Austin Illini Club
Austin Illini Club
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Click the following links to jump down to the following Recaps of the 2007-2008 season: Illinois beat Northeastern 63-55 to start the season 1-0 Illini Avoid Trap Against Hawaii; Maui Invitational Preview 2-0 Illini Beat Arizona State; Face Duke Next 3-0 Illini Lose to Duke; Face Oklahoma State Next 3-1 Maui Recap; ACC/Big Ten Preview 4-1 Loss to Maryland; Boy, Is Gary Mad 4-2 Frustration Taken Out on Weber State, 5-2. Frustration Returns: Illinois Loses Close, Winnable Game to Arizona; Still Reason for Optimism Illinois beats W. Carolina, but loses to Miami (Ohio); Face Missouri Next Illinois Finally Wins Close Game at the End to Beat Missouri Oh... My... God.... Illinois Loses at Home to Tennessee State Illini Drop Big Ten Opener to Ohio State; Play Penn State Next Illini Snap 5-Game Losing Streak by Beating Michigan; Play at Purdue Next Illinois Drops Close Road Game at Purdue; Play at Ohio State Next Deja-Vu All Over Again; Illinois Lose to Ohio State; Play Northwestern Next Illini demolish Northwestern 70-37; play Michigan State next Illini Lose Another Close One, This Time to MSU Illini Lose Heartbreaker to Indiana at Home; Play at Minnesota next Illinois Defeats Minnesota on the Road; Play at Penn State Next NCAA Submits Formal Charges Against Indiana and Kelvin Sampson Illini Drop Another Close Game, This Time to Penn State Illini Lose Badly to Wisconsin at Home Illini Lose to Michigan; Kelvin Sampson Fired Illini Get Second Big Ten Road Win of the Year By Beating Iowa Illini Lose Another Close Game, to MSU at Home; Big Ten Tournament Preview Illini Close Regular Season with Win Over Minnesota; The Ghost of the Chief Illini Beat Penn State in First Round of BT Tournament; Play Purdue Next Illini Upset "Baby Boilermakers" to Advance to BT Tournament Semifinals Illini beat Minnesota; advance to Big Ten Finals against Wisconsin Illini Lose to Wisconsin in BTT Final; A Good End to Horrible Year Season Summation
2007-2008 Basketball Season Preview
College Basketball season is almost here, and for a refreshing change it arrives somewhat suddenly because we do not need basketball to erase or bury our sad memories of an awful Illini football season. Indeed, for the first time in recent memory, our football team could end up better than our basketball team this year. Illinois basketball faces what most project to be another year of rebuilding (or two) before a highly-touted 2009 recruiting classes enter the picture in a couple of years. Illinois finished its exhibition play Tuesday night against Kentucky Wesleyan, winning 76-39. The Illini open the regular season against Northeastern this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Assembly Hall. I hesitate to schedule a gamewatch party two days in a row (including the Saturday football game against Ohio State), but will do so if enough are interested. Please let me know if you are interested in attending a gamewatch this Sunday. Non-Conference Preview The good news is that it looks like all games this year are scheduled for national television coverage (without pay-per-view) thanks to the Big Ten Network, with some games set for ESPN or ESPN2. The bad news is that Illinois faces one of its toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory, especially at the beginning. After the opener against Northeastern, the team flies to Maui to play Hawaii and then play in the Maui Invitational. Illinois opens the Maui Tournament against Arizona State on Monday, November 19 (the Monday before Thanksgiving), and would then play either Duke or Princeton, depending on who wins the first round games. If the Illini win both games to advance in the winner’s bracket, they would play in the championship game against the winner of the other bracket of LSU, Oklahoma State, Marquette, or Chaminade (the Division II nominal-host of the Tournament). A bracket is available by clicking here Duke has never lost in Hawaii, so it will be a tough start to the season for the Illini. After Maui, things do not get easier. After a few days off, Illinois then travels across the country from Hawaii to play at Maryland on November 28. After an easy break against Weber State, Illinois then plays #17 Arizona in Chicago on December 8. After another breather against two weaker teams, Illinois then heads to St. Louis on December 22 to play the annual braggin’ rights game against Missouri. Illinois then plays two more weaker non-conference opponents to finish the non-conference season. In previous years, Illinois has used the non-conference to rack up easy wins and tune up against weaker teams. This year, Illinois only plays 7 “easy” non-conference opponents and plays 5 to 7 tough games. In this transition year with our best scorer redshirting for the year, Illinois could enter Big Ten play with 5 losses. Big Ten Transition year The Big Ten is also in a transition year due to a great deal of turnover: Ohio State lost its Championship-game core to the NBA draft; Iowa lost its go-to guy, Adam Haluska; Wisconsin lost its two studs Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor (aka “Chris Rock”) to graduation; Illinois has lost team-leaders Rich McBride and Warren Carter to graduation and Jamar Smith to a redshirt kinda-sorta-supportive-suspension; Indiana will change dramatically with the arrival of IDKWTI (Eric Gordon, aka “I Don’t Know Who That Is”) and with coach Kelvin Sampson covered in yet another recruiting scandal in only his second year; and three new coaches take the reigns at Minnesota (former Kentucky coach, Tubby Smith), Michigan (John Beilein replacing Tommy Amaker), and Todd Lickliter (replacing wonderboy Steve Alford). In the midst of this turnover, TWO Big Ten teams lost an exhibition game to Division II patsies: Ohio State and Michigan State. Ironically enough, it looked like Michigan State would be the only Big Ten contender that would not suffer from transition instability at all: coach Tom Izzo returns all five starters, including 32nd-year senior (or so it seems) Drew Neitzel. However, Michigan State somehow lost an exhibition game to Division II Grand Valley State in double overtime in East Lansing. The arrival of Tubby Smith at Minnesota was an odd development. Minnesota's program has fallen dramatically over the past several years. Last year, Minnesota went 9-22, setting a school record for losses and earning the fewest wins in 20 years. The Gophers didn't win a game after January and finished the season on a nine-game losing streak. Since 2000, Minnesota is 47-81 in Big Ten play and has reached the NCAA Tournament only once. In sharp contrast, in his 16 seasons as head coach, Tubby Smith has never had a losing season, won 20 games in the past 14 years, and has never lost more than 14 games in a season. Something’s gotta give, although it probably won’t be Minnesota’s momentum in the first few years.
Illini Team Preview As for a preview of our team, Warren Carter, Marcus Arnold, and Rich McBride all graduated. Starters Shawn Pruitt, Brian Randle, Chester Frazier, and Trent Meacham return from last years team. Guard Calvin Brock, center Brian Carlwell, and guard Chris Hicks also return from last year’s bench. Richard Semrau (forward) also returns from a medical redshirt he took early last season after being struck by an awful chest infection last year that threatened his life. CJ Jackson remains on the roster, but he is playing football. Incoming freshmen Mike Davis (forward), Bill Cole (forward), Demetri McCamey (guard), Mike Tisdale (center/forward), and Jeff Jordan (guard, yes, Michael’s son) add depth but still no clear superstar to our lineup. Finally, transfers Steve Holdren (Champaign-native, Junior forward from South Dakota State) and Rodney Alexander (Junior forward from Redlands Community College in Oklahoma) complete our roster.
Illinois once again will go through a year without a clear pre-season team leader, and will likely have a large rotation of players instead of a core starting line-up that will dominate playing time. Instead, the team will rely upon a depth of decent but not superstar players, so be prepared to learn a long roster of players. This type of team, however, has always provided the formula of Bruce Weber’s success, not only at Southern Illinois, but also at Illinois where even our legendary 2005 team began as a team without superstars who developed together into NBA-caliber players under Weber’s system.
Seniors Shawn Pruitt (center) and Brian Randle (forward) will be the two key, undisputed starters for us, even though they have created a mixed bag of expectations over the years. Shawn Pruitt developed last year into a solid, reliable, post player, but still has not become a dominant inside player that other teams would fear. Brian Randle has always shown flashes of brilliance as a small forward with an incredible wingspan and his ability to defend, but injuries and a proclivity for self-defeating pessimism have hindered his progression into the superstar many had hoped he would be. Guards Trent Meacham and Chester Frazier exchanged starting point guard duties last year, with ardent advocates on both sides demanding that one or the other was the only answer. In my humble opinion, I always liked Frazier’s speed and enthusiasm, but the team’s motion offense scheme tended to run more smoothly with Meacham at the helm. However, reports from the exhibition games claim that Frazier ran the offense better than anyone and that he has assumed the leadership role on the team in practices. Frazier was a scoring liability his freshman year, but pushed his scoring average up from 1.7 per game as a freshman to 7.2 points per game last year. Meacham is more limited defensively and more naturally a shooting guard, so we should expect Frazier to start at point guard and Meacham to fill in or play shooting guard. Both Frazier and Meacham will face competition from mildly-touted freshman Demitri McCamey, a stocky 6’3” guard from Bellwood, Illinois. McCamey could play either point guard or shooting guard, as needed. Some predict he will edge out Meacham and ultimately be a four-year starter at either point guard or shooting guard. In addition to McCamey, Illinois has three other somewhat-touted freshmen who could fill out the starting rotation: big men Mike Tisdale, Bill Cole, and Mike Davis. Mike Tisdale is perhaps the jewel of the bunch: a 7’1” lanky center from Riverton, Illinois, who reportedly has a great outside shot. Contrary to another lanky 7-foot white-boy with a great outside shot who recently played for Illinois, Tisdale reportedly has amazed the coaching staff with his positive attitude and ability to learn quickly and integrate himself into our team. He also actually smiles a lot and has fun playing. Bill Cole, another tall, lanky white guy, is the most recent product from the so-called “Peoria Pipeline:” a 6’9” first-team all-state forward who led Peoria Richwoods to the Illinois State Class AA championship game as a junior. Mike Davis (not the former Indiana coach) is a solid 6’9” D.C.-area all-star from Northern Virginia who looks a bit like a very tall Steve Bardo. Some have combined him with Bill Cole as the “Cole/Davis monster” at back-up power forward. Ju-co transfer Rodney Alexander was the 14th-ranked Junior College player according to Rivals.com, and led Redlands Community College in Oklahoma to a #2 final Junior College ranking last year. The Illini brought him in to fill a gap at power forward left by Warren Carter. However, such transfers often end up like Marcus Arnold did the past two years, unable to shine as brilliantly at the elite college level. Although many expect him to start immediately, I expect him to fill Marcus Arnold’s role in the rotation now that Marcus has graduated. Anything more would be great.
