Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#305      
There probably a lot more Illinois people in Nashville than Tennessee people in Chicago. Illinois should have a good crowd.
Not to mention since it is a weekend game, I can see quite a few Illini fans making the short trip to Nashville. I would consider making the trip, but it would be nearly impossible with a 2-year old and a likely 6-week old.
 
#306      
There are those of us that came to dislike Hamer on our own after watching a horrible defense for the past two years. That might just be me though.
this is a terrible take, i have personally grown to love drop coverage leading to career days from 3pt shooters. its nice to have something to count on
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#307      
eventually Illinois needs to win some of these marquee games. Close losses might be OK for analytics but not for fans.
 
#308      
I like us playing a Rick Barnes led TN team. They played their @$$3$ off against us- it’s good for our players to see what that looks like and learn from it going into the new year.
 
#309      
Laying the blame of some sub-par defensive performances at the feet of an assistant coach is pretty narrowminded, IMO. I highly doubt Brad is rubberstamping anything, and execution has as much to do with the player's physical attributes, attitudes, aptitudes, and health as anything else.

Maybe you don't like the scheme, maybe you don't like the adjustments, but that stuff is on Brad. The fire Brad bandwagon is pretty lonely these days, regardless. If you want to get on board, be my guest.

Fans with no working knowledge of the development of gameplans, or evaluations of the execution of those plans assuming that firing a member of the coaching staff is going to fix it all is just... you can fill in the blank.

If he's staying its because Brad likes him, and isn't putting the blame at his feet. Brad has been right more often than not in his career so far. He certainly has a better idea of what the coaching staff does well and doesn't do well than anyone posting here.
 
#312      
Laying the blame of some sub-par defensive performances at the feet of an assistant coach is pretty narrowminded, IMO. I highly doubt Brad is rubberstamping anything, and execution has as much to do with the player's physical attributes, attitudes, aptitudes, and health as anything else.

Maybe you don't like the scheme, maybe you don't like the adjustments, but that stuff is on Brad. The fire Brad bandwagon is pretty lonely these days, regardless. If you want to get on board, be my guest.

Fans with no working knowledge of the development of gameplans, or evaluations of the execution of those plans assuming that firing a member of the coaching staff is going to fix it all is just... you can fill in the blank.

If he's staying its because Brad likes him, and isn't putting the blame at his feet. Brad has been right more often than not in his career so far. He certainly has a better idea of what the coaching staff does well and doesn't do well than anyone posting here.

Absolutely, and the defensive struggles are way overstated by many

Illinois defended the 3 pretty well last year overall, opponents made on average only 6.7 threes per game vs Illinois (.336 percentage)

The way Illinois employs the drop coverage, we're not leaving guys open for 3s but rather mid-range shots... problem is some teams have guys who can make those... However, I felt we were sort of locked into that drop coverage due to personnel as you said (and we may very well be again this year)

But as so many have also pointed out, you can get to (and win) a F4 with only an 'above average' defense... its been an elite offense that seems to be required to win it all, rather than an elite defense

Also, some criticism is fine when warranted but people say things like hAmEr WeArS LeGgInGs HAHAHAHA and then later want to be taken seriously and I just can't
 
#315      
A number of years ago, a large group of friends went to Nashville for a Saturday Blackhawks-Predators game as part of a long weekend. Our hotel was packed with Blackhawk fans who made the trip. I’d imagine a similar situation for an Illinois game.
 
#316      
hoping SFC becomes a home court advantage again soon.
 
#317      
Absolutely, and the defensive struggles are way overstated by many

Illinois defended the 3 pretty well last year overall, opponents made on average only 6.7 threes per game vs Illinois (.336 percentage)

The way Illinois employs the drop coverage, we're not leaving guys open for 3s but rather mid-range shots... problem is some teams have guys who can make those... However, I felt we were sort of locked into that drop coverage due to personnel as you said (and we may very well be again this year)

But as so many have also pointed out, you can get to (and win) a F4 with only an 'above average' defense... its been an elite offense that seems to be required to win it all, rather than an elite defense

Also, some criticism is fine when warranted but people say things like hAmEr WeArS LeGgInGs HAHAHAHA and then later want to be taken seriously and I just can't
I don't care about the leggings I care about the defenses complete inability to make opposing teams uncomfortable. That isn't a metric but it's pretty obvious just from watching games that other teams basically can get to any spot they want on the court without much resistance.

I don't really think the defensive struggled have been overplayed. They somehow managed to finish 80th per Kenpom with a team that often played Terrence Shannon, Rodgers, Coleman, and Guerrier at the same time. There is no way that team should have been that bad defensively.

This years team finished 40th per Kenpom but they didn't pass the eye test and they basically got shredded anytime they played a good offense(and some mediocre ones).

Alabama(4th best offense per Kenpom) dropped a pretty easy 100. Tennessee was probably the defenses best showing on the year(Tennessee tends to get into rock fight games like that though). Wisconsin(13) and Maryland(23) both torched us. USC(41) and Nebraska(62) routinely got any look they wanted. Kentucky(10) and MSU(25) never seemed to struggle. Duke(1) absolutely embarrassed us and put up 110 without really having to put up much effort.

We beat Purdue(7) but they were getting wide open looks that they just missed which made the difference. Mizzou(8th) wasn't very good when we played them then got really hot for a bit and then fell apart but their offense really wasn't that good when we played them.
 
#320      
People complained because last year we struggled to stop most good teams. Our defense rarely made adjustments. We did not get steals so we had very few fast breaks and easy buckets. If we want to be a top 10 team we will have to improve. Coaching / X&O's is big part of defense. Hopefully it will improve in 2025-6.
Couldn't agree more with you also that defensive lapse at the end of the Tennessee game will haunt my dreams for years to come.whether that falls on Hamer or Brad or all above definitely would love to see some defensive improvement on next year's squad it would raise next year's floor so much
 
#323      
Yep, the same inside that fed folks in February and March that:
-BU was on the hot seat
-JW was forcing BU to remove at least 2 staff members
-All the big donors were pulling their $$ from the program until BU made significant changes pr even removed BU

All which have unequivocally been proven false (current staff still in place, increased NIL spent this offseason, etc.). Does getting a contract extension, and raising the buyout to the 4th highest in college bball sound like a coach who was on a short leash and being micromanaged by JW?
 
#324      
I like the add- clear upgrade in coaching experience from last year and he could turn into a home run if he adds to the player development side and is another voice on the X’s and O’s side.

It’s hard to judge his recruiting given he hasn’t been anywhere with the funds or cache to recruit top talent but every assistant has to start somewhere in developing relationships and he appears to already have a connection with a five star PG, hard not to like this hire
Will he be allowed to recruit off campus?
 
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