Illini Basketball 2026-2027
DICKnaggie
- Champaign
Great NYT article on the new offense and the coaches are installing it.
This is a cool concept. IMO it speaks mainly to the overwhelming amount of talent we have. You could take any individual guy off our team and still say we can get to the F4. Like if Mirk has a big regression this season, we still have plenty of other guys who could step up.
Compare that to MSU for example. If Fears regressed they would most likely struggle.
Just bought tickets for the UNC game in Nashville!
ILL
ILL
RichardKeenesCousin
Richard Keene's Cousin
I just want everyone to be healthy and win every game, all the way to the very last one. I don't think that is too much to ask.
My bar is much lower. I just want to win the last 6 games.
Fantastic article. If this works, will be great for recruiting - who wouldn’t want to play in this scheme?
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Same here. We have the talent. We have the fire. Just need the breaks at the right time to finish the job.
Really awesome read. It feels like it ties back to what @illini0440 has alluded to this offseason, namely in this post:
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Also as someone else said, injuries happen and no program can “injury-proof” their roster through having guys who could start on another high major team and earn a million dollars in NIL come here to play 7 minutes and earn 150k (or whatever the 9th man makes). Wow, a poster that makes claims...
www.illinoisloyalty.com
I really liked this quote from the article: "During the Civil War, everyone trained at West Point, and it became the bloodiest war in our country’s history because “everyone was doing the same s—.”
It seems like now more than ever, it's critical to be two steps ahead in order to truly compete for a championship, so I appreciate the balls it takes to go out and overhaul the offense, especially in a year when you have so much retention.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I just read it & am reporting that I might be ERECT now.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Who knows if he gets it done but it says a lot that Brad is willing to take this on as a way to get to the mountain top. Not just change for change sake but a way to risk it all for the biggest possible reward.Really awesome read. It feels like it ties back to what @illini0440 has alluded to this offseason, namely in this post:
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Also as someone else said, injuries happen and no program can “injury-proof” their roster through having guys who could start on another high major team and earn a million dollars in NIL come here to play 7 minutes and earn 150k (or whatever the 9th man makes). Wow, a poster that makes claims...
I really liked this quote from the article: "During the Civil War, everyone trained at West Point, and it became the bloodiest war in our country’s history because “everyone was doing the same s—.”
It seems like now more than ever, it's critical to be two steps ahead in order to truly compete for a championship, so I appreciate the balls it takes to go out and overhaul the offense, especially in a year when you have so much retention.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Never underestimate the turnout of a Blue Blood with bandwagon fans in all states, but given how many fans we had there last year and the hype surrounding our team coming into this season ... I have a feeling Nashville will be filled with Illini fans!Just bought tickets for the UNC game in Nashville!
ILL
I'm excited to see how the approach works this year. I like the flexibility of the staff.Really awesome read. It feels like it ties back to what @illini0440 has alluded to this offseason, namely in this post:
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Also as someone else said, injuries happen and no program can “injury-proof” their roster through having guys who could start on another high major team and earn a million dollars in NIL come here to play 7 minutes and earn 150k (or whatever the 9th man makes). Wow, a poster that makes claims...
I really liked this quote from the article: "During the Civil War, everyone trained at West Point, and it became the bloodiest war in our country’s history because “everyone was doing the same s—.”
It seems like now more than ever, it's critical to be two steps ahead in order to truly compete for a championship, so I appreciate the balls it takes to go out and overhaul the offense, especially in a year when you have so much retention.
I'll probably get skewered for saying anything that isn't 100% positive, but this stood out to me: "Underwood embraced a five-out offense a few years ago when behemoth center Kofi Cockburn left for the pros. Cockburn was the classic anchor in the middle who won in the physical Big Ten. But the Big Ten hadn’t won a national championship since 2000, and that’s what Underwood was after. He believed skill, spacing and shooting, preferably with positional size, would win in March."
What about Mara, Clingan, etc (even Florida got ~30 minutes from Chinyelu and Handlogten)? I have nothing against a 5-out offense. I just think it's obvious that traditional big men can still win (though it isn't clear whether Underwood or the author is claiming otherwise).
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
One issue is it just seems there aren't as many of the classic big men as there used to be. They are taught at high school/prep school to play more of the 5 out style. The highly skilled big man that plays a true power inside game has always been a rarity but it is even moreso in the modern game.
Z fits the archetype of all those guys as a shot blocker. On top of that, he's got the ability to knock down shots.
We just haven't seen it fully come together, from a consistentcy standpoint.
Per EvanMiya,
Last year there were 164 players who returned to CBB who shot at least 40% from three the year prior (min 40 attempts). Only 13% of them shot above 40% again the next year, and just 7% matched or improved their percentage from prior.
Last year there were 164 players who returned to CBB who shot at least 40% from three the year prior (min 40 attempts). Only 13% of them shot above 40% again the next year, and just 7% matched or improved their percentage from prior.
It felt like leaving the 2025 season we had the best of both worlds with Tomi. Last season was defined by Keaton and Mirk. But Tomi regressing from someone who looked prime for a year-2 breakout to an above average 5-man was moderately disappointing.
And we had hoped a healthy offseason would provide some tailwinds going into this season. And then he got stuck in Croatia. I hope to eat crow in a few weeks.
But we had a guy averaging 7.7 rebounds as a sophomore. And I understand he probably boxed out to help our guards and Mirk grab some boards last year. But with Mirk out, we need the 2025 Tomi to protect our defensive boards against the likes of TTU, Duke, and UConn. The battle vs. Ngongba and Hines will really define Tomi's progress in the program (or potentially lack thereof).