Illini Women's Basketball 2024-2025

#26      
ptgrd23
JMO

first 2 years
-- too small
-- not enough depth
-- no rim protector

Year 3
--added depth
--added some size
--still lacking rim protector
--overall talent level has improved but B10 is a killer conference

Need significant improvement for somebody not named Cook, Bryant or Bostic
Hopefully Berry Wallace is a day one starter
Hopefully Dolan can become a reliable scorer
All 3 transfer portal adds were highly rated HS players but got minimal playing time at prior school. Basically lottery tickets. Need to hit on one of them.
 
#27      
Capt.Illini1975
This is the state of college hoops today. Who will surprise or who might disappoint. For sure the newcomers will have strong support and encouragement from the veterans. You could not ask for a better group in that regard. Berry Wallace is a big recruiting get. Our new bigs will need to develop but we know they will be in the best physical shape of their careers to date. Ready to cheer my favorite team on. Let’s go Illini!
 
#28      
Fan Since '70
ILLHoopsterFan said:
I am also looking forward to the season and hope I am wrong, but I am not nearly as enthusiastic about this season as some other posters. I would expect a solid middle-of-the-road performance. My basis is that we have gotten as much from current starters (Bryant, Cook, Bostic, Shoup Hill, Adalia ) as we can expect, and if we have another year of our starting guards taking 40% of the shots I just don’t see a lot of upside from last season, which ended great. Someone stated that they were disappointed with Allen and Dolan, Dolan was All Big Freshman from the coaches and I would have liked to see more of Allen. No doubt the Cook and Peoples injuries had an impact but it is part of the game and like almost every team we will have our fair share of injuries. Good teams do not make injury excuses. I am sure the out-of-conference schedule will be weaker this year to pad some wins but the addition of the West Coast teams will be a chance to get some quality wins. I know we took some lumps early last season but I think it made us better at the end of the season. I will hold judgment until the schedule is released but playing a bunch of cupcakes is not going to do us any good against some really good teams later in the season.

All in all, I think Illinois will continue to improve and be competitive in the BIG, Green has done an excellent job considering what she walked into. For a team that is trying to increase the fan base, I am surprised that the overseas games are not streamed and info about the trip has been limited.
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Yes, this is 3rd year with mostly same 'starting' lineup (Bostic, Shoup-Hill, McKenzie, Bryant and Cook) running it back. I don't expect a drastic increase in wins if the team plays the same way as last 2 seasons with the guards as you said (Cook/Bryant/McKenzie) predictably taking 40% of the shots. For the team to improve significantly in wins and as contenders everyone has to play more disciplined, and both take and facilitate better shots and spread the offense around. Illini women have many more scoring weapons than just the starting guards, including Bostic, Wallace, Shoup-Hill, Vasconcelos, Allen, Dolan, Bollin, Catoira, Brown-Haggar, etc. If the team better utilizes everyone on the floor and the guards facilitate better, Illini can improve significantly on the last two seasons. If they play much the same way, not expecting much difference the 3rd year this same core bunch is together. Coach Green has more depth, more talent and more height/size at her disposal. I hope to see Green using all the potential and that individual players forego seeking padding their own individual stats in favor of more disciplined teamplay that would make this season's team more dynamic and more competitive than ever.
 
#29      
Boskydell
Fan Since '70 said:
Yes, this is 3rd year with mostly same 'starting' lineup (Bostic, Shoup-Hill, McKenzie, Bryant and Cook) running it back. I don't expect a drastic increase in wins if the team plays the same way as last 2 seasons with the guards as you said (Cook/Bryant/McKenzie) predictably taking 40% of the shots. For the team to improve significantly in wins and as contenders everyone has to play more disciplined, and both take and facilitate better shots and spread the offense around. Illini women have many more scoring weapons than just the starting guards, including Bostic, Wallace, Shoup-Hill, Vasconcelos, Allen, Dolan, Bollin, Catoira, Brown-Haggar, etc. If the team better utilizes everyone on the floor and the guards facilitate better, Illini can improve significantly on the last two seasons. If they play much the same way, not expecting much difference the 3rd year this same core bunch is together. Coach Green has more depth, more talent and more height/size at her disposal. I hope to see Green using all the potential and that individual players forego seeking padding their own individual stats in favor of more disciplined teamplay that would make this season's team more dynamic and more competitive than ever.
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Let's not forget how good they played at the end; everything was clicking during that WBIT run. The guards were slicing and dicing,and KB and Hobby were finally in sync. Don't see us changing tactics a great deal, but with a healthy Shoup-Hill replacing Hobby, and the added experience, size, and depth, I think we'll be a much better team. One of the only teams to finish the season with a win.
 