Off the bench, Calvin Brock has made it to his third year of eligibility (fourth-year junior) without losing his roster spot due to his general confusion and cluelessness on the court. Each year, the merrymen claim he has made great strides in the off-season, but only last year did he show some decent play time, and then only for a handful of his many minutes. Maybe this will be his year. He can jump really high. Transfer guard Steve Holdren, a stocky, blonde Champaign native, looked like he would most likely serve scrub minutes as a back-up forward or shooting guard, but he apparently has impressed the coaching staff and has seen more and more minutes. He could become a surprise contributor. Richard Semrau showed some great promise at power forward early last year until he fell victim to a horrible chest infection; he lost an entire year of competitive basketball as a result and probably will not return to prime form until later in the season. But he received a medical redshirt from the NCAA and did not lose a year of eligibility s a result. Brian Carlwell will also be an unknown factor at center/forward as he returns from a life-threatening concussion suffered at the end of last season. He was our best recruit last year and showed some decent but-not-spectacular time as a freshman before the accident. He reportedly is a great guy and a positive influence on the team, as exemplified below in the Jamar Smith update. CJ Jackson—a cute, cuddly power forward who saw limited minutes last year—finally succumbed to his prowess as a football player (he was highly recruited out of high school and received offers from Auburn and others as a tackle) and is playing for the Illini football team this year and cannot join the team until football is over (hopefully in January). He remains on the basketball roster, but football appears to be his future. Chris Hicks (aka “the hottie with the body”) is a favorite among the coaches’ daughters, but he is a walk-on who will probably see limited action. Finally, Jeff Jordan (forever labeled as Michael’s son) might have the genes and the personality to be a star, but he enters the team as a freshman walk-on who is not likely to see a great deal of playing time this year. Update on Jamar Smith That leaves Jamar Smith. As most recall, Smith emerged as “the Microwave” his freshman year, becoming one of our best scorers with his smooth, reliable, quick-release three-point shot. However, last year, Smith brought some off-court tragedy to the program with his drunk-driving car crash that put teammate Brian Carlwell in the hospital and within inches of losing his life. He lost his composure after the accident and reportedly drove away from the scene and later left Carlwell in the car in the parking lot of his apartment complex, thinking Carlwell was dead. Many demanded that Weber summarily kick him off the team and cited Weber’s failure to do so as yet another example of how little control Weber has of his program and how desperate Weber was to keep one of his best players given his recruiting failures. Added to Luther Head’s and Rich McBride’s brushes with the law, many even suggested that Illinois had become a thug program that tolerated criminal behavior merely so it could win basketball games, like Cincinnati under Bob “Thuggins,” UNLV in the Jerry Tarkanian days, or Memphis under John Calipari. However, the story is not as simple as a headline. Smith has never been a violent criminal thug; he came from a good home and was a good kid who made a tragic mistake. His crime stemmed from common college-age stupidity, not a criminal mind capable of rape, burglary, drug dealing, or some intentional crime of violence. (Granted, that is not an excuse, but just a distinguishing explanation.) He reportedly felt so remorseful and devastated that he became suicidal in the hours and days after the crash, and Weber and assistant coach Wayne McClain’s support and guidance were crucial in helping him through this stupid tragic mistake. Weber also was not alone in his support. The team strongly supported the move to stand behind Smith and not abandon him in the worst moment of his young life. Although not binding on the program, they voted to keep him on the team; and Brian Carlwell, himself, was perhaps Smith’s biggest supporter—convincing Smith to not only attend but sit next to Carlwell on the bench for last year’s final home game (and the last dance of the Chief). Smith has since pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI and spent 15 days in county jail over the summer for the incident. Weber also announced in August that Smith would “voluntarily” take this year off (redshirt) as he tries to get his life back on track, and that they would re-visit his return to the team next year if he meets some unspecified personal goals. Contrary to most critics who thought Weber only stood by Smith because he needed Smith’s offense this year, Weber stood by Smith even without the promise of having Smith to help save Weber’s job. What goes around comes around. Weber’s unpopular, against-the-grain, supportive treatment of Jamar through this tough time was inadvertently instrumental in convincing a group of highly-touted Chicago recruits to recently commit to Illinois for the 2009 season. For the first time since Lon Kruger recruited the Peoria trio of Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin, and Sergio McClain, Weber not only managed to keep some top Illinois talent in Illinois, but managed to keep perhaps the three best 2009 Illinois high school recruits in Illinois for college. Their parents all emphasized that Weber’s support and surrogate-parenting of Jamar through this tragedy as the primary reason for choosing Illinois over other big-name programs. Instead of bowing to the madness of popular opinion that called for Smith’s head, Weber stood by Smith and put meaning to the “family” atmosphere that Illinois touts. The best part is that Weber did not do it as a recruiting ploy; it was the classic case of the favorite maxim of Justice Robert Steigmann (an Illinois alumni on the Illinois Appellate Court for whom I clerked in Urbana after law school): “Doing well by doing good.” Here's hoping for a better-than-expected season for the Illini. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club Illini Start Season 1-0; Face trap against Hawaii before Illinois beat Northeastern 63-55 to start the season 1-0.Despite a late surge, Illinois easily beat Northeastern to start the season 1-0. The basketball team next plays Hawaii in Hawaii Saturday at midnight Central time. It is a classic "Trap" game that Michigan State tried two years ago as a "warm-up" to the Maui Tournament ("Hey, while we're out here...") and lost. Unfortunately, the game will not be covered on television, either. But all remaining games should be televised. The basketball team then plays Arizona State in the Maui Tournament this Monday at 10:30. Illini Avoid Trap Against Hawaii; Maui Invitational Preview 2-0Illinois overcame jet-lag and avoided the "trap" game by beating Hawaii 79-77 in a close game. Illinois basketball has its first televised game of the season on Monday
against Arizona State in the Maui Invitational Tournament. Illinois
also plays on Tuesday and Wednesday, with game times and opponents depending on
how we do in the bracket. If we win Monday, we will likely play Duke, who
plays Princeton at 8:00 on Monday. We
will gather at Third Base to watch all three games on Monday at 10:30 and then
on Tuesday and Wednesday at times to be announced. Illini Beat Arizona State; Face Duke Next 3-0Illinois beat Arizona State rather convincingly 77-54, and now faces Duke and its roster of eight McDonald's All-Americans Tuesday Night. We will gather at Third Base at 7:45 on Tuesday night to watch the Duke-Illinois basketball game. Granted, the late start time damped attendance for the Arizona State game, but I'm glad to say that I wasn't alone despite shocking the lack of dedication from our new Austin Illini VPs, Sandy Shannon, Laura Foster, and Gary Heitz. We had a good time even without Gary and his hula skirt. Now we play Duke in prime time, so I hope everyone comes out Tuesday night. To get in the spirit of the Hawaiian theme, Gary promised to wear his hula outfit he wore for Halloween this year. (See the attached photo, which he has been begging me to distribute--there you go, Gary.)
The Arizona State victory was a pleasure to watch. Michael Jordan was there dressed in Orange and Blue to watch his son play. Illinois jumped out to a 20-0 lead and kept at least a 14-point cushion for the entire game. The only time Arizona State cut the lead to 14 points was late in the first half after Weber subbed in 5 bench players, many of whom are at the END of the bench, including Jordan's son. The starting five of Randle, Pruitt, Frazier, Alexander, and Meacham looked solid and well-oiled, clearly benefiting from having played last year together. Although we still had a few all-too-familiar moments of aimless passing the ball around the perimeter with no movement underneath to create passing lanes and shot opportunities, our offense usually flowed well and broke out of that pattern. Arizona State played a solid zone defense, which killed Illinois last year, so it was great to see Illinois play well against the zone. We did so not so much with dribble-drives as we did with slashing cuts to an open spot in the zone, where a pass would be waiting for the cutter, giving him a layup or other shot opportunity. We also hit our outside shots, going 10-18 from behind the arc (55%).
