Illini Basketball 2024-2025

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#1      

Dan

Dan
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Dan
Welcome to the Illini Basketball 2024-2025 & College Basketball news thread :illinois:


Tickets | Schedule | Roster

Single game home tickets on sale to general public on Oct. 24th.


2024-2025 Illini Basketball

DateOpponentTime/TV
Sun, Oct 27at Ole Miss
(Charity Exhibition Game)
1:00pm
Mon, Nov 4Eastern Illinois
Fri, Nov 8SIU-Edwardsville
Wed, Nov 13Oakland
Wed, Nov 20Alabama
(Birmingham)
Sat, Nov 23Maryland-Eastern Shore
Mon, Nov 25Little Rock
Thu, Nov 28Arkansas
(Kansas City)		3:00pm CBS
Sat, Dec 14Tennessee
Sun, Dec 22Missouri
(Braggin' Rights, St. Louis)
Sun, Dec 29Chicago State
Sat, Feb 22Duke
(New York)		FOX

All times CT. The Big Ten schedule will be posted when announced.

Big Ten opponents-
Home Only – Iowa, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, USC,
Away Only – Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington
Home & Away – Michigan State, Northwestern, Wisconsin
 
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#2      
drsmitty74
Champions League Football GIF by UEFA
 
#3      
splitter
What If Meme GIF by Jazz Memes
Dan started this thread and no one rushed to first ... or
team usa peace GIF by U.S. Figure Skating
/S
 
#7      
RabidDawgClassic
Joel Goodson said:
love (LOVE!) his game, but that's a pretty bold take, Cotton:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1830314261408543013
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Hum has been the least hyped player this offseason, as far as the university-released practice videos are concerned. Makes me wonder if that’s because they want him to fly under the radar (as best as possible) then shock the world when the season rolls around. Of course, it could also be that he hasn’t performed as well as the others in practice… but I choose to believe the former.
 
#8      
PasadenaIllini
Joel Goodson said:
love (LOVE!) his game, but that's a pretty bold take, Cotton:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1830314261408543013
Click to expand...
Ryan is high as a kite on orange powder here. Ben has a specific skillset that will help us a lot on the offensive end, but leading scorer over KJ? Riley? Kylan? No way. I watched Ben play against the top teams in the valley last year, and he was not exactly successful. My biggest concern with Ben is that the defensive issues I saw from him last season could limit his minutes.
 
#9      
rtbritt
PasadenaIllini said:
Ryan is high as a kite on orange powder here. Ben has a specific skillset that will help us a lot on the offensive end, but leading scorer over KJ? Riley? Kylan? No way. I watched Ben play against the top teams in the valley last year, and he was not exactly successful. My biggest concern with Ben is that the defensive issues I saw from him last season could limit his minutes.
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Sure, it’s a “hot take”, but combes suggested that Hum could be our leading scorer, and then said probably one of our leading scorers (if memory serves..). Also I feel like some other insiders suggested that, although I think that was before we got KJ and Riley..maybe.
 
#10      
BretMyBeachHouse
RabidDawgClassic said:
Hum has been the least hyped player this offseason, as far as the university-released practice videos are concerned. Makes me wonder if that’s because they want him to fly under the radar (as best as possible) then shock the world when the season rolls around. Of course, it could also be that he hasn’t performed as well as the others in practice… but I choose to believe the former.
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Go with the latter. Lots of hype early that kinda puzzled me. He didn't make the top 15 players in his conference last year, but is going to lead us in scoring?

It never made sense.
 
#13      
combes
BretMyBeachHouse said:
Go with the latter. Lots of hype early that kinda puzzled me. He didn't make the top 15 players in his conference last year, but is going to lead us in scoring?

It never made sense.
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He was injured and missed a number of games. If he had been healthy all year, I think he would have been higher.

All I can say is that when I saw him in person, he was really good. Scored at all three levels.
 
#14      
Sedino
IlliniFan42 said:
I think people got really high on Domask
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The people who keep comparing him to Domask are gonna be disappointed.

Will the kid contribute? Absolutely. Is he gonna have games where he goes for a heater from the three point line? Probably. Will he be our leading scorer? I really hope not. If he is, we have some major problems and will not be winning a lot of games.
 
#15      
PasadenaIllini
combes said:
He was injured and missed a number of games. If he had been healthy all year, I think he would have been higher.

All I can say is that when I saw him in person, he was really good. Scored at all three levels.
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I think Ben will be really effective as a 4 on the offensive end, keeping opposing power forwards out of the lane because they will have to respect his 3-point shot. He also has the skill to drive around power forwards who crowd him at the 3-point line and has the passing acumen to dish off if opponents rotate to him when he drives. Where Ben might struggle is when we play teams with an athletic forward at the 4 spot who can drive and handle. I think our roster is perfectly built to showcase Ben's strengths.

Where I take issue is when folks like Foran set Ben up for failure by trying to hype him as a "leading scorer."
Look, as Brett points out above, just because both Ben and Markus Domask both came from the MVC doesn't mean that they are the same caliber player. Markus was all MVC and led his team to a top 3 finish regular season before he came here. Ben's one season in the MVC was a mixed bag with struggles against the top teams, injuries, and scarce wins.

