He was so poor not exactly from a performance standpoint, but in terms of the VOLITILITY in his game. I hope our lead guard is never like that again.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
This. He was completely ignorant for that exercise.
FO68 just trot out some of the most incompetent people for their shows.
We shall see - the voodoo dolls in Storrs make them practically immune to losing games out of the Big Least. Last year, despite being down Reed and Mullins early season in stretches, they still figured out how to win most of those games and almost pulled off beating Arizona with no Mullins or Reed. They got the sauce. So even though Duke has the roster, they don't have the coach (or sauce).
Duke had a better record, was ranked higher, seeded higher and also had to play a stretch late in the season without multiple rotation players. And it required bone headed play of the century plus a low percentage deep 3 for UConn to beat them in 100% lockbox fashion.
The “sauce” is a made up thing that doesn’t exist.
There is no parallel universe where playing Duke was preferable.
Duke was the #1 overall seed. They beat Michigan head to head.
In almost every measurable category, Duke was a better team than UCONN.
In almost every measurable category, Duke was a better team than UCONN.
Honestly, I'd be thrilled if we went 2-1 in the Duke, UCONN, Michigan trio. I guess, I'd prioritize Michigan because conference play. But with Boynton, I think I'd value the MSU win more.
Between Tech, UCONN, UNC, and Duke the over/under is 2.5 i think.
Between Tech, UCONN, UNC, and Duke the over/under is 2.5 i think.
I keep thinking he reminds me of Luther Head.
Other than their head to head......
Not sure what the record is exactly, but UConn has some ungodly record out of conference the last 4 years, including 18-2 in the NCAA tournament. Their preseason OOC slate is ridiculously good too. I'm sure Duke will be favored in that matchup. I thought I heard Hurley say it was something like 56-4 over the last 4 years, including the tourney. I remember them losing to Kansas a Phog a couple years ago with no Castle, then the AZ loss last year with no Reed or Mullins.
I haven't been paying attention to UNC though. I had no idea they were that low on Torvik. Yeesh
and in the unmeasurable category of post season coaching, UConn was better.
I see both sides.
Fixed it
Smooth, repeatable, quick release. I like it.
And if a 40 foot Hail Mary buzzer beater as time expired didn’t go through… then Duke was better?
What an extreme fluke terminology?
…..
For the sake of this discussion:
Whenever I’m watching a tournament game — with our team on the other side of the bracket awaiting the winner — I ALWAYS want the worser team to win so we have the best possible chance of winning our game. (Perhaps you don’t see it that way and want the hardest possible path??)
So, I’m struggling to see how Duke was a worser team than UCONN last year (and therefore why Duke winning would’ve presented the easier path).
Every fact, data, statistic suggests Duke was the significantly better team.
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There’s a statement you don’t hear a lot on this forum. Just sayin.
A shame he's not ranked high enough. I'm sure Brad and Tyler would love to have a shooter like that in the rotation.
On a more sincere note, I've thought for a while the #8th man is up for grabs and Brown should be in the mix. We know the staff values shooters. Could be lethal in this offense.
I think it really comes down to Morillo's shooting. There seems to be a little debate over his ability from three. If he's serviceable, he should be able to lock those minutes down. But if he's not, I just don't see the staff putting him and Andrej on the floor together for long stretches.
FWIW, Stefan Vaaks and Providence were up 11 points with 3 minutes left against that UCONN team… but Providence pulled off an epic choke job.
When they played @UCONN, Providence only lost by 6 and it was tightly contested.
UCONN also had a:
5pt win against Seton Hall
4pt win against Seton Hall
4pt win against Georgetown
2pt win against Georgetown
Loss to a bad Marquette team
Loss to a bad Creighton team
Just because they made the title game, people associated them with the ‘23 and ‘24 teams.
But they were NOWHERE CLOSE to the top echelon with the likes of DUKE / MICH / AZ.
When they played @UCONN, Providence only lost by 6 and it was tightly contested.
UCONN also had a:
5pt win against Seton Hall
4pt win against Seton Hall
4pt win against Georgetown
2pt win against Georgetown
Loss to a bad Marquette team
Loss to a bad Creighton team
Just because they made the title game, people associated them with the ‘23 and ‘24 teams.
But they were NOWHERE CLOSE to the top echelon with the likes of DUKE / MICH / AZ.
how many times does Hurley need to pull off these wins in the tourney before you call it good coaching instead of luck.
What does "these wins in the tourney" mean?
A game like Duke? When has Hurley won a game like that?
2023 and 2024 -- every game was a blowout en route to a title
2025 -- lost to Florida in the second round
2022 -- lost to New Mexico in the first round
You're taking one occasion, and terming it as "these wins" as if there's several games being won in that manner.
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Okay, so blowing people out in the postseason is a negative now?
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
I like it a lot
Yeah, Brad hates having multiple minus shooters on the floor. This impacted our combinations down the stretch. You could never have Boz, Dre, and Big T out there together. This led to heavy a chunk of minutes and usage for the Keaton, Mirk, and Tomi trio.
Also couldn’t play Jake and Ben a whole lot together either given it essentially meant two players who couldn’t put it on the deck on offense.
I couldn’t more excited to add shooting to our guard ranks. Vaaks matches Keaton’s shooting. Quentin, at least on paper, is an upgrade from Boz. That said Keaton and Boz rebounded very effectively for a backcourt. We’ll definitely take a downgrade in that department. The loss also of Keaton’s playmaking and ability to finish at the rim will have to be made up by committee with Mirk’s improvement and Quentin’s in-season development.
Ethan being able to provide 8min off the bench as a breather for Vaaks or Quentin will be clutch.
His shot looks so pure. Vaaks, Jake, and Brown being quick release, knock-down shooters will be immensely helpful.
I believe Jake will mainly back up Dre. I think the two of them take up most of the minutes at the 3. But it’s nice that we can also use Jake for breather minutes at the 2 and have Mirk become the secondary ball handler/initiator with one of Vaaks or Quentin always being on the floor as the primary one.
It feels like all the puzzle pieces are coming together.
- We know what our returners do and hopefully we see year 2 jumps for all of them (excluding Tomi, who just needs to stay healthy, and Jake, who needs hit his open 3s and execute the collective defensive schemes.)
- Vaaks is an elite shooter, plus passer. But we need to see the holistic playmaking, penetration, and defense at least be serviceable against elite opposition.
- Coleman will have an insane motor. His ceiling is high if he can put it altogether. I don’t think there’s a thing he can’t do on the basketball court. But I also don’t think any aspect of his game will be immediately elite ala Keaton’s shot and playmaking.
- Williams and Brown seem to be ready to provide some spot minutes off the bench depending on if we’re needing defense/athleticism or shooting/spacing.
The biggest mystery and final ingredient to championship runs in the B1G and NCAAs is… Lucas “Mr. DR” Morillo. There’s a reason he’s a Top-50 composite player. A 6-7 playmaking guard/forward. I believe he could be the perfect backup for when Vaaks or Dre hit the bench. Where he lacks in outside shooting I hope will be made up by his ability to get paint touches. Surround him with a shooting cast of Quentin, Jake, Mirk, and Tomi, and he’ll have space to penetrate and finish/play-make.
Morillo is my wild card for the season. And I hope the lack of clips/intel on him is a strategic preservation of an ace up the coaching staff’s sleeve!
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He's a great coach, nobody was arguing that at all
The sequence at the end of that game was pure luck though