Coach Muller speaking at the Knights of Columbus

[91Bird]

Coach will be talking about the upcoming season tomorrow night at St. Pat's Church of Merna. Below are the details.

The Knights of Columbus, Council #15175, Fr. Joseph Boylan Jr. invites
all family members to come hear Illinois State Redbird’s coach Dan
Muller talk about the upcoming Redbird basketball season on
Tuesday, October 9th at 7pm in the Shamrock Hall at St. Patrick Church
of Merna. Dinner will be provided from 6:30–7pm. Please visit www. KofC15175.org
to sign up so we can order enough food. Don’t miss this opportunity!!!!

 

[Joe_Y]

Sweet. just 7 min from work, I'll be there.

 

[AgGrad88]

I was able to make it to the church last night to listen to Muller speak. Just a quick run down for those of you who could not make it.
First and foremost, I am as big of a muller fan as I ever have been after talking with him last night and listening to him speak. He talked about how he has grown as a coach over the past 7 years of being here and he truly believes that after going through adversity and the devastating loss of close friends in the plane crash, he has clear priorities and has been able to balance those priorities and feels the players are truly happy because of that.
First, he talked about students’ daily schedules and what a typical day looked like. It was pretty interesting. Coach has an app that monitors each players schedule. He can pull up each individual player and tell you exactly what time they were doing each daily activity, which led into other tech advances they utilize like the monitoring devices they wear in practice that tracks the players heart rate, calories burned, miles ran, and hydration levels. They check hydration levels every day before practice as well as weigh in and out every practice.
He talked about the following players…
Phil Fayne- It was clear that he is most impressed with Phil. He said if we thought Phil was good last year, we were in for a pleasant surprise. He is locked in, mentally more focused and relaxed, and just overall a better player. He is a leader.
Keyshawn Evans- Is playing his best basketball right now. Dan said Key will share the point with MY and Zach. He hopes to play Key off of more ball screens this year. In the health report he said Keyshawn is fine.
Milik Yarbrough- Everyone walks on eggshells when discussing Milik. Dan said he had a great summer, did everything he was suppose to do on the court and in the classroom. He went backwards a little bit after the most recent allocations. He is starting to pick back up a little bit and Dan is hopeful eventually the public will know more details. This is the part that shocked me, Dan made a pretty bold statement and told us that “From everything I know I am confident that Milik did not do anything wrong”.
Taylor Bruninga- he is still healing from his foot injury. Practiced Monday for the first time a little bit, and again last night.
Rey Idowu- Very talented freshman who has a very mature physical body. When asked how much he could contribute. It sounded like either he or Taylor would be a back up to Phil. Which ever one proves to be better will play a lot, the other one may not see much playing time just due to shorting the rotation early.
Matt Chastain- He is pretty heathy at this point and he is praying that he continues to stay that way.
Everyone else that can play this year is heathy, there are a few small injuries in the players that have to sit out, but should all be good to go in a few weeks.
Funny question of the night – One on one who would win between Dan and Porter….. Dan laughed and said no question. Porter was never very good.

 

[Hamdonger]

Appreciate that quality review! Love the Dan/Porter quip.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

I was able to make it to the church last night to listen to Muller speak. Just a quick run down for those of you who could not make it.
First and foremost, I am as big of a muller fan as I ever have been after talking with him last night and listening to him speak. He talked about how he has grown as a coach over the past 7 years of being here and he truly believes that after going through adversity and the devastating loss of close friends in the plane crash, he has clear priorities and has been able to balance those priorities and feels the players are truly happy because of that.
First, he talked about students’ daily schedules and what a typical day looked like. It was pretty interesting. Coach has an app that monitors each players schedule. He can pull up each individual player and tell you exactly what time they were doing each daily activity, which led into other tech advances they utilize like the monitoring devices they wear in practice that tracks the players heart rate, calories burned, miles ran, and hydration levels. They check hydration levels every day before practice as well as weigh in and out every practice.
He talked about the following players…
Phil Fayne- It was clear that he is most impressed with Phil. He said if we thought Phil was good last year, we were in for a pleasant surprise. He is locked in, mentally more focused and relaxed, and just overall a better player. He is a leader.
Keyshawn Evans- Is playing his best basketball right now. Dan said Key will share the point with MY and Zach. He hopes to play Key off of more ball screens this year. In the health report he said Keyshawn is fine.
Milik Yarbrough- Everyone walks on eggshells when discussing Milik. Dan said he had a great summer, did everything he was suppose to do on the court and in the classroom. He went backwards a little bit after the most recent allocations. He is starting to pick back up a little bit and Dan is hopeful eventually the public will know more details. This is the part that shocked me, Dan made a pretty bold statement and told us that “From everything I know I am confident that Milik did not do anything wrong”.
Taylor Bruninga- he is still healing from his foot injury. Practiced Monday for the first time a little bit, and again last night.
Rey Idowu- Very talented freshman who has a very mature physical body. When asked how much he could contribute. It sounded like either he or Taylor would be a back up to Phil. Which ever one proves to be better will play a lot, the other one may not see much playing time just due to shorting the rotation early.
Matt Chastain- He is pretty heathy at this point and he is praying that he continues to stay that way.
Everyone else that can play this year is heathy, there are a few small injuries in the players that have to sit out, but should all be good to go in a few weeks.
Funny question of the night – One on one who would win between Dan and Porter….. Dan laughed and said no question. Porter was never very good.

