Illini Basketball 2026-2027

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#51      
EmeraldCityIllini
PepeSilvia said:
Coleman and Williams are both freshman. Always going to be a question how they translate defensively especially early.

Stojakovic is definitely capable and has good size/length but also isn't overly quick. He's a quality athlete but it's not like he's going to guard like Trent or Damonte.
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He’s a better defender than Trent and Damonte.

I think our nostalgia for the guys who brought us back from the brink, and rightfully so, has caused us to not fully grasp just the overall talent level raise.

Damonte was 6’3” guarding power forwards a lot and Trent was excellent for his 6’1” size - but Andrej is a 6’8” wing who had one of the highest vertical jumps at an nba combine, these are not the same worlds.
 
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#52      
NarrowJ
PepeSilvia said:
Coleman and Williams are both freshman. Always going to be a question how they translate defensively especially early.

Stojakovic is definitely capable and has good size/length but also isn't overly quick. He's a quality athlete but it's not like he's going to guard like Trent or Damonte.
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Stojakovic is 4 inches taller and longer than Trent or Da'Monte, doesn't need to be as quick to be same quality of defender.
 
#54      
Kernal12
sharpshot16 said:
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.

That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
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Seems like Vaaks has the tools to do it -- and you see him creating in the Estonia highlights -- so hopefully it's just a matter of time.

But if the season started today (and with Mirk out), who would be the PG? Seems like it would still be Vaaks by default, though perhaps you run more plays through Tomi making reads/passes. I guess this is why we were hearing (pre injury) that Mirk was going to be our initiator.
 
#55      
NarrowJ
HensonHall71 said:
To be honest, that is the least impressive highlight reel they've released so far
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Honestly confused after watching the highlight vid again... 11 shots, 4 of them at the rim (yeah yeah its a highlight film... but unsure what was in there that someone would be overly disappointed in... he shot a perfect 11 for 11 in the video :) ).
 
#56      
HoopsterMan
sharpshot16 said:
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.

That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
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I'd say that's playing out as expected.
Kernal12 said:
Seems like Vaaks has the tools to do it -- and you see him creating in the Estonia highlights -- so hopefully it's just a matter of time.

But if the season started today (and with Mirk out), who would be the PG? Seems like it would still be Vaaks by default, though perhaps you run more plays through Tomi making reads/passes. I guess this is why we were hearing (pre injury) that Mirk was going to be our initiator.
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Why wouldn't it be Coleman? Don't love putting this together with glue and tape, as every CBB team needs a primary ballhandler and leader at the POA. I feel like that is exactly what outdid that 2025 Duke team, which may have been the most talented of this decade 2-5, yet had no PG and looked lost when the heat was on.
 
#57      
March2TheArch
(We had an absolute gem in Keaton. His mastery of the P&R, vision, passing, ability to keep his dribble and not get sped up… wish we could had a 2nd year of him with another offseason of Fletch work. Add Keaton to this year’s team and we zoom up to preseason #1.)

But I’ll console myself knowing that Ayo, TSJ, Will Riley, KJ, and Keaton is the STRONGEST argument any program can make for being this decade’s Guard U.

That should help secure the services of players like Pettigrew and Bowman Jr. from HS and the portal for years to come.
 
#59      
hoopsfan47
I may see the fitting of this player puzzle together a bit differently from many others here. Brad recruited all these guys for their athleticism and skillsets. But that only involved taking the puzzle to the counter, paying for it, and getting it home.

Now, a completely different process begins. The staff must find out how these pieces fit together. As fans, we want 5 parts with an assumed skillsets for each one. But not a single player has a complete set of skills for their position. But they have some pretty elite skills that can be fit together, doing what they bring to the table very well, and do not need to be complete.

Having seen every season of Coach BU's tenure, he is pretty good at fitting pieces together to come up with a team that can beat anyone. Not being at practice or in coaches meetings/conversations, I have no idea where the plan goes...but I am pretty confident that this puzzle will be finished and present at an elite level before all is said and done.
 
#60      
RandyfromTuscola
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.

That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
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I'm sure everyone will jump all over this and either over value this statement or overly dismiss it without additional sourcing, but I'm not worried about point guard play. Last year we thought it was Boswell and Petrovic, and then it was Boswell, Wagler, and a little mix of Mirkovic. Vaaks will be fine, but if other guys step up or we need to have Stojakovic, we are fine.

