Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#476      
Fighter of the Nightman
illini0440 said:
The problem with the defense isn’t scheme its communicating better. It’s not hard if you watch games. We have very good possessions when we switch and communicate effectively. Then just stretches where we don’t. I urge all of you to go watch Latulips breakdowns with Werner after the games.
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So serious question, as I am not some Xs and Os guru by any means ... how optimistic are you that we can fix that? As others and I have mentioned, it really does seem like a VERY marginal improvement in our defense can make a world of difference for how far this team can go.
 
#477      
Big Jack
Ryllini said:
I'm disrobing right now thinking about a 38-33 ball game.
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James Van Der Beek Vomit GIF
 
#478      
mysterio2525
Fighter of the Nightman said:
So serious question, as I am not some Xs and Os guru by any means ... how optimistic are you that we can fix that? As others and I have mentioned, it really does seem like a VERY marginal improvement in our defense can make a world of difference for how far this team can go.
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agreed. top 30 defense the goal, top 25 is great, we get into the top 20 in defense with a top 10 offense and watch out!
 
#479      
illini0440
Fighter of the Nightman said:
So serious question, as I am not some Xs and Os guru by any means ... how optimistic are you that we can fix that? As others and I have mentioned, it really does seem like a VERY marginal improvement in our defense can make a world of difference for how far this team can go.
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It’s very correctable. They are all fixable. We’ve seen them do it at a high level this year multiple times.
 
#482      
jjv0004
I-L-L 1318 said:
Which is why there is no need to panic. Spoiler--we were never going undefeated. There are going to be frustrated losses...but when this group is humming, they are a top 10 team. We have not seen the ceiling.
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This is a legitimate question. When will they start humming? How many more games into the season before you think they hit their groove? I understand it's a new roster and things take time.

I am just not convinced that this roster is as great as we were told at the beginning of the year when people were saying this might be Brad's most talented roster. Maybe they are. I really don't know. But, if they are, I would think that would eventually translate to lots of wins and a better ranking than 18 in the country.
 
#483      
Justan opinion
MikeTisdale said:
None of this history matters anymore. We're only a few years into paying players (with things still changing every year), and the Big Ten put a team in the Championship in 2024.

Anecdotally, it was the blue blood schools doing most of the under the table money supported by the shoe companies (and boosters) for basketball (basically the whole SEC and a select few Big 12 and B1G schools for football). And since none of those schools were in the Big Ten (unless we're still counting Indiana), that resulted in those teams making a lot of final fours and the Big Ten not. And most of the "conference" results were skewed by Kentucky, Duke, UNC and Kansas anyway.

But now, everyone is paying and the current conferences barely look like they used too. It's going to eventually be the bigger schools with large alumni bases rising to the top, especially those with good football programs/ in good football conferences to share the money (describes a whole lot of Big Ten schools).
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I don't agree it was mostly blue bloods paying players. Illinois paid for players just like everybody else. I do struggle with the thought that Underwood is under fire. Some want him to do things with this program that have never been done and then get mad when he doesn't accomplish there goals. The big question is who is better than him that will come to Champaign? That list is awfully small for big name, established coaches.
 
#484      
ChiTown
I-L-L 1318 said:
Which is why there is no need to panic . Spoiler--we were never going undefeated. There are going to be frustrated losses...but when this group is humming, they are a top 10 team. We have not seen the ceiling.
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Now when someone tell me not to panic,that’s when I really get panicky.
 
#486      
Indy Illini Fan
the juiceman cometh said:
What even is Hamer doing that you're so upset about?

