Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#101      
AnnoyedWithGarza
RollChief said:
Yeah I'm not trying to be overly verbose but just trying to emphasize that he's great for our system but doesn't/won't fit the typical PG mold, which is the main hang up you're bringing up where people say he/KW aren't PGs.

Jeremy Fears, Braden Smith, and Donovan Dent, your prototypical great PGs, averaged 8.4, 8.8, and 7.6 assists/game and were ranked 1-3 in the stat. Keaton Wagler had 4.2 assists/game and was ranked 133 in the stat. Mihailo Petrovic, your prototypical PG, averaged 7.3 assists/game at Mega Superbet. KW fit very well into our system and how we initiate offense while Petro did not.

Vaaks had 3.2 assists per game. While he doesn't jump out as a traditional PG statistically or even when you watch him play, he plugs in really well to that role as initiator in a way that prototypical PGs don't.
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Is Steph Curry a PG? Averaged under 5 assists per game last year.

PG does not mean you have to pass the ball more than you shoot anymore. Some of you are just stuck in the idea of what a PG was and can only imagine a PG as the old-school version. The PG is the guy who makes the decisions within an offense. Some are pass-first (higher assist numbers); some are score-first (can then be categorized as more of a SG or CG). PG is not what it used to be. He is the person making the decisions within the offense most of the game.

Vaaks was a PG last year. Keaton was a PG last year. It doesn't matter what they will play at the next level. They are controlling the offense and therefore are the PG. I don't know (neither does anyone else), but I'm willing to believe that Vaaks will be our PG this year.

I would like a definition of PG from those of you who think Vaaks didn't play PG last year and Keaton didn't play PG last year.

I'll even go as far as to say that our offensive PG may not be our defensive PG. I would say that Boswell was the defensive PG and Keaton was the offensive PG.

It also doesn't need to be the guy who breaks a press or brings the ball up the floor. There were times last year when Mirk brought the ball up the floor to get pressure off, brought it, and immediately handed the ball to Keaton. Keaton was still playing PG.
 
#104      
March2TheArch
Love Kylan but he completely lost his shot after the injury down the stretch.

This year, however, we have 4 starters that can shoot 35%+ and Dre is one of the best finishers at the rim. And he’s backed up by Jake who’s a flamethrower. I imagine our first subs 6-7min into the game will be Jake for Dre and an Ivisic swap. Allows us to keep 4 shooters on the floor.

I think the wildcard is Lucas Morillo. If his back heals and can nudge his 3pt% into the lower 30s, he can give us the 10-15min we need to back up the guard spots. We need a secondary ball handler if/when one of Vaaks or Mirk are on the bench. I’d rather keep Quentin off ball to preserve his energy to be a two-way player.
 
#105      
RollChief
AnnoyedWithGarza said:
Is Steph Curry a PG? Averaged under 5 assists per game last year.

PG does not mean you have to pass the ball more than you shoot anymore. Some of you are just stuck in the idea of what a PG was and can only imagine a PG as the old-school version. The PG is the guy who makes the decisions within an offense. Some are pass-first (higher assist numbers); some are score-first (can then be categorized as more of a SG or CG). PG is not what it used to be. He is the person making the decisions within the offense most of the game.

Vaaks was a PG last year. Keaton was a PG last year. It doesn't matter what they will play at the next level. They are controlling the offense and therefore are the PG. I don't know (neither does anyone else), but I'm willing to believe that Vaaks will be our PG this year.

I would like a definition of PG from those of you who think Vaaks didn't play PG last year and Keaton didn't play PG last year.

I'll even go as far as to say that our offensive PG may not be our defensive PG. I would say that Boswell was the defensive PG and Keaton was the offensive PG.

It also doesn't need to be the guy who breaks a press or brings the ball up the floor. There were times last year when Mirk brought the ball up the floor to get pressure off, brought it, and immediately handed the ball to Keaton. Keaton was still playing PG.
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Hey man I agree with you, I think most other folks here do too, wasn't trying to start an argument. I was just pointing out that our scheme (like a lot of NBA schemes) no longer follows the prototype "6-1, quick guy with nifty handles with 8 assists a game" type PG, and the lines between our player positions are a lot more fluid now.

I think the people who disagree are guys like Raphael Davis who look at our roster and player stats and see "no clear PG" and say "Vaaks isn't a PG". I rewatched the highlights from 2025 Bragging Rights last night and one of the things I thought about is that when you have 3-5 on the floor that can shoot, dish it, and initiate offense off of offensive rebounds, the usefulness of your traditional PG (or other traditional roles) is less necessary.
 
#106      
RabidDawgClassic
This time last year we generally thought:

1) Tomi would be the best player.
2) Wagler would be a nice bench piece and perhaps an eventual starter as we’ve heard good things about him.
3) Mirk was a crazy hothead who’s gonna get a ton of technicals.
4) Petro’s a sure-fire starter point guard. Just hope his hamstring is okay.
5) Stojakovic is likely gone after the season, either to the NBA or the portal
6. We’ve never had a deeper bench!

I wonder what surprises are in store for us this coming season.
 
#110      
HoopsterMan
RabidDawgClassic said:
This time last year we generally thought:

1) Tomi would be the best player.
2) Wagler would be a nice bench piece and perhaps an eventual starter as we’ve heard good things about him.
3) Mirk was a crazy hothead who’s gonna get a ton of technicals.
4) Petro’s a sure-fire starter point guard. Just hope his hamstring is okay.
5) Stojakovic is likely gone after the season, either to the NBA or the portal
6. We’ve never had a deeper bench!

I wonder what surprises are in store for us this coming season.
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Give it to Brad, he's built great culture and has found guys that really like playing with each other.
 
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