Well, we do. But we also know that they fill slots. We're not even talking Jakstys.I also think the better conversation to be had is not what the ranking services think of the players (because, let’s be honest, they are lamen compared to a D1 coaching staff), but rather the conversation should be about whether we trust the talent evaluation of our coaching staff.
So… do we, or not?
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Good question when it comes to depth. Because when we had 2 players injured last year Brad sure wouldn't go past a 6 player rotation. Tells you how he felt about scholarships 9-15.I also think the better conversation to be had is not what the ranking services think of the players (because, let’s be honest, they are lamen compared to a D1 coaching staff), but rather the conversation should be about whether we trust the talent evaluation of our coaching staff.
So… do we, or not?
Yep, and that's the key. We only need 1 out of the 3 to be capable of a super minimal role.
In some ways it might be lesser risk than going all in on a 10 point per game transfer from the lower level. If that guy is a bust, then you don't have a 9th man at all. But in our situation, you have 3 chances to find 1 who can be serviceable (as a 9th).
If you just compare USC's 9th man versus Illinois' 9th man (which is basically what this thread has been about), USC wins. But does that really make or break a roster? Probably not.
Sure, maybe dollar store Michigan. Good luck with that
Why would we be talking about Jakstys for #9th man? He’s pretty clearly 3rd string center (emergency big).
So then you don’t trust their talent evaluation. Heck, you’re saying not even Brad believes in it.
I think if you go through and explore game by game you’ll see we did use those 9th and 10th men (Lee, Petrovic) on spots where they were usable. A one point overtime game is not one of those spots. This is pretty common, by the way.
"Vaaks is huge and looking to shoot". Did he have more than one shot in that clip?
Last year Mirk wouldn’t even try that against Fagbemi…..
Last edited:
First Rule of this board - all our recruits are ranked too low.
Second Rule - if you must quote a player's rnaking, cherry pick the most favorable one.
Third - all our guys "could" grow a couple inches. But that will never happen with opposing teams' recruits.
Last edited:
That sums it up perfectly.
If two of the top 8 get hurt, is the coach comfortable enough in the roster to go past a 6 man rotation? Most years the answer has been yes. Last year it was a no. Ideally, you’d hope our 9th man spot is more reliable next year.
We didn’t though. Almost all other years the 9th man plays in 70-80% of games (or more), while playing 5+ minutes per game across those outings.
Last season was different, because Petro and Lee were too unreliable.
Last edited:
Have your composite then:
DGL - #149 in the COMPOSITE, score 0.9361
CoHawk - #167 in the COMPOSITE, score 0.9237
Zens - #146 in the COMPOSITE, score 0.9319
He's ranked slightly higher than DGL was, higher than CoHawk was, and score wise is right in between. In the Composite.
Ehhh
It’s a data point for sure. But…
Lots of factors - Andrej was pulled from warmup lines versus Wisconsin, really no prep/scout time for any backups in that spot, plus it was a quality opponent.
We play a brutal nonconference, so not inflated bench player numbers comparatively to other teams
Brad also likes to juice metrics, he’ll go for blowout wins to pump up the NET.
Petrovic will always be the one we debate, and I just don’t believe it’s ever as black and white as “Brad believed Petro could play and did. Or Brad believed Petro couldn’t play and didn’t.”
Zens was also a MaxPreps All American. If our front court wasn’t so loaded, he’d probably be the likeliest #9thMan.
I'm also going to note something weird going on here with Zens' Composite score:
On 7/7 he was rated 0.9523 which was good for #106 in the class and was much higher than DGA's score. Just three days later his score took a nosedive. Why? It's not entirely clear. ESPN, his lowest rating, hasn't updated since mid-May. 247 did not change their rating on that date, in fact they re-issued him the same score. It's possible Rivals dropped him significantly, but they currently have him as an 89, just one point shy of where 247 had him so I'm doubtful there could have been a big drop there, and if there was, why?
I wondered if there was some kind of tweak to the way this is calculated that resulted in both the big rise in May and later correction just last week, but when I looked at the history for Ethan Brown and Licoln Williams, they were pretty static, both in ranking and rating.
