Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#351      
RollChief
I saw that TTU/UK exhibition was announced for late October, and I was curious about what TTU and Illinois looked like in terms of ratings considering respective power forward injuries...

FWIW, if you remove JT Toppin from TTU's roster on Torvik, they drop from 13 to 26, and if you remove Mirk from our roster, we drop from 6 to 12. Apologies if someone has already done this exercise already

Quick note: This does not factor in Donovan Atwell
 
#352      
wc_illini
RollChief said:
I saw that TTU/UK exhibition was announced for late October, and I was curious about what TTU and Illinois looked like in terms of ratings considering respective power forward injuries...

FWIW, if you remove JT Toppin from TTU's roster on Torvik, they drop from 13 to 26, and if you remove Mirk from our roster, we drop from 6 to 12. Apologies if someone has already done this exercise already

Quick note: This does not factor in Donovan Atwell
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Now that Tovik's site added Darrion Williams, it let's me add Atwell and subtract Toppin to calculate an expected margin (Illinois by 3.2) and win probability (61%).

If both teams were full strength, it would tip a few tenths of a point and percentage points in our favor
 
#353      
RollChief
wc_illini said:
Now that Tovik's site added Darrion Williams, it let's me add Atwell and subtract Toppin to calculate an expected margin (Illinois by 3.2) and win probability (61%).

If both teams were full strength, it would tip a few tenths of a point and percentage points in our favor
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Got it, yeah I was having trouble adding in Atwell so I appreciate it. It's hard to say whether either will be back, but it seems like it's a bit more likely to get Mirk back after a stress fx in his foot after 3 months vs JT Toppin coming back from a torn ACL after 9, but who knows.

With both Mirk and JT Toppin out, this is kind of a nutty one to visualize how it would play out. We would likely have at least 2-3 inches on them at every position (assuming they don't start Bagayoko or Akuentok), but it would really test our defense against explosive guards/wings and good shooting early. That said, it seems like the rebounding margin would be like +20 us...

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#359      
NarrowJ
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2090459096780554347

…..


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Excellent stuff (and also got MLT fix in previous post). The inversion that happens when you have bigs that can step out and shoot, initiate offense, or do both really mixes up the defense. Great point in 1st video on that, defenses not used to solving that problem. You see an Illinois/Iowa St/etc on your schedule and prepare for it maybe only a couple of times per season, because it's so unique.
 
#361      
March2TheArch
NarrowJ said:
Excellent stuff (and also got MLT fix in previous post). The inversion that happens when you have bigs that can step out and shoot, initiate offense, or do both really mixes up the defense. Great point in 1st video on that, defenses not used to solving that problem. You see an Illinois/Iowa St/etc on your schedule and prepare for it maybe only a couple of times per season, because it's so unique.
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I’ll never complain about 3rd party coverage of our program. But it’s clear who actually watched our program vs. not. See attached - some glaringly off remarks.

I remember during the Sweet 16 preview some UH homer analyst on CBS was talking about how we like to play fast. Common misconception that a highly efficient offense is a fast one.

If we’re being honest there is a diminshing returns point to all this content for informed fans on this board.

The monthly MLT pod with Jeremy during the offseason and the weekly one during the season covers practically every fixin’ you could have.

If you need a bit of additional fun hot takes the Sleepers Media guys are funny and intentionally cater to UM/MSU/Illini/Purdue fans. The Fo68 crew spent a month saying we don’t have a PG and it was the glaring gap on our team ala gaurd quality on Florida last year or Arizona’s lack of 3ball.

I appreciate and support the Armchair and Locked On guys. But echoing earlier point they seem superfluous to the Illini Inquirer. They’re a tad faster to get content out but not necessarily with the same conversational and analytical polish.

I do wonder the ROI on content production for guys that are Illini-specific (besides Inquirer). It feels fairly relatively low effort so perhaps it nets out.
 

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#364      
Fly Illini Fly!
March2TheArch said:
I’ll never complain about 3rd party coverage of our program. But it’s clear who actually watched our program vs. not. See attached - some glaringly off remarks.

I remember during the Sweet 16 preview some UH homer analyst on CBS was talking about how we like to play fast. Common misconception that a highly efficient offense is a fast one.

If we’re being honest there is a diminshing returns point to all this content for informed fans on this board.

The monthly MLT pod with Jeremy during the offseason and the weekly one during the season covers practically every fixin’ you could have.

If you need a bit of additional fun hot takes the Sleepers Media guys are funny and intentionally cater to UM/MSU/Illini/Purdue fans. The Fo68 crew spent a month saying we don’t have a PG and it was the glaring gap on our team ala gaurd quality on Florida last year or Arizona’s lack of 3ball.

I appreciate and support the Armchair and Locked On guys. But echoing earlier point they seem superfluous to the Illini Inquirer. They’re a tad faster to get content out but not necessarily with the same conversational and analytical polish.

I do wonder the ROI on content production for guys that are Illini-specific (besides Inquirer). It feels fairly relatively low effort so perhaps it nets out.
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I really enjoyed the IlliniGuys's coverage of Terrance Shannon case (and their interviews with Mitch G.).

Other than that, yeah, it's IlliniInquirer and a hefty drop off for me.
 
#366      
Fly Illini Fly!
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#367      
March2TheArch
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Zens feels like the perfect long-term Jake Davis replacement (if he sticks around).
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It will be very interesting how many of the freshmen blossom into major rotation players, leave for better opportunities, or remain in the Fabgemi / AJ Redd practice squad spot or deep bench insurance spot like Jason Jakstys.

Unless you’re a top 100 composite recruit, I think it’s hard to just expect rotation minutes as an underclassmen in this program. The amount of NIL that will free up from the Ivisic twins and Andre (and potentially other departures in Mirk, Quentin, and Vaaks) will lead to bringing in a stacked freshman class (Pettigrew/Bowman/Wabbington) or some marquee transfers.
 
#368      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Zens feels like the perfect long-term Jake Davis replacement (if he sticks around).

LOL, look at the co-host's face as the guy makes that statement and the highlight shows Vaaks making that pass. 😂
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He was also saying how he “absolutely loved” Vaaks’s defense, when we all know that’s the biggest gripe spot in his game (not saying he can’t improve).

Just completely wrong analysis.
 
#370      
Fighter of the Nightman
Fly Illini Fly! said:
The advantage in Indy was more than the advantage we’ll have at the UC:

View attachment 51228
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Surely you are aware that (A) a large majority of Illini fans do not live Champaign itself and (B) there are infinitely more truly local Illini fans in Chicago vs. Indianapolis. In this instance, 15 miles is laughably irrelevant.
 
#372      
Emerson Bigguns
blackdog said:
You wanna talk about a guy who can be Domask down the road....true potential for guard bootyball with that post footwork.
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Watching his HS videos gave me the same vibe. He is slick with his pivot. Doesn’t really fit neatly in a positional box. (likely why he was a bit under-recruited ) He’s got a chance to be a bully wing like Marcus when he fills out. (Fellow Wisconsin state champ 3X & Mr. Basketball too) If the efficient shooting he displayed in HS translates, he could be a problem. Must be something in the genes…the Knuepple boys are his cousins.
 
#374      
Illini in OC
Crazy to think David still has 4 years of eligibility given his complete game....
Best case, he goes to NBA next year
 
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