Illini Basketball 2026-2027

#128      
LvilleILL1
Continue to think Mirk is on track for November 2nd.

Expecting a big year from Andrej Stojakovic. Think he could end up being the 2nd most impactful player on the team.

The Ethan Brown buzz has gotten louder the last couple weeks. Think he can get spot minutes this year if needed. Sounds like Stefan Vaaks has really started to come on strong in practice as well.
 
#130      
green_bay_energy
LvilleILL1 said:
Continue to think Mirk is on track for November 2nd.

Expecting a big year from Andrej Stojakovic. Think he could end up being the 2nd most impactful player on the team.

The Ethan Brown buzz has gotten louder the last couple weeks. Think he can get spot minutes this year if needed. Sounds like Stefan Vaaks has really started to come on strong in practice as well.
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❤️ this solid Intel.
 
#131      
Curbelo Fanboy
ptgrd23 said:
View attachment 51788

Greatest Illini games I have attended

Upset Magic Johnson (eventual NCAA champs) at home 1979
Beat Missouri at 1989 Bragging Rights - Flying Illini
Beat Indiana at Bloomington on Nick Anderson 1/2 court shot at buzzer - Flying Illini
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So on the replay of that Anderson shot you are one of the 20 people in the building that can be heard yelling!! What a moment. On the replay there is a split second right as the ball is going thru the net where there is a dead silence in that building such that the TV picks up the sound of the swish of the ball. And then you hear the few Illini fans & team going nuts. An ALL TIMER.
 
#132      
I-L-L 1318
LvilleILL1 said:
Continue to think Mirk is on track for November 2nd.

Expecting a big year from Andrej Stojakovic. Think he could end up being the 2nd most impactful player on the team.

The Ethan Brown buzz has gotten louder the last couple weeks. Think he can get spot minutes this year if needed. Sounds like Stefan Vaaks has really started to come on strong in practice as well.
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Appreciate you Lville!
 
#133      
battle
#135      
Birdus
LvilleILL1 said:
Continue to think Mirk is on track for November 2nd.

Expecting a big year from Andrej Stojakovic. Think he could end up being the 2nd most impactful player on the team.

The Ethan Brown buzz has gotten louder the last couple weeks. Think he can get spot minutes this year if needed. Sounds like Stefan Vaaks has really started to come on strong in practice as well.
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So besides Brown, who else is impressing to the point that key minutes could be an option?
 
#136      
March2TheArch
Birdus said:
So besides Brown, who else is impressing to the point that key minutes could be an option?
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My guess... Lucas Morillo. The back injury probably set him back a month but I think/hope we'll hear a lot more on him in October.

---

We basically played an 8-man rotation last year. And our top 7 is spoken for at this moment.

Frontcourt (PF/C, 80min):
- Mirk: 30-35 min
- Tomi: 25-30 min
- Z: 20-25 min
- Jason J / Landon Davis: Spot minutes in blowouts, foul trouble or strategic breathers

Wing (SF, 40min):
- Andrej: 25-30 min
- Jake: 10-15 min (to keep Andrej fresh for when we're in a scoring drought and to close out games)
- Williams: Spot minutes in blowouts, foul trouble or strategic breathers

Backcourt (PG/CG/SG, 80min)
- Vaaks: 30-35 min
- Coleman: 25-30 min
- Jake: 5-10min
- Brown / Morillo: Spot minutes in blowouts, foul trouble or strategic breathers

- - -

I'm going to assume our front court is healthy by conference season so I'd expect limited/non-existent minutes for Jason and Landon by then.

Jake is capable of playing 20min a game. High motor. I therefore doubt Lincoln gets much tick. The only way he'll see the floor is if he can emulate Kylan's defensive tenacity and passing. That's asking a lot of a true freshman. His shooting will be the biggest limiter in our offensive scheme. Once again, imagine he'll be pretty limited in our high stakes non-con games and in B1G play (outside games like Northwestern and Penn State).

This team does need more initiators to ease the burden for Vaaks and Mirk. Given Quintin's knock-down shooting, slashing and festiness on the boards, we'll want to keep him off-ball.

Therefore my guess would have to be Lucas Morillo. I believe he or Brown will be the most important freshman besides Quintin.
 
#137      
Det_Illini_fan
LvilleILL1 said:
Continue to think Mirk is on track for November 2nd.

