Very well said. I was also thinking, people are underestimating how much having this many returners will help our defense. Our defense the last month of the season, was by far the best defense the team played all year. Part of that is just simply learning teammates habits/faults/strengths and a big part is communication. I also feel more comfortable knowing our coach has seen how important it is to be able to throw an occasional zone defense in to help disrupt teams. Did we lose some important pieces to last years team? yes. Are each one of the returners able to improve even more so on both ends of the floor? yes Personally, I would not be surprised, if next years defense was even better than this years team. I understand people's disappointment of not getting Blackwell and maybe being done with additions, but I for one, think the team as it is today, has just a good a chance to be in next years Final Four. Don't get so caught up in the subtractions that you forget the additions. Continuity on the court is priceless.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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These are great every, single time. So good! “Eric Gordon Syndrome.” That is a real thing.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Lee either claims that role or departs it seems.
Gotta trust the staff to make that decision at this point.
With our current returning lineup, what's a realistic expectation for the Illini’s final KenPom ranking at the end of next season (2026-27)?
Expected overall KenPom rank?
Expected offensive efficiency?
Expected defensive efficiency?
KenPom has proven to be one of the strongest predictors of tournament success. Last year, Illinois finished in the overall top 5, which perfectly aligned with an Elite Eight (or better) outcome—it was spot on.
As we all know, the Illini were No. 1 in offensive efficiency last season, but only around 20th defensively.
Historically, teams that win national championships have almost always been top 10 in both offense and defense on KenPom (with very few exceptions).
Given the core returning from our Final Four team—including standouts like the Ivisic brothers, David Mirkovic, and Jake Davis—what do you think is a reasonable projection for next season? Can we push into true title-contender territory with top-10 balance on both ends?
Expected overall KenPom rank?
Expected offensive efficiency?
Expected defensive efficiency?
KenPom has proven to be one of the strongest predictors of tournament success. Last year, Illinois finished in the overall top 5, which perfectly aligned with an Elite Eight (or better) outcome—it was spot on.
As we all know, the Illini were No. 1 in offensive efficiency last season, but only around 20th defensively.
Historically, teams that win national championships have almost always been top 10 in both offense and defense on KenPom (with very few exceptions).
Given the core returning from our Final Four team—including standouts like the Ivisic brothers, David Mirkovic, and Jake Davis—what do you think is a reasonable projection for next season? Can we push into true title-contender territory with top-10 balance on both ends?
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Like Macho Grande.. those Eric Gordon wounds run deep.
DJ Wagner to Maryland, they might be solid.
He would’ve been the perfect Ty replacement. Always loved his size and game.
He would’ve been the perfect Ty replacement. Always loved his size and game.
I personally can't wait to see the leap Vaaks takes next year being in a better offensive system, surrounded by better players. I think he may be way better than some on here are giving him credit for. I also think his defense will be better than at Providence, that team was a dumpster fire
An “Airplane II: The Sequel” reference. ELITE.
I know we're all anxious about replacing Wagler, which is kinda ludicrous considering he was a total unicorn, especially for Illinois. But what if another KJ was about to walk through the door, which is what I see in Vaaks. Watch his tape and you see the same sling-shot over-the-shoulder passes, the contested logo 3s, the work-in-progress defense, the cutting hard to the hoop and generally playing hard all the time.
So we're replacing a lottery pick in Wagler with a late first-rounder, Oh, and we just retained the core of a final 4 team. It's time to dance!
So we're replacing a lottery pick in Wagler with a late first-rounder, Oh, and we just retained the core of a final 4 team. It's time to dance!
He was not slow at the offense end but he was pretty flat footed at the defense end at times.
If Vaaks has KJ’s turnover issues, that is not a great fit for this team. Taking care of the ball was a major factor in our success this past season.
Looking at his stats, that didn’t seem to be a major concern.
I was really impressed with our defensive strategy in the tourney. Varied coverage and showed looks we hadn't done much of in the regular season. I said out loud "we're gonna win" about 5 min into the Houston game when I saw how aggressive we were on ball-screens.
Every single word of this. Vaaks will be helped greatly by being surrounded by better players, a better coaching staff, a better culture, and so and so forth.
Providence was a depressing, hopeless situation.
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Lmfao...anyone here that actually.....really.......honestly, believes that a Final Four team returning 65-70% of it's production from the most efficient offense in CBB history....THAT ALSO ADDED a Top 5 portal guard AND 2 top 10 (position) freshman SG's AND Wisconsin Mr. Basketball AND a top 25 (position) combo guard....isn't competing for a NC......needs to take the weekend off of this board.
