I am a season ticket holder but not a big donor and I was able to buy tickets through the Illinois ticket office for the United Center Alabama game last year. I assume I will be able to buy tickets to special games this year. My only concern is the Duke game because this is a home game for them so I do not think tickets will be available.
Detached retinas.
Dan posted this at the beginning of this thread for last year releases:
give us one more blue blod!
Mirkovic:
I actually watched most of his games at Providence last season, and while I don't want to argue that he's even close to being a plus defender, the team's schemes on both sides of the court were questionable to say the least. And I also agree with the criticism that his leash was way too long on defense, but this is sort of explained by the extent to which the offense relied on his involvement as both a distributor and a scorer. It'll be a different story next season under a structured gameplan employed at Illinois, although I would be certain that he won't turn into a lockdown defender. Still, in the interview, he said that over the summer, the focus is on his weaker characteristics and physical conditioning, which he already attested by confirming the increase in muscle mass. I think after having adapted to the NCAA style of play last season and seeing where he can improve, he won't be such a liability as predicted by some commentators. I'm so damn excited to see how the season unfolds next year - Go Illini!So freaking cool. Thank you. He will be flying high this year with our not so Flying fighting Illini. You should have asked him about playing defense.
I think not seeing Coleman as a top 20 is just wishful thinking at this point. We have been developing guards at a high rate and getting them to the league, especially top ranked guys. I expect the same to happen with Coleman.
Thanks I really want to go to m the Duke game so fingers crossed
Hi Illini fans, an Estonian member here. Thought I’d share some excerpts from Stefan Vaaks’ interview with our media before the national team’s upcoming matches to satisfy post-draft boredom. I’ll skip posting the original link since after a direct translation error and some unintended drama with some Providence fans last year, I figured it’s safer if I just translate the relevant parts myselfD
"I've gained some muscle. At one point, I weighed around 220lbs, atm 215. That's ok, before leaving, they told me to eat a lot"
"His height was measured as 199 cm barefoot. With sneakers, he is 202 cm."
"Vaaks will return to the US on July 10th"
"Before committing to Illinois, I said that I wanted to represent my country's national team. They didn't have anything against it - if that was my wish, it would be respected, they were all for it. And they added that if I found a good offensive motion, I could bring it there."
"I am very happy with the decision, and so far, I can say that the situation is much, much better than in Providence"
"We have six or seven more experienced players and many young players who are fighting for the eighth or ninth place on the team"
"I got along really well with everyone, they're down to earth. Everyone is out there for a common goal - we want to win. Especially after last season, when they reached the Final Four."
Glad to hear Josh seems to be 100% now.
2 years ago Riley and KJ were weak defenders. Tomas got abused in paint and did not block shots. Morez was a foul machine. Ben was not strong or quick. Kylan and Tre(?) were our best defenders.
His ability to drill threes coming off of a high ball screen is truly elite.
Yes, shooting percentage is obviously important, but there’s a giant difference between the type of 3s Jake (as an example) takes and Vaaks takes.
A bit Keaton-esque in that regard. Keaton hit some ridiculous threes last year.
I would guess that that's too high, but in his favor, he'll likely get a lot of playing time. He has no realistic competition to start from day one at SG.