The thing about Hamer is, he's a resource allocation question. Parts of the staff are very expensive (i.e. OA). I doubt we have the resources to pay 5 assistants top dollar. So we take savings where we can (Hamer, Tyler) so we can pay more for the GAs and OAs of the world. And now with revenue share you have to factor that in as well. Would you rather put another 300k a year into landing another high paid assistant, or into upgrading talent on the court? If you look at other staffs, having a couple younger, lower paid ACs is very common in the era of expanded coaching staffs, and will become even more common with revenue share.
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I’d rather get rid of Hamer and roll that salary into a guy who can actually bring something to the table …

I hope Crocker can get the job done … But if Crocker ain’t getting it done after this year … He can go …

Take the Hamer and Crocker money and go find a guy who can get the job done …

That’s why Brad is paid millions of dollars … If a guy ain’t getting it done … Get rid of him … Don’t do this whole demotion BS and send Hamer to recruit Chicagoland and other areas … It’s ridiculous …

Go pay a guy Hamer’s salary who can coach or can bring in actual dudes and not guys who aren’t Big Ten Caliber because so far that’s all Hamer has recruited …
 
#487      
Indy Illini Fan
NarrowJ said:
Tyler hate is kinda crazy

What does he even make now… $120k? The guy down the hall doing front-end web development makes more than that

Luke Murray, whom tingles everyone’s saliva glands on here, makes $800k total comp

KP offensive rank:
Illinois 2
UConn 19

UConn won titles, Murray’s contract is more than justified, I’m just saying we are getting an absolute steal

Hamer hate on the defensive side, also a little weird… he isn’t running the defense anymore from what I’ve gathered?
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Comparing Luke Murray to Tyler is wild … Luke is one of the best assistants in the sport …

Multiple national championships … Elite recruiter in multiple places …

Tyler has potential … No doubt about that … But long way to go for him to be compared to Murray …
 
#488      
NarrowJ
Indy Illini Fan said:
Comparing Luke Murray to Tyler is wild … Luke is one of the best assistants in the sport …

Multiple national championships … Elite recruiter in multiple places …

Tyler has potential … No doubt about that … But long way to go for him to be compared to Murray …
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Comparing in salary, in no way whatsoever did I claim Tyler had 2 National Titles

Why does Luke have the 19th rated offense and Tyler the 2nd rated offense? Is it because maybe Tyler is actually good at his job and worth the peanuts he's being paid?
 
#489      
Indy Illini Fan
NarrowJ said:
Comparing in salary, in no way whatsoever did I claim Tyler had 2 National Titles

Why does Luke have the 19th rated offense and Tyler the 2nd rated offense? Is it because maybe Tyler is actually good at his job?
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I gotcha … Comparing in salary … I never said Tyler wasn’t good at his job … UConn’s offense will be humming by the end of the year, they’ve dealt with a lot of injuries … UConn also has played way tougher competition than we have …

The one main reason UConn is better than us … They go get DAWGS … I said on this board in portal season … We need a guy like Malachi Smith … Go get him … Instead we bring in Petro which cost us even more money …

Hurley has figured it out … Mix the retention, elite HS kids, 1 or 2 of the right international kids, and absolute DAWGs who come from winning programs in the portal … That’s what works … I’d like to see us get more towards that model …

Comparing in salary, do you think we are getting Luke Murray type value from O ? Not saying we are or we aren’t … Just a genuine question …
 
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#490      
NarrowJ
Indy Illini Fan said:
I never said Tyler wasn’t good at his job … UConn’s offense will be humming by the end of the year, they’ve dealt with a lot of injuries …

The one main reason UConn is better than us … They go get DAWGS … I said on this board in portal season … We need a guy like Malachi Smith … Go get him … Instead we bring in Petro which cost us even more money …

Hurley has figured it out … Mix the retention, elite HS kids and absolute DAWGs who come from winning programs in the portal … That’s what works …
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We've also dealt with a lot of injuries... if you give one guy some rope, its only fair the other guy gets it too

Have literally no interest in the rest of your post, because duh of course Hurley is a freaking amazing coach (never said anything bad about the guy... other than he's an a-hole)
 
#491      
Fighter of the Nightman
One thing I will say positively about this year's team is we are taking care of the ball a lot better. Looking at last year's results by number of turnovers...

