Illini Basketball 2026-2027

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#1,126      
NarrowJ
Fly Illini Fly! said:
6"9 or taller players are generally much worse shooters than guards.

Don't let Illinois fool you. They are the exception:

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So we can't expect Mirkovic to shoot well because he's tall?

I'm not sure what the point of him being tall or playing a certain position would be. It's not like if we moved him from PF to C that he'd automatically become a worse shooter, or if we moved him to SF he'd automatically shoot better. Still the same guy.

Knowing bigs generally are worse shooters is common basketball knowledge, but doesn't help us in this particular discussion though.
 
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#1,127      
zentrails
Oracle21 said:
Stojakovic is who he is and he’s played a ton of minutes in his career. I don’t see much growth there. I don’t see why anyone should expect more.
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I don't get this, last year he became arguably our best defensive player seemingly out of nowhere. Just improving a little on that alone would be great, I expect improvement in that area, if he can stay healthy. His offense could use a better 3pt % as well, but the rest is so good that it will be hard from him to play better. Just those two improvements and I think he is a cinch 1st rounder. I expect more though, dude wants the NBA bad and our staff knows how to do that.
 
#1,128      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
NarrowJ said:
So we can't expect Mirkovic to shoot well because he's tall?

I'm not sure what the point of him being tall or playing a certain position would be. It's not like if we moved him from PF to C that he'd automatically become a worse shooter, or if we moved him to SF he'd automatically shoot better. Still the same guy.

Knowing bigs generally are worse shooters is common basketball knowledge, but doesn't help us in this particular discussion though.
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That, but more-so he wasn't known as a shooter before his one season at Illinois. It was the exception season in his basketball career. Is it possible he dramatically improved after arriving on campus? Absolutely.

But just projecting 37.5% to be 40% based off some "Sophomore leap" is fools gold. Especially after we saw Tomi go from 35.7% to 31.3%.

If he's able to maintain that percentage, or be worse but only slightly worse, then that's still a big success.
 
#1,129      
BretMyBeachHouse
I think the arrow is pointing up on Mirkovic. But in terms of shooting I think there's a ton of variability on 3pt percentage. I dont think the development arc for that tracks in the same way it does for most parts of a player's game.
 
#1,130      
skyIdub
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2079338625867620517
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Smells like team spirit.

200w.gif
 
#1,131      
NarrowJ
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
That, but more-so he wasn't known as a shooter before his one season at Illinois. It was the exception season in his basketball career. Is it possible he dramatically improved after arriving on campus? Absolutely.

But just projecting 37.5% to be 40% based off some "Sophomore leap" is fools gold. Especially after we saw Tomi go from 35.7% to 31.3%.

If he's able to maintain that percentage, or be worse but only slightly worse, then that's still a big success.
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Haven't said I expect/project it, just that if he does then I wouldn't fall out of my chair or anything.

The most likely thing this season is Andrej's percentage goes up, and Mirkovic's goes down a bit. But regression in either direction isn't guaranteed either.
 
#1,132      
illiniguy24
Bleedorangeandblue44 said:
This just came through my feed today and am just posting it for any of our younger Illini fans don't know why we hate Indiana

GOD bless you Lou Henson for fighting the good fight all those years. Your efforts are paying off through all these years and especially now with Brad who doesen't take this kind of crap

I have no idea how Illini fans ever took playing against Bobby Knight

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This is so good lol
 
#1,133      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
NarrowJ said:
The most likely thing this season is Andrej's percentage goes up, and Mirkovic's goes down a bit.
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Then that means Stojakovic likely averages more points. Call it 30% for Andrej and 35% for David from 3.

Free throws and Twos will likely be in Stojakovic’s favor. Last year, Andrej averaged 4.4 twos per game compared to Mirk’s 3.2. He also averaged 3.0 free throws per game compared to Mirk’s 2.3. This is, DESPITE Andrej playing 3 less minutes per game (Andrej could play more next year).

Can Mirk lead the team in scoring? Yes. But I’m not sure where the certainty is coming from, considering Andrej played 3 LESS minutes last year, and still averaged more points.

We haven’t even talked about Vaaks, who’s by far the best shooter (and probably has the most usage).
 
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#1,134      
Fly Illini Fly!
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Then that means Stojakovic likely averages more points. Call it 30% for Andrej and 35% for David from 3.