I will always go back to a young Ty Rodgers being the starting point guard on an Elite 8 Team. If the system and players around the person are good, then a lot of guys can fill this position. You need 2-3 guys who can beat a press one-on-one in the back court, and that's fine.
 
#61      
rdk573
sharpshot16 said:
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.

That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
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Combine this with Mirk's injury and my expectations around this team prior to tournament time are really tempered..
 
#63      
RabidDawgClassic
rdk573 said:
Combine this with Mirk's injury and my expectations around this team prior to tournament time are really tempered..
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Det_Illini_fan said:
Good news though: tournament time is 7 months away
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What would people have said last year if I said Petro would barely see any playing time, Ty wouldn’t play at all and we’d have to have an unheralded freshman run the point? NIT? College Basketball Crown?
 
#65      
Fly Illini Fly!
RabidDawgClassic said:
What would people have said last year if I said Petro would barely see any playing time, Ty wouldn’t play at all and we’d have to have an unheralded freshman run the point? NIT? College Basketball Crown?
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I don't think it'd be like that because it was apparent Wagler would start over Petro, at least in the 1-2 months leading up to the season.

Keaton came off the bench for exactly zero games last year.

And even before Ty got hurt -- Ben or Mirk were seen as the likely starters at the 4.

So, neither of them were the likeliest starters.
 
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#66      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
sharpshot16 said:
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.

That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
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HIs role could be more similar to Plummer than Keaton. (which is still a VG player)
 
#67      
stevej64
NarrowJ said:
Honestly confused after watching the highlight vid again... 11 shots, 4 of them at the rim (yeah yeah its a highlight film... but unsure what was in there that someone would be overly disappointed in... he shot a perfect 11 for 11 in the video :) ).
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Even though these were just highlights I think some of these Negative Nancie’s should go back and look at more film from last year at Providence and also at the Fiba games. I have no idea how this video has become such a negative. Hell , even the Sleeper Guys were over the top enthusiastic. I’ll trust Team Underwood over these amateur wanna be coaches.
 
#69      
Combo
sharpshot16 said:
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.

That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
Click to expand...

I think he’ll be fine. More than fine,
 
#70      
Emerson Bigguns
March2TheArch said:
(We had an absolute gem in Keaton. His mastery of the P&R, vision, passing, ability to keep his dribble and not get sped up… wish we could had a 2nd year of him with another offseason of Fletch work. Add Keaton to this year’s team and we zoom up to preseason #1.)

But I’ll console myself knowing that Ayo, TSJ, Will Riley, KJ, and Keaton is the STRONGEST argument any program can make for being this decade’s Guard U.

That should help secure the services of players like Pettigrew and Bowman Jr. from HS and the portal for years to come.
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Keaton wasn’t the primary ball handler until after the UConn loss. While reports of him being a major surprise were starting to emerge last August, no one was saying, “That’s our PG.”
Vaaks is just getting his feet wet. Obviously, many of these dudes played together last year, but all the freshmen have been there all summer too. He was in Europe for a few weeks. It’s not surprising he’s a little behind the curve relative to his teammates, but he’s uber talented and has played a full season of high major basketball in the US. The tape shows he can get there.
I gotta believe it will start clicking before October.
 
#72      
jimbo72
Dude can straight shoot. Given his height you can't leave any space. Pair that with his ability to launch some absolute bullet passes to a cutting Dre/Quentin. Exciting.
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He is a gun slinger, I hope he fits in well with our returning studs. I will say we have filled slots really well.
 
#73      
jimbo72
Let's gets something straight, we'll miss baby assassin Mirk for a bit. Vacks and entire team returning will be fine. They'll still average 100 per game. This rosters is built with depth and scores. Greatest in Illinois history, watch out.
 
#74      
jimbo72
So, Mirk is hurt? We swap him out, for Vacvks, I'm sure I'll learn his name soon. Yet, if we get Davivid back,? 👍 calml down everyone. I Think we are the best overall and Senior team in Country. Bring them all on!
 
#75      
Brosky
Keaton wasn’t the primary ball handler until after the UConn loss. While reports of him being a major surprise were starting to emerge last August, no one was saying, “That’s our PG.”
Vaaks is just getting his feet wet. Obviously, many of these dudes played together last year, but all the freshmen have been there all summer too. He was in Europe for a few weeks. It’s not surprising he’s a little behind the curve relative to his teammates, but he’s uber talented and has played a full season of high major basketball in the US. The tape shows he can get there.
I gotta believe it will start clicking before October.
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I don't fret about a "true" PG. There's a lot of ways to do this. And we are chock full of talented players.
 
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