Watching Brian Randle play while healthy was fantastic. He made several nice drives, created his own shot, and hit 8 of 12 shots to lead all scorers with 17 points in 27 minutes. It sounded like Jay Bilas (the color commentator, and one of my favorite college basketball commentators) was so impressed with Randle, he wanted to marry Randle. Look for Randle's second-half steal-and-breakaway slam dunk on the highlights, with his hand right hand behind his back and a big ole smile on his face. Rodney Alexander also announced his arrival in a big fashion, equaling Randle's game-high 17 points and showing great defense and athleticism. Although reports said that he played poorly against Hawaii, he came back with a vengence in this game. With him playing a solid power forward with his stronger, bigger more athletic body, he could serve as the missing link this team has desperately needed the past several years. Randle, in particular, could benefit greatly from his presence: not only distracting attention from Randle, and not only freeing Randle up defensively from guarding the other team's best player each and every game, but also psychologically relieving the pressure off Randle to be the main front-court scoring alternative. Shawn Pruitt also played well, especially on one incredibly athletic play to not only save an errant post-pass from going out of bounds, but to spin and reverse a layup with tremendous finesse. Chester Frazier also has greatly improved his game and was the clear leader at point guard. He also has improved his form and accuracy on his shot in the off-season, resulting in his shooting 3-4 from three point range. He finally seems to have progressed in his goal to clone Dee Brown because his shot looks incredibly similar to Dee's shot, including the quick-release style and the release point. Chester also accidentally hit a three-point shot on what was supposed to be an alley-oop dunk to Randle. It was that kind of game: everything went well. Cole and Tisdale put in decent minutes, as well. Overall, Illinois looked dominant, which is good because Duke looked rather dominant, itself, in its win over Princeton. On the other side of the bracket, Oklahoma State beat LSU and Marquette beat Chaminade. If Illinois beats Duke Tuesday night, we will face the winner of the Oklahoma State-Marquette game for the Championship on Wednesday.
Apart fromt he Maui Tournament, Andy Katz wrote a nice article about Weber for ESPN.com that not only boasts about Weber's refusal to play dirty in the recruiting game, but implicitly contrasts him with Kelvin Sampscum (Indiana) and other coaches who do play dirty. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3112277 I hope to see you at Third Base tomorrow.
Illini Lose to Duke; Face Oklahoma State Next 3-1Illinois lost to Duke 79-66 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, and will play Oklahoma State in the 3rd place consolation game on Wednesday at 3:30. Because the game is mid-day on a workday, we will not call an official gamewatch, but Third Base will certainly put the sound on for anyone who wants to go. Illinois next plays at Maryland the following Wednesday, November 28, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Illinois jumped to an early lead and played well for the first part of the first half. However, Duke went on an 11-0 run and a 27-4 run to pull to a 17 point lead with about 2:30 left in the first half. Illinois went on a run to close the first half and then pulled within 3 points at 44-41 early in the second half, but Duke pulled away and spent most of the second half nursing a double-digit lead. The main problem was our awful shooting. Illinois shot only 32%, compared to Duke's 57%. We missed open shots, contested shots, and in-between shots. Illinois simply had an off-night. The only thing that kept us from being completely blown out was our offensive rebounding. As the ESPN.com article aptly put it, "Brian Randle had 16 points to lead the Fighting Illini (3-1), whose best offensive weapon was a missed shot. They outrebounded Duke 22-5 on the offensive boards and finished with 31 second-chance points compared to eight for the Blue Devils." It might sound like a broken record, but the officiating was also awful and clearly threw us off our game in the first half. Brian Randle got three first-half fouls, Rodney Alexander got two first-half fouls, and the entire team was in foul trouble all along. Indeed, Illinois had control of the game until midway through the first half, when the refs started calling every touch foul possible, and even several phantom fouls, but only in favor of Duke. I can't stand the Duke conspiracy theorists who think that Duke automatically gets all the calls (as if there is an NCAA memo to that effect), and I hate to fall in line with them, but it was rather one-sided in this game, as well. Illinois started getting a lot of calls go their way toward the end of the game, so the total fouls called ended up evening out, but Duke had already taken control of the game by that time. Illinois should take care of Oklahoma State, who was blown out by Marquette 91-61 in the other semi-final game. For what it's worth, Arizona State (who lost to us) beat Princeton (who lost to Duke). Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Maui Recap; ACC/Big Ten Preview 4-1Illinois defeated Arizona State 77-54, lost to Duke 79-66, and then soundly crushed Oklahoma State 65-49 in the Maui Tournament, and is 4-1 on the season so far. Illinois next plays at Maryland in its leg of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. We will gather at Third Base this Wednesday at 6:20 to watch the Maryland game. Maryland is 5-2 on the year so far, losing to #1 UCLA and to unranked Missouri. Neither Illinois nor Maryland are ranked, but Illinois has received votes in both polls, whereas Maryland has not. Maryland and Illinois have also shared a common opponent this year: Northeastern, whom Illinois soundly beat in the season opener but whom Maryland beat by only two points in overtime, and that only after Northeastern helped Maryland quite a bit by only shooting 9 for 24 from the field during that game. In contrast, Illinois easily beat Northeastern by eight points, where the final margin did not reflect the Illini's dominance; we led by as many as 22 in the second half and Northeastern merely made a scrub-time surge to cut the final deficit in half and make it not look as bad as it was. After the first two minutes of the second half, Northeastern never really was in a spot to get back into the game against us. The ACC Big Ten Challenge is an annual contest between the Big Ten and ACC, where each team plays one team in the other conference, with the teams exchanging home and away games year-to-year. The ACC has dominated the challenge since its inception. This year's Challenge plays yesterday, tonight, and tomorrow night. The match-ups are the following: MONDAY NIGHT Wake Forest 56, at Iowa 47
TUESDAY NIGHT * Northwestern at Virginia, 6, ESPNU * Georgia Tech at Indiana, 6, ESPN * Minnesota at Florida State, 6:30, ESPN2 * Wisconsin at Duke, 8, ESPN * Purdue at Clemson, 8:30, ESPN2
WEDNESDAY * Illinois at Maryland, 6:30, ESPN2 * Boston College at Michigan, 6, ESPNU * N.C. State at Michigan State, 6, ESPN * North Carolina at Ohio State, 8, ESPN * Virginia Tech at Penn State, 8:30, ESPN2 Maui Tournament Recap The Maui Tournament did not pan out perfectly, but we only lost to Duke, who ended up the Tournament Champion, and we placed third out of the eight teams. Although not the best case scenario, it was a decent showing that reflects the improving status of this young team. The Duke loss was not so much attributable to Duke being Duke so much as it stemmed from our own shortcomings. Illinois jumped out of the gate and controlled the game until the refs coughed up their whistles and started calling touch fouls. Instead of rolling with the flow and not allowing the customary foul trouble to affect us, we allowed the refs to throw us off our game. We missed countless open shot opportunities as Duke crept back into the game and then surpassed us. Still, Illinois rebounded well, which kept us somewhat in the game. As the ESPN.com article aptly surmised: "The Fighting Illini['s] best offensive weapon was a missed shot. They out-rebounded Duke 22-5 on the offensive boards and finished with 31 second-chance points compared to eight for the Blue Devils." he Oklahoma State game was quite different. Illinois confidently inched out to a lead shortly into the first half, and kept building upon that lead throughout the game. The key turning point to dominating the game came with 30 seconds left in the first half. Up 25-17, Illinois quickly scored the final seven points of the half to extend the halftime lead to 32-17. From there, Illinois pretty much coasted to the win, leading by as much as 21 midway through the second half, and never slipping to less than an 8-point lead (and then only briefly near the start of the second half). After losing his starting spot to Calvin Brock, Trent Meacham led the Illini with 17 points off the bench. Brian Randle injured his leg in a collision early in the game and feared he might have broken his foot because he lost all feeling in it. However, it turned out to only be a severely bruised nerve, which does not get worse or aggravated by playing through it like a bone, joint or muscle injury would. Some have likened it to hitting your funny bone, where you lose feeling in your arm and freak out even though there is little to worry about. He regained feeling in his leg over the weekend and Weber expects him to play against Maryland.
Disappoint Loss to Maryland; Boy, Is Gary MadIllinois lost to Maryland 69-61 to contribute to Big Ten's again losing the ACC-Big Ten challege, 8-3. As Jay Blias (a former Duke player) himself noted, the Big Ten's deficit more so reflects the match-ups and the fact that the bottom of the ACC is better than the bottom of the Big Ten than it does the ACC's being a better conference at the top. But it wasn't happy news. Illinois next plays Weber State in Champaign on Saturday afternoon. We will gather at Third base Saturday at 4:00 to watch the Weber State game on the Big Ten Network.
After the Maryland loss, boy, is Gary mad! At the start of this year, he was brimming with optimism. I couldn't calm him down. Several times in the past month after he watched our exhibition games, he told me, "You know, I really like our basketball team. We're goin to shock people and win the Big Ten this year. Cole looks great; Tisdale is great; Holmgren is going to start; Randle and Frazier are finally healthy; and Pruitt has developed into a monster inside. Plus, we got Jordan's kid, who's going to bring us good publicity and give our guys Michael's influence. Then, when Simpson arrives next year and those monster 2009 recruits arrive the year after, we are going to be rolling!"
