Illini Basketball 2026-2027

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#801      
bavanga3
EmeraldCityIllini said:
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.”
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Well for 1, Andrej hurt himself at Michigan St, so the staff should've had been prepared if he had to sit that game out. Shows what they thought of the bench players.
2. Yes they play a difficult schedule, but thats not the point because they were healthy. Its when they are shorthamded or in foul trouble, does Brad trust HIS recruits THAT HE evaluated to step in and do the job. He showed from 9-16, he doesn't.
 
#802      
Second place is 1st loser
Fly Illini Fly! said:
We did about as well as we could've. Vaaks is the best or second best shooter in the portal, with primary initiator ball skills. Could very well be a first rounder.

Coleman is a top 15 recruit, and a five star. He could very well get drafted. Tremendous shooter as well, an insane rebounder for his position, and very good motor. Can definitely be an asset defender.

You can't really critique the personnel and who we brought in, other than just saying "we lost the two guys from last year." (who are both great players, no doubt)
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I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that we did the best we could and I also agree that we can't critique our back court yet. It could be the best in the conference.

He did qualify his comment by adding "at the moment" at the end of his statement. At the moment, it's hard to argue that our guard play is going to be better than MI or MSU. We've seen them in action and they've very good.

His comment regarding Purdue remains moronic. That's being diplomatic.
 
#804      
EmeraldCityIllini
Well for 1, Andrej hurt himself at Michigan St, so the staff should've had been prepared if he had to sit that game out. Shows what they thought of the bench players.
2. Yes they play a difficult schedule, but thats not the point because they were healthy. Its when they are shorthamded or in foul trouble, does Brad trust HIS recruits THAT HE evaluated to step in and do the job. He showed from 9-16, he doesn't.
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DELETE. Ill drop this.

I can tell most everyone is sick of this convo and ill stop giving it air ha.

I love our roster this year. Excited about it all and wouldn't change a thing until i see otherwise.
 
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#805      
Rap47
I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that we did the best we could and I also agree that we can't critique our back court yet. It could be the best in the conference.

He did qualify his comment by adding "at the moment" at the end of his statement. At the moment, it's hard to argue that our guard play is going to be better than MI or MSU. We've seen them in action and they've very good.

His comment regarding Purdue remains moronic. That's being diplomatic.
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I wouldn't want the nut kicker from msu if he came for nothing.
 
#806      
RollChief
Second place is 1st loser said:
The logic is correct, but at the same time Purdue's guard situation destroys the rationale for his top 5.

I don't think that we can completely disregard his comments about our guards. The backcourt is a relative unknown. Our starting guards from last year are holding NBA contracts. If we're going to spring a leak, it's in the backcourt. His point is valid there, but the Purdue take is just awful.
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Agree that we can't completely disregard his comments but at the same time I think the logic is flawed.

You need a good lead guard to be the best team, but I don't think you need the best lead guards to be the best team. There were better lead (potentially best) guards last year for B1G teams than the knowns we had on our roster, yet few credible ranking systems were putting Ohio St ahead of us because of Bruce Thornton.

I think his statement is obtuse, and the reality is you need a great all-around team. Michigan won last year not just because they had Elliot Cadeau, but because they had Elliot Cadeau, who could facilitate to one of the best front-courts in college basketball, along with other complementary pieces. Florida won the year before not just because they had Walter Clayton, but because they had Walter Clayton who could facilitate to one of the best front-courts in college basketball, along with other complementary pieces.

This year, Michigan's frontcourt has taken a step back (still good, but probably not the best in college basketball), they've now lost a big piece in LJ Cason, and they've lost a ton of coaching firepower. Michigan State has the best lead guard in the league, but a giant question mark in their front court (a much larger one then Illinois' guard question mark).

I also agree with MLT that there is a big mental hang-up with jumbo guards and their ability to function as PGs, which led to so many having a hard time labeling guys like Keaton and KJ as PGs.
 
#808      
Battle89
OrangeBlue98 said:
3rd place games are the most useless games in sports.

But they’d draw ratings and money, so it’ll probably happen.
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You'd have more opt-outs than a mid-tier bowl game. And even if they played, most wouldn't (and shouldn't) give a darn. Season's over.
 
#809      
bavanga3
I’d double check that. They played 19 and 18 games, respectively.
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They were relegated to end of game garbage time minutes. No need to double check. Anybody who watched, knows.
 
#811      
mysterio2525
RabidDawgClassic said:
I’m really glad we have coaches now who don’t have to rely on cheesy mnemonic devices or inspirational wall hangings to fire up the team. I shudder at both O.S.K.E.E and Together-n-Toughness (TNT) bracelets. While anecdotal, I’ve found that leaders who rely on those techniques are usually covering up their own leadership insecurities - much like a Stuart Smally “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough” routine.
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I believe the kids now would call that cringe
 
#812      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Any team losing one of its two star players is cooked (as far as being an elite team)

#9th man can’t fix that
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Well, it can’t FIX that, but it definitely can HELP that.

A team like USC that has stacked up on their depth - and essentially has a five star as their 9th man - is a lot better equipped to handle those injuries. The dropoff in quality just isn’t that severe.

Let’s say Illinois loses 2 of their top 8 players. And let’s say USC loses 2 of their top 8 players.

USC playing a 7 man rotation would still have a top 30 guy as their 7th man.

Illinois meanwhile, if they were to play 7, would consist of Lincoln Williams as their 7th man.

One team’s dropoff in talent, after those injuries, is just significantly less severe than the other.
 
