Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#177      
blackdog
Second place is 1st loser said:
This. We struggled with teams that were really athletic in the paint. Our guys are tall, but by no means intimidating, which is the earmark of the European game. In the backcourt, dribble drive and dish/kick out has been an issue. Outside of Boswell, it's a complete wait and see if we'll be able the shut the water off consistently.

As we sit here in August, we're going to score a ton, but we're going to give up a ton. I think that's where the Iowa comp comes from.

Not that my opinion matters, but I am not a fan of building through the Baltics. It's not sustainable. You always want to have multiple pipelines and avenues, but it should be a nice mix.

Having Morez and Ty on this roster would have made a HUGE difference.
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The interior and help defense were stressed a lot because Will and KJ had a tough time staying in front of anyone. I think Petrovic and Stojakovic will be an upgrade on that front just from a strength/experience perspective.
 
#178      
HailtotheChief
Second place is 1st loser said:
This. We struggled with teams that were really athletic in the paint. Our guys are tall, but by no means intimidating, which is the earmark of the European game. In the backcourt, dribble drive and dish/kick out has been an issue. Outside of Boswell, it's a complete wait and see if we'll be able the shut the water off consistently.

As we sit here in August, we're going to score a ton, but we're going to give up a ton. I think that's where the Iowa comp comes from.

Not that my opinion matters, but I am not a fan of building through the Baltics. It's not sustainable. You always want to have multiple pipelines and avenues, but it should be a nice mix.

Having Morez and Ty on this roster would have made a HUGE difference.
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I don't think we struggled so much with "athletic" bigs but certainly did with Big physical bangers. Ty and Morez would not fix that issue. Morez at 235lba got pushed around by TKR, Terp bigs, Scum and others. Rez will have to guard our bigger guys next year and I think he will struggle doing so. Ty wouldn't slow those kind of guys down either. Morez got in foul trouble defending big guys. Morez's and Ty's rebounding will likely be missed and especially on the offensive end. I do feel our guys have gotten stronger and added mass. Also, Mirk is about 25lbs heavier than Rez and will be able to bang and hold his ground more effectively than anyone we had next to Tomi last year. Mirk held his own vs Bigs at the Hoop Summit. The rebounding Ty and Rez was great at is a concern but defending big physical bangers in the post should improve with the added mass and strength of Mirk and others have added. I mean I heard Tomi is 265-270 now and Big Z has too that's just huge if true!

We struggled with bangers in the post and stronger 3s that were athletic like Arkansas, Bana, Duke and UK had. Will and Jake didn't match up well with on D. Hopefully Stojackovic will help be an improvement at the 3. Ty could have certainly helped some vs 3s too compared to Will and Jake. I'm not sure he is better at defense then Stojackovic. That is yet to be seen.
 
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#194      
PepeSilvia
Combo said:
I do agree that you can be a really good offensive team without big-time run-jump athletes. The problem is that we weren't a good 3-pt shooting team last year and our addition and likely leading scorer (Stoja) isn't a particularly good 3-pt shooter.

The other problem is you're only talking about half the game. Defensively, having quick, explosive athletes is more important.
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My only disagreement is that I think Stojakovic is a good shooter and can be an effective shooter this year.

His stats don't necessarily show that but he's a genuinely capable 3pt shooter and I think that will show this year.

He shot 82% from the line last year on good volume, will now have more talent around him that gives him more catch and shoot looks vs pulling up off the dribble, he was touted as a great shooter out of high school, and he obviously has the bloodlines(spent his life being taught by a guy who was arguably the best shooter in the NBA at his peak).
 
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#196      
BrownTown
I-L-L 1318 said:
Lot of Wagler…looks like a lot more than just a shooter
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I went in to this off-season thinking I wouldn't have a freshmen to be clamoring over... Thought Lee would be a 7th or 8th man type and Keaton would get garbage time minutes.

Keaton Wagler has me all in. Not saying he should start over Mihailo (yet) but what a revelation he looks to be.
 
#198      
SkyysNotFalling
This has nothing to do with reality but I just got an Austin Hutcherson flashback just from the way him and Keaton sort of look alike, and have similar frames. Along with the hype they’re getting from practice.
 
#199      
PepeSilvia
RollChief said:
Last year’s team was a poor three-point shooting team despite being full of capable shooters, and it’s hard to imagine they won’t be able to sort out those shooting woes this season.
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Maybe but I think last year's shooting woes were largely offensive scheme and shot selection issues. Yeah some guys missed open looks that's just part of basketball but there were way too many bad shots imo. Just the types of contested looks that you can get at nearly any time in a possession.

Why not try to get a better look first and then settle for a contested 3 late in the shot clock if needed?

If you look at other teams that have shot a lot of 3s and been successful their offense looks completely different from what the Illini looked like. For example, Alabama does a fantastic job of moving the ball and creating open looks from 3 while UConn has a ton of success creating those looks with offensive sets. Illinois didn't really do either, their offense looked more like a pickup basketball game.
 
#200      
lstewart53x3
PepeSilvia said:
Maybe but I think last year's shooting woes were largely offensive scheme and shot selection issues. Yeah some guys missed open looks that's just part of basketball but there were way too many bad shots imo. Just the types of contested looks that you can get at nearly any time in a possession.

Why not try to get a better look first and then settle for a contested 3 late in the shot clock if needed?

If you look at other teams that have shot a lot of 3s and been successful their offense looks completely different from what the Illini looked like. For example, Alabama does a fantastic job of moving the ball and creating open looks from 3 while UConn has a ton of success creating those looks with offensive sets. Illinois didn't really do either, their offense looked more like a pickup basketball game.
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Personally, I don’t care all that much how we do in any individual offensive metric, so long as the offense as a whole is efficient. I’d be fine with the 3rd ranked offense in the nation again that shoots 34.1% from 3 like 23-24.

Capable shooters shooting a lot of 3s can be a net positive for the offense as a whole, even if they don’t go in at an elite clip. They space the floor, open driving lanes (increasing 2 point % along with free throw rate), and unclog the lane for offensive rebounding.

Btw, for a staff that doesn’t understand how to put together a good offensive scheme, they sure do seem to churn out a lot of good offenses (3 top 15 offenses in 5 years with 3 different schemes / groups of players).
 
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