Expecting a big year from Andrej Stojakovic. Think he could end up being the 2nd most impactful player on the team.

The Ethan Brown buzz has gotten louder the last couple weeks. Think he can get spot minutes this year if needed. Sounds like Stefan Vaaks has really started to come on strong in practice as well.
Click to expand...
Holy sh!t, we gettin’ a 10th man boys

So Excited Flirting GIF
 
#138      
Hingle McCringleberry
March2TheArch said:
My guess... Lucas Morillo. The back injury probably set him back a month but I think/hope we'll hear a lot more on him in October.

---

We basically played an 8-man rotation last year. And our top 7 is spoken for at this moment.

Frontcourt (PF/C, 80min):
- Mirk: 30-35 min
- Tomi: 25-30 min
- Z: 20-25 min
- Jason J / Landon Davis: Spot minutes in blowouts, foul trouble or strategic breathers

Wing (SF, 40min):
- Andrej: 25-30 min
- Jake: 10-15 min (to keep Andrej fresh for when we're in a scoring drought and to close out games)
- Williams: Spot minutes in blowouts, foul trouble or strategic breathers

Backcourt (PG/CG/SG, 80min)
- Vaaks: 30-35 min
- Coleman: 25-30 min
- Jake: 5-10min
- Brown / Morillo: Spot minutes in blowouts, foul trouble or strategic breathers

- - -

I'm going to assume our front court is healthy by conference season so I'd expect limited/non-existent minutes for Jason and Landon by then.

Jake is capable of playing 20min a game. High motor. I therefore doubt Lincoln gets much tick. The only way he'll see the floor is if he can emulate Kylan's defensive tenacity and passing. That's asking a lot of a true freshman. His shooting will be the biggest limiter in our offensive scheme. Once again, imagine he'll be pretty limited in our high stakes non-con games and in B1G play (outside games like Northwestern and Penn State).

This team does need more initiators to ease the burden for Vaaks and Mirk. Given Quintin's knock-down shooting, slashing and festiness on the boards, we'll want to keep him off-ball.

Therefore my guess would have to be Lucas Morillo. I believe he or Brown will be the most important freshman besides Quintin.
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There is only ball to go around and we are stacked with shooters, so my guess is Lincoln is going to get some tick. Let's be honest, Kylan was not a knock down shooter, but had incredible grit / fire on D and was a good distributor. Depending on Vaaks D, there could easily be a slot for a lock-down defender and energy guy, especially one that can attack the rim.
 
#140      
March2TheArch
Hingle McCringleberry said:
There is only ball to go around and we are stacked with shooters, so my guess is Lincoln is going to get some tick. Let's be honest, Kylan was not a knock down shooter, but had incredible grit / fire on D and was a good distributor. Depending on Vaaks D, there could easily be a slot for a lock-down defender and energy guy, especially one that can attack the rim.
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Yeah nice thing is Ethan is a natural 2. Lucas a natural 1. And Williams and natural 3. I think they could bring different things to the table.
 
#142      
ptgrd23
Curbelo Fanboy said:
So on the replay of that Anderson shot you are one of the 20 people in the building that can be heard yelling!! What a moment. On the replay there is a split second right as the ball is going thru the net where there is a dead silence in that building such that the TV picks up the sound of the swish of the ball. And then you hear the few Illini fans & team going nuts. An ALL TIMER.
Click to expand...
Drove from CU to Bloomington with girl friend. Surrounded by IU fans good seats near mid court. Back then $75 could get you great seats from scalpers. Crowd went crazy when Jay Edwards hit the corner jumper with 3 second left to tie the game. Lou called the baseline pick play to free up Steve Bardos baseball pass to Nick near half court. The Assembly Hall went dead silent when it went in. We walked out cheering. Great drive home thru a wet snow. Got home in time to watch it again. Girl friends father had taped it.

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124K views · 621 reactions | 3⃣0⃣ years ago today, Illinois and Indiana combined for one of the greatest finishes in B1G history. When the clock hit zero, it was Nick Anderson and the Illini celebrating. #OTD | Big Ten Network

3⃣0⃣ years ago today, Illinois and Indiana combined for one of the greatest finishes in B1G history. When the clock hit zero, it was Nick Anderson and the Illini celebrating. #OTD
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