Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#376      
mysterio2525
the juiceman cometh said:
And he really showed no recognition of what he was doing. He often looked genuinely bewildered he'd been whistled when you could see, clear as day, that he was jumping into the shooter. He'd always motion that his hands were in the air, every single time, when that wasn't what he was being whistled for.
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I'm sorry but 97% of basketball players are completely dumfounded by any calls made against them. Not just rez.

I do think he started to improve on the fouling but then you hurt. Overall he was way not in great position to not get called for fouls though
 
#377      
WyattEarp
the juiceman cometh said:
And he really showed no recognition of what he was doing. He often looked genuinely bewildered he'd been whistled when you could see, clear as day, that he was jumping into the shooter. He'd always motion that his hands were in the air, every single time, when that wasn't what he was being whistled.
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100%

I would also add, it seems as though, he’s yet to really figure out angles. (He has a hard time getting square with the offense on a drive for instance.)
 
#380      
illinifan1987
Fighter of the Nightman said:
This speaks volumes to how HORRIBLE we were from about 2007 to 2019 (and especially 2014 to 2019) compared to the stretches on either side of that dark age.
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#382      
21ChampaignSt
IlliniKat91 said:
That about sums it up. Imagine where we could be otherwise
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I've always looked at MSU and AZ as prime examples of where we could / should be had we not fallen on hard times.

In 2006, we were pretty even with AZ and MSU even though they both had won natties recently. Then we took divergent paths - they kept humming along and we know the rest.

A couple surprises to me:
- IU four spots ahead of us. They've had a few good years here and there but have been pretty mediocre for 25 years.
- Wisconsin behind us. They only had 2 losing seasons during that time frame while going to 2 final fours.
 
#386      
the juiceman cometh
21ChampaignSt said:
I've always looked at MSU and AZ as prime examples of where we could / should be had we not fallen on hard times.

In 2006, we were pretty even with AZ and MSU even though they both had won natties recently. Then we took divergent paths - they kept humming along and we know the rest.

A couple surprises to me:
- IU four spots ahead of us. They've had a few good years here and there but have been pretty mediocre for 25 years.
- Wisconsin behind us. They only had 2 losing seasons during that time frame while going to 2 final fours.
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I forgot how bad the first few years under Crean were, yikes. His first season they were #209 in Kenpom, then #194 in year 2. We never got quite that bad, but we also never had the occasional good season they had. Just a never-ending parade of mediocrity, which I think is far worse from a fan perspective. So glad we're done with that.
 
#390      
PepeSilvia
If Matt Doherty is completely terrible(or they hire someone else like Larry Brown), Roy Williams stays at Kansas and Self stays in Champaign.

The 04-05 team would've added at least Charlie Villanueva(potentially some more talent too) and I think Self plus Villanueva puts that team over the top for a championship(really didn't even need anything since they should have won without them).

So, say Self wins a championship at Illinois. The next blue blood opening is Kentucky(hired Billy Gillespie). It's possible Selfs leaves for that but coaches that win a national championship school don't tend to leave for another college job(unless they are fired or forced out like Pitino/Smith).

If Self stays then Illinois is probably the best program in the country over the last 25 years.
 
#391      
hoopsfan47
As an Arizona alum who grew up on the hardwoods and fairways of East/Central Illinois, this is mind-boggling to me. Even when the Illini played in Huff Gym, their facilities and program were to be looked at with envy by Arizona fans, not to mention the glorious history of the Illini program even to that point...comparatively.

As an avid basketball fan who likely could have played hoops for either school (but chose another sport), I would attend most games in Bear Down Gym. That facility did not seat as many as the high school gym where I played games for 8 years...not to mention many Saturday morning open gym games, occasionally getting to play on a team with one of the states most successful and legendary coaches...Ernie Eveland. Even during my undergraduate years at Arizona, the Illini played in the new and original Assembly Hall which was quite a marvel at the time... winning more than their share of B1G titles. At that time, I never imagined that Arizona would ever be able to compete with the Illini on the hardwood.

A decade after the AH opened in 1963, Arizona opened the McHale Center, made some good coaching hires, and began to climb into respectability, leaving the WAC conference to join the PAC 10 five years later. Five years after that, they hired Lute Olson and became one of the elite programs over his tenure from 1983-2007. Arguably, they remain so today, a period of 45 years.

