Yeah man, if you had those 3 in place of (let’s say) Jake, Ben and Mihailo… that’d still be pretty pretty good as they say
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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Yeah man, if you had those 3 in place of (let’s say) Jake, Ben and Mihailo… that’d still be pretty pretty good as they say
Zvonimir is 4th in the country in block rate
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8th in the country in blocks per foul.
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8th in the country in blocks per foul.
DICKnaggie
- Champaign
Absolutely. Especially the first two.
Riley says hello...
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
As I recall during the first few games this year, there was the "wait and see how things go when the Big Ten season starts". I of couse had that feeling too...things will get tougher and don't expect as much. I like being wrong on this one! Both have continued to get get better as the season has become harder! Loving it!
Tell him I said hello back
Anyone have any idea when Kylan will be back?
I’m hoping we can get him 10ish minutes of run against IU in anticipation of the west coast trip. My guess is Kylan will have some rust and there will be a bit of clunkiness in reincorporating Kylan. Think both west coast games will be tough and would prefer to not go through that clunkiness then, but we will need a fully up to speed and incorporated Kylan for Michigan.
I’m hoping we can get him 10ish minutes of run against IU in anticipation of the west coast trip. My guess is Kylan will have some rust and there will be a bit of clunkiness in reincorporating Kylan. Think both west coast games will be tough and would prefer to not go through that clunkiness then, but we will need a fully up to speed and incorporated Kylan for Michigan.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
Feel like a junior Mirk is gonna be jokic for us
I feel like sophomore Mirk is all we're going to get, but who knows. He is not the most athletic so maybe that limits his draft potential.
I don't know, but I suspect he'll be nowhere near 100% for the rest of the year. He's right-handed and he broke his right hand. That's likely to affect one's ball-handling and shooting for a while after surgery.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
If that’s the case, that means next year is special too.
Believe Brad has said its actually a broken finger.
I'm far more optimistic having broken multiple fingers as a HS soph. Got spun around going up for a layup and ran into the pad behind the basket hard enough I broke 2 fingers on my right (dominant/shooting) hand. Pain was gone after probably 2 weeks, felt numbness for another 2 weeks or so after that, but nothing that I felt hindered me shooting or dribbling. Not only did I get tons better with my off hand, but whatever happened with those fingers allowed me to then be able to palm a basketball. Which was something I could never do prior, like what the heck... did the fingers gain some kind of crooked angle? no clue lol.
Maybe other folks who've had similar injuries could speak to dribbling/shooting. I'm sure "which fingers" matters too.. mine was the two longest (middle and ring).
If I recall correctly, Brad said he broke a finger on his hand..So his rehab will not take as long as if he broke several bones in his hand..
Congratulations Coach Underwood. Thank you on behalf of the fans.
That would seem to be an easier recovery. Really hope we can get him back close to 100% and gradually ease him in. But don't want to take too many minutes from Keaton, Andrej, or Jake because they're all playing well.
MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
It's a real hat tip to Jake and the work he has put in to be able to say that and have it be a reasonable take.
superpower bonus confirmed to kylan! you heard it here first!
Haha well hopefully Kylan is already adept with the off hand at this stage of things and at 6-2 hopefully can palm a basketball
If he comes back and shoots 70% from three then I’ll go ahead and take credit for that though!
MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
Illini are up to #2 overall in the Haslametrics ratings after the NW game. Link His rankings have had the Illini a few spots higher than KP for most of the season.
For those who are unfamiliar, Haslametrics uses a different methodology (explained here for those who are interested) than KenPom, Torvik, etc., so find it interesting to track in addition to the four-factors based ratings systems. The predictive power of his ratings appears are usually comparable/in the pack with the others, though last season (link) he was near the very top. Pretty impressive for engineer with a day job and a hobby.
For those who are unfamiliar, Haslametrics uses a different methodology (explained here for those who are interested) than KenPom, Torvik, etc., so find it interesting to track in addition to the four-factors based ratings systems. The predictive power of his ratings appears are usually comparable/in the pack with the others, though last season (link) he was near the very top. Pretty impressive for engineer with a day job and a hobby.
If we can keep our front court it's going to bode well for portal season. Who wouldn't want to play with these guys? The floor just opens up for guards when you have giants who can play on the perimeter. Very few teams look or play as similarly to an NBA team.
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