I think he's literally the perfect PG for us offensively. Defense is a bit of a concern - counting on the coaches to get him passable on that end.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Really talented. Defense and getting him to play within some type of offensive structure vs launching at will, important.
Would be interesting to see how he'd do against anyone that has a really good POA defender that applies a ton of ball pressure, like a Fears or Demary or Jordan Smith.
Kid is savvy, creative. PC has another kid like that, Meta.
God to give Brad credit, just when you thought he couldn't commit to the Euro model more, he pulls Vaaks out of a hat. Really one of the more unique models CBB has seen. Would have been really interesting to see them against an Arkansas, which is probably the most athletic (although young), team in CBB this year.
Probably a lot of factors. Estonia being the #36 ranked team in FIBA is probably not the least of them. If they had a great chance to do something special in the tournament, it might be a different story.
He has a great chance to something special at Illinois.
Hearing that Vaaks isn't where we need him to be a PG in our offense. He doesn't see the right read yet and passing is a concern. Also not aggressive enough on drives so guys play up in his face which has rattled him. Lots of time to correct, but if the season started today, he would not be running PG.
That being said his 3 ball and mid-range have been incredible.
Probably why he isn't playing for Estonia.
This will be fun.
To be honest, that is the least impressive highlight reel they've released so far - which is likely one reason we haven't heard more buzz around him. I was expecting a lot more P&R plays or him making some of those highlight reel passes we saw some of from him last year. I'm sure it's getting acclimated to a new system, new teammates, but he doesn't look like the guy we want to run our offense through while Mirk is out. It also leads me to believe this will be Mirk's team when he's healthy. His shooting is obviously there, so maybe he does become more of a wing player/shooter and QC initiates more of the offense while Mirk is out, which isn't a bad thing
I'm sure this will be met with patience and little to no panic about what our point guard situation looks like!
I'm sure Brad will get him ready or figure out another solution, he always does.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
that's not ideal, obviously. but it's a process and the good news is that he has a few months to address those things. the mental aspect shouldn't be discounted, as this is stuff that he largely hasn't done/been asked to do up until now
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
knee jerk flashing light: c'mon down!
That explains why Mirkovic was getting primary handler duties. Another reason why his injury sucks.
TBC - he lead Providence in assists last year, while not playing a traditional PG role, he brought the ball up and initiated the offense quite a bit. So, this isn't asking him to do unnatural things for him. But our scheme is different, he's getting used to different players, etc. so it will definitely be an adjustment
Where’s the USC homers to freak out about Vaaks not being a finished product wrapped in a bow, and not needing what practices are for?
Don't want to overreact before we actually see him play in an Illini uniform but this is the most concerning part imo.
The roster doesn't exactly have a bevy of big athletic defenders that should be able to check him very well in practice. Would really worry much about most opponents but maybe some concerns that like the team last year they may struggle to create separation against the teams that are able to match size with the Illini.
Or maybe it means Stojakovic, Coleman, and Williams are looking far better defensively than we may have thought.
blackdog
- Champaign
You named 3 guys who absolutely can be elite perimeter defenders/athletes and all have enough size/length to match up with someone 6'7.
Exactly.
Coleman and Williams are both freshman. Always going to be a question how they translate defensively especially early.
Stojakovic is definitely capable and has good size/length but also isn't overly quick. He's a quality athlete but it's not like he's going to guard like Trent or Damonte.
He’s a better defender than Trent and Damonte.
I think our nostalgia for the guys who brought us back from the brink, and rightfully so, has caused us to not fully grasp just the overall talent level raise.
Damonte was 6’3” guarding power forwards a lot and Trent was excellent for his 6’1” size - but Andrej is a 6’8” wing who had one of the highest vertical jumps at an nba combine, these are not the same worlds.
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Stojakovic is 4 inches taller and longer than Trent or Da'Monte, doesn't need to be as quick to be same quality of defender.
Could reasonably wind up a better defender than both those guys.