For this year but they are pursuing both of Bowman and Pettigrew right now who arent huge.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Have you actually watched him? He most definitely can create off the dribble - he's not that different than our last 2 PGs in that regard. Breaking a press by himself is not his forte, but with the way our team passes, I think we'll be alright with that.
While there are tendencies with height vs position, it's not the defining factor. A 6'6 kid can play PF if he has the skills and a 6'7 kid can play PG if he has the skills.
The biggest concern by far with Vaaks is defense.
You clearly haven’t watched him, as he can do all those things.
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Neither are small. Both at least 6”3 and probably 6”4, just like Coleman.
An example of small guard would be Jaxson Davis.
I don’t think it’s crazy to think Coleman could be better than Keaton on defense - especially considering the energy burden put on Keaton offensively.
Boswell versus Vaaks sure - but Vaaks is bigger and that’s the style we want.
Mirk should take a jump defensively
Andrej did take a jump.
Wagler was a good defender. He was a net positive on that end.
Vaaks was the worst defender on the one of the worst defenses in P5.
…..
A lot has been made about Providence being “dysfunctional,” but they were actually the 32nd best offense and 2nd best offense in the Big East. That’s definitely good enough to make the tournament.
It’s defensively where they were bad (170th).
They also didn’t rebound well, 193rd in Opp. OREB%.
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It’s not Coleman and Keaton. It’s Coleman and Boswell.
It’s Vaaks and Keaton.
Vaaks is PG. Coleman is SG.
But regardless of positions, we’re judging the unit as a whole. This year’s backcourt tandem is definitely worse defensively.
But you listed both Petrovic and Lee as small guards that they are done recruiting.
Petrovic was listed at 6'3(though he was slender) and Brandon Lee was listed at 6'4.
I think from what we have seen from Brad in recent years. He wants like one 6'3ish guard surrounded by a ton of height.
Though if you look at rosters for this year it seems like a bunch of teams are trying to corner the positional size market, so maybe the pivot will be to get a couple talented smaller guards that end up being cheaper.
Providence was really talented on offense, the trio of Vaaks/Edwards/Sellers combined for 50 ppg on nearly 60 TS%
However, they were most certainly dysfunctional defensively and had no rim protection behind them having one player taller than 6-8
Finished 15-18 overall and 7-13 in a pretty blah conference
I know he was horrid defensively but I'm hoping some combination of Fletch, coaching and being more engaged on a better team will help (a lot like watching Andrej's film last offseason: he made some defensive plays in some clips that show me he has potential on that end)
Vaaks is 6'7" wing type player. He is not a traditional ballhandler in the way you'd expect, where they can create off the dribble and break pressure off the dribble. Expecting SF's to become your ballhandlers is a recipe for disaster. As of now, it's Coleman.
How I think things will unfold defensively, is there will be 1 or 2 games we lose where a team shoots out-of-their-minds from 3pt (examples include our homes loss to Nebraska; Michigan’s home loss to Wisconsin).
Everyone will proceed to call the team soft, no effort, etc.
But aside from those 1 or 2 games, we will look solid because the size gives us a very high floor. We were the tallest team in the country last year, and even taller this year. Scoring at the rim will not be easy.
There will be a handful of games where teams just aren’t able to handle that size, and the defense looks exceptional (Houston, Missouri, USC, etc).
Everyone will proceed to call the team soft, no effort, etc.
But aside from those 1 or 2 games, we will look solid because the size gives us a very high floor. We were the tallest team in the country last year, and even taller this year. Scoring at the rim will not be easy.
There will be a handful of games where teams just aren’t able to handle that size, and the defense looks exceptional (Houston, Missouri, USC, etc).