#31      
Capt.Illini1975
Boskydell said:
Let's not forget how good they played at the end; everything was clicking during that WBIT run. The guards were slicing and dicing,and KB and Hobby were finally in sync. Don't see us changing tactics a great deal, but with a healthy Shoup-Hill replacing Hobby, and the added experience, size, and depth, I think we'll be a much better team. One of the only teams to finish the season with a win.
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I also think other conference teams are having to replace key players that graduated. What we will be facing next season.
 
#39      
ptgrd23
Glad we won. Wish we had 2-3 more games. Seems crazy to go for 10 days and only play 2 games.

If you have to play the same team twice. Our underclassmen and transfers need all the experience they can get.
 
#43      
Champaign Toast
Love that Dolan stat line. Gretchen is a player I am very eager to see this coming season from a developmental standpoint. Obviously intrigued by other newcomers Lety, Brown-Hagger, Smith, and Wallace, but Dolan showed offensive chops last season and has a year's experience under her belt.

Lety might be the player WNBA scouts keep tabs on most, due to her size. It's easy to dream on her being a future superstar if her game matches her height. Brown-Hagger could be a valuable defensive stopper this year per Adalia Mackenzie's comments. Wallace of course comes with fanfare.

Also, shout-out to Hayven Smith for her double-double!
 
#44      
EyeoftheIllini
Nice stat line from Dolan, but not going to get overly excited about stats from a 64-point win in which Illini had two double-doubles and two near double-doubles. Hopefully the team is bonding as well off the court as they played in that game. That is more important than results and stats.
 
#45      
ILLHoopsterFan
EyeoftheIllini said:
Nice stat line from Dolan, but not going to get overly excited about stats from a 64-point win in which Illini had two double-doubles and two near double-doubles. Hopefully the team is bonding as well off the court as they played in that game. That is more important than results and stats.
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Agree, stats in a game like this don’t mean a lot but the number I like is Cook at 10 assists. If she and Bryant are willing to distribute the ball this year and not play as much undisciplined one-on-one this team will be better than last year.
 
#46      
EyeoftheIllini
ILLHoopsterFan said:
Agree, stats in a game like this don’t mean a lot but the number I like is Cook at 10 assists. If she and Bryant are willing to distribute the ball this year and not play as much undisciplined one-on-one this team will be better than last year.
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That jumped out at me too. Don’t follow the team real closely so not sure what she averages, but that seemed a pretty high number. Of course, a game like this she might have taken it upon herself to just distribute since she probably could have scored at will (or might have been instructions from bench). Would love for it to be start of a trend though.
 
#47      
Rlouizjr01
ILLHoopsterFan said:
Agree, stats in a game like this don’t mean a lot but the number I like is Cook at 10 assists. If she and Bryant are willing to distribute the ball this year and not play as much undisciplined one-on-one this team will be better than last year.
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Whoa ....? Undisciplined one one? That's harsh considering they're responsible for flurries of points with a team that had several not ready for prime time backups.. Honestly at this point they had at most 6 or7 reliable players but 9 capable players,.They did right the shop though they leaned heavily on 6 players... This year should be different and I love it..
 