Free throws and Twos will likely be in Stojakovic’s favor. Last year, Andrej averaged 4.4 twos per game compared to Mirk’s 3.2. He also averaged 3.0 free throws per game compared to Mirk’s 2.3. This is, DESPITE Andrej playing 3 less minutes per game (Andrej could play more next year).

Can Mirk lead the team in scoring? Yes. But I’m not sure where the certainty is coming from, considering Andrej played 3 LESS minutes last year, and still averaged more points.

We haven’t even talked about Vaaks, who’s by far the best shooter (and probably has the most usage).
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They’re all great players. You can make an argument for each of them. Offseason buzz is just guessing; nothing to set in stone or get offended about.
 
#1,138      
Fly Illini Fly!
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Then that means Stojakovic likely averages more points. Call it 30% for Andrej and 35% for David from 3.

Free throws and Twos will likely be in Stojakovic’s favor. Last year, Andrej averaged 4.4 twos per game compared to Mirk’s 3.2. He also averaged 3.0 free throws per game compared to Mirk’s 2.3. This is, DESPITE Andrej playing 3 less minutes per game (Andrej could play more next year).

Can Mirk lead the team in scoring? Yes. But I’m not sure where the certainty is coming from, considering Andrej played 3 LESS minutes last year, and still averaged more points.

We haven’t even talked about Vaaks, who’s by far the best shooter (and probably has the most usage).
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NarrowJ said:
No certainty here, I think any of Stoj, Vaaks, Mirk could lead the team in scoring. I would guess there won’t be a wide margin between the 3. If forced to make up numbers I’d go Stoj 17 and Vaaks/Mirk 15 each.
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Fly Illini Fly! said:
Fighting over who will be our leading scorer is prime offseason melodrama lol.
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While we’re at it, points per 100 possessions last season:

Stojakovic — 31.2
Mirkovic — 27.6
Vaaks — 27.8 (on an awful team)

I do think Stojakovic has the leg up here (as of today).

His 3pt% should also increase.
 
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#1,139      
Nohops 73
zentrails said:
I don't get this, last year he became arguably our best defensive player seemingly out of nowhere. Just improving a little on that alone would be great, I expect improvement in that area, if he can stay healthy. His offense could use a better 3pt % as well, but the rest is so good that it will be hard from him to play better. Just those two improvements and I think he is a cinch 1st rounder. I expect more though, dude wants the NBA bad and our staff knows how to do that.
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If Andre reverts to his shooting percentage of his first two years in college (~30%) he will be a bigger offensive weapon. To me, his biggest potential area of offensive improvement will be maintaining court awareness on his drives and finding the open man instead of going 1 on 3 in the paint leading to turnovers. This would really improve his draft stock as well.
 
#1,140      
lstewart53x3
Fly Illini Fly! said:
While we’re at it, points per 100 possessions last season:

Stojakovic — 31.2
Mirkovic — 27.6
Vaaks — 27.8 (on an awful team)

As of preseason, I do think Stojakovic has the leg up here.

His 3pt% should also increase.
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One more note:

Andrej could be the leading scorer, but Mirk could still be the best player. Andrej might average a few more points a game, but I imagine Mirk will average a handful more assists and rebounds per game.
 
#1,142      
Fly Illini Fly!
Nohops 73 said:
If Andre reverts to his shooting percentage of his first two years in college (~30%) he will be a bigger offensive weapon. To me, his biggest potential area of offensive improvement will be maintaining court awareness on his drives and finding the open man instead of going 1 on 3 in the paint leading to turnovers. This would really improve his draft stock as well.
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Two big areas for improvement:

— can’t be a negative AST to TOV guy; 0.8 last year (anything under 1 counts as negative).

— has to become at least a 30% 3pt shooter; 24.4% last year.

If he can do both, on top of what he can do defensively, that’s the best two-way star in the big ten (maybe the country).
 
#1,143      
Fly Illini Fly!
Fly Illini Fly! said:
While we’re at it, points per 100 possessions last season:

Stojakovic — 31.2
Mirkovic — 27.6
Vaaks — 27.8 (on an awful team)

I do think Stojakovic has the leg up here (as of today).

