Pushing tempo a summer emphasis for Illinois – The News-Gazette

CHAMPAIGN — Seven weeks on the sidelines last fall with a knee injury gave Andrej Stojakovic a unique perspective on Illinois.

That’s when Stojakovic got a clear read on just how impactful Keaton Wagler might be during his freshman season. Insight gained from watching Wagler’s every move despite not being on the court himself.

Stojakovic has been in a similar observer mode in the last month-and-a-half. An offseason procedure on his knee and no reason to rush back during the summer has allowed the Illinois senior to gain similar perspective on an Illini roster that’s split 50/50 between returning players and newcomers.

“I’ve been trying to compare this year’s team to last year’s team while I’m on the sideline and look at the personnel that we have, and it’s night and day,” Stojakovic said. “We’ve got guys processing things so much easier and so much faster. It’s exciting.”

Stojakovic isn’t the only one impressed by how the first half of summer workouts have played out at Ubben Basketball Complex. Illinois coach Brad Underwood views his team’s efforts the same way.

“The thing I’ve been the most impressed with is their intelligence,” Underwood said. “We’ve got guys picking up stuff and retaining stuff, and it’s instinctive for them. It’s not where we’re having to beat a dead horse to get them to learn it. It’s been very, very instinctive. I love this group’s intellect and their processing.”

Seven returning players has made a difference even with Illinois making some changes to its offensive and defensive schemes. Stojakovic and Co. understand the expectations of the Illini staff and have at least one season of the foundation of both schemes under their belt to better adjust to some subtle shifts in how they’ll play in 2026-27.

“I would say us that stayed are a one year older, one year more experienced and mature team,” Illinois forward David Mirkovic said. “What surprised me a lot were our newcomers. They all exceeded my expectations. What I like with them is they’re really hungry. They really want to fight. They really want to improve.”

Underwood has pushed installing the offense and defense even with Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks missing multiple weeks playing for Estonia in FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers. The Illini haven’t had their full roster on the court at the same time yet this summer, but progress is still being made.

“It’s a really good mixture of returning guys that got enough experience to know what it’s like, know what it takes to win and a good mixture of new guys who are willing to learn from us,” Stojakovic said. “We’ve got guys who are in here, and they’ve got the mentality of we come in here and we get to work out with the guys. It’s never have to. We’re on the right path right now.”

A key takeaway this summer is the speed Illinois intends to play with in 2026-27. Last year’s team wasn’t a sprint up-and-down the court for 40 minutes squad, with an adjusted tempo that ranked the Illini 289th nationally, per Bart Torvik, to prove it.

But they were quick into actions in their half-court offense. Look for the coming season to be a combination of concepts.

Mirkovic said offensive coordinator Tyler Underwood’s new system puts an emphasis on movement. On the ball, that means constant swing passes to move the defense and target opportunities to attack the basket. Off-the-ball cutting has also been emphasized.

“I think we’re going to be the fastest team in the country,” Stojakovic added. “That’s our focal point. We’re moving the ball a lot better. It’s not getting stuck. In terms of rebounding, we’re going to be a lot more aggressive.

“(Defensively) I feel like we did a really good job of not fouling last year, but we were also bad at forcing turnovers. That correlates. Trying to fix that, we want to force turnovers and we want to get easy baskets in transition. I think that’s something we’ve gotten better at the last 3-4 weeks.”