What a great day for Illinois basketball on Wednesday. It wasn’t surprising but it was certainly fun.
I fully expect Andrej Stojakovic will be next this week. There are still some other pieces to figure out like where Ty Rogers fits and others lower on the bench, but the core looks like it will be back.
I’d like to also land John Blackwell. The problem is there’s a lot of mouths to feed. Vaaks, Mirkovic, Stojakovic, Coleman, and Morillo are all getting minutes and will have the ball in their hands. If I’m Blackwell, I’d want to be the lead guard handling everything, but Illinois is not a one-dimensional team. Does he want to play for a national champion contender?
If he doesn’t want that, even if the money is decent, then he should never have left Wisky. Reality is it’s probably a pay day and that’s okay too. The fit at Illinois is way better for him, but who knows?
I have every confidence the program will pivot to a different 1 or 2 already in the portal if they don’t get Blackwell. Still, with everyone essentially coming back, a tremendous freshman class, and at least two impact transfers, the train will keep rolling.
And that’s all that matters.
McCartney Rock ‘n Roll in Three Phases
- Beatles: “I’m Down” (1965) This is McCartney at his most primal. Recorded the same day as “Yesterday” - the range is staggering - it’s a flat-out rock and roll scream, inspired by Little Richard, and arguably the most ferociously energetic thing the Beatles ever put to tape. “Helter Skelter” is the obvious rival, but “I’m Down” has a raw, almost reckless abandon that even Helter can’t quite match.
- Wings: “Jet” (1973) No contest, really. From the opening blast, “Jet” is one of the great rock openings of the 1970s - relentless, euphoric, mysterious (nobody is quite sure what it’s actually about). It showcases McCartney’s gift for momentum: the song never lets up, yet never feels like it’s working hard.
- Solo: “Maybe I’m Amazed” (1970) A love letter to Linda wrapped in one of the most powerful rock vocal performances of his career. The guitar solo is ragged and perfect. In its live version (Wings Over America), it became something transcendent. For later-period solo, “Coming Up” deserves a mention: strange, funky, and irresistibly propulsive.
What’s striking is that Paul McCartney’s rock and roll is always joyful, even when it’s ferocious. That’s his particular genius in the genre.
The Playlist has a story on Soderbergh Bond pitches and I kind of shake my head in disbelief –
The first pitch, he said, goes back to 2008, and it was already pretty radical by Bond standards. “I had pitched in 2008 the idea to Barbara Broccoli of a parallel franchise,” Soderbergh said. “Set in the ’60s, R-rated, violent, sexy. Fictional backstory to real historical events, different actor, different universe.” […]
That version was designed to open up a different, more lo-fi, stripped-down, and cost-effective way of making Bond movies, but not a replacement for them. “[It would be] cheaply made, where you get people like me, who are interested in that approach to do one of these things,” Soderbergh explained. “It’s just another lane that exists totally separate from the normal Bond movies.”
Broccoli and company, he said, were at least open enough to hear it out. “They were intrigued,” Soderbergh said. “But didn’t move forward.”
What could have been?
I realistically think Keaton Wagler declares for the NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility — that’s just the smart move in today’s game.
Right now, he’s projected as a top 5–7 pick. That’s life-changing money and something you simply don’t pass up lightly. Historically, this would be a no-brainer: go get paid.
But college basketball isn’t what it used to be.
With NIL, guys who would’ve been automatic one-and-dones are seriously considering coming back. You’re getting paid, building your brand, and competing at a high level — all while potentially improving your draft stock.
There are risks both ways:
• Go to the draft → secure the bag, lock in your position
• Come back → risk injury or stock drop, but possibly elevate into a top 3 pick
And then there’s the human side of it.
Keaton is a competitor. Illinois just made a Final Four run and came this close to winning it all. That kind of loss sticks with you. That “unfinished business” feeling is real.
If Illinois didn’t make that run? I think he’s 100% gone.
But with:
• Core guys returning
• A potential addition like Blackwell
• 1–2 more key transfers
There’s at least a small chance he runs it back to chase a title.
Also worth noting: next year’s draft class doesn’t look nearly as strong. If he comes back and improves, adds weight, develops his game — he could push into that top 3 conversation.
At the end of the day, I think the smart decision is still to go to the draft.
But I can’t completely rule out a return.
In today’s college basketball landscape… it’s not as crazy as it used to be.
If this does happen, I think it breaks the internet.
NASA’s Artemis II crew flew around the Moon this week and the photos are already some of the most extraordinary space images I’ve ever seen. The crew captured a shot of the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun from the far side, and it’s the kind of photo that makes you stop scrolling and just stare.
We waited 54 years to send humans back to the Moon and they’re sending back pictures that justify every second of it.
Joan Westenberg wrote a piece this week about the growing culture of accusing writers of using AI, and it landed with me. The short version: a debut novelist named Mia Ballard had her career destroyed after Reddit and YouTube decided her book was AI-generated. Her publisher pulled it. Her name was ruined. She says she didn’t use AI. Maybe she’s telling the truth, maybe she’s not.
Westenberg’s point is that nobody actually knows, and the tools people use to make these accusations are garbage. OpenAI shut down its own detection tool because it was worse than a coin flip. Stanford researchers found detectors disproportionately flag non-native English speakers and neurodivergent writers. The whole thing feels like a moral panic dressed up as quality control.