Sure, I get it's your "opinion", but it's really dumb.
I'll bet all of my Loyalty Beach houses and a gallon of your favorite cottage cheese we will receive pre season #1 votes.
Sure, I get it's your "opinion", but it's really dumb.
I'll bet all of my Loyalty Beach houses and a gallon of your favorite cottage cheese we will receive pre season #1 votes.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Forget it, I’ll never get over Macho Grande.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
The decision to not pivot to another bigger name should tell everyone all they need to know about Morillo/Coleman.
They clearly saw John as a unique upgrade but not a lot of these other portal guys.
Would you feel better if we had Skyy Clark or last years Adam Miller on this team? I’d maybe feel better about losing a guy for a full season injury but doesn’t change a lot of the upside or base cases for this team.
We have 5 other deep bench guys; I’m sure 1 of them can end up being better than expected to be guy #9…and also I’m sure through Misko there’s some other convos happening. Nobody had ever heard of mihailo until he committed
They clearly saw John as a unique upgrade but not a lot of these other portal guys.
Would you feel better if we had Skyy Clark or last years Adam Miller on this team? I’d maybe feel better about losing a guy for a full season injury but doesn’t change a lot of the upside or base cases for this team.
We have 5 other deep bench guys; I’m sure 1 of them can end up being better than expected to be guy #9…and also I’m sure through Misko there’s some other convos happening. Nobody had ever heard of mihailo until he committed
Vaaks is a PG in the sense Wagler was a PG, as well as the way the NBA uses a PG now. If you want a direct comparison to a Championship level team, I imagine Tyler views Wagler and Vaaks as Shai in the Oklahoma City Thunder system. Uber-talented big guards that will torch if you choose to play them 1v1, but if you double they punish you as passers as well. Give these dudes a roster of talented shooters/slashers and it’s an efficiency machine.
Vaaks played with a lot less talent and still put up some crazy numbers. Him plugging into the Illinois system is a perfect match.
Vaaks played with a lot less talent and still put up some crazy numbers. Him plugging into the Illinois system is a perfect match.
Way quieter thread than yesterday lol.
Lee was never unplayable. He was a solid defender, which is why Brad played him in the early season. He was just zoomed over by other guards and buried on the depth chart. So how much of a jump does he take next season? I think he can develop into a Boswell-like on-ball defender. But can he carve out some role in our spacing-heavy offensive system enough to not be a liability? Of course it's all moot if he leaves.
Our system does a good job playing to our strengths. If we were a pressure + deny team with our personnel we’d give up 120 a game. (Interestingly enough, my HS team played a huge team in the playoffs that should have been a wall building team, but they were pressure and deny, and we sliced right through them).
We play a pretty solid zone. A little more matchup than traditional for my preferences but it works, especially on BLOBS/SLOBS. That said, for as a good as a rebounding team as we were, even we had the traditional zone rebounding struggle, which in theory is partially negated by the fact that we play more of a matchup zone. We clean that up, there’s even more room for growth defensively.
If we lose Lee, I'd even more have no idea how people could feel good about not adding anyone. You'd literally have nobody playable after the top 8.
That is, in the off-season (who knows what develops as things progress).
Would feel like a major settle, IMO.
That is, in the off-season (who knows what develops as things progress).
Would feel like a major settle, IMO.
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We only played 6 guys against Wisconsin (plus 1 minute from him), so he was evidently unplayable at least in that game.
Vaaks is a great offensive player
If our Insiders are content with this current team w/out Blackwell, then I am fine.
BU and staff proved themselves bigly this year; they deserve our trust.
For things to work, I feel Morillo and especially Coleman will outperform expectations.
I feel the Twins along with Mirk will get a ton of looks close to the basket, as it proved valuable during their awesome run.
Vaaks cannot be sporadic like KJ (great player still), and I don't think he will.
Jake will be Jake.
If the defense can defend like they did during their awesome run and rebound, then it's go time.
BU and staff proved themselves bigly this year; they deserve our trust.
For things to work, I feel Morillo and especially Coleman will outperform expectations.
I feel the Twins along with Mirk will get a ton of looks close to the basket, as it proved valuable during their awesome run.
Vaaks cannot be sporadic like KJ (great player still), and I don't think he will.
Jake will be Jake.
If the defense can defend like they did during their awesome run and rebound, then it's go time.
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