#814      
80'sIllini
bavanga3 said:
We actually didn't use them when they were usable though. There were plenty of 20 pt games with 5 minutes left when we stuck with our starters.
I trust Brad's talent evaluation plenty when it comes to starters, but I question how he uses those 9-15 scholarships. He always said they were gold. But now it seems like its more for developmental players instead of vets that can contribute now. Which reduces our depth. We can't expect a Keaton Wagler to emerge every year.
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If there is one thing I'd like BU to do differently this year, relative to the past, is to play the 9-11 th guys 5-8 minutes in games against lower level competition in which we are firmly in control by the second half. Getting at least some PT for those guys may make them more likely to stay for a second year and all our freshmen in this upcoming year have the potential to be really good players down the road. Would hate to see them transfer out after this upcoming season if they don't get in any games other than the last minute of a total blowout.
And if somehow due to injury we need any of those guys during the later half of the season, maybe they would be better prepared to provide a meaningful contribution to winning.
 
#817      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
NarrowJ said:
Any team losing one of its two star players is cooked (as far as being an elite team)

#9th man can’t fix that
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Well, it can’t FIX that, but it definitely can HELP that.

A team like USC that has stacked up on their depth - and essentially has a five star as their 9th man - is a lot better equipped to handle those injuries. The dropoff in quality just isn’t that severe.

Let’s say Illinois loses 2 of their top 8 players. And let’s say USC loses 2 of their top 8 players.

USC playing a 7 man rotation would still have a top 30 guy as their 7th man.

Illinois meanwhile, if they were to play 7, would consist of Lincoln Williams as their 7th man.

One team’s dropoff in talent, after those injuries, is just significantly less severe than the other.
 
#818      
KCJones
Not sure wher3e to put this....but I suspect our staff is doing something like this....perhaps mostI staffs are??

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Basketball box scores only capture 10% of a basketball possession: when a player has the ball in their hands. What about the other 90%? I recently built a demo called The Invisible Game—a basketball tracking intelligence engine that quantifies the unmeasured parts of the sport: the cuts that...
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#819      
lstewart53x3
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Well, it can’t FIX that, but it definitely can HELP that.

A team like USC that has stacked up on their depth - and essentially has a five star as their 9th man - is a lot better equipped to handle those injuries. The dropoff in quality just isn’t that severe.

Let’s say Illinois loses 2 of their top 8 players. And let’s say USC loses 2 of their top 8 players.

USC playing a 7 man rotation would still have a top 30 guy as their 7th man.

Illinois meanwhile, if they were to play 7, would consist of Lincoln Williams as their 7th man.

One team’s dropoff in talent, after those injuries, is just significantly less severe than the other.
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Torvik disagrees with you:

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#820      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Yes, Freshman DGL and Freshman Coleman Hawkins are both good options (for a 9th man).
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The issue is, the guys this year (Williams, Zens, Brown) are ranked much lower than both.
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The 247composite is most reliable. It converges all the the data from rankings industry. Hawkins and DGL are both rated much higher than Zens.
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Well, these statements are unfactual. Zens is ranked higher than both actually.
 
#821      
NarrowJ
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Well, it can’t FIX that, but it definitely can HELP that.

A team like USC that has stacked up on their depth - and essentially has a five star as their 9th man - is a lot better equipped to handle those injuries. The dropoff in quality just isn’t that severe.

Let’s say Illinois loses 2 of their top 8 players. And let’s say USC loses 2 of their top 8 players.

USC playing a 7 man rotation would still have a top 30 guy as their 7th man.

Illinois meanwhile, if they were to play 7, would consist of Lincoln Williams as their 7th man.

One team’s dropoff in talent, after those injuries, is just significantly less severe than the other.
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And then, as we saw in the Arizona/Duke/Nebraska examples of teams under injury duress -- that 7th man barely plays anyway

Its just a lot of mental masturbation to post 6-8x every day about the same scenario, one that's not only highly unlikely to happen, but even on the off chance that it does, is largely a nothing burger anyhow... we lost an OT game vs a decent Wisconsin team while shorthanded (it happens)
 
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#822      
EmeraldCityIllini
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Well, it can’t FIX that, but it definitely can HELP that.

A team like USC that has stacked up on their depth - and essentially has a five star as their 9th man - is a lot better equipped to handle those injuries. The dropoff in quality just isn’t that severe.

Let’s say Illinois loses 2 of their top 8 players. And let’s say USC loses 2 of their top 8 players.

USC playing a 7 man rotation would still have a top 30 guy as their 7th man.

Illinois meanwhile, if they were to play 7, would consist of Lincoln Williams as their 7th man.

One team’s dropoff in talent, after those injuries, is just significantly less severe than the other.
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The drop off is less severe because their starters are nearly as good.

We’re dying to be USC now? Why would I even trust musselman to coach up his 5 star to be as good as who Brad identifies - we had 2 freshmen significantly lower than Arenas in the rankings last year who cleaned his clock.

Since when did this board get so up tight about “well if god forbid mirk and Vaaks get hurt I wanna finish 7th instead of 9th”

Who Cares Jake Gyllenhaal GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
#823      
lstewart53x3
NarrowJ said:
And then, as we saw in the Arizona/Duke/Nebraska examples of teams under injury duress -- that 7th man barely plays anyway

Its just a lot of mental masturbation to post 6-8x every day about the same scenario, one that's not only highly unlikely to happen, but even on the off chance that it does, is largely a nothing burger anyhow... we lost an OT game vs a decent Wisconsin team while shorthanded (it happens)
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He’s been posting about USC’s roster and our need for a 9th man for 2+ months

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#825      
FrankNitty30
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
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.
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USC isn’t as good as Illinois. I know of one person on the planet that thinks differently.
 
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