the win you shouldn’t get or take the win you should definitely get?
 
#1,274      
wc_illini
Illinisnake said:
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.
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Given that we lost, then obviously we'd like a crack at an alternate universe where we face Duke. But I'm not convinced a large number of alternate universes where we face Duke would look better than a large number of alternate universes where we face UConn.
 
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