No mention of Boogie? I expect a great season from him.

 

[AgGrad88]

Didn't get into much detail on Boogie. Just included him in a general statement saying that all the seniors have stepped it up and he expects great things from all of them. Another thing he said is for this team to be successful on the defensive end they all are going to have to work and buy into the system. "Unlike two years ago when we had 3 players that were naturally good defenders, there are no natural defenders on this years team so they are really going to have to work."

 

[Joe_Y]

He also spoke about the juggling act of workouts, on how limited their time is to go over specific things like rebounding.

 

[Adunk33]

Thanks for sharing! That Porter comment is hilarious.

This is probably the most vocal Muller has been about MY's legal issues. I'm sure someone from the Pantagraph will be there (if reporters are allowed, I'm not sure of these rules) on next Tuesday to find out what the story is here.

I know I had previously been critical, but I trust Muller if he says Milik did nothing wrong. Fact of the matter is, this is his first time saying that. Everything else has been the same old vague stuff. I like that he is actually saying something of substance.

Aside from that, you have to think Rey gets the nod at this point over Bruninga since Taylor has been dealing with injuries and I imagine he will be playing catch-up for the next month or two. I have seen Rey's ability to shoot the 3 ball. He CAN do it. Not anything like TB though. So it's interesting that it will be one or the other and not both. I understand since he wants to shorten the rotation early and the top 7 spots are filled (Milik, Key, Cope, Boogie, Fayne, Chas, and JJ). I'm starting to feel this will be more of a nine man rotation rather than an eight. Rey brings some physicality that we didn't see from TB last year, and has TB by 20 lbs. I think they just bring really different things to the table, so it'll be tough to determine who gets the nod. Could very well be a game by game situation where if the team is smaller/lacks post presence they go with TB, and if the team has a big post in the middle they put Rey out.

We should learn some more on Friday about what they are capable of if TB plays in the scrimmage. Twenty days until we see them on the court against another team!

 

[Flagship08]

I found it interesting Dan sees Bruninga/Rey battling for the backup position of Fayne. I figured Bruninga would be more naturally fit to backup Tinsley.

 

[bb fan]

Thanks AgGrad88. Great report.

 

[Birdswin]

Yes, thanks for a detailed report. I find it refreshing and uplifting.

Now, there needs to be someone in the State's Attorney's Office to grow a pair and tell the NPD - ticket is dismissed - end of story. They actually need to do that in many more cases. That is the only way for the NPD to quit being so petty. There are plenty of real criminals to go after - spend your resources wisely.

 

[Retire 12]

Tried to tell you.

Sometimes there is smoke, but no fire. We all need to let this one go.....

 

[reggieman]

..and Dan is hopeful eventually the public will know more details...

What is keeping him from revealing "more details" instead of keeping everything quiet unless it hits the newspapers?

 

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

..and Dan is hopeful eventually the public will know more details...

What is keeping him from revealing "more details" instead of keeping everything quiet unless it hits the newspapers?

It's an open criminal investigation.....

 

[SgtHulka]

..and Dan is hopeful eventually the public will know more details...

What is keeping him from revealing "more details" instead of keeping everything quiet unless it hits the newspapers?

spin reduction

 

[DannyCooksey]

..and Dan is hopeful eventually the public will know more details...

What is keeping him from revealing "more details" instead of keeping everything quiet unless it hits the newspapers?

always great to hear from Tornado on this board.