His 3pt% should also increase.
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Stojakovic’s 31.2 points per 100 possessions was the 6th highest in a season with Brad at the helm:

#1 — 2022 Kofi at 40.1
#2 — 2024 TSJ at 38.7
#3 — 2021 Kofi at 36.8
#4 — 2018 Leron Black at 33.9
#5 — 2021 Ayo at 32.2
#5 — 2026 Keaton at 32.2
#6 — 2026 Andrej at 31.2

With a little improvement from 3 next year, he could absolutely enter the 32+ club.

He had one of the better scoring seasons we’ve seen recently; just went unnoticed due to scoring “only” 13.5 per game. Reason for that was just playing 26.3 minutes due to health.
 
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#1,144      
hangdog
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Stojakovic’s 31.2 points per 100 possessions was the 6th highest in a season with Brad at the helm:

#1 — 2022 Kofi at 40.1
#2 — 2024 TSJ at 38.7
#3 — 2021 Kofi at 36.8
#4 — 2018 Leron Black at 33.9
#5 — 2021 Ayo at 32.2
#5 — 2026 Keaton at 32.2
#6 — 2026 Andrej at 31.2

With a little improvement from 3 next year, he could absolutely enter the 32+ club.

He had one of the better scoring seasons we’ve seen recently; just went unnoticed due to scoring “only” 13.5 per game. Reason for that was just playing 26.3 minutes due to health.
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7th
 
#1,145      
Fly Illini Fly!
Stojakovic’s 31.2 points per 100 possessions was the 7th highest in a season with Brad at the helm (and the sixth highest player to accomplish the feat, since Kofi is here twice):

#1 — 2022 Kofi at 40.1
#2 — 2024 TSJ at 38.7
#3 — 2021 Kofi at 36.8
#4 — 2018 Leron Black at 33.9
#5 — 2021 Ayo at 32.2
#5 — 2026 Keaton at 32.2
#7 — 2026 Andrej at 31.2

With a little improvement from 3 next year, he could absolutely enter the 32+ club.

He had one of the better scoring seasons we’ve seen recently; just went unnoticed due to scoring “only” 13.5 per game. Reason for that was playing just 26.3 minutes due to health.
 
#1,146      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Stojakovic’s 31.2 points per 100 possessions was the 6th highest in a season with Brad at the helm:

#1 — 2022 Kofi at 40.1
#2 — 2024 TSJ at 38.7
#3 — 2021 Kofi at 36.8
#4 — 2018 Leron Black at 33.9
#5 — 2021 Ayo at 32.2
#5 — 2026 Keaton at 32.2
#6 — 2026 Andrej at 31.2

With a little improvement from 3 next year, he could absolutely enter the 32+ club.

He had one of the better scoring seasons we’ve seen recently; just went unnoticed due to scoring “only” 13.5 per game. Reason for that was just playing 26.3 minutes due to health.
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I don’t think his lesser minutes was all injury. In games he was healthy, he would rarely get 30 or more minutes.

Next year, he was probably guaranteed more minutes and a bigger role.
 
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#1,147      
jimbo72
If Mirk goes for 14, 8, 5 assist per game he will be drafted in NBA. What will make him high draft and us special, running offense and distributing at 6.9ft.. He is high Iq and motor and I expect him to have Derron year as sophomore, this time we win the Natty! Everyone else contributes in bunches. On different nights. Rebounding travels to every stadium and so does tenacity.
 
#1,149      
Brosky
Stojakovic’s 31.2 points per 100 possessions was the 6th highest in a season with Brad at the helm:

#1 — 2022 Kofi at 40.1
#2 — 2024 TSJ at 38.7
#3 — 2021 Kofi at 36.8
#4 — 2018 Leron Black at 33.9
#5 — 2021 Ayo at 32.2
#5 — 2026 Keaton at 32.2
#6 — 2026 Andrej at 31.2

With a little improvement from 3 next year, he could absolutely enter the 32+ club.

He had one of the better scoring seasons we’ve seen recently; just went unnoticed due to scoring “only” 13.5 per game. Reason for that was just playing 26.3 minutes due to health.
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I like this but I'm embarrassed; I had forgotten all about Black.
I don’t think his lesser minutes was all injury. In games he was healthy, he would rarely get 30 or more minutes.

Next year, he was probably guaranteed more minutes and a bigger role.
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And more $$.
 
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