I agree. Offensively, he might be the perfect PG for what we run. Defensively is what worries me.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Wonder who their ninth man will be
I think we need to add a new bingo card entry.
My slight tweak would be David at 15 and Tomi at 11 (there's only so many pts to go around, so probably gotta be a 1 for 1).
So, our assist leader is always our minutes leader:
2026 - Wagler (led team in both)
2025 - KJ (led team in both)
2024 - Domask (led team in both)
2023 - Coleman (led team in both)
2022 - Trent (led team in both)
2021 - Ayo (led team in both)
2020 - Ayo (led team in both)
2019 - Ayo (led team in both)
2018 - Trent led team in minutes but had 3.1 assists; 0.1 shy of TeJohn Lucas who had 3.2
Stefan Vaaks your table is ready.
2026 - Wagler (led team in both)
2025 - KJ (led team in both)
2024 - Domask (led team in both)
2023 - Coleman (led team in both)
2022 - Trent (led team in both)
2021 - Ayo (led team in both)
2020 - Ayo (led team in both)
2019 - Ayo (led team in both)
2018 - Trent led team in minutes but had 3.1 assists; 0.1 shy of TeJohn Lucas who had 3.2
Stefan Vaaks your table is ready.
Coleman is the PG, not Vaaks.
Not sure Andrej will have the ball in his hands enough for 17/game. I wouldnt be surprised if Coleman outscored him based on his position and aggressiveness.
Nope, Vaaks is PG.
Did he have the ball in his hands this year? Again, taking his exact ppp rate from this past season, we end up at 17/game (just by upping our pace and his minutes):
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Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
cottage cheese or 9th man (or shoot me now), you decide
Just curious... what would be Mirk's points with that same criteria?
Last they played (2024) it was Morez Johnson Jr
USA - FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 | FIBA Basketball Events
USA - All leaders, participating players & roster, game results and stats from FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024
maybe that'll move him out of the house.
Mirk averaged 0.276 in 29.5 minutes per game. At 68 team possessions (per 40) and 32 minutes per game:
0.276 x 68 = 18.768 per 40
(18.768 / 40) x 32 = 15.01 points per game
I will say that it's generally unlikely for bigs to play 32min/game (~30 would be more realistic). If Mirk averages 17/game, it likely has to do with significant improvement to his game, rather than just increased volume.
With Andrej, the scoring talent is so readymade. Plus, there's lots of room for that 3pt shot to improve. He just needs to stay healthy (and preferably not have two leg injuries in a season's span).
I don't think we can extrapolate numbers from last year because the whole dynamic of what we had last year changes and roles change. Keaton became the ball dominant player on the roster and it wasn't by a little, it was by a lot. That's what happens with lottery picks. The rise of Wagler's numbers were the demise of other players, most notably Boswell and Andrej. I'm guessing that Drej was supposed to be that guy or at very least, share duties with Kylan.
Drej also for injured, which ultimately resulted him coming off of the bench.
There was a lot of unusual things that occurred last year that nobody planned on.
Does anyone know what Drej's role is going to be? Was he promised that role that Keaton had? If so, his responsibilities change enormously. Does Vaaks and Coleman turn into NBA caliber players and one being the go to guy? Do neither? Does Drej continue the effort we saw on defense on the NCAA Tournament or does it revert?
We, very much including me, have a recency bias with Drej. Without that Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament exhibition, he wouldn't have made it to the combine and the feeling that we absolutely need him to come back wouldn't be the story of the off-season. We would have been looking for an upgrade.
NCAA Tournament Adrej is All Big Ten with honorable mention All America. December, January and February Drej and the frustration with him because of the uneven play and poor decision making will be the result and the discussion with turn to 5 for 5.
Quite frankly, I have never seen Vaaks play for 1 live second, we don't know of the growth of Coleman and the guy that people are leaving out is Tomi. He was very, very poor for a LONG stretch of the season. Some even went in record as saying he was unplayable. Then, the BTT and NCAAT came and he was back. If we get NCAAT Tomi back, the offense will run through him, which again changes everything. Z went on a stretch where he couldn't throw it into the ocean. More people went on record in saying he was unplayable.
We went on a stretch where we lost 4 of 6. It aligned with the injuries and guys coming back.
We can't ignore these things because they can't reoccur for us to get where we all want to be. Nuclear Keaton isn't walking through those doors, so the entire style will be reimagined. When that happens, some thrive, some stay as is and some regress.
It's going to be extremely interesting, especially early. My hope is that Drej isn't automatically assuming the role of the ball dominant player on the roster and he's not getting 19 points on 7 of 22 shooting.
The take away is that extrapolation isn't going to work because it means that someone like Tomi had a bad year. Two years ago, he was the most pivotal guy on the roster and the focus. My guess is that Brad is banking on that resurgence and what that means for shots....who knows.
I defer all 9th man questions to WhereDoWeStandWith9thManStorr
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
clickbait (I clicked):
guess they have gyms in Estonia
guess they have gyms in Estonia
I may have misunderstood it, but one story I read about the NCAA vote in June about age and pro league restrictions said that players for the 2026-27 season could choose to play under current rules and that every player would fall under the new rules the following season.
I would argue it was Domask and Vaaks could be a cross between him and Wagler. Dre is TSJ and Quentin is Ayo with my orange colored glasses. Although Quentin might be a better shooter than Frosh Ayo.
Think any of the starters could be the leading scorer in any particular game. If Tomi is healthy and improves his post game he will be difficult to stop. If a team does a Purdue defense on Vaaks he will light it up. Opposing teams will pick on the current high scorer and another will pick up the slack. All five a score and problem will be defense. Maybe the guy who got the huge raise needs to help the defense.
Givony is right.
This is basically a retread of the same pre-NIL standard that kept Enes Kanter out of NCAA basketball because he received like $30k worth of benefits playing in Turkey which was deemed on excess of "actual and necessary" expenses.
Those disagreeing with him are assuming a lot about intent which the actual wording from the NCAA contradicts.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Nothing too substantive to add, but I honestly think us making the Final Four last year will lead to my least stressful season of watching our Illini I’ve had in years. I was so desperate for us to be relevant again until 2020, and as awesome as this run has been … there seems to have always been one more “legitimacy” checkmark left unchecked that I’ve yearned for. Winning the Big Ten, making the Second Weekend, getting back to the Final Four, etc.
Do I want to cut down the nets? Duh. However, we’ve reached a height that SO many great teams fail to reach. So much pressure is off this program, IMO, at least from my “fan perspective” or whatever. I’m so pumped to enter a season with high expectations and not feel like it’s some make-or-break chance to prove we’re “for real” … whatever doubt there was evaporated with the Final Four run.
Anyway, all that is to say I finally feel like I did as a seventh grader circa 2005 again. We’re a great program with nothing to prove to anyone, and the goal now is just to keep it rolling and achieve even more greatness! Feels great!!!!
Do I want to cut down the nets? Duh. However, we’ve reached a height that SO many great teams fail to reach. So much pressure is off this program, IMO, at least from my “fan perspective” or whatever. I’m so pumped to enter a season with high expectations and not feel like it’s some make-or-break chance to prove we’re “for real” … whatever doubt there was evaporated with the Final Four run.
Anyway, all that is to say I finally feel like I did as a seventh grader circa 2005 again. We’re a great program with nothing to prove to anyone, and the goal now is just to keep it rolling and achieve even more greatness! Feels great!!!!