17 ... L 74-80 in OT at Nebraska
17 ... L 65-88 vs. #11 Maryland (BTT - Indianapolis, IN)
16 ... L 70-91 vs. Maryland
16 ... W 66-54 vs. Oakland
16 ... W 80-77 vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
15 ... L 72-82 vs. USC
14 ... L 74-95 at #11 Wisconsin
14 ... L 75-84 vs. #18 Kentucky (NCAAT Second Round - Milwaukee, WI)
14 ... W 86-73 vs. Xavier (NCAAT First Round - Milwaukee, WI)
14 ... W 91-52 vs. Penn State
14 ... W 83-78 vs. UCLA
13 ... L 73-82 at Rutgers
13 ... W 112-67 vs. Eastern Illinois
13 ... W 81-77 at Washington
13 ... W 86-80 vs. #20 Wisconsin
12 ... L 87-100 vs. #8 Alabama (Birmingham, AL)
12 ... W 83-74 vs. Northwestern
----- 11.4 TO per Game Average -----
11 ... L 65-79 vs. #11 Michigan State
11 ... L 64-66 vs. #1 Tennessee
11 ... W 87-79 vs. Ohio State
10 ... L 78-80 at #12 Michigan State
10 ... W 117-64 vs. Chicago State
10 ... W 109-94 vs. Iowa (BTT - Indianapolis, IN)
10 ... W 90-77 vs. #19 Arkansas (Kansas City, MO)
10 ... W 109-77 at #9 Oregon
9 ... L 67-110 vs. #3 Duke (New York, NY)
9 ... L 66-70 in OT at Northwestern
9 ... W 87-40 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
9 ... W 93-73 at #15 Michigan
8 ... W 92-34 vs. Little Rock
8 ... W 88-80 vs. #18 Purdue
6 ... W 95-74 at Minnesota
6 ... W 94-69 at Indiana
5 ... W 90-58 vs. SIU Edwardsville
5 ... W 81-61 vs. Iowa

... and compare it to this year's results...

13 ... W 81-77 vs. #11 Texas Tech
12 ... W 113-55 vs. Jackson State
12 ... W 98-58 vs. LIU
10 ... L 86-90 vs. #11 Alabama (Chicago, IL)
10 ... W 87-73 vs. UTRGV
10 ... L 61-74 vs. #5 UConn (New York, NY)
----- 9.4 TO per Game Average -----
9 ... W 88-80 at Ohio State
8 ... L 80-83 vs. #23 Nebraska
7 ... W 84-65 vs. Colgate
6 ... W 113-70 vs. FGCU
6 ... W 75-62 vs. #13 Tennessee (Nashville, TN)

We have at least so far avoided turnovers being too awful. It's also encouraging to see a positive trend taking shape when we only look at games vs. Power Conference teams in chronological order.

Nov. 7 | 13 ... W 81-77 vs. #11 Texas Tech
Nov. 19 |10 ... L 86-90 vs. #11 Alabama (Chicago, IL)
Nov. 28 |10 ... L 61-74 vs. #5 UConn (New York, NY)
Dec. 6 | 6 ... W 75-62 vs. #13 Tennessee (Nashville, TN)
Dec. 9 | 9 ... W 88-80 at Ohio State
Dec. 13 | 8 ... L 80-83 vs. #23 Nebraska

We obviously have things we need to work on, but I can honestly say that watching last year's squad was one of my more frustrating experiences as a fan, and the constant silly turnovers (specifically, as much as I hate to say it, from KJ) was a huge reason why. If we keep taking care of the ball and try to step it up on defense, the ceiling is still very high for this group.
 
#492      
Fighter of the Nightman
One more thought is that I want to give credit where it's due on the 3-point shooting! We shot just 20.7% from three vs. UConn, and that was on 29 attempts. I think a lot of us (myself included!) had a genuine worry that we were going to have a repeat of last year on our hands. However, it has been really great to see this team not only start to shoot the three much better but also not go too crazy with the number of attempts. Since the beginning of the year, our 3-point attempts have actually plateaued or decreased since the Alabama loss, while our percentage seems to be going up ... EXACTLY what you want to see to ease our concerns!

