Vaaks seems to play faster than Keaton. And assuming Drej starts, I’d guess we’d creep forward a touch.
Mid 200’s
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Vaaks seems to play faster than Keaton. And assuming Drej starts, I’d guess we’d creep forward a touch.
Mid 200’s
cbbanalytics. The free tier gives you access to stats for one team that you select.
Jake and Andrej played 282 minutes together and we were +16.8 in net rating (vs +22.3 for our entire team avg). Our ORTG was the same as our avg, but our defense was worse.
I mean its just not going to be that big of a deal... we can counter matchups with substitutions just like other teams do.
I think they would consider a guard or a big. It might come down to what things look like in summer workouts. They added Petrovic in late July last year.
I dont think Morrillo will play the 4 in B10 for 5 minutes all season unless we have an injury. If so, thats scary to me.
Insiders have said Brad does not give guaranteed starter promises.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
And KJ signed May 29th and Will signed June 23rd. The staff knows how to find guys over the summer. I don't know why some of y'all are stressing.
If the 5 for 5 rule passes, is there a possibility that Boswell comes back? Worth keeping 1 roster spot open for him or some other 5th year player? Many are hitting the portal in anticipation...
God why are so many of our fans so unable to realize there are hardly any teams ever that you walk into the next season completely knowing you are the top 1 or 2 team in the country. Like outside of maybe that Baylor team in 2020-2021 that returned everyone from the insane Covid team, it hasn’t happened recently. Michigan and zona were something like 7th and 12th to start last season.
This team has 3 guards that can be primary ball handlers if you believe in our teams talent evaluators (which you definitely should by now) - morillo, Coleman, and vaaks. Mirkovic who with the opportunity to actuallly have a summer to develop very well could/should be a top 10 player in the country. Shooters all over, size and rebounding all over spearheaded by the Ivisics, an ELITE driver/finisher and on ball defender with stojakovic, etc…. And most importantly we know this teams works well together. Wagler was amazing, but things at times could get stagnant with him. At the beginning of the year we saw this teams ability to move the ball and make sh** happen, which I fully expect this year.
At this point, other than maybe Florida and Duke, we are the safest bet to be elite next season out of all teams in the country.
This team has 3 guards that can be primary ball handlers if you believe in our teams talent evaluators (which you definitely should by now) - morillo, Coleman, and vaaks. Mirkovic who with the opportunity to actuallly have a summer to develop very well could/should be a top 10 player in the country. Shooters all over, size and rebounding all over spearheaded by the Ivisics, an ELITE driver/finisher and on ball defender with stojakovic, etc…. And most importantly we know this teams works well together. Wagler was amazing, but things at times could get stagnant with him. At the beginning of the year we saw this teams ability to move the ball and make sh** happen, which I fully expect this year.
At this point, other than maybe Florida and Duke, we are the safest bet to be elite next season out of all teams in the country.
Thanks for the kind words- I enjoy the conversations here with you as well.
The original post in this case was from wncillini though:
The lurkers thank you for your views. We are legion.
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
The problem with a lot of these takes is that this is being presented to only be obtainable through the portal.
It’s like some are ignoring just how big of a bust Petro was in relation to expectations, while simultaneously ignoring that the room for (roster) improvement is already in the room.
Im giving these freshman all the minutes they can get.
The chances that a portal addition is a bust is at least equal to, if not greater at this point, than all of our freshmen are a bust.
This is a bit of a dramatic over exaggeration of concerns and criticisms some are bringing up; those which have some base in reality. Feels like pointing out weaknesses on the team is met with fire from those drinking koolaid
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
High 60's. 26, 23 and 22 type pace.
It's why the LJ Cason example is interesting. Yes, it is true, Michigan had guard depth (although id argue if it was Cadeau who went down, the depth wouldn't matter) to survive the Cason injury.
But Cason averaged 12 minutes as a freshman, shooting 38% overall and 25% from 3. He had a flat assist to turnover ratio. Cason would be the guy a lot of the board would be saying we couldn't count on as a depth piece.
I guess you feel ok rolling the dice that no one gets hurt and not having a player similar to what Ben did last year is no big deal. That possibility of only 1 real experience back up worries me. Thats why Ben was important and adding someone like that would ease my concerns quite a bit considering how often Tomi and Z miss games. Hopefully Mirk wont either.
I don’t see this team as being on par with Michigan last year. Sorry. But hey, they don’t have to be. They can get lucky with the tournament draw and make a deep run accordingly. And the competition is per the year you’re playing, not between seasons.
But also offense still is not the primary concern for most with the team as constructed. Defense will need a drastic improvement, while maintaining the offense close to what it was, before we entertain being lumped together with Florida and Duke. IMHO
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Yes, we should all be jumping for joy! Our roster could look like LSU, or others...
My guess is they will watch Brown (as the ninth guy), see if he lives up to his billing, then add guard if they need and if not, add a big.
2024-25 we saw that a 3-man rotation at the 4-5 spot got thin in a hurry when Tomi was out for a few games and then Morez. I too would like to see a 4th big added. Insurance!
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