Mediocre writing is not proof of a machine. I think about this more than I’d like.
Dieter Rams, the legendary designer at Braun, worked from a simple belief: almost everything is noise. Very few things are essential.
His job was to filter through that noise until he reached the essence.
Early in his career, he was asked to help design a record player. At the time, the norm was to encase it in a heavy wooden lid or build it into a piece of living room furniture.
Instead, Rams and his team removed the clutter. They designed a player with a clear plastic cover and nothing more.
It was so different that people worried it might bankrupt the company.
But it didn’t.
Over time, it became the standard that every other record player followed.
Rams' philosophy can be captured in three words: Weniger aber besser.
Less but better.
I stayed up to watch Michigan beat UConn. It was a good game. I kinda hoped Michigan would blow the doors off, but they didn’t and so it was kind of close. I wish Illinois on Saturday had shot the ball better to get to the national championship game, but that’s what happens in a single elimination tournament.
Good for them. This is the first time a single conference has the College Football National Champion, Men’s College Basketball National Champion, and Women’s College Basketball National Champion. The Big Ten is the best conference, bar none.
By the way, the rims on the court were shit. No one could make hardly anything. I’m not sure what was up, but it was really weird and noticeable to a lot of people. I know why they don’t, but the Final Four really needs to be played in an NBA arena and not a NFL stadium.
There’s a new Black Label Society album called Engines of Demolition that I’m really enjoying today. The thing about this project is Zakk Wylde’s voice is so close to Ozzy’s that it always sounds a bit like new Ozzy music. I think “Name in Blood “is my favorite track. I’ll listen more, but that’s the kind of riff I absolutely love. The solo is kind of unhinged, too.
“We fought, we fought, we fought, and had a very tough shooting night, especially at the rim. We missed some shots that we normally don’t miss. It’s part of this game. The ball has to go in. You hold a team to 35 percent from the field — we’ve had the No. 1 offense in the country all year, and again, give UConn credit. They forced some of those misses. But again, I thought our looks were really good, and I wouldn’t do anything on that side over again.” – Brad Underwood on the loss to UConn
Champaign Showers —
Critics act like bringing global talent to central Illinois is some bizarre science experiment. But if you walk around campus, or sit in a coffee shop in downtown Champaign, or look at the names of the people who have walked these halls before, you realize that this is exactly what Illinois has always done. The university has spent a century acting as a beacon for international talent, bringing the best and brightest to the prairie to build the future. Why shouldn’t our basketball program do the exact same thing?
Champaign-Urbana has always been a place for people from all over the world to prepare for great things at the next level, no matter their country of origin. This team is no different, and that’s what makes them a perfect representation of our home.
This is our culture. Illini by a billion.
The Illini have so many different ways it can generate paint touches because of its immaculate spacing and sharp matchup-hunting, including [Andrej] Stojakovic drives, [Keaton] Wagler in pick-and-rolls, [Kylan] Boswell attacking seams, [David] Mirkovic backdowns, Tomi Ivisic post-ups or Zvonimir Ivisic lobs. If UConn can’t defend the paint much better, it’s in scalding-hot water because Illinois isn’t making many mistakes these days. Illinois does not foul. Illinois does not turn it over, which breathed life into UConn’s rally against Duke. Illinois also offensive rebounds at an elite clip. That’s another area where the [Silas] Demary injury hurts UConn. He is the second-best rebounder in [Dan] Hurley’s starting lineup, and UConn’s quietly allowed its opponents to corral at least 33% of its misses 11 times this year. There are just too many easy buttons for Illinois’ elite half-court buttons to press. They’ll put [Braylon] Mullins into the action 24/7. They’ll poke at [Malachi] Smith whenever he subs in for Demary. They’ll drag [Tarris] Reed away from the rim to defend Ivisic’s pick-and-pop 3s and open up more driving lanes to the paint. It’s a hard matchup for UConn to offset all the paint touches that Illinois will generate because if UConn has to start bringing two to the ball, the Illini’s blend of plus passers have shredded that defensive gameplan all year. [Alex] Karaban, [Solo] Ball and Mullins need to go berserk from downtown, or UConn’s run ends in the Final Four.
“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.” — Mark Twain
Most of us would like to live with wonder, grace and optimism.
Perhaps it pays to practice this in advance. When considering any given moment, is there a glimmer of good worth focusing on, even making a comment about?
Our narrative of reality often becomes our reality.
Things worked out as ideal as possible for Illinois in the tournament this year. As nice as it would’ve felt initially to be in the Midwest region, the path the team ended up with was the most ideal and honestly may have been a blessing in disguise as the squad seem to play better further from home in road environments.
Penn without Ethan Roberts and TJ Power coming off sickness.
VCU upsetting North Carolina then starter Nyk Lewis going down in the first minute.
Matchup vs a Houston defense that had played significantly worse vs top 25 teams (outside the top 40) and a team that hadn’t beat a top 15 NET or KenPom opponent all season.
Iowa upsetting Florida and Nebraska.
UConn upset vs Duke and allowing for a rematch. And we’re now initially favored by sportsbooks to beat UConn.
Even better, the path involved beating Fran McCaffery, Kelvin Sampson, and Iowa. Now there’s a revenge game vs Dan Hurley and UConn, and potentially a revenge vs Michigan. All while Bruce Pearl has to sit in the studio and talk about this great Illini team.
This upcoming weekend could settle all family business.
