NBA Draft

#376      
Illini in badger-land
mysterio2525 said:
thank you. how can you say we won when they have a freaking ring and we don't. I'm very excited to have Mirk this year and the sky is the limit on the potential for this team with Mirk being the center piece but come on. a ring is a ring, even if it is covered in scum.
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I don’t think Battle meant the winner of us vs. Michigan. I think he meant the winner of “us if we would have kept Morez” vs. “us with Mirk.” Obviously Morez was a big part of Michigan getting the Natty…but that doesn’t mean we would have won a Natty with him. Morez brings an awesome skill set, but he’s not a floor spacer like Mirk, and I doubt he would have brought the same unselfishness to the floor and locker room that really seemed to help our team thrive. And we’ll
get at least one more year with Mirk which we wouldn’t have had with Morez.
 
#377      
EllderIlliniFan
Illini in badger-land said:
I don’t think Battle meant the winner of us vs. Michigan. I think he meant the winner of “us if we would have kept Morez” vs. “us with Mirk.” Obviously Morez was a big part of Michigan getting the Natty…but that doesn’t mean we would have won a Natty with him. Morez brings an awesome skill set, but he’s not a floor spacer like Mirk, and I doubt he would have brought the same unselfishness to the floor and locker room that really seemed to help our team thrive. And we’ll
get at least one more year with Mirk which we wouldn’t have had with Morez.
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I LIKE MIRK! In so many aspects of his play and personality. Wants to be here. Loves to play. No comparison.
 
#382      
Fly Illini Fly!
ChiTown said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2056798196316184820
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“Andrej Stojakovic, SF, Illinois

Stojakovic was one of the last players to declare for the NBA draft, though the expectation when he announced was that he would likely return to Champaign. That remains the case, even though he didn't participate in the 5-on-5 scrimmages at the combine. If he does go back to play for Brad Underwood, Illinois will be right back in the national discussion as a Final Four team. ESPN's most recent Way-Too-Early Top 25 had the Illini ranked at No. 4, with Stojakovic combining with Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks and returnee David Mirkovic to cause matchup nightmares all over the floor.”
 
#385      
the juiceman cometh
FightinIllini30 said:
I think we absolutely did not. However, I am not complaining at all. Very happy with Mirk
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I dunno, do you think we beat UConn simply by replacing Mirk with Morez? Because if not, we don't get a better result last season anyway, and our team is worse off this upcoming season with neither Mirk nor Morez.

I think that's all the original post was saying 2 years of Mirk > 1 year of Morez. I take that trade all day every day.
 
#386      
Battle89
Illini in badger-land said:
I don’t think Battle meant the winner of us vs. Michigan. I think he meant the winner of “us if we would have kept Morez” vs. “us with Mirk.” Obviously Morez was a big part of Michigan getting the Natty…but that doesn’t mean we would have won a Natty with him. Morez brings an awesome skill set, but he’s not a floor spacer like Mirk, and I doubt he would have brought the same unselfishness to the floor and locker room that really seemed to help our team thrive. And we’ll
get at least one more year with Mirk which we wouldn’t have had with Morez.
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I'm just saying a national title beats all.

The most likely scenario is that we do really well next year, but if we are honest we are not the favorites to win it all. Top 5 probably and top 10 definitely - but we have down stretches too (Feb 2025) and might get as favorable a draw next year in the tournament (Iowa to go to the FF). Not taking away anything from beating Houston in Houston, but that was one tough game where usually you have at least two.

So if we have a great year, EE or FF again, and Mirk goes pro after, do you really feel that Mirk x 2 + FF x 2 > Morez x1 + NC (at Michigan)? I do not - but that does not take away from my enjoyment of Mirk nor my respect for the staff's ability to pivot when Morez left.
 
#387      
MDchicago
Fly Illini Fly! said:
ESPN's most recent Way-Too-Early Top 25 had the Illini ranked at No. 4, with Stojakovic combining with Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks and returnee David Mirkovic to cause matchup nightmares all over the floor.”
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Given the projected lineup, must be hard for writers to pick just three names when writing that last sentence.

