Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#1,426      
NarrowJ
Was just checking in to see if we were back to discussing Illinois again yet or still sniffing Hurley Musselman jock straps

Doc Brown GIF by Back to the Future Trilogy
 
#1,427      
EyeoftheIllini
wncillini said:
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.
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Not sure logic enters into a question about most satisfying. Even if Hurley wasn’t a jerk and I didn’t have a couple of acquaintances who are UConn fans, it isn’t really close for me — UConn. Win over Duke (NET) and/or Michigan (conference) might have more impact, but turning the table on UConn would be more satisfying. And if we meet UConn in tourney again, finally having a win over them could help the psyche.
 
#1,434      
HoopsterMan
EyeoftheIllini said:
Not sure logic enters into a question about most satisfying. Even if Hurley wasn’t a jerk and I didn’t have a couple of acquaintances who are UConn fans, it isn’t really close for me — UConn. Win over Duke (NET) and/or Michigan (conference) might have more impact, but turning the table on UConn would be more satisfying. And if we meet UConn in tourney again, finally having a win over them could help the psyche.
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Same team knocks us out in our two deepest runs in that last twenty years, in the last 3 years, and work a gizmo system that we can't crack. I'll take that win too. They kept us out of what was likely two finals game against B10 teams.
 
#1,443      
jamarvelous31
Det_Illini_fan said:
Just keep the efficiency too, but god can you imagine?!

wolf of wall street omg GIF
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The problem (if you can call a wildly efficient offense a problem) was that, as most were shown at the combine, Ben, Bam, Keaton and Andrej were slow guards down the court.

Skeptical that Vaaks...Andrej and Davis is really that much quicker. QC and Williams, sure, but something is either going really really right or really really wrong if IL finds themselves playing a lot minutes together IMO..
 
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#1,445      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
jamarvelous31 said:
The problem (if you can call a wildly efficient offense a problem) was that, as most were shown at the combine, Ben, Bam, Keaton and Andrej were slow guards down the court.
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I think it was a strength. BECAUSE we were slow and unathletic, it led to the staff playing a slow offense with lots of ball screen / matchup hunting. That meant a more efficient offense.

If we weren't slow and unathletic, then the staff would play fast. If we played fast, we wouldn't have been that efficient.

More possessions = less efficient offense. Less possessions = mors efficient offense. Most of the time it's an inverse correlation.

If our pace is noticeably faster next year, it's unlikely we'll maintain our efficiency from last season.

If our pace is similar, then it's likely we'll maintain the same efficiency.
 
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#1,447      
Juju
wncillini said:
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.
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Y'know what'd be nice? If we could just get ONE stinkin' game against Duke in Champaign. Counting this upcoming game, we'll have obviously gone to Durham 3 times and they've NEVER come to Champaign. We've played them like, 8 or 9 times since the '80s and besides the 3 in Durham, all the other games have been neutral site games. Can we PLEASE get one in Champaign or do they always get home court advantage in games that aren't scheduled on a neutral court simply because they're Duke?
 
#1,448      
Emerson Bigguns
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
I think it was a strength. BECAUSE we were slow and unathletic, it led to the staff playing a slow offense with lots of ball screen / matchup hunting. That meant a more efficient offense.

If we weren't slow and unathletic, then the staff would play fast. If we played fast, we wouldn't have been that efficient.

More possessions = less efficient offense. Less possessions = mors efficient offense. Most of the time it's an inverse correlation.

If our pace is noticeably faster next year, it's unlikely we'll maintain our efficiency from last season.

If our pace is similar, then it's likely we'll maintain the same efficiency.
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Faster is a relative term. It would be pretty tough to play slower than we did last year. My assumption is that in the half court we will do similar things. By faster he may just be talking about pushing the ball up court when they have break opportunities. We didn’t pursue those very often last year.
Continuity will help us get into actions faster too, but I doubt the offense will look a lot different. If it ain’t broke…
 
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