Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Yeah, you’re off just a little bit. Probably closer to being off by 100 than the other way. An OOB play isn’t within the offense and we all know Illinois OOB plays probably didn’t convert anywhere near that many all season long.
As far as him getting worse in bringing the ball up the court, I sure hope not. The same way Coleman ripped him in the video, that same thing happened against MSU, Minny, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Penn right off the top of my head.
Got it, thanks!
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I live in Houston, so I am well aware of what their MO is. Yes, they did blitz us, but nowhere near their normal rate.
Yes, Houston and other opponents will end up with a guard on him with switches and other PNR defenses. That isn’t what I was talking about with teams guarding him with guards. I was talking about when Mirk brings the ball up the court, he won’t be guarded by guards. If Mirk is our frequent answer to getting our offense started, look for aggressive defenses to pressure him with more than a 4.
Mirk is indeed a playmaker. He has good court vision and can pass. He also turns the ball over at the top of the key when pressured.
While Brad welcomes pressure, it is all good when it works, and we’ve seen it work in the tournament. However, we have also seen when it doesn’t work as well. Mich, Maryland, and MSU didn’t really need guards to cause the problems or ineffectiveness or errors from Mirk.
MSU was the game I noted where he repeatedly picked on your quick handsy Fears to the tune of 18 points 6 assists and 0 turnovers. Odd that you’d use a game where he didn’t even have a single turnover as an example of him not being reliable with the ball.
It doesn’t seem like you’re watching the same games the rest of us are watching. David needs to be a secondary/tertiary ball handler, but to be concerned about that is odd to me because he did that last year and was phenomenal.
Yup, not that complicated. You'd rather have Keaton/Boswell (or Vaaks/Coleman) handle the ball. But it's nice to have a PF like Mirk who can do some things when the D is tight on the main ball handlers. And probably more important than Mirk's handles is his passing - he really sees the court well. Poor man's Jokic.
Fan Since '70
- OBS, Florida
I love Vaaks' game. Distributes, handles, creates his own shots off the bounce, assists and makes his teammates better. Vaaks and Coleman will help take an already potent and deep Illini team up to higher championship level.
4 things that give you a high floor in today’s NBA (guards):
• ability to play on/off ball
• shooting
• play making / decision making
• size
Vaaks has all of it. So did Keaton.
Sorry, but would you describe many bigs as "quicker and handsy defenders."? If not guards, who are you envisioning there to be a regular risk?
He brought up the ball on average a handful of possessions a game last year to give the guards a break & provide a different look. Again, if "blitzed" he's a 6'9 man that will be able to see over most traps and can be trusted to pass out of it into a 4 v 3 situation. Seems...fine?
Oops read his overall fg%. Does that really change the point?
blackdog
- Champaign
We played 8 games against those teams and he had 17 turnovers.....
According to this, it looks like it was Christiaan Bezuidenhout and David Skinns: https://johndeereclassic.com/wp-con...-Wednesday-Pro-Am-Pairings-Tee-Times-2026.pdf
Can you get a freeze frame from the moment the shot clock filps to 19? His back foot is really close
10 seconds would be when the clock flips to 20 seconds.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
If the shot clock doesn't show tenths (does anyone know if ours does except below 5 or 10 or whatever?), then 20 is displayed when there are 20.0-20.999s, and it flips to 19 just after 10s have elapsed.
But it gets more interesting. While the rulebook merely states the offense has 10 seconds, officials were historically incorrectly guided (in the case book) to call the violation when the clock shows 20. This offseason, that guidance is reportedly being changed to 19s. I have no idea if officials had leeway in the past to call it correctly.
Still, a dribbler has to get both feet on the ground in the frontcourt, and I think this frame shows he hadn't done that even at 19, though this would be excusable
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Dr Copejam
- The Rock
We're discussing the only thing standing in the way of us and our rightful national championship this year.
Bad referees.
20 seconds is where it’s a violation, not 19.
You don’t think Vaaks is obviously a superior passer and playmaker than Matthew Mayer?
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Funny enough, that’s being changed this year:
- Officials will call 10-second backcourt violations when the shot clock reaches 19 seconds, rather than 20. This change better aligns with shot clocks that measure tenths of a second and improves accuracy in administering the rule.
Men’s basketball rules committees discuss state of the game - NCAA.org
The Division I Men's Basketball Rules Subcommittee and the Division II and Division III Men's Basketball Rules Committee this week met virtually and discussed ways
www.ncaa.org
Another Illini rule change.
Yes? If he shot 40% from 3pt, as you implied:
He’d be averaging 17.1pts instead of 15.8 (yes, that’s a huge difference). It would also mean 3.4 threes per game instead of 2.9 — would make him only the 4th power conference player to average 3.4 made threes per game on at least 40% percentage (Sandfort, Milan M, Atwell).
35% on 8.4 attempts means really good / great shooter, but there’s still a few efficiency things to improve on. 40% on 8.4 attempts means you’re in the top 1% of CBB shooters.
Stats inflation like increasing 3pt percentage by 5% changes the picture for any player, but especially for someone like Vaaks who takes so many attempts.
It’s like height at the NBA Draft. Ace Bailey was said to be 6”10 his entire season at Rutgers, but measured in at 6”7 at the combine.
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