But Gary is rather mercurial. After two disappointing and rather-winnable losses to Duke and now Maryland, he is livid. He's so mad he's shakin'! During the Maryland game, he finally told me, "We suck and I am done watching this game and all the rest of them!" Gary, come on, where's that unbridled optimism you showed just a couple of weeks ago? "I'm sick of it. Sick of this team. I mean, we can't play. We look terrible. Our offense looks bad, just like the past three years..." ...the past two years: THIS is the third year. And Weber is still one of the winningest coaches the past four years: tied with Duke and Florida for the most NCAA wins. "I don't care. That was because of the 2005 team. THIS is a typical Weber-coached team." So was 2004-2005. "But it's no longer 2005. This is the third year we have been awful. It was o.k. two years ago after Deron and Luther left because we were in a transition year after the Final Four season. But here we are, two years later, and this team is no longer young. We just lost to two younger teams than ours." But we were shafted by Eric Gordon and Kelvin Sampscum. Weber built this team around Gordon's anticipated arrival. The problem is that this team is a solid supporting cast with no stand-out star like Gordon. "That's actually the point: he didn't get Gordon; he let Gordon slip away to Indiana. He should have been on that kid to reinforce the verbal commitment when the rumors came out that Sampson was recruiting Gordon. Gordon was supposed to be Weber's saving grace after losing Livingston to Duke, Scheyer to Duke, Rush to Kansas, Collins to Kansas, Rose to Memphis. Everybody he targets, he can't get! He can't recruit. Look at Zook in football and how he's turned that program around with recruiting. And now our basketball program is left with this bunch of scrubs!" But Weber took Southern Illinois to the Sweet 16 with third and fourth-tier talent. He can do it again at Illinois with second and third-tier talent. "Southern Illinois? You mean the Southern Illinois that was ranked #18 this year while we were not even in the "others receiving votes" in the coaches poll and only received 1 measly vote in the AP poll? We aren't even the best team in our own STATE! It's embarrassing!" Gary, it is early in the season. And we are 4-2. "We're going to get killed in the Big Ten. I hope we lose, now. That's the only way we're going to get rid of Weber." What? "This is a typical Weber-coached team. The last three years we sound like a broken record. Same issues. We need to get rid of this guy." But we play well in other aspects of the game. Look at our offensive rebounding. "The only reason we have lots of offensive rebounds is because we have too many missed shots! We can't shoot. Our free-throw shooting also is atrocious." Well, you got me there. I never could understand a team that consistently shoots poorly at the free throw line. It is one of the most fundamental aspects of the game and something you know will happen each and every game. For all the time they spend developing a motion offense that might create a few more open shots per game, they should spend more time on free throws, which are going to happen many times every single game. Their free throw shooting percentage is a horrible 61% this year and they have consistently shot free throws worse than any other Big Ten team the past several years, and it has not been even close. If they just hit 75% of their free throws and learned how to draw fouls (as opposed to having the other team draw them on us), they would have won against Duke and Maryland, not to mention their elimination games in the tournament against Virginia Tech and Washington. And if they do spend time on it in practice, then it shows that they cannot coach or teach the kids how to shoot free throws, which they should have been able to do in high school, already. "Pruitt looks WORSE now at the line than he did last year." Yes, he does. And learning to shoot free throws helps you learn how to shoot field goals, which we also can't do. We were soundly beating Duke at the start of that game. The only reason Duke got back into the game was because we started missing wide open shots and they hit most of their free throws. "Don't call me again about this team. We can still hang out, but I don't want to watch them again this year." Not again. You say that every year. "But this year I mean it. We really need to shape up or ship Weber out this year." They will turn it around, just for you, and then you will miss it. (I had to change the subject to something more positive, and couldn't I believe the words that came out of my mouth.) How bout our football team? Rose Bowl bound? "Looks like it."
Frustration Taken Out on Weber State, 5-2 on the Season.Our basketball team (remember them?) beat Weber State last Saturday, 78-61, to advance to 5-2 on the season. Illinois next plays Arizona in Chicago (the United Center) this Saturday. We will gather at Third Base at 10:45 a.m. this Saturday to watch the Arizona game in High Definition. You need not RSVP, just show up and enjoy. :-) This is a big game, so I hope everyone comes out and watches it with us. With football over, we should have Third Base pretty much to ourselves. Third base is family-friendly, and it should be good for even the newest Austin Illini out there. Paint the pub orange! (For cross-over DePaul fans from Chicago, DePaul plays Kansas after the Illinois game on ESPN).
Illinois took their frustrations from the Maryland loss out on Weber State and absolutely crushed them last Saturday, showing that they have not quite fallen down to the depths of third-rate basketball. Trent Meacham came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points (20 of them in the first half, alone). Illinois jumped to a 7-0 and then a 14-5 lead and never looked back, leading by 30 at times throughout the game. Illinois' defense also forced 21 turnovers and held Weber State to only 27% shooting in the first half (6 of 22). Many of our bench players (Cole, Davis, Tisdale, Holmgren, and McCamey) each played 15 or more minutes, giving them some good game experience. Jeff Jordan even played 10 minutes. Little more analysis is left to be made. Illinois simply overpowered a team that could not challenge them. Meanwhile, however, Maryland lost to Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday, which really makes last week's loss to Maryland look bad. Frustration Returns: Illinois Loses Close, Winnable Game to Arizona; Reasons for OptimismDecember 8, 2007
Ugh! Illinois lost to Arizona, and we all get to wallow in it for nine days while they take their finals. Illinois next plays two warm-up games--against West Carolina on December 17 and then Miami (Ohio) on December 20--before the border war against Missouri on December 22.
We had a great crowd show up again at Third Base up for the Arizona game; Alida even showed up out of the blue from Chicago for a surprise visit (George missed her again!); and Illinois jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead, let Arizona tie the game briefly at 16, and then quickly rebuilt a 12-point lead. Everything seemed perfect. As Gary ranted about how awful we were, the team was disproving him right in front of his face. They maintained a mostly double-digit lead for most of the game. Then Gary went home in a huff and, as most of us saw, Illinois just panicked, went into their slow-down offense to kill the clock too early, let Arizona back in the game, and lost in overtime, 78-72. (No kidding, Illinois fell apart just after Gary left!) Arizona did what they needed to do to get back into the game and win; but Illinois lost this game much, much more than Arizona won it. Up front, I'll say it. Gary is right, at least in his factual observations. His logic is weak, and I disagree with his hasty conclusions to fire Weber, but this team does have some serious issues, many of which trace either directly or indirectly to Bruce Weber. First and foremost, they cannot shoot free throws, which provided the difference in each of their losses, most especially against Maryland and Arizona. Duke got back into the game against us through its free-throw shooting, while our free throw shooting and open field goal shooting both fell apart. Against Maryland, Illinois shot 44%, whereas Maryland shot 75%: again, the difference in the game. And against Arizona, same story: Illinois shot an awful 45% (10 of 22) from the line, and then only when Pruitt miraculously hit two in a row in overtime to push that percentage up... when the game was already lost. Arizona shot 78% (25 of 32). Switch those percentages, and Illinois would have won by 11 (79-68) instead of lose by 6 (78-72): a 17-point swing! (Indeed, Illinois could have won by more than that because Arizona would not have had its 6-point overtime point spread). Changing both free throw shooting percentages to the customary college average of 70% results in Illinois winning by two, 77-75, and that INCLUDES giving Arizona its 6-point-spread from overtime and its last-minute foul shots that Arizona would not have had if Illinois did not need to foul to stop the clock! Hitting just one or two more free throws (shooting only 50%) would have won us the game in regulation. Granted, free throw technique is somewhat inherited from a player's fundamental skills development in high school. But the major programs ALL shoot free throws well, and not just because they recruit solely on free throw shooting ability: Duke shoots 71% this year, Michigan State 75%, Arizona 77%, North Carolina 72%. It is not a coincidence. Texas's meteoric rise this year to the #4 ranking "coincides" with a 75% free throw percentage. How a major college coach cannot at least slightly improve free throw technique (as opposed to worsen that technique) is difficult to understand or forgive. Second, the defense is decent, but the offense looks sloppy when the pressure is on. The off-the-ball movement and the ball movement just is not nearly as crisp and effective as it needs to be. Third, shifting to the slow-down/kill-the-clock offense when we are winning comfortably in the second half is the equivalent of playing "Prevent" Defense in football: it only "prevents" you from winning by shifting you away from what worked and built that lead, in the first place. Instead of whimpering away a well-earned lead, dominant teams should step on the other teams throats (figuratively, of course) and surge even further ahead to close out the game. Chester Frazier is also slipping backward, not progressing. Last year, he improved his shooting and actually became somewhat of an offensive threat. This year, he is back to being a HUGE liability offensively. He is "trying too hard," panicking at the worst moments, making bad decisions, and shooting bad shots. But Weber keeps sticking with him. Rodney Alexander is also a big offensive threat and gives our team much-needed energy and movement on offense, yet Weber benches him at the end of games when we need him most. Finally, the fact that a walk-on (Trent Meacham) is out-playing most all of our scholarship players also does not bode well. However, there are reasons to keep our chins up. First, the only reason the Arizona loss was so disappointing is because we DID play well enough to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the game, then blew it. Same thing with the Duke game; we jumped out of the gate and, for the first five to ten minutes, overwhelmed the team that most people think will contend for the National Championship this year. Our defense might not provide the most spectacular, awe-inspiring