This is in chronological order vs. Power Conference competition:

31.8% on 22 attempts vs. Texas Tech
34.4% on 32 attempts vs. Alabama in Chicago
20.9% on 29 attempts vs. UConn at MSG
39.3% on 28 attempts vs. Tennessee in Nashville
40.7% on 27 attempts at Ohio State
34.5% on 29 attempts vs. Nebraska

Nebraska represented a bit of a regression, but it is still in that "acceptable" category where we are shooting well enough to give ourselves a chance. For a reference to last year, after the absolute beatdown of #9 Oregon, we shot under that 34.5% from three in 15 of our final 21 games. :sick:
 
#493      
CoalCity
Some people, despite spending many hours in bars all acroos the state, have never been punched in the mouth because they wouldn't STFU
 
#494      
NarrowJ
Indy Illini Fan said:
I gotcha … Comparing in salary … I never said Tyler wasn’t good at his job … UConn’s offense will be humming by the end of the year, they’ve dealt with a lot of injuries … UConn also has played way tougher competition than we have …

The one main reason UConn is better than us … They go get DAWGS … I said on this board in portal season … We need a guy like Malachi Smith … Go get him … Instead we bring in Petro which cost us even more money …

Hurley has figured it out … Mix the retention, elite HS kids, 1 or 2 of the right international kids, and absolute DAWGs who come from winning programs in the portal … That’s what works … I’d like to see us get more towards that model …

Comparing in salary, do you think we are getting Luke Murray type value from O ? Not saying we are or we aren’t … Just a genuine question …
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Didn't see you edited your post again... anyway the level of competition is already accounted for as that is an opponent-adjusted rating, and I mentioned our injuries as well

I get caught up in these discussions where I make a point and then the other person makes 3 additional points completely unrelated to mine, and I try to hit all of them anyway lol, but anyway, to your question about O, that has to be a bit fat 'no', doesn't it? UConn 2 NCs, Illinois 0
 
#496      
the juiceman cometh
Indy Illini Fan said:
That’s a great question …
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If you all still want to make Hamer the scapegoat for whatever grievances you have, that is fine. I really don't have a dog in this fight. I just think it's kind of a hilarious idea that the only thing preventing us from being an unstoppable force that never loses a home game and consistently goes far in the tournament is that we allocated the approx $200k we have in the budget for our #5 assistant coach on Hamer instead of someone else. If the least important assistant coach is our biggest problem then I really can't find a way to get worked up about the state of things.
 
#497      
Scoregasm
From Sleepers (I know entertainment) via Evan Miya, our most efficient lineup is.....Kylan, Keaton, Jake, Mirk, Z. This line up is considerably more efficient than our starting lineup. Their theory is with Andrej, need to surround him with shooters only.
 
#498      
Illiniforlife
the juiceman cometh said:
If you all still want to make Hamer the scapegoat for whatever grievances you have, that is fine. I really don't have a dog in this fight. I just think it's kind of a hilarious idea that the only thing preventing us from being an unstoppable force that never loses a home game and consistently goes far in the tournament is that we allocated the approx $200k we have in the budget for our #5 assistant coach on Hamer instead of someone else. If the least important assistant coach is our biggest problem then I really can't find a way to get worked up about the state of things.
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No one is making him a scapegoat. The question is more: if he isn’t contributing in a meaningful way to help the team, why keep him instead of bringing in someone who does? Just because he’s Tyler’s friend doesn’t mean he should automatically stay. If you’re running a business and your son’s good friend works for you but doesn’t really add value, would you keep him on staff?
 
#499      
Illiniforlife
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
That's Josh's responsibility to not let that happen. Meanwhile, if it ain't broke why fix it 🤷‍♂️
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I don’t disagree, but everyone will be frustrated in March when we get knocked out in the first or second round and wonder why we can’t get over the hump. @Indy Illini Fan and I are just trying to give a heads-up before it happens, so that when it does—and people are upset about underachieving or not winning big games—you can look back at this conversation for some perspective.
 
#500      
BWBW
Indy Illini Fan said:
The problem isn’t the offense … Tyler needs to branch out on his own … … I think Tyler himself would also benefit a lot from learning from someone else …
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Tyler is good enough. He owes it to himself to leave the nest and learn from others.

If he builds his resume at another stop or two, he may receive consideration when Daddy Brad retires. More likely, he will find another place with his name written all over it.

Just my humble opinion.
 
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