Do we not understand the definition of a minutes restriction?
The guy had TWO knee injuries in one season.
The guy had TWO knee injuries in one season.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
USC sixth? But what about their stellar 6th through 10th men???
There’s this large faction of the fanbase that I think will just never really like or see the value of Andrej - and admittedly, it’s such a large number I ask myself if im the one missing something.
I thought he was vital to us last year and vital to us this year.
Seriously? Significantly more likely? There is so much more variance in freshman performance… Jake and Z are proven, high quality high major players. The difference in actual performance of guys ranked 25-150 has a massive amount of variance.
The idea that Zens and Williams could be pushing Morillo shouldn’t even be surprising, let alone a long shot.
I really like Morillo and I think there is a scenario he could definitely end up challenging Davis if he can shoot the ball at a good clip while being better on ball and more mobile defensively.
However, yes it's far more likely that Williams or Zen challenge Morillo. Like you mentioned the variance is huge between that area much like with baseball prospects(there is a big gap between 1 and 50, but then there isn't nearly as much separating 50 from 100).
Williams was a top 100 guy before his senior season and then his stock tanked with the academic/maturity issues that were rumored. He got into Illinois and Brad took him though so I'd expect those are behind and you look at him from a pure talent perspective and I think he's still that top 100 guy(even just from a size and athleticism perspective). He has a pretty clear path to playing time if commits on the defensive end.
Zens has been up and down in the rankings and definitely got the Illinois bump but he was Wisconsin Mr basketball and the best player on a team that included Kager Knueppel(ranked 24th in the 27 class).
Agree. And we really don't need any of them to be B1G All Freshman caliber or anything close to it. Just do one thing really well. Lock down D or crash the glass or stand in the corner and make threes a la Jake Davis.. What was his ranking again?
I was talking about TSJ and Frank Williams, not Wagler.
Really feels like a Wagler influenced take, and not much else.
If one guy’s a top 50 recruit (Morillo), while another guy is rated 100-150 spots LOWER (Zens or Williams), then it’s generally a certainty which player has the larger impact freshman season.
Highly doubtful it’s Morillo getting pushed.
Morillo is the 51st ranked prospect.
Zens is 148.
Williams is 204.
Brown is 213
The difference is not “50 from 100.” It’s 50 to 150 and 50 to 200.
Way too much overthinking going on here,
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The discussion was “best performance until Wagler.”
Not “better than Wagler.”
What do we think of this team's Defensive ceiling? T-Rank has us 17th in predicted Expected Defensive Efficiency (4th in Big Ten). The Ivisic twins give a great interior presence, but I think there are some questions about how to stop penetrating guards. This is (potentially) a big growth area for Andrej Stojakovic I think (likely the area that kept him for going to the NBA this year), who will likely be tasked with a bigger role here.
Ben Humrichous redux?
The expectation is it is better than last year. Coleman is pretty far along on that end and Williams has been making a major defensive impact as well. They expect Andrej and Z to become a little more consistent in year two, and Mirk should hold up better considering the type of shape he's now in.
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LOL. Too much overthinking? How about just a little bit of thinking?
Generally a certainty? That's just laughable. While Wagler is a huge outlier, there are a large number of guys in the 50 - 150 range that outperform top 50 guys every year.
That’s weird…I was just told that Williams can’t play because he’s a 200+ ranked recruit.
He is a top 100 talent that had some maturing off the court to do.That’s weird…I was just told that Williams can’t play because he’s a 200+ ranked recruit.
He can play, but as the 9th man it's going to be a 5-10 minute role.That’s weird…I was just told that Williams can’t play because he’s a 200+ ranked recruit.
He won't play over Morillo, which was the point.
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When's the last time we landed a top 50 recruit, but they were outplayed by another freshman who was ranked outside the top 200? (even Wagler doesn't qualify here because we had no top 50 players in the class -- though yes, he was spectacular and clearly a unicorn)
I don't think the point is invalid.
Not sure about us, but across the country it's common. But is the bar 200 or 150?
We lost our top 2 defensive players in Humrichous and Boswell.
In the backcourt, going from Keaton and Boswell TO Vaaks and Coleman. That's a worse defensive pairing.
In all likelihood, we won't be better on defense because the personnel got worse.
Well let’s see… Booth was top 50 RSCI and was behind everyone, and he was a soph. Year prior Hansberry was top 50 RSCI and also was behind pretty much everyone. And we can’t forget top 50 RSCI Omar Payne.
I get that generally a top 50 kid is going to get tick, but saying it’s an absolute certainty is silly.
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With all due respect (and I seriously mean that, not being a wise a$$), but you've been dying on the 9th man hill for months. Of ALL of the things to really think about and stew over, that really shouldn't be it. That will work itself out. There are SO MANY factors that go into cracking that part of the rotation and most of it is defense related. Who can come off the bench and hold the fort down for 5 minutes a game. There is where the value is.
Now, injuries are something that can/will take any team out. We were bit by the bug significantly last year, starting with Ty in the summer. Then, Drej, Boswell, Z(nose) and Tomi last year. The year before we couldn't field a team for multiple games because of the flu running through the team and Tomi's mono. If Drej, Mirk, Tomi, Vaaks, etc go down, we have a problem on our hands that no 9th man is going to fix.
Another guy to focus on would be Coleman. We have him marked down as a major contributor despite not playing one second of college ball. Can he play defense at the college level? I have no clue, but what we all know is that Brad values that end of the floor to the point where you will not get off the bench if there's a crack. That's a legit concern.
There will be plenty of competition on the back end of the roster for a contributor to evolve. That's just how this works, especially given players transferring because they literally don't want that role. They don't want to take the time needed to develop. They want to play, thus the Lee departure. What you're looking for, those type of guys generally don't want for themselves and if they are ok with it, it's for one year and year 2 had better result in a significantly larger role.
The 9th man focus has been WAY too over thought. There are 10 things that would sidetrack this team before that concern would factor into the equation.
Depends on who you're saying will play over Morillo.
If it's Brown or Williams, then the bar is sub 200.
If its Zens, then the bar is 100-150.
If he's athletically superior (I have no clue), if he's a willing rebounder(no clue) and if he's ready to go balls to the wall on that end of the floor..... he'll get minutes with the athleticism being the differentiator. You can't teach that stuff. Despite being awful offensively, Rodgers started on an Elite 8 team because of those characteristics.