Generally too, I'm just confused about how the Composite score is actually calculated. I've seen some say it's just a simple averaging of scores from 247, Rivals, and ESPN. But all these tiny little increases or deductions you see, .0002 there, .0004 here, don't really make sense to me in that context.
On 7/7 he was rated 0.9523 which was good for #106 in the class and was much higher than DGA's score. Just three days later his score took a nosedive. Why? It's not entirely clear. ESPN, his lowest rating, hasn't updated since mid-May. 247 did not change their rating on that date, in fact they re-issued him the same score. It's possible Rivals dropped him significantly, but they currently have him as an 89, just one point shy of where 247 had him so I'm doubtful there could have been a big drop there, and if there was, why?
I wondered if there was some kind of tweak to the way this is calculated that resulted in both the big rise in May and later correction just last week, but when I looked at the history for Ethan Brown and Licoln Williams, they were pretty static, both in ranking and rating.
Generally too, I'm just confused about how the Composite score is actually calculated. I've seen some say it's just a simple averaging of scores from 247, Rivals, and ESPN. But all these tiny little increases or deductions you see, .0002 there, .0004 here, don't really make sense to me in that context.
Last edited:
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
I've watched this 82 times. seeing Andrej hit some 3s warms the ol' cockles. lots more to like too. can't wait.
anyone got a link to the spycam?
update: 287 times
moar clips, please!
RichardKeenesCousin
Richard Keene's Cousin
Why dont we just use Vaaks as our 9th man? Feels like we would have the best 9th man in the country.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Well duh! Fagbemi’s the most athletic player Brad’s ever coached.
They were about as reliable as any of our previous #9thmen: relegated to getting minutes in buy games and blowouts
Couple questions:
1) Did having a 22 year old Euro league MVP candidate and a 4 star top 100 guy give us a reliable #9th man? **
2) Did we also go to a Final Four?
** trick question: you already answered this in your previous post
My point is that while we trust the staff on talent evaluation, we also know that they've recruited guys who aren't up to filling the task of 9th or 10th man. Do they see Brown as only a filler?
Nevertheless, I trust that between those last four guys (I include Morillo) we're going to be fine at 8 and 9.
It doesn’t make or break a roster, but it does mean we aren’t as deep as that team and other top teams in the big ten (especially when the difference is that severe - one’s a boarderline 5 star guy and the other’s barely ranked top 150).
It also means one team is significantly more equipped to handle injuries, while the other isn’t.
I think Lincoln Williams plays meaningful minutes this year. If he brings the defensive intensity and rebounds well, his length and quickness will be a problem for other teams. He's the X factor for me this year given I already think everyone in the top 7 will be great. I also love Morillo, I just don't think what Morillo brings is as much of a need for this team. Next year, I can see Morillo running the point and playing the Vaaks role and being all Big Ten. It will be interesting how the rotation plays out
I think a lot of Petro not living up to the hype had to do with Keaton dominating the available minutes at the only position in which Petrovic could feasibly play. EDIT: Also, Boswell.
Brandon Lee actually got in the game with 12 mins left in the first half of that Wisconsin game everyone keeps referencing (aside: funny we care about one singular game as if Brad is the first coach ever to play 6 guys when two players are out).
When Koa Peat went down for Arizona, 6 players played 93% of the minutes
When Nate Mast went down for Nebraska, 6 players played 95% of the minutes
When Ngongba went down for Duke, 6 players played 94% of the minutes
We had TWO players out, one of them was a last second DNP in warmups (as someone else mentioned).
Last edited:
I mean, there are 15 roster spots. Obviously if you could have spots #9-15 be 9thman quality you do that. Actually, you'd just want spots #1-15 to be NBA lottery picks if you could get whatever you want. But realistically, the end of the roster is going to be guys who will almost certainly not be 9th or 10th in a rotation. That's not a bad evaluation. That's using the end of your roster on a project or someone who's going to be good to have around in scrimmages. I'm sure when Jakstys was recruited there was hope that he could develop into a rotation piece or more. But I don't think anyone was betting the future of the program on it. And I'm giving the staff enough credit to assume theyr'e not taking on too many project pieces to the point they don't have enough guys to play this season. To borrow an old trope, Brad can count.
