Shouldn't Ben have the opportunity to come back for another year? Didn't he play at NAIA/JUCO?
Illini Basketball 2024-2025
- Status
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
Only applies to players currently out of eligibility. no i think.
If things don't improve, as sad as it is to say, he won't have that choice.
I want to believe you, but you sure? He’s still in our starting lineup…
I wonder if his NIL deal or something like that has any specifications on starting/playing time. There's zero reason that relates to basketball and his play that suggests he should be starting right now. Purely going off of production up to this point, he's at best our 8th option, maybe 9th. Davis even outplays him in certain aspects.
If your just specifically referring to things not working out here at Illinois... he can always transfer (like Zy Crisler for instance).
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Random Q. Do you travel home between the Oregon and Washington game?
Great question! I’m sure team will stay out here in the PNW and wonder what their schedule will be on Friday and Saturday. Maybe get Brad to catch a fish at the market? Insiders?
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Tacomallini
- Washington State
It’s a Thursday night game followed by a Sunday day game. No chance
Hmm. Wonder what kinda fun (trouble) these guys can get into while in the PNW.
Darius Paul is volunteering as chaperone
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Not an insider, but I believe the general idea around these "travel packages" from a conference perspective was that the teams traveling would not go back home. This is the old Pac 10-12 basketball scheduling where teams were "grouped" and a team would make a road trip to those two locations for a Thursday and a Saturday or Sunday and not travel back. So using current B1G teams, if Oregon had a travel package at USC and UCLA they would not return to Eugene between games. They would have played at UCLA on Thursday and at USC on Saturday or Sunday. Plus, Illinois is still on winter break, so there's no need to deal with academic concerns.
I believe we have a Ducks fan who engages well here who can confirm this for me, but I think I'm right about that.
KJ in his Lithuanian interview with LKF (Lithuanian Basketball Federation):
On conditions:
Really good conditions in Illinois, for training and for living and for nutrition. They give us everything. Gym is open 24/7, you can go and shoot at any time, you will find people who will help and pass you the ball. There are so many helpers/assistants who can drive you to class and back. Everything is organized really well and there is nothing for you to worry about. Just to play and study.
On goals:
My initial goal was to play and play a lot of minutes. That's why I came here - because I saw that the coaches believe in me and I can show something. I was coming here with a goal to play. Of course the first few months were difficult, I needed to get used to everyone. But now I feel good and I'm trying to get better. Our goals are the highest - to win the national trophy, as well as our own league. Only the highest goals.
On potential invite to join Lithuanian National team during summer:
Haven't really thought about it yet. For starters I want finish the season, and then worry about the summer things.
On getting projected in the top10 in the NBA draft:
I'm not concentrating on those things. Trying to become better with each day, work with myself both on the court and in film room. I really don't pay much attention to this outside noise and just trying to play college basketball.
On conditions:
Really good conditions in Illinois, for training and for living and for nutrition. They give us everything. Gym is open 24/7, you can go and shoot at any time, you will find people who will help and pass you the ball. There are so many helpers/assistants who can drive you to class and back. Everything is organized really well and there is nothing for you to worry about. Just to play and study.
On goals:
My initial goal was to play and play a lot of minutes. That's why I came here - because I saw that the coaches believe in me and I can show something. I was coming here with a goal to play. Of course the first few months were difficult, I needed to get used to everyone. But now I feel good and I'm trying to get better. Our goals are the highest - to win the national trophy, as well as our own league. Only the highest goals.
On potential invite to join Lithuanian National team during summer:
Haven't really thought about it yet. For starters I want finish the season, and then worry about the summer things.
On getting projected in the top10 in the NBA draft:
I'm not concentrating on those things. Trying to become better with each day, work with myself both on the court and in film room. I really don't pay much attention to this outside noise and just trying to play college basketball.
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I hope nobody on the team has a birthday then.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
The Big Ten used to do this as well, before Penn State was added to the conference. The travel pairings were:
Illinois/Purdue
Indiana/Ohio State
Michigan/MSU
Wisconsin/Northwestern
Minnesota/Iowa
Whitmans Sampler
- Eastern Iowa
Oh what I would give to have Amani instead of Ben + Booth. Wonder if he was dead set on following Chester. If not, Brad screwed the pooch. I think we would take his 28% from 3, 6rpg, and strong frame.
We have seen KJ go on a couple heaters, and we remember Plummer when he would get hot. Anyone have thoughts on the best the Illini have had for just going off on a hot streak? I'm not sure he would be my pick, but I would at least nominate Andy Kaufman. When he was hot, he would make the craziest shots that had little chance of going in. On the current roster, I would like to see what Boswell looks like on a heater.
Too soon
Oh my, is that Ken Griffey jr???
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I looked at the NET Rankings for the first time in a long time today, and here is our upcoming schedule laid out in how much it could affect our resume.
CURRENT RESUME
#9 in the NET Rankings (moved up from #13 because we beat Chicago State by so much, by the way ... margins matter these days!)
9-3 overall
2-3 vs. Quad 1
1-0 vs. Quad 2
0-0 vs. Quad 3
6-0 vs. Quad 4
Since I am a visual learner, here is a color code for our upcoming games.