athletic plays, but it keeps us in games that we otherwise should not be in. Given how Duke and Arizona have played this year, and given their immense advantage in athleticism and recruited talent, we were supposed to lose by 10 or more to both teams. (That was the Vegas line). Instead, we made it a game, and so we got our hopes up. Given our non-conference schedule this year, three non-conference losses was not beyond belief. Indeed, most expected it. It is only frustrating because they came so close to exceeding expectations, but did not: not because they fell short of pre-season expectations. To Weber's credit, they at least are competitive in their losses. Second, Weber has proven his ability to turn teams around. He did so in 2003-04, when we started the Big Ten season 1-2 (losing to Purdue at home and then to lowly Northwestern!) but then closed the season with a 10-game winning streak to win our first outright Big Ten title since the 1950s. He also did so last year, when most of us realistically feared we were headed to the NIT (if that) given our non-conference and early Big Ten season performance last year. I am not so full of hubris to think that I am the only one who notices the poor free throw shooting, the sloppy offense execution, the ineffective whimper of the late-game, slow-down offense, and the panic of Chester Frazier. Weber sees it, and I believe he will adjust because it is in his best interest to do so much more than it is in my best interest. Third, this year's lull is not so much the product of this year's shortcomings, but the product of Weber's recruiting misadventures in 2005 and 2006, about which we already knew. This team's struggles thus should not come as such a huge surprise or a huge letdown. Setting aside a decent but young 2007 class, the incoming recruits for 2005 and 2006 (who should have served as the core of our team this year) were the following: 2005: Frazier, Smith, CJ Jackson 2006: Carlwell, Semrau Smith is redshirting this year, Jackson is now on the football team, and Carlwell and Semrau both suffered major injuries last year that still affect them. That leaves Chester Frazier--perhaps the least talented of the bunch--as the key 2005-2006 recruit that should be making an impact. Why then the big surprise that this team falls short of top-tier expectations? Finally, there is the impact of losing IDKWTI ("I Don't Know Who That Is" - Deron Williams sarcastically commenting about Eric Gordon), which, again, we already knew would be devastating to this year's team. Weber detrimentally relied on IDKWTI's verbal commitment and passed up several great guards because he thought that he already had that need filled. With him, this team would be playing MUCH better: not just due to his direct impact, but by shifting the balance of pressures off of complimentary players for whom he was recruited. Randle was supposed to be the Pippen to IDKWTI, not the team leader. Pruitt was supposed to be his Cartwright. Weber envisioned a backcourt of Smith and IDKWTI (dare I say it: better raw individual talent than even Dee and Deron brought us as freshmen), with Frazier off the bench as a defensive stopper. The whole plan fell apart when Sampscum lured Gordon away to Indiana under rather questionable circumstances, and Smith made a huge mistake last year in that crash. But we already knew that. Yes, it is partly Weber's fault that he lost IDKWTI, but it would be our mistake to presume that he did not learn from his mistake. Weber has proved that he was and is ready to coach a big-time program; he just was not ready to recruit for one. But now that has changed. This year, all four freshmen (McCamey, Tisdale, Davis, and Cole) look like they will develop into solid players: much better incoming talent than the previous two years. The fact that they are not instant miracle cures cannot be held against them or Weber. Weber also brought in the top Junior-College prospect in Alexander, who merely needs to get into the rhythm. For next year (2008), Weber has brought in the first top-tier Chicago Public League recruit (Simpson) since Lou Henson left and Jimmy Collins was passed up: reviving the same recruiting pipeline that brought us Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Deon Thomas, and other CPL stars "back in the day." Jamar Smith will also be back next year, and many reports indicate that he is their best player in practice this year. For the year thereafter (2009), Weber has the three best players from Illinois all committed to going to Illinois: Peoria Central's D.J. Richardson, Sterling's Joseph Bertrand and Warren's Brandon Paul. All are guards, who will join a forest of talented big men from the 2007 and 2008 classes. So things will turn around rather quickly.
As for watching this year, it becomes not only a matter of still enjoying each other's company, and not just a matter of not being fair-weather fans, but also a matter of watching the revival begin. A large part of the thrill of watching the 2004-05 Final Four team was watching it develop in 2002-03 (when Deron Williams, in particular, was awful) and 2003-04. (Remember, it took Bruce Weber to develop that team of second-tier recruits into a Final Four team.) Likewise, a large part of the thrill of watching our football team this year stemmed from going through the blowout misery of 2005, to the moral victories of 2006, then to the Rose Bowl in 2007. But just as I predicted that the 2004-05 team would be the reward for all the "wait till next years," and just as I predicted the sudden emergence of the football team this year seemingly out of nowhere, I am predicting that this team will grow out of its issues and return to the elite of college basketball: sooner rather than later. With the 2009 recruiting class and Weber's coaching, we could have two consecutive Final Fours and a National Championship on the horizon. Yes, we have issues. We might not even make the NCAA Tournament this year. But despite Gary's pre-season optimism ("We're going to win the Big Ten this year"), we already knew this would be a lean year, and the sky is not falling... yet. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Illinois beats W. Carolina, but loses to Miami (Ohio); Face Missouri Next12/21/07 After soundly defeating Western Carolina to start the Winter break, Illinois lost to Miami of Ohio in overtime Thursday, 61-58. Illinois next plays Missouri in the Bragging Rights game, Saturday Night at 7:30 on ESPN. Unfortunately, the Dallas Cowboys game will be on at the same time the NFL Network, which is not available on Time Warner cable. As a result, all the sports bars will be mobbed and profusely apologized that they might be able to give us a t.v., but not the sound. So, to escape the throng of hootin and hollarin Cowboy fans, I will host our local Austin Illini gamewatch for those who are still in town. We will gather at my condo downtown to watch the Missouri game in HD at 7:30 on Saturday. Miami (Ohio) Recap After leading most of the game, Illinois let Miami take the lead halfway through the second half and keep it until the end. Miami pulled away 51-45 with 1:14 left and 52-47 with 51 seconds left. Then this team did it again. Just as we wrote them off, they gave us false hope. They pulled together a rapid Arizona-like comeback: holding Miami scoreless in the final 1:14 and scoring 6 points in less than a minute despite only scoring a paltry 45 points in the first 39 minutes of the game. Pruitt made great move inside for a basket, and then actually converted a free throw for a three-point play. They stole the inbounds pass and Randle made a nice drive down the left side of the lane for a lay-up. After a missed one-and-one free throw by Miami, and with only few seconds left, Pruitt missed a shot, the ball bounced around five different hands, then accidentally ricocheted off Chester Frazier's arm right into Randle's hands under the basket. Randle quickly tossed up a shot that bounced several times on the rim before going through to tie the game and send it to overtime. But then in overtime, Illinois returned to the type of disorganized offense that allowed Miami to pull away in the second half: horrible shooting, sloppy passing, and confused off-the-ball movement. Besides one lucky drive by a scrub, Miami did not play much better; but they still were able to out-score us 9-6 in overtime to win the game.
Now, one of the functions of these e-mails is not only to inform but to edify. Some people mistakenly use "saving point" and "salving point" interchangably in modern parlance (perhaps because they sound so similar), as if there is no difference. There is. Some people only use "saving" even when it is inappropriate because they don't know what "salving" means. A "saving point" makes a huge difference and wins an argument or completely wipes away an emotional disappointment. A "salving point" (with an "L") merely diminishes the impact of an argument or an emotional let-down. Now this distinction is important because there are no saving points for this loss, only salving points. Gary, in particular, should not mistake these points as excuses or as cop-outs. We lost a home game to a team from the MAC for the first time since 1981. We used to be able to rely on automatic wins at home, now we can't rely on beating mid-majors on our own floor. Our best player (Meacham) is a walk-on, non-scholarship player. We have fallen so far from the grace of 2005, it is disgraceful. However, although all losses are bad, this is the first "bad loss" this season. With the recruiting snafus of the past few years (about which we already knew) and the loss of Jamar Smith and Brian Carlwell to injuries (about which we already knew), losing three or four nonconference games was not unrealistic given our non-conference schedule. A win over Missouri would pull us back to where we should be. Second, Miami (Ohio) is actually a decent mid-major team. They went to the NCAA Tournament last year as the MAC Champion and almost beat 3-seed Oregon, losing by only two points. This year, they returned a solid core of players and beat a tough Xavier team that many think will win the Atlantic 10. They also almost beat Louisville (ranked #10 at the time) and USC (ranked #24 now), both on the road; both of those games came down to the final play. Third, these are the low points that make us appreciate the highs like 2005. We have two decent additions next year with Jamar Smith returning and Simpson from Chicago coming in; our freshman this year will have a year under their belts, and the 2009 recruiting class is fantastic. Finally, it is only one game, albeit a disappointing one. We have a chance to get back on track against Missouri, and the Missouri game is usually one that is always close no matter how good or bad the teams otherwise might be that year.
That said, it is getting close to fish or cut bait time for Frazier, Randle, and Pruitt. As our most dependable inside presence, Pruitt needs to fix his free throw shooting or the memo will spread around to just foul him to take away his inside game. Frazier needs to calm down and focus much better; he is playing nervous and panicky, and both those qualities are fatal to a point guard. And Randle needs to show up and play more enthusiastically more than at the end of a game. If they do not shape up soon, then it might be better to left the freshmen start, just like in 2002-03 when Dee, Deron, and Augie all started as freshmen. At the very least, Weber needs to shake things up somehow. But I am sure he knows that, too. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club.
