I'm skeptical right now since another insider said two players have already told the staff they're transferring after the season (although if one is Booth, NBD). I've heard Dame Sarr is a big wait-and-see guy right now. Nothing set in stone there. And in this NIL era, I'll be shocked if Illinois doesn't lose at least 4-5 players, maybe more. Gotta find *some* consistency with this roster somehow.
Illini Basketball 2024-2025
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Exactly, and running us off the 3 point line.
Oh it will. Should retain a good amount of guys this offseason along with adding a couple of studs. Shooting and an elite athlete are the two main priorities along with a ball handler to replace KJ. Already have the elite athlete in the fold just a matter of when it's announced
We have completed 9 B1G league games this season. I thought KJ missed one (full) game with injury and then got only 8 minutes against MSU. That doesn't readily translate to getting only 54% of game minutes in B1G play. I must have forgotten some other issues.
He missed 2 games and essentially a 3rd against MSU. Plus he sat a lot in big wins against Indiana and Oregon. I see he has played 57% of conference minutes.
This is great news. After Riley though I’m Weary about any freshman Athlete that we might get good news on soon. You just don’t know with Freshman. Hope we can do a bit better in the portal for next year and retain White, Boswell, Ivisic, and DGL. Would love to have Riley, Morez, Rogers, and Humrichous back too for continuity.
I'd lean no on Ty and Ben, depending on what's available/attainable via the portal. Replace them with consistently good outside shooters and athleticism.
It's not news. It's conjecture.
Watching some other games, Orange Krush has a ways to go.
Learning that BU has called the League Office (probably on more than one occasion), I am assuming this is routine by most coaches? Anyone in the know?
I got to spend some time with a guy who works in the Big Ten office. He shared some very interesting information with me and one of the topics we discussed was coaches who frequently call and complain after the games. There are certain coaches who they hear from a lot and he mentioned one coach in particular who pretty much calls and complains after every game. He laughed about it because he said they all know they are going to hear from him after every game.
I am not sure that is 100 percent true
Look at our recent loses
USC KJ was out
MSU KJ got into foul trouble and Tomi was sick. We still played a high level game
MD I think the whole team was still feeling the affects of the flu
Our 3 point shooting percentage combined with offensive rebounds and FT determines a lot
MD 21% (75% FT)
MSU 20% (63% FT)
USC 22% (90% FT)
Tennessee 17% (83% FT)
NW 26% (63% FT)
Bama 33% (54% FT)
Next few games will tell the true colors of the team
I understand your point around the sickness for MD and tend to agree, but having one player out shouldn’t torpedo a team that’s around the top 10 in the Net and KenPom. We shouldn’t lose by the widest margin at home since 2018 without Tomi. We gave up 62 points in the paint. That layup line was almost enough to beat us. We also never should’ve lost to USC or MSU; weren’t sick for those games outside of TI for the latter.
To be clear, the scouting report is to pressure the ball all the way around the 3 point line. We’re now tied for 3rd lowest 3pt % in the B1G. Then, attack KJ on D early and often in an attempt to get him in foul trouble, and off the court. Get the ball in Kylan’s hands as the primary ball handler. We don’t have a strong post game to lean on and by pressuring the perimeter and forcing Boswell to drive causes a lot of missed layups and turnovers. It also wears Bam down on D where he was shutting down opposing guards earlier this year. Didn’t happen in those loses. And of course, attack Ben in the post and pressure us down low when TI is out. Morez is strong but he lacks experience, fouls a lot, and isn’t 7’1”.
Hope we can get healthy and figure out ways to mitigate these issues. At the top of the list is keeping KJ and Tomi on the court and out of foul trouble.
Call me overly sympathetic, I just don't get the "sky is falling" narrative given the circumstances. Damn near our entire team is sick, and for the entire past month (outside of IU), we haven't had 1 of our 2 best players. Yes they looked lethargic and disinterested, but can you blame them?? None of you have ever either a) ever even had the flu to the extent or b) even come close within the realm of being tasked to play a game with it. Just because some of the guys that weren't on the injured report doesn't mean they couldn't be sick, and... when everyone is sick and all, it must take the mojo and juice out of you.
predictions for the rest of the year:
predictions for the rest of the year:
| Northwestern | 2:00pm BTN | W |
| Thu, Jan 30 | at Nebraska | W |
| Sun, Feb 2 | Ohio State | L (11am) |
| Wed, Feb 5 | at Rutgers | W |
| Sat, Feb 8 | at Minnesota | W |
| Tue, Feb 11 | UCLA | W |
| Sat, Feb 15 | Michigan State | L |
| Tue, Feb 18 | at Wisconsin | L |
| Sat, Feb 22 | Duke (New York) | L |
| Tue, Feb 25 | Iowa | W |
| Sun, Mar 2 | at Michigan | W |
| Fri, Mar 7 | Purdue | W |
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Bigtex
- DFW
Team true colors seem to be 23-25% 3 point shooting percentage
80'sIllini
- Arizona
Those 3 pt shooting percentages are enough of a sample size to conclude we are not a good 3 pt shooting team. Even with our excellent offensive rebounding( although not lately) it's not very likely we are very often gonna beat a good team shooting 3 pointers at our typical rate. We need to get the ball up the court faster for easier shots at the rim on run outs.
You don’t see the sky is falling but you have us losing to Ohio State at home and 3 in a row including to Wisconsin who we don’t lose to. Ok.
I'd let us shoot as many 3's as we want until we start making a few of them
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
It is truly astonishing how little they jump up and down compared to elite student sections. If you want to look chill in front of the girl you kind of like, I’m sure watching the game at Kams would be a blast. I cannot fathom why you’d waste hours to get into a good Krush seat to pretty much stand there.
Orange Krush is as good as anyone in absolutely critical game situations when it’s crunch time … but that is NOWHERE near good enough for a student section of a good program.
Brad, is that you?
I dig it.Depends who shooting
KJ is 38%
Ben 36%
Tomi 35%
Will 32%
Davis 31%
They are the ones who should have green light. The rest of the team is under 30% and should only shoot 3s in the flow of the game and when it is smart. DGL and Boswell force the 3 too much
If you are going to play analytic basketball 1/4 from 3 is not better than a drive to the basket if you move the ball and get an easy shot
Appreciate the info! Fran?
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