Quad 1
Quad 2
Quad 3
Quad 4
UPCOMING GAMES
at #10 Oregon (Q1)
at #105 Washington (Q2)
vs. #32 Penn State (Q2)
vs. #93 USC (Q3)
at #66 Indiana (Q1)
at #23 Michigan State (Q1)
vs. #13 Maryland (Q1)
vs. #48 Northwestern (Q2)
at #46 Nebraska (Q1)
vs. #25 Ohio State (Q1)
at #91 Rutgers (Q2)
at #154 Minnesota (Q3)
vs. #16 UCLA (Q1)
vs. #23 Michigan State (Q1)
at #33 Wisconsin (Q1)
vs. #3 Duke (New York, NY) [Q1]
vs. #50 Iowa (Q2)
at #17 Michigan (Q1)
vs. #37 Purdue (Q2)
And just a reminder how these rankings work for home, away and neutral site games:
Home: Q1 #1-30, Q2 #31-75, Q3 #76-160, Q4 #161-353
Neutral: Q1 #1-50, Q2 #51-100, Q3 #101-200, Q4 #201-353
Away: Q1 #1-75, Q2 #76-135, Q3 #135-240, Q4 #241-353
So yeah ... a ton of opportunities to build a truly elite resume down the stretch, but also that obviously means it's a tough schedule. One huge advantage for us is that we get some of the worse teams in the league on the road, and we host some of the better teams at home. Obviously we have to stack wins to get a good seed, but simply playing to our potential and avoiding losses to USC and at Minnesota (currently our only Quad 3 games) would set us up really nicely for a run in March. The final stretch is particularly difficult after the road game at Minnesota, so hopefully our guys can continue to gel, build confidence and get better during that first stretch. We NEED to go at least 1-1 this week, though. Cannot drop both on the West Coast!
CURRENT RESUME
#9 in the NET Rankings (moved up from #13 because we beat Chicago State by so much, by the way ... margins matter these days!)
9-3 overall
2-3 vs. Quad 1
1-0 vs. Quad 2
0-0 vs. Quad 3
6-0 vs. Quad 4
Since I am a visual learner, here is a color code for our upcoming games.
Quad 1
Quad 2
Quad 3
Quad 4
UPCOMING GAMES
at #10 Oregon (Q1)
at #105 Washington (Q2)
vs. #32 Penn State (Q2)
vs. #93 USC (Q3)
at #66 Indiana (Q1)
at #23 Michigan State (Q1)
vs. #13 Maryland (Q1)
vs. #48 Northwestern (Q2)
at #46 Nebraska (Q1)
vs. #25 Ohio State (Q1)
at #91 Rutgers (Q2)
at #154 Minnesota (Q3)
vs. #16 UCLA (Q1)
vs. #23 Michigan State (Q1)
at #33 Wisconsin (Q1)
vs. #3 Duke (New York, NY) [Q1]
vs. #50 Iowa (Q2)
at #17 Michigan (Q1)
vs. #37 Purdue (Q2)
And just a reminder how these rankings work for home, away and neutral site games:
Home: Q1 #1-30, Q2 #31-75, Q3 #76-160, Q4 #161-353
Neutral: Q1 #1-50, Q2 #51-100, Q3 #101-200, Q4 #201-353
Away: Q1 #1-75, Q2 #76-135, Q3 #135-240, Q4 #241-353
So yeah ... a ton of opportunities to build a truly elite resume down the stretch, but also that obviously means it's a tough schedule. One huge advantage for us is that we get some of the worse teams in the league on the road, and we host some of the better teams at home. Obviously we have to stack wins to get a good seed, but simply playing to our potential and avoiding losses to USC and at Minnesota (currently our only Quad 3 games) would set us up really nicely for a run in March. The final stretch is particularly difficult after the road game at Minnesota, so hopefully our guys can continue to gel, build confidence and get better during that first stretch. We NEED to go at least 1-1 this week, though. Cannot drop both on the West Coast!
Thanks for this! And I love color coding! I was willing to pay the troll toll but you saved me some money! Now let's go on the road and gets gasps!I looked at the NET Rankings for the first time in a long time today, and here is our upcoming schedule laid out in how much it could affect our resume.
CURRENT RESUME
#9 in the NET Rankings (moved up from #13 because we beat Chicago State by so much, by the way ... margins matter these days!)
9-3 overall
2-3 vs. Quad 1
1-0 vs. Quad 2
0-0 vs. Quad 3
6-0 vs. Quad 4
Since I am a visual learner, here is a color code for our upcoming games.
Quad 1
Quad 2
Quad 3
Quad 4
UPCOMING GAMES
at #10 Oregon (Q1)
at #105 Washington (Q2)
vs. #32 Penn State (Q2)
vs. #93 USC (Q3)
at #66 Indiana (Q1)
at #23 Michigan State (Q1)
vs. #13 Maryland (Q1)
vs. #48 Northwestern (Q2)
at #46 Nebraska (Q1)
vs. #25 Ohio State (Q1)
at #91 Rutgers (Q2)
at #154 Minnesota (Q3)
vs. #16 UCLA (Q1)
vs. #23 Michigan State (Q1)
at #33 Wisconsin (Q1)
vs. #3 Duke (New York, NY) [Q1]
vs. #50 Iowa (Q2)
at #17 Michigan (Q1)
vs. #37 Purdue (Q2)
And just a reminder how these rankings work for home, away and neutral site games:
Home: Q1 #1-30, Q2 #31-75, Q3 #76-160, Q4 #161-353
Neutral: Q1 #1-50, Q2 #51-100, Q3 #101-200, Q4 #201-353
Away: Q1 #1-75, Q2 #76-135, Q3 #135-240, Q4 #241-353
So yeah ... a ton of opportunities to build a truly elite resume down the stretch, but also that obviously means it's a tough schedule. One huge advantage for us is that we get some of the worse teams in the league on the road, and we host some of the better teams at home. Obviously we have to stack wins to get a good seed, but simply playing to our potential and avoiding losses to USC and at Minnesota (currently our only Quad 3 games) would set us up really nicely for a run in March. The final stretch is particularly difficult after the road game at Minnesota, so hopefully our guys can continue to gel, build confidence and get better during that first stretch. We NEED to go at least 1-1 this week, though. Cannot drop both on the West Coast!
Hear that Loron Black is along to pass out straps as needed
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
- Status