Illinois Finally Wins Close Game at the End to Beat Missouri12/24/07 Illinois' basketball team came up with its best win of the season so far, beating Missouri 59-58. Not only did Illinois finally beat a solid team, but they finally won a close game in crunch time to bring them back to only four non-conference losses, which many somewhat expected given their non-conference schedule. Illinois takes 5 days off and next plays Loyola (Maryland) at Assembly Hall at 8:00 Friday night. I personally will be on my way to Pasadena by that time , but we (the rest of us) will watch the Loyola (Maryland) game at Third Base at 8:00. Illinois then turns around and plays Tennessee State on Sunday at 3:00, which we will also watch at Third Base. Oh... My... God.... Illinois Loses at Home to Tennessee State12/30/07 Illinois completely destroyed Loyola (Maryland) on Friday night, but then lost to Tennessee State... at home, 58-60. Now, I am not a big fan of negative-hyperbole sports commentators who love to puff their chests with bravado as they sharply criticize athletes, without any sense of balance, for their not being able to do something that the sports commentators, themselves, could never do. And I don't want to even pretend to pretend that I am a sports commentator, no less a bombastic knucklehead on sports radio. But... what the heck happened? I go out of town for a weekend--on an Illini-inspired road trip, nonetheless--assuming that all will be well with two cupcakes on the basketball schedule, and then the bottom falls out. Just as we assumed that we had hit rock bottom by losing to Miami (Ohio) at home, this team "rises up to the occasion" to prove that, yes, it CAN get worse. As opposed to the Miami (Ohio) loss where we could at least argue that Miami was a decent mid-major, Tennessee State came into the game a lowly 3-7: a true LOW mid-major, not an arguably good mid-major. Among its 7 losses so far this season, Tennessee State had lost to Akron, Belmont, Colorado State, and Southeast Missouri State. As much as last year's team over-performed above its abilities, this years team is under-performing. Who knew that losing Rich McBride would hurt so badly? Trent Meacham again proved to be the only player to shine, leading all scorers with 24 points. No other Illini player scored in double figures. Of course, the depressing part of his outstanding performance is that a walk-on is our best player. Calvin Brock had shown remarkable flashes of competence earlier this season, but NINE Tennessee State players scored more than his ZERO points in this game. One Tennessee State player made a single free throw to score more than our starting small forward. Now I, fortunately, could not watch the game, but from all reports, Illinois revived its "zone offense" again. "Zone offense" is a sarcastic rip at an offense that makes it easy on the defense by just standing still in the same "zone" and passing the ball around aimlessly because tat lack of motion does not create any opportunities. It is perhaps the most descriptive way to explain the ANTITHESIS of what "motion offense" is supposed to do: move around constantly, especially without the ball, so as to create screens and picks that result in open shots. And this team has shown a remarkable ability to slide into "zone offense." I thought *I* had coined the term "zone offense," but there it was, all over the bulletin boards after the game. Brian Randle also left the game after suffering a minor concussion in the first half.
We have several great recruits coming in the next few years. Former Kentucky guard Alex Legion just announced that he will transfer in next year and be eligible to play during winter break next year. Jamar Smith will be back next year. We also have the three of the best high school players from Illinois all committed to Illinois the following year in 2009. But we need to really shake things up THIS year. Play the freshmen. Play the walk-ons. Do something, because this is not working, even when we win.
In the meantime, the rest of the allegedly terrible Big Ten continues to show signs of competitiveness. Wisconsin announced here in Austin that news of its decline was rather premature by beating #9 Texas in Austin, 67-66. But there is something good to say. The Illini are in the Rose Bowl. (That should work for a few weeks.) Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Illini Drop Big Ten Opener to Ohio State; Play Penn State Next1/4/08 Illinois lost its Big Ten opener to Ohio State Thursday night, 74-58. Illinois kept it close and exchanged leads for most of the game, but Ohio State pulled away midway through the second half and never looked back. Illinois next plays Penn State in Champaign. We will gather at Third Base to watch the Penn State game at 1:00 on Sunday.
Although recent history might suggest that Illinois mojo only works in either basketball or football, the last time our football team was this good, our basketball team was a Sweet 16 team in Bill Self's final year, and projected to go deeper than they did. It is not a mutually exclusive thing. Our problem is obvious: our offense is bad. Trent Meacham is the only reliable outside threat, and when he has an off night (as he did against Ohio State), we are sunk. Teams know they can simply clog up the inside with a zone defense, forcing us to shoot from outside.
Shawn Pruitt is our only reliable inside scoring threat, but he cannot shoot free throws, so teams can just play him over aggressively and either make it more difficult than he can handle or send him to the line, where he will miss. Brian Randle is injured... again... and is streaky at best even when healthy. Chester Frazier has reverted back to his freshman-year tendencies to panic, second-guess himself, make errant passes or hold the ball to long dribbling around until he needs to heave up a desperation three-point shot that he cannot reliably make even when not pressured. He hustles and has a lot of heart, so you want him to succeed, but it just is not working with him at the point. The worst part is that Bruce Weber looks so frustrated, angry, and discouraged that it looks like he might be out of ideas on how to make it work with this team. In my darkest hours, I suspect that he might just have started punching the clock after his 2005 success, and he needs to start trying something different to make things work with this team. One of those different things would be to start the freshmen, or at least play them more. Demetri McCamey has looked decent at the point, and Tisdale, Cole and Davis have all shown a diverse array of scoring abilities: from long range, mid-range, and up-close to the basket. Rodney Alexander also has shown explosiveness that the other upperclassmen seem to lack. We have help coming next year when Jamar Smith returns, Alex Legion transfers in, and Simpson joins us as yet another freshman big man. But Weber should not just wait till next year. Just as Weber's 2005 success placed Ron Turner's failures in a rather unfavorable light, Ron Zook's success (especially in recruiting) is placing Weber's shortcomings in a poor light, especially considering the reputation and strength of the program that Weber inherited. However, Weber has turned the team around every year at this point in the season. Even the past two years, when we played below expectations in the non-conference and early Big Ten season, we made a late surge to get into the Tournament. Although the NCAA Tournament is looking less and less likely, here's hoping that Weber turn things around quickly this year like he has the past few years. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Illini Lose to Wisconsin and Indiana on the Road; Drop to 0-4 in the Big Ten1/14/08 Illinois lost to Wisconsin in Madison, 60-70, and then lost to Indiana 58-62, to extend its losing streak to 5 games and drop to 8-9 on the season, 0-4 in Big Ten play. Illinois next hosts Michigan on Wednesday. We will gather to watch the Illinois-Michigan game at Third Base Wednesday night at 8:00. If you think we have had a rough season so far, look at Michigan: non-conference losses to #5 Georgetown, #23 Butler, #7 Duke, #8 UCLA (who the heck scheduled their non-conference games?!?!?), plus non-conference losses to unranked Western Kentucky, Boston College, Harvard, and Central Michigan. Michigan also has lost its first three Big Ten games to Wisconsin, Indiana, and Purdue, before winning at Northwestern last weekend. Michigan is 5-11 overall, and 1-3 in the Big Ten. So I guess there is hope. But what the heck happened to the Illini while I was gone? I have been on vacation (including the Rose Bowl), and the Illini not only lose the Rose Bowl, but our basketball team goes on a five-game losing streak? What the heck happened?!?!? Do I need to stay in Austin for us to do well? Illinois lost to Indiana in a surprisingly close game on the road, 58-62. Illinois had a chance to tie it in the final seconds after Trent Meacham hit a 3-pointer to bring them within 2 and the defense stopped Indiana and got the ball back; but Brian Randle came through in the clutch again and... missed his game-tying shot. Indiana then converted two free throws to result in the 4-point loss. In all honesty, most people expected Indiana to blow us out, especially given the bitterness over Eric Gordon, who is proving to be as great as expected as a freshman and has led Indiana to a #10 National ranking. So it is a moral victory in a sense. We also played tough against # Wisconsin, and brought the game to within 3 points midway through the second half before Wisconsin pulled away and secured a 10-point victory. Another moral victory. However, there is no escaping the fact that Illinois is now under .500 (8-9) for the first time since last century: five losses in a row, including three losses in a row on our home court to unranked teams. Illinois played much better on the road against ranked opponents (Wisconsin and Indiana), but "better" is not enough when you lose to Tennessee State on your home court. Some people, like Gary, have quickly called for Weber to be fired before Illinois completely loses its reputation as an elite basketball school. Like Ron Turner did in football, Weber has allowed recruiting to slide significantly, resulting in this year's debacle of a team while stars like Eric Gordon plays for Indiana, Derrick Rose plays for Memphis, Scheyer plays for Duke, and Collins and Rush plays for Kansas; all of whom considered and even favored Illinois before going elsewhere. In the meantime, we must watch Chester Frazier and Brian Randle struggle to make any coherent sense on the court, and Trent Meacham (an unrecruited walk-on who grew up in Champaign) has become our best, most consistent and reliable player. As I have pointed out, we already knew this year would be bad because we already knew Jamar Smith would be out and that Eric Gordon had defected to Indiana, and that Weber had lost other prized recruits. But Weber's biggest selling point was how he took Southern Illinois to the Sweet 16 with sub-par talent, and many of us hoped for something more than this. I hate to say it, but it looks like Weber has almost taken the last two years off, coasting on his reputation from the 2005 Final Four season. He seems exasperated when discussing this team and their lack of motivation and focus: not only an awful thing for him to admit, but awful for him to vent in the media that he lacks the ability to lead this team out of their doldrums. On the other hand, some others have called those who want Weber's head "hyporcites" for demanding loyalty while giving none. Remember when everyone was so upset that Lon Kruger and Bill Self used Illinois as a stepping stone? Remember when the primary criteria for Self's replacement was loyalty? Someone who would stick with us? We got it. Weber could have bolted to Purdue while he was still a hot coach when Keady left Purdue two years ago, which would have made sense given that he was an assistant at Purdue for almost two decades. Instead he re-signed with Illinois. But now we can show no loyalty in return? Before this season unfolded, we already knew that Weber had faltered the past few years in recruiting. But, unlike Turner who just kept getting worse each year, Weber has turned his recruiting around. He has Alex Legion transferring in next year, and five highly-touted prep stars have committed to coming to Illinois. He also found Jamar Smith as an unknown diamond in the rough, who also will return next year. To those who say that oral commitments mean nothing because even Eric Gordon reneged on far more solid promises, we cannot do anything about NCAA rules that prohibit Sophomores and Juniors from signing binding commitments. Everyone needs to live with verbal commitments from underclassmen, and the Eric Gordon saga was so shocking because it is so unusual. We should not expect perhaps the most nefarious recruiting tale ever to occur again. Also, the problem that burns me is that these players do not look like they mind losing. They do not have the passion in their eyes to do something, anything, to win. *I* want them to win far more than they seem to want to win. Part of that is coaching, but there are some things you just cannot coach. The one thing the coach can do is change the starting rotation and reduce Frazier and Randle's minutes, which it probably is time for Weber to do. Weber also is not the only coach to fall onto hard times. