Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#326      
hoopsfan47
Orangetool said:
My guy is saying Williams will play ahead of Morillo.
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Sometimes, the obvious proves to be true. LW was Mr. Basketball in Illinois. That is not as much of a no brainer as it once was (back in my day of mid 60s) to guarantee elite talent, but when you know the kid has elite physical skills, scored big in HS, burns with a desire to play for the Illini, and is a winner? Well, maybe I am a rube who knows nothing, but at the very least, if BU and staff have any ability to coach him up quickly on what they want him to do to be valuable to this team against elite talent...then I expect him to see a good amount of quality minutes on the floor this season. Not Wagler minutes unless he can handle and shoot at that level, but far more than we got from Petrovic. I love kids with passion, athleticism, and skill on both ends. Why would one not? This team is deep, but not deep enough to keep elite talent, passion, and physically competent players on the bench. Time will tell, and if he can't find a way to score, he may not play much.

But I don't live an hour away from Champaign anyone...I live in Missouri...so ya gotta show me. You want to post hype you might as well post in Danish or Chinese IMHO. Show me...but I can hardly wait to see LW play in an Illini uniform for myself. Sure hope the hype proves to be true.
 
#327      
lstewart53x3
Projected 1 seed by Lunardi. If only we had a 9th man, a point guard, and a rim protector:

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#328      
mysterio2525
lstewart53x3 said:
Projected 1 seed by Lunardi. If only we had a 9th man, a point guard, and a rim protector:

View attachment 51235
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AI may take my job and eventually kill us all but I'm bored and it's the off-season so was curious at our chances with this bracket....


Across the 1,000-iteration Monte Carlo simulation of Joe Lunardi's projected field:
* Final Four Appearances: Illinois reached the Final Four in 315 out of 1,000 simulations (a 31.5% conversion rate), taking full advantage of their status as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region.
* National Championships: Illinois captured the national title in 139 out of 1,000 simulations (a 13.9% conversion rate), translating to roughly 44% of their appearances in the national semifinal
s.

I would take 13.9% chance at a championship any day.... then after I see it, skynet can take me out
 
#329      
EmeraldCityIllini
mysterio2525 said:
AI may take my job and eventually kill us all but I'm bored and it's the off-season so was curious at our chances with this bracket....


Across the 1,000-iteration Monte Carlo simulation of Joe Lunardi's projected field:
* Final Four Appearances: Illinois reached the Final Four in 315 out of 1,000 simulations (a 31.5% conversion rate), taking full advantage of their status as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region.
* National Championships: Illinois captured the national title in 139 out of 1,000 simulations (a 13.9% conversion rate), translating to roughly 44% of their appearances in the national semifinal
s.

I would take 13.9% chance at a championship any day.... then after I see it, skynet can take me out
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I believe outside of UCONN, that would mean we'd be the only school this decade to make back to back F4's - long way to go obviously, and also requires UCONN, Zona, and Michigan to all miss it this year (which just would be a shame!)

But, pretty cool to feel like this program is really humming.
 
#330      
Konnie
Konnie said:
I don't know if this was posted earlier but here is a link to purchase Illini vs UConn tickets at the United center. https://fightingillini.evenue.net/events/B
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Here is a little more informaiton:

Purchase your tickets today directly through Illinois! After the deadline fans will only be able to purchase tickets via Ticketmaster.
Deadline is Monday, August 24
 
#333      
Fan Since '70
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Vaaks ranked as the #2 big ten transfer by CBS:

View attachment 51238
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Vaaks has the ability to be 1st team Big Ten as does Mirkovic. Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, Anre Stojakovic and Quentin Coleman also could end up on one of the 3 all Big Ten teams. QC could be Freshman of the Year. Illini are stacked offensively and multiple players could be among scoring leaders in games. Defensively I believe Illinois will be competent and be able to hold onto leads down the stretch to close out games.
 
#334      
RollChief
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
I'll trade it for having the #1 or #2 offense, ANY day of the week.
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Well you'd probably be trading away significant odds to win a championship, since having a top-ranked offense is meaningfully more correlated with winning it all than a top-ranked defense.

As @illini0440 said: "Just saying…I’d much rather have to figure out how to try and stop people from scoring than try to figure out how to score…."
 
#335      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
RollChief said:
Well you'd probably be trading away significant odds to win a championship, since having a top-ranked offense is meaningfully more correlated with winning it all than a top-ranked defense.

As @illini0440 said: "Just saying…I’d much rather have to figure out how to try and stop people from scoring than try to figure out how to score…."
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???

I was saying I'd trade our defensive flaws the OP was referencing, for having the #1 or #2 offense.
 
#336      
RollChief
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
???