Is it possible that Ben Humrichous could surprise everybody and be one of our top players? I suppose anything's possible, but it's hardly fair to expect such a thing. Why not celebrate what we know Ben will bring to the table without heaping ridiculous amounts of pressure onto his shoulders?
 
#16      
Joel Goodson
Sedino said:
The people who keep comparing him to Domask are gonna be disappointed.

Will the kid contribute? Absolutely. Is he gonna have games where he goes for a heater from the three point line? Probably. Will he be our leading scorer? I really hope not. If he is, we have some major problems and will not be winning a lot of games.
Click to expand...

if Humrichous has the season I think he will, he'll get a look see from the NBA. needless to say, I'm expecting him to be VG offensively, at a minimum
 
#17      
PepeSilvia
Sedino said:
Will he be our leading scorer? I really hope not. If he is, we have some major problems and will not be winning a lot of games.
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I don't really know about that last part. His shot looks legitimately good and he looks to be a bit more than just a catch and shoot type guy.

Not saying it's guaranteed to happen but I could see him being a 15 ppg scorer and with the amount of depth on the roster that could legitimately be the leading scorer with a bunch of guys in double digits.

Luther Head was the leading scorer on the 05 Illini team at 15.9 and was the 3rd best guard in the lineup(Head was great but both Dee and Deron were better imo, head was the beneficiary of both of those guys being great facilitators). That team had 5 guys in double digits.

Just saying the team could still be very good and win a ton of games if Humrichous ended up being the leading scorer. Would probably take him scoring 15-16 PPG, and then guys like Kasparis, Riley(sharing minutes with Tre and Tyler), Tre, and Boswell being 10-14 PPG guys(I expect Morez and Ivisic to split minutes and be good but not necessarily average double digits).
 
#18      
PasadenaIllini
PepeSilvia said:
I don't really know about that last part. His shot looks legitimately good and he looks to be a bit more than just a catch and shoot type guy.

Not saying it's guaranteed to happen but I could see him being a 15 ppg scorer and with the amount of depth on the roster that could legitimately be the leading scorer with a bunch of guys in double digits.

Luther Head was the leading scorer on the 05 Illini team at 15.9 and was the 3rd best guard in the lineup(Head was great but both Dee and Deron were better imo, head was the beneficiary of both of those guys being great facilitators). That team had 5 guys in double digits.

Just saying the team could still be very good and win a ton of games if Humrichous ended up being the leading scorer. Would probably take him scoring 15-16 PPG, and then guys like Kasparis, Riley(sharing minutes with Tre and Tyler), Tre, and Boswell being 10-14 PPG guys(I expect Morez and Ivisic to split minutes and be good but not necessarily average double digits).
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Luther Head was a highly talented player with skills and athleticism that translated into a 7-year NBA career. Comparing Ben and Luther is like comparing apples to rocket ships.
 
#20      
EyeoftheIllini
PasadenaIllini said:
Luther Head was a highly talented player with skills and athleticism that translated into a 7-year NBA career. Comparing Ben and Luther is like comparing apples to rocket ships.
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Not so sure he was comparing the two “straight up,” but rather the situation — deep, talented team that will present Ben with scoring opportunities playing off that talent. Though I’m not sure it will be Ben, I could definitely see the leading scoring only averaging 15 to 16 a game with a bunch of guys in that 8 to 15 ppg. Will be fun to see how it all shakes out.
 
#22      
chudaman
Sedino said:
The people who keep comparing him to Domask are gonna be disappointed.

Will the kid contribute? Absolutely. Is he gonna have games where he goes for a heater from the three point line? Probably. Will he be our leading scorer? I really hope not. If he is, we have some major problems and will not be winning a lot of games.
Click to expand...
Domask last year is not really a comparable due to the changed make-up of the team. Domask himself would have a hard time matching those numbers this year.
 
#23      
chudaman
PasadenaIllini said:
I think Ben will be really effective as a 4 on the offensive end, keeping opposing power forwards out of the lane because they will have to respect his 3-point shot. He also has the skill to drive around power forwards who crowd him at the 3-point line and has the passing acumen to dish off if opponents rotate to him when he drives. Where Ben might struggle is when we play teams with an athletic forward at the 4 spot who can drive and handle. I think our roster is perfectly built to showcase Ben's strengths.
Click to expand...
Morez seems perfectly built to vacuum up rebounds when Ben draws out the 4 leaving just one big guy to rebound against, but i think it remains to be seen how the spacing will work when Ivisic is in. Can Ben still get space then?
 
#24      
Joel Goodson
chudaman said:
Morez seems perfectly built to vacuum up rebounds when Ben draws out the 4 leaving just one big guy to rebound against, but i think it remains to be seen how the spacing will work when Ivisic is in. Can Ben still get space then?
Click to expand...

I don't think Humrichous is strictly a perimeter guy. I know he's far more than a spot up shooter. I think he has the ability to move/make space and take good shots. To your point about it being ideal when paired with Morez: yes, I agree. Yeah, it'll get more interesting when paired with Ivisic. We may see some booty ball there.
 
#25      
PasadenaIllini
chudaman said:
Morez seems perfectly built to vacuum up rebounds when Ben draws out the 4 leaving just one big guy to rebound against, but i think it remains to be seen how the spacing will work when Ivisic is in. Can Ben still get space then?
Click to expand...
If you watch his highlights Ivisic is mostly a low post player with an option to pop out to the perimeter if necessary.
 
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