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Jim Cahoun (UConn) both not only took their teams to the National Championship game, but won National Championships recently; and both of their teams missed the NCAA Tournament last year. Duke lost last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to lowly Virginia Commonwealth. This year's debacle so far is ugly, and it is not something to ignore, but it is not time to call for Bruce Weber's head quite yet. Not yet. Lawrence Page Austin Illini
Illini Snap 5-Game Losing Streak by Beating Michigan; Play at Purdue Next1/17/08
Illinois snapped its first five-game losing streak since Gary was a... kid... by crushing Michigan by the fun, reciprocal score, 75-57, and they (mostly) looked good doing so. Illinois next plays at Purdue on Saturday. We will gather at Third base at 1:00 to watch the Purdue game on the Big Ten Network. Again, a map to Third base is available on their website, www.ThirdBaseAustin.com . The Michigan game went well, with Illinois getting back into rhythm against a struggling Michigan team under a new head coach. Demetri McCamey started in place of a slightly-injured Chester Frazier, and Illinois quickly jumped to a 17-5 lead. But then Chester came in off the bench, and Michigan suddenly went on an 14-0 run to take the lead 19-17 and then again at 21-19. Not that I am commenting on any causal connections or anything. Just a random temporal correlation: we were up 17-5, Chester Frazier came in; Michigan went on a 14-0 run to take the lead. Frazier played 25 minutes and finished with 2 points and 2 assists. But Illinois took the lead again and controlled the game until Michigan tied it again at 43 midway through the second half. Then Illinois held Michigan scoreless for almost the next five minutes, jumped to a 56-43 lead, and never really looked back. Brian Randle had an unfortunately rare, decent game, leading the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He looked unusually assertive, drove to the basket well, and muscled out many offensive rebounds into quick putbacks. Shaun Pruitt also had 19 points, and both Meacham and Brock shot well with 11 points each. McCamey generally ran the offense competently and it looks as if he will develop into a rather decent point guard. Purdue will be a tougher game, although it still is a winnable game. Purdue is 3-1 in the Big Ten so far, with wins over Ohio State, Iowa, and Michigan, and a loss to Michigan State. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Illinois Drops Close Road Game at Purdue; Play at Ohio State Next1/20/08 After controlling the game in the first half, Illinois lost another close game at Purdue, 67-74, with missed free throws again providing the difference in the game. Illinois next travels to Ohio State tomorrow night. We will gather at Third Base to watch the Ohio State game at 8:00 on the Big Ten Network.
Illinois actually stayed in the game until the end, and even controlled the game in the first half. Randle showed sparks of brilliance and assertiveness, turning steals on one end of the floor into drives to the basket on the other end. He and Pruitt led the team with 15 points each. Trent Meacham also shot well, scoring 11 points until he (and the team) went cold in the second half. In the first half, Illinois controlled the game mostly by moving effectively away from the ball on offense. When Illinois' offense went cold for a four-minute stretch, the defense clamped down and stifled Purdue's offense so they still couldn't catch up. Illinois led by 8 at the half, and looked to be cruising to a rare road victory. However, in the second half, the refs swallowed their whistles and Purdue took advantage of it. On one drive in particular, a Purdue defender swatted Pruitt's head, turning it around a quarter-turn during a shot; they didn't even call a foul, no less an intentional foul. Meacham also lost the ball several times when the Purdue defender would blatantly slap him several times without a foul being called. The hard defense and sloppy reffing completely disturbed Illinois' flow, and Illinois could not adjust. Yes, I know Big Ten officiating is known for allowing physical play, but the problem I have always lamented is that doing so teaches Big Ten teams a sufficiently-different game of basketball from what will be called in the Tournament so as to affect their success in the Tournament. Not only do Big Ten players tend to get in foul trouble in the Tournament because they are accustomed to more physical play, but once they are in foul trouble they tend to over-adjust and play not physical enough in an attempt to stay out of foul trouble. They do not know where the balance is, and thus must play too conservatively. Moreover, because officials in other conferences call fouls more aggressively, teams in other conferences (especially Arizona in particular) also learn on offense how to draw fouls from defenders and get to the free throw line. Because Big Ten officials do not call such touch fouls, Big Ten players tend to not learn how to draw a foul on a shot, and thus tend to end up shooting fewer free throws. That said, Illinois also had their fair share of the blame. Demetri McCamey again did a good job starting in place of the nominally-injured Chester Frazier, whom we all WANT to do well because he does try so hard, but who just does not seem to have the composure to perform in the clutch. (If only Rich McBride had Frazier's effort and enthusiasm; he would have been a superstar). But even off the bench, Frazier still played as much as any of our starters: 31 minutes; more than enough minutes for him to to stifle our offense. Plenty of times when Illinois needed to execute its offense and score to maintain a lead, Frazier would again end up dribbling or holding the ball at the top of the key, looking befuddled on what to do with it. At least twice, he dribbled the ball into a corner and into a double-team, one of which forced him to waste a timeout to prevent a turnover. Free throw shooting also continued to plague us. Illinois shot only 47% from the line, compared to Purdue's 79%. If Illinois would have shot 79% from the free throw line, they would have scored at least 6 more points, retained the lead through crunch time, and not needed to foul and give Purdue some easy points at the end of the game for the final 7-point victory. Worse yet, when Randle and Pruitt both got into foul trouble, Weber actually acted confused on how to adjust his rotation while Pruitt and Randle sat on the bench. Instead of allowing a player or two to get into the flow of the game, he kept randomly sending guys in off the bench for 30 seconds until they made a small mistake, then yanked them for another random guy off the bench who also would make a small mistake and be quickly replaced by another cold player off the bench. Purdue is a decent team on its home court, and just barely lost to a solid Michigan State team for its only Big Ten loss so far. So the loss is not a bad loss. And as much as it is not good to see Illinois lose another close game that they could have won, they are showing slight signs of improvement in their offensive flow. Although he let Frazier play the minutes of a starter, Weber is at least showing signs of realizing that Frazier needs to sit more, and he is giving the freshmen more minutes. If they would have played this well against Tennessee State, Miami (Ohio), or Penn State, they would not have dug themselves into such a hole. But they have, and they really need a win against Ohio State, who is showing signs of inconsistency, themselves. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Deja-Vu All Over Again; Illinois Lose to Ohio State; Play Northwestern Next1/23/08
Illinois dropped another close one, losing to Ohio State on the road, 64-58. Illinois next plays Northwestern at Assembly Hall on Sunday evening on the Big Ten Network. We will gather at Third Base to watch the Northwestern game Sunday night at 7:00.
Ohio State maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game and seemed pretty much in control until the end. It looked like the Illini followed a script: play well out of the gate, then go completely cold shooting and allow the other team to pull away. Illinois scored only 13 points in the first 15 minutes of the game, then "surged" to score ten points in the final minutes of the second half to close the lead to just ten at halftime. Even with that surge, Illinois shot only 28% from the field in the first half, sompared to Ohio State's 62%. It was a shock we were not down by more than just 10 at halftime. Ohio State then maintained and extended the lead to 55-40 with just over 6 minutes left in the game. At Third Base, we were joking that, although it was frustrating to watch, at least my recaps are getting easier and easier to write. Cut and paste. Frazier dribbles too much and can't run the offense or find an open man. Randle showed signs of brilliance but got in foul trouble and couldn't hit shots when they mattered most. Trent Meacham--a walk-on who is our best player--played well but couldn't make up the difference. And, most importantly... WE CAN'T SHOOT FREE THROWS. But somehow, Illinois managed to creep back in and come within three points at 61-58 with 33 seconds left. Rodney Alexander, in particular, fulfilled the early signs of promise he showed in the non-conference season and had his Big Ten "coming out party." He led the Illini by scoring a career-high 20 points and snagging 11 rebounds, mostly in the second half. Illinois cut the lead to 61-58 with 33 seconds remaining on a drive by Brian Randle. They quickly fouled Ohio State's big man from Europe, Kosta Koufos, who had killed them from three-point range through the game and was a 77% free-throw shooter, which is pretty reliable for a college player. Somehow, he missed both shots. Our defenders got perfect position to rebound the second miss, surrounding the basket with no real contest from OSU. We all got up and shouted with revived hopes that perhaps we could pull this one out. Then, in that same joyous moment, OSU's David Lightly quickly slipped through a seam and snagged the rebound from Davis. Illinois had to foul him and put OSU back on the free throw line. He hit both free throws. Just as we had hopes, they are dashed. The problem is that this surge fits this year's script, as well. As with the Duke, Maryland, Arizona, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, and so many other games this year, this team has a knack for giving us just enough reason to get our hopes up... only to let us down again.