I was saying I'd trade our defensive flaws the OP was referencing, for having the #1 or #2 offense.
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Right, and I'm saying I'll keep the top offense and try to get the defense to 10-15, since the team that won a championship 8 of the last 11 seasons was ranked 3 or better. Average defense rank for champions in that time period is #9, and 5 of 11 of those seasons the champion had a defensive ranking of #10 or worse.
 
#337      
Fly Illini Fly!
On Torvik, Illinois is listed to be 4-6 in "close games" last season.

For a good team, that is subpar, because only 6 of the top 29 teams on the site were below 50% last season.

.....

It's just so false to attribute that to not being good on defense.

There are so many teams who were way worse than us defensively, but were better in the "close games" category.

Illinois was 20th in defensive efficiency.

Arkansas was 60th, but were 8-2 in close games.

Alabama was 61st, but were 7-4 in close games.

It just comes down to which bounces go your way. Officiating especially, is a big component in those decisive moments (IMO).
 
#338      
EmeraldCityIllini
Fly Illini Fly! said:
On Torvik, Illinois is listed to be 4-6 in "close games" last season.

For a good team, that is subpar, because only 6 of the top 29 teams on the site were below 50% last season.

.....

It's just so false to attribute that to not being good on defense.

There are so many teams who were way worse than us defensively, but were better in the "close games" category.

Illinois was 20th in defensive efficiency.

Arkansas was 60th, but were 8-2 in close games.

Alabama was 61st, but were 7-4 in close games.

It just comes down to which bounces go your way. Officiating especially, is a big component in those decisive moments (IMO).
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The board talking itself into citing OT losses as a reason underwood should be replaced with Will Wade was sick times.
 
#342      
LvilleILL1
March2TheArch said:
I’m not sure where on the floor he fits in the current rotation. If he doesn’t provide slashing/ball handling, a bit redundant when Jake is on the floor.
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He's a point guard. These are cut up from a couple of practices because he missed a bunch. Lot of confidence in what he can do. My guess is he will be the biggest riser in September.
 
#344      
March2TheArch
LvilleILL1 said:
He's a point guard. These are cut up from a couple of practices because he missed a bunch. Lot of confidence in what he can do. My guess is he will be the biggest riser in September.
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Thanks for the insider context.

March2TheArch said:
I’m not sure where on the floor he fits in the current rotation. If he doesn’t provide slashing/ball handling, a bit redundant when Jake is on the floor.

Guessing he backs up our starting guards. Maybe a hidden PG in him.
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Looks like my guess was close! Can never have enough ball-handlers and playmakers.
 
#345      
Fly Illini Fly!
EmeraldCityIllini said:
He reminds me of Marcus a bit.
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We went thru the entire 2024 offseason of every player we remotely recruited, being compared to Marcus. It was so weird.

That said, I do think this one is accurate. There’s obvious similarities in terms of winning with craftiness and decision making, despite not being an awesome athlete.

…..

This will sound weird, but of all the players we’ve had since Marcus, the guy that’s most similar to Marcus is Will Riley for me. It’s the ability to playmake from inside the 3pt line (different from just a ball screen maestro like Keaton), without over the top athleticism.
 
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#347      
EmeraldCityIllini
Fly Illini Fly! said:
We went thru the entire 2024 offseason of every player we remotely recruited, being compared to Marcus. It was so weird.

That said, I do think this one is accurate. There’s obvious similarities in terms of winning with craftiness and decision making, despite not being an awesome athlete.

…..

This will sound weird, but of all the players we’ve had since Marcus, the guy that’s most similar to Marcus is Will Riley for me. It’s the ability to playmake from inside the 3pt line (different from just a ball screen maestro like Keaton), without over the top athleticism.
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Lots of things about Will remind me of Marcus.

The one thing Marcus had that’s incredibly difficult to replicate, is his strength and gravity. He was hardly ever pushed off balance either straight driving, or in the post.

When Will got rolling, he hit shots from everywhere and could get downhill, a lot like Marcus but he was such a difficult shot maker. But when Marcus got rolling it was almost like even more demoralizing cuz he just got his shot every time. The Northwestern, Wisconsin, and FAU games were just clinical

Agreed on how unique he was and it’s hard to find a true great comp.
 
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#348      
CharliedonSurf
EmeraldCityIllini said:
Was anyone at the game in UC versus Bama and the F4?

As someone who went to neither the F4 or Bana game, on television, it sure seemed like a more raucous Illini crowd at UC than Indy - but part of that might just be sound coming through differently in a football arena

Having Sinclair in Chicago is super cool. (Not saying that impacts a betting line lol)
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Yes I was at both. Both great atmospheres for illinois. UC was probably more noticeably loud because of the size. Lucas oil is huge. The ratio of illjni fans was probably greater in the UC too. I do feel the UC crowd was more amped from the get go tho. Friday night game vs ucon in chicago. Atmosphere will be amazing IMO
 
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