The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
The difference in ball knowledge between Mike and the rest of the dudes on The Field of 68 is wild. I could listen to MLT talk hoops all day. The rest? Naw.
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Illini Basketball 2026-2027
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Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I'm not talking a lot of minutes. Especially in the tournament games you could play a guy 2 or 3 minutes each half (situated around the tv timeouts) & get the guy he is subbed in for a solid 15 minutes of actual rest time. The tv timeouts at those tourney games take forever and then some. Take a guy out at like 13:00 minutes. He sits til say 11:00. Within there is the under 12 timeout that takes 4 or so minutes from whistle to restart. Plus some natural game stoppages.
Do that twice a game & you could get significant rest time. And I admit it's a very nebulous point that may only matter a couple times a year. But if it matters it's gonna be in the games at the end of the year.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Finally, our voice of reason. My prayers for MLT content have been answered.
Expecting another brigade Washington Hec Ed Pavilion takeover by Seattle Illini. Can’t wait. Last time was outstanding.
Very mystified / curious who plays most out of Morillo, Davis, and ZI.
We’ve had lots of debates here — I’m very glad “we don’t have a point guard” has not been one of them.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
the key to unlocking the 9th man mystery is cottage cheese
So in a knockout tournament game, you want our best players to get extra rest because TV timeouts already provide them with even more rest than they get in a regular season game. Do I have that about right?
I agree. At first last year, it seemed just like a novelty, but later in the year Brad had them playing together occasionally, and it just allowed us a different style of play and was a lot of fun. I'm sure someone can share the +/- and say it wasn't a good lineup, but it just creates match-up nightmares for everyone, especially because they both can shoot 3's. If there's ever a time that both Ivisics are out, who else can step up with Mirk to guard the paint?
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Rob Dauster: The problem with this Illinois team is they just have a point guard.
Rob Dauster 5 minutes later: Vaaks is so good he wouldn’t even be playing college basketball 5 years ago. He would’ve went straight to the league.
Huh!?
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
It's primarily a regular season thing where I'd like to see a little more depth. Was just pointing out the tournament rest is even longer because of the long tv timeouts.
And yes, I get the concept that a bench guy can kill you at times. But in hindsight we looked tired shooting especially in the elite 8 & final 4 games. A little more depth during the year can make a big difference at the end of the year. Only point I was trying to make. If you use those guys a little more during the year you may be able to ride the best players a little harder if you get deep into March/April.
Yeah, if you get to Detroit you don't worry about going 10 deep in the semifinal but if you did it up to then your key guys have that little bit extra juice to really be leaned on at the end of the season. It's a subtle thing but when you are preseason anywhere from 1 to 5 depending on whose poll it is, you look for every subtle edge that might matter at the end of the season. It can be done with 8 deep but it's a thinner margin. And I'm not expecting those 9 or 10 guys to play much. Just a couple spot minutes as it adds up during the year.
stlrunner
jakeyjakey
- St Louis, MO
I feel like "Huh?" is my response most of the time I get roped into watching a video Dauster is in.
Just peeked in the fridge and the expiration date on my cottage cheese was July 9th so I think this has legs.
Also: I need to clean out the refrigerator when returning from vacation.
Don’t*
…..
Goodman and Rob have been spamming “don’t have a point guard” for months. It’s hysterical.
Just listening to it — so clear as day who the more intelligent voice is.
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German.
Depth isn’t about removing three players. It’s about how many guys can realistically play in Big Ten games.
For MSU and USC, the answer is 9 or 10 with very talented players. For USC their 9th man is a top 30 freshman; for us it’s a sub 100 freshman. Pretty big difference.
The discussion isn’t best team. It’s deepest team. In that regard, MSU and USC are a step in front.
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lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Yes, I meant don’t* have a point guard! My bad ya’ll
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Okay sure, let’s say USC’s 9th guy is better than our 9th guy.
According to the player of the year betting odds:
Our 1st guy is better than their 1st guy.
Our 2nd guy is better than their 2nd guy.
Our 3rd guy is better than their 3rd guy.
Our 4th guy is better than their 4th guy.
In fact, our 3rd guy is projected to be better than their 1st guy.
I wonder which players will have a greater impact on wins. A team’s 4th guy off the bench or their top 4 starters?
Looking forward to this season
You mean between Goodman and Rob? That’s a tough one.
For as long as Goldman’s been doing this. He doesn’t seem to know much. Almost always acts put out and pissed off. If a person looked like the illegitimate offspring of Howdy Doody and Mrs. Potatohead, you’d think he’d try to be a little more jovial.
The fact that he’s buddy-buddy with Ed Cooley tells me all I need to know.
How are you coming up with "realistically play in Big Ten games?" Your use of "very talented" is definitely loose and overstating it IMO.
I'll just speak on MSU, since I've seen their "depth pieces" play a good amount in the U18 Americup, on the same team as one of our guys. After watching them play in 6 games, I would be extremely concerned if we were relying on them to be one of our 7/8/9 depth pieces. If Morillo and 1 or 2 of our depth pieces are 3/4 as good as QC, then I would put them ahead of Taylor or Jervis (especially considering it seems like Morillo did substantially better in the FIBA format, although playing for the Dominican team).
Here is MSU's "very talented" depth piece performances compared to QC, just as a reference:
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