The side show story of the game was that Weber benched our leading scorer, Shaun Pruitt, for disciplinary reasons. Rumor has it that Pruitt has been a discipline problem and has hurt the team chemistry with a bit too much selfishness in practice and during the games. Just like Gene Hackman sat Rade in Hoosiers for shooting the ball too much, Weber sat Pruitt, who dressed and sat on the bench the entire game. The good news is that the toughest part of the Big Ten schedule, with consecutive road games at Wisconsin and Indiana then consecutive road games at Purdue and Ohio State, is now behind us. We have one tough remaining road game ahead of us at Michigan State next Wednesday, but play 6 of our final 11 games at home, and 3 of our 5 remaining road games include games at Minnesota, Michigan, and Penn State: all winable games. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Illini demolish Northwestern 70-37; play Michigan State nextJanuary 28, 2008 Illinois demolished Northwestern, 70-37. Illinois next plays at Michigan State on Wednesday night. We will gather at Third Base on Wednesday evening to watch the Michigan State game at 8:00 on The Big Ten Network. The Michigan State Austin alumni club will be there, too, so we need to show up in force, if only to show that we are not just fair weather fans.
Despite the much-needed victory, the Northwestern game proved really only one thing: as bad as Northwestern tends to be every year, they are even worse this year. Northwestern is bad, really bad; I am not sure they would avoid the basement of the Missouri Valley Conference, no less the Big Ten. Illinois jumped out to a 25-4 lead, and never really looked back. Illinois held Northwestern to a season-low 37 points, including fewer than 20 points each half. However, all that might say is that we were more desperate for a dominant blowout victory than anyone else so far; and that other teams just showed mercy before we did. It was the second-worst blowout for Northwestern this year. Virginia beat Northwestern by 42 points earlier this year, 94-52. Northwestern does not have anyone listed at more than 6' 8", and even those listings looked like an exaggeration given how small their players looked next to ours. Despite the fact that our starting lineup desperately needs practice working in game situations, Weber even took them all out and played only bench players for much of the second half; and even then, Northwestern couldn't do anything. Illinois even shot 71% from the free throw line. The sad part about that is the reason: not one of our starters shot a free throw; but at least that means our BENCH can shoot an average percentage of free throws. (Jeff Jordan led the Illini in free throws, shooting 4-4 from the line). Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale started in place of Chester Frazier and Shaun Pruitt, respectively. Brian Randle remained in the starting lineup with Calvin Brock, both of whom have shown flashes of decent play but have crippled the offense with their inconsistency. Rodney Alexander again made a big impact in this game. Despite scoring only 8 points, 6 of those points were on three Flying-Illini quality alley-oop dunks: two of them happening on consecutive possessions. It is great to see him get more playing time. Trent Meacham again led all scorers with 18 points... and he is still just a walk-on.
Illini Lose Another Close Game, This Time to MSU; Play Purdue nextJanuary 31, 2008 Alter surging to lead at the half, 24-20, Illinois lost yet another close game to Michigan State, 51-41. Illinois next hosts Purdue, the hot new buzz-team in the Big Ten. Although I probably will not be able to make it, myself, we will gather at Third Base to watch the Purdue game at 2:30. The Michigan State game is yet another "coulda been" in a long season of disappointments. Without a season full of disappointments, this game would have been an amazing moral victory. We played the #7 team in the country, who had gone 18-2 so far this season, at their place. We should have lost by 30. Instead, we almost beat the #7 team in the country on their home court. Even more shocking was what MSU coach Tom Izzo said after the game. "We missed some shots early and they took it to us, and I didn't like how we responded," Izzo said. "When we got knocked in the mouth, we didn't respond very well. They're definitely the toughest team we've played." Huh?!?! The good spin on this season is that Illinois has really not been blown out of a single game this year. The worst I can recall off the top of my head was perhaps the Ohio State game to start the Big Ten season. Virtually every time a blowout seems to be in the making, this team crawls back just enough to give you a futile sense of hope. The Michigan State game featured a twist on this same theme. Instead of starting the game well and then crumbling, the Illini started horribly. They didn't score a point the first five minutes of the game, and scored only 3 points in the first 11 minutes of the game. They let Michigan State jump to a 12-3 start midway through the second half, which seemed like it would be enough to set up a blowout on the road. Of course, it must have been a complete coincidence that Chester Frazier returned to the starting lineup at point guard for this game. But Illinois surged back with a 17-2 run to take a 20-14 lead with 3 minutes left in the half, and pretty much held that lead for a 24-20 score at halftime. Still, the halftime adjustments allowed Illinois to return to its "find a way to lose" ways. Illinois only scored 17 points in the second half, most of which came in the final 7 minutes of the game after Michigan State had regained a comfortable lead that they were able to maintain to the end. And, again, true to the script, free throws helped us crumble. While Michigan State shot well from the line (76%), Illinois shot only 36% from the free throw line: shocking even for an awful free-throw shooting team. Combine that with shooting only 30% from the field, and it is actually amazing that we did not get blown out by 30 or 40 points to the #7 team in the country on their home court. Weber proved that he wasn't clueless about the impact of Illinois' free-throw shooting. "We kept it within a couple of possessions, but still the free throws are so tough for us," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We foul them, and they make two. Then we come down, drive to the basket, get fouled and don't make free throws we need. I wish it wasn't the same story, but it's been like that all year for us." Goron Suton, Michigan State's power forward, even admitted that MSU was "lucky" and that they would have lost if Illinois had not missed so many free throws. But, again, help is on the way. Our recruiting looks more and more amazing the next four years, with Weber having verbal commitments that should result in top-10 recruiting classes in 2009 and 2010, and early signs have him in the driver's seat to landing a top-10 class in 2011, as well. UConn Coach Jim Cahoon's much-quoted prediction three years ago that Illinois' 2005 Final Four will not trickle down to recruiting success for another four or five years seems to be downright prophetic. But that is food for a different update. Lawrence Page THE Austin Illini Club
Illini Lose Heartbreaker to Indiana at Home; Play at Minnesota nextFebruary 8, 2008 Illinois lost a heartbreaker against Indiana in double-overtime, 79-83. It was a close and mostly well-played game on both sides. And Eric Gordon’s first and only appearance in Champaign was as interesting as promised, even if the result of the game was not what we wanted. Illinois takes the weekend off and next plays at Minnesota on Tuesday night.
It was rivalry week in college basketball, and I wonder whether it is a coincidence that Illinois' only game this week was against Indiana and its infamous, fabulous freshman, IDKWTI ("I Don't Know Who That Is" -Deron Williams's now-famous comment about Eric Gordon's de-commitment to Illinois on National Signing Day 2006). This game marked the first (and probably last) time that IDKWTI will play in Champaign, and the Orange Krush did not let him forget how his de-commitment seriously hurt Bruce Weber and this program, leaving them flailing in the wind this year along with other misfortunes. The good news is that we look much better off in the long run. Weber's generally high-road handling of the situation, and his refusal to emphasize the personal grudge match to his team in practices, were contributing factors in the turnaround in recruiting Weber has seen with the incoming 2008, 2009, and 2010 classes. But, again, that is a subject for another update. In the meantime, Indiana will likely spend the next few years on probation or NCAA sanctions due to Kelvin Sampson's recruiting violations. Nonetheless, we still need to deal with this year. Illini fans soundly booed Gordon throughout the game whenever he touched the ball and loudly cheered his many mistakes, and it clearly rattled him. Not only did he score only one point in the first half, he turned the ball over repeatedly, stumbled and misdribbled the ball, and looked like a rather-berated little boy who just got beat up in the schoolyard as he returned to Indiana’s bench during time-outs. And he deserved every bit of it. In a double-overtime game against his fiercest personal rival, Gordon scored less than his regulation-average of 22 points per game. The only statistical category Gordon led for the game was turnovers: he committed seven, which is four more than any other single player. Gordon did end up with 19 points, but Frazier’s defense held him to only 3-13 from the field (23%) after starting 0-4 in the first half. Gordon scored most of his points at the free throw line in the second half when the refs became set on protecting him from even the slightest touch fouls. Indeed, without those free throws to compose himself, Gordon likely would not have regained his composure and would hardly have scored at all. The crowd was that deeply inside his head, and Chester Frazier did that good of a job defending one of the best players in the country. Three of Gordon’s points from the field also came on a horrible-but-lucky three-point shot at the end of regulation that banked in from an angle only because it was so horribly far off target. To his credit, though, he did use | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