My point is that I consider Arizona and the history of its basketball program to be a Johnny come lately, hardly a match for the competitive excellence of the U of I over the 130 years the two schools have co-existed. But, they certainly have an established and (maybe) sustainable excellence in their basketball program in recent years. I say maybe for a good reason. The recent and huge financial loss of millions of dollars from their athletic dept. budget (reportedly as much as 177 million) is a bomb that will be felt for several years. Moving to the BIG 12 conference also has some hardships with which they will deal and suffer in regard to stress of longer travel, though not to the level of some other fellow PAC 12 orphans.

Looking at the two programs today, common sense would see them moving in two different directions over the past decade, though most folks on the outside would maybe see them as equals. I don't.

Supreme leader Josh Whitman and his two money making generals have infused so many good aspects into the athletic dept., not the least of which are revenue streams, that it contrasts to the financial woes with which the Cats leadership is having to deal. The future is bright for the Illini and the B1G while Arizona has many questions and problems to solve. Only time will tell if that gets done, but with the growth of the state and a little hard work by many, the University of Arizona will likely survive quite well and thrive again. Yet one thing I have learned since those days of watching hoops in Bear Down Gym, anything can...and quite likely will....happen.

I never imagined the Cats would ever compete with the Illini on the hardwood, or that the Illini could ever compete with the Cats on the fairway and greens. Is there any poster here over 70 who ever imagined that the Dick Tracy two-way wrist radio of the 50s was anything that would ever exist in their lifetime? The point is that things happen that we never see coming. People with a passion can achieve dreams beyond what anyone would predict. There are far more of those kinds of people than you think...and Josh Whitman is one of them. Sure glad he lives and works in Champaign/Urbana.
 
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#392      
RollChief
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Does KenPom’s formula even include national titles, though?? It’s meant for in-season analytics. Honestly not sure and on my phone so can’t check.
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KenPom's calcs aren't affected by national championships but they are noted on the site.

With that said KenPom's stats are predictive and very highly correlated with success, so whoever wins the championship is almost always in the top 3 on KenPom and is #1 half the time.

UConn's KenPom stats are relatively pedestrian outside of championship years, where you have teams like Duke, UK, KU and UNC pretty consistently in the top 10.
 
#394      
Dan
Unofficial United Center series updates from today's AD Whitman availability-

vs UConn in 2026-2027 season [via]

vs Tennessee in 2027-2028 season [via]


(UC game vs Alabama this season on Nov 19th has previously been officially announced.)
 
#400      
Fighter of the Nightman
The Ghost said:
It's actually not that bad. It's Christmas week. Spend the night, go out and celebrate the victory and head back on the 23rd. Enjoy the early Christmas present from Kylan and the Balkans.
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I feel like this is how they always view this ... people who are going are likely taking the next day (and then the holiday) off work, and they want to avoid having it the day before Christmas Eve. If you go too far before the 20th, it loses its "pre-Christmas" festive feel. This is when it has occurred in recent years:

Sunday 12/22/2024 (18,497 attendance)
Friday 12/22/2023 (18,485 attendance)
Thursday 12/22/2022 (18,452 attendance)
Wednesday 12/22/2021 (14,953 attendance - literally during Mizzou's bowl game)
Saturday 12/21/2019 (15,259 attendance)
Saturday 12/22/2018 (16,397 attendance)
Saturday 12/23/2017 (21,289 attendance)
Wednesday 12/21/2016 (12,409 attendance - all-time low)
Wednesday 12/23/2015 (14,456 attendance)
Saturday 12/20/2014 (20,079 attendance)

So the game was played between December 21 and December 23 in 9 of those 10 years, with the only exception being 2014 on the 20th. It seems pretty clear they care more about it "kicking off the Christmas holiday" than the day of the week.

And while there does seem to be some correlation between Thursday-Sunday and higher attendance, I think it has more to do with how good each team is. You are pretty much guaranteed 9-10K Illini fans and 4-5K Mizzou fans every single year, no matter what. If Illinois is halfway decent, we will get to our 11K half of the tickets easily. If Mizzou is decent, they will sell 7K+ tickets and get us past 18K, and when both teams are good at the same time, you start getting the really big crowds.
 
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