Tough to leave out QC and Tomi when talking about exploiting mismatches, but suppose editors gotta edit...

Wordy Didnt Read GIF
 
#389      
lstewart53x3
Battle89 said:
I'm just saying a national title beats all.

The most likely scenario is that we do really well next year, but if we are honest we are not the favorites to win it all. Top 5 probably and top 10 definitely - but we have down stretches too (Feb 2025) and might get as favorable a draw next year in the tournament (Iowa to go to the FF). Not taking away anything from beating Houston in Houston, but that was one tough game where usually you have at least two.

So if we have a great year, EE or FF again, and Mirk goes pro after, do you really feel that Mirk x 2 + FF x 2 > Morez x1 + NC (at Michigan)? I do not - but that does not take away from my enjoyment of Mirk nor my respect for the staff's ability to pivot when Morez left.
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Guys, of course Michigan had a better season than we had last year.

No one’s disputing that.

The question is: if we kept Morez and didn’t get Mirk, would our season have been any different? Would we have beat UConn in the F4 by simply replacing Mirk with Morez? Likely not.

Which means Morez would’ve given us the same season we had last year, but just one season vs Mirk for two.
 
#391      
mysterio2525
lstewart53x3 said:
Guys, of course Michigan had a better season than we had last year.

No one’s disputing that.

The question is: if we kept Morez and didn’t get Mirk, would our season have been any different? Would we have beat UConn in the F4 by simply replacing Mirk with Morez? Likely not.

Which means Morez would’ve given us the same season we had last year, but just one season vs Mirk for two.
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you can't just act like morez didn't go to a big ten rival and that big ten rival used him as a corner stone to a natty.... that's not how it works. that is a huge component of this argument. Illinois isn't operating in a vacuum. just replacing mirk for morezv and asking how our season goes is just one part of this. did we forget the part where morez whooped us on our home court? I didn't I was there and livid. or the rest of the season where Michigan took it all?
 
#393      
illiniguy24
lstewart53x3 said:
Guys, of course Michigan had a better season than we had last year.

No one’s disputing that.

The question is: if we kept Morez and didn’t get Mirk, would our season have been any different? Would we have beat UConn in the F4 by simply replacing Mirk with Morez? Likely not.

Which means Morez would’ve given us the same season we had last year, but just one season vs Mirk for two.
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At the end of the day they are very different players so it’s really tough to say. Morez would’ve provided inside presence while Mirk provided relief ball handling and shooting
 
#395      
racinghoss
Give me Mirk over Morez. Morez is a beast, but is a misfit in the offense we ran last year. He has also proven to be a punk. Mirk bought in, has handles, and is a real 3 pt threat, vs a wannabe shooter like Morez.

I loved Morez and wish him well, but...
 
#396      
mysterio2525
EmeraldCityIllini said:
Not everything has to be a win / loss. I think it’s quite possible if Illinois could choose the Morez decision over they wouldn’t change a thing, and Morez would say the same.
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what about the thought, had we not started Ben after the first month over morez we possibly could have both morez and mirk. according to the insiders, we had morez signed to come back. I don't know if he didn't feel like he was riding pine for a guy he was clearly better he may have never considered leaving at all. and my assumption was that mirk wasnt known by others this time last year. I certainly don't know what was going on behind the scenes, but feels like there is a world we're we could have had both had we managed playing time little differently.
 
#397      
hoopsfan47
Just my two cents....but I really have no confidence that either Mirk of Morez would have been as successful had they co-existed on the same team. Mirk provided just a bit more versatility than Morez while Morez provided a bit more athleticism....not sure we could have achieved more trying to keep Morez happy and develop Mirk. Throw Z into the equation, a guy who needs to play more, and the minutes just were not there for all. Not an unfamiliar problem for NBA roster builders.
 
#400      
thefalcon5
Battle89 said:
I really want to like this post, and I am exceedingly happy that Michigan will no longer have his services. But there is that pesky matter of them winning the national championship with him, so I don't know.

Let's circle back next April, if Mirk gets us a natty too then I'll concede.
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Maybe Michigan without morez doesn’t win the ship, but I don’t think replacing Mirk with morez last year wins us a ship.
 
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