#48      
Champaign Toast
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1821631349431713942
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Been looking through various Parchment highlight videos. Take them for what they're worth as highlights, but I see:

Parchment doesn't wow with speed or leaping, but is athletic at 6'2" and standing out most to me is an elite feel for the game. Quick reactions and anticipation. Looks to get good positioning. Plenty of highlights of steals, running the floor, precise assists, rebounds, blocks, drives past her defender, moving off the ball, finding cutters and open players, touch around the basket, comfortable outside shot. Makes a lot of tough shots look easy. Does a lot of things as a forward.

Looks like a very good recruit.

 
#49      
Fan Since '70
Rlouizjr01 said:
Whoa ....? Undisciplined one one? That's harsh considering they're responsible for flurries of points with a team that had several not ready for prime time backups.. Honestly at this point they had at most 6 or7 reliable players but 9 capable players,.They did right the shop though they leaned heavily on 6 players... This year should be different and I love it..
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ILLHoopsterFan said:
Agree, stats in a game like this don’t mean a lot but the number I like is Cook at 10 assists. If she and Bryant are willing to distribute the ball this year and not play as much undisciplined one-on-one this team will be better than last year.
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Rlouizjr01, I think what ILLHoopsterFan means, is that Illini women can still be a much better team if they worked ball around for better shots all game long, they would win more and win more consistently. In 2023-2024 season, Cook and Bryant took 856 shots to whole team's 2095 shots (Cook 447, Bryant 409). Those two took about 41% of the total team's shots. Obviously they led the team in scoring taking that many shots but both only shot 40% each. They were not the best shots the team could have taken. In contrast, Bostic only took 294 shots but shot 60%, Hobby 245 shots at 53%, McKenzie 304 shots at 49%. The team only averaged an assist/made shot 50% ratio, which is not even close to what the better teams average. The US women's Olympic team has averaged a stunning 85% assist/made shot ratio and and the best college teams exceed 70% by contrast. There is room for improvement in getting better shots. This season Illini have a lot of talent across the board and opportunity is there to take better shots (better than that 40% Cook/Bryant averaged). If guards work ball for better shots, distribute more to Bostic, Shoup-Hill, Wallace, Dolan, McKenzie, Vasconcelos, Hagger, etc, that will open up lane for higher percentage shots and find most open teammates. Cook and Bryant should still drive the ball when lane opens (not when 3 players bottle them up) and take open outside shots when available unless a teammate has a better shot. When you have skilled teammates, trust your teammates and find the hot hands.
 
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#50      
ILLHoopsterFan
Fan Since '70 said:
Rlouizjr01, I think what ILLHoopsterFan means, is that Illini women can still be a much better team if they worked ball around for better shots all game long, they would win more and win more consistently. In 2023-2024 season, Cook and Bryant took 856 shots to whole team's 2095 shots (Cook 447, Bryant 409). Those two took about 41% of the total team's shots. Obviously they led the team in scoring taking that many shots but both only shot 40% each. They were not the best shots the team could have taken. In contrast, Bostic only took 294 shots but shot 60%, Hobby 245 shots at 53%, McKenzie 304 shots at 49%. The team only averaged an assist/made shot 50% ratio, which is not even close to what the better teams average. The US women's Olympic team has averaged a stunning 85% assist/made shot ratio and and the best college teams exceed 70% by contrast. There is room for improvement in getting better shots. This season Illini have a lot of talent across the board and opportunity is there to take better shots (better than that 40% Cook/Bryant averaged). If guards work ball for better shots, distribute more to Bostic, Shoup-Hill, Wallace, Dolan, McKenzie, Vasconcelos, Hagger, etc, that will open up lane for higher percentage shots and find most open teammates. Cook and Bryant should still drive the ball when lane opens (not when 3 players bottle them up) and take open outside shots when available unless a teammate has a better shot. When you have skilled teammates, trust your teammates and find the hot hands.
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Thanks to Fan Since ‘70—that is exactly what I mean. I recall too many times when our guards would penetrate to the basket, and get walled off at the basket by a much bigger opponent who was in help position. Instead of kicking it out, they would sometimes throw up a low percentage shot hoping it would go in, or try to draw a foul. Cook and Bryant are very important to the team but taking better shots and distributing the ball is going to be important this season if they want to continue to improve.
 
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