Early Illini Hoops Report

College football is nearly upon us so naturally we bring you a lengthy first-hand report about Illini basketball…

This courtesy of my brother (sometimes known as the Rube; why? click here…).  Enjoy.

—————-

So the Poster Formerly Known as the Rube was at his post as a member of the Board of Directors for the Illini Rebounders Association last night.  His post was within the newer, but still hallowed walls of The Ubben!  As I walked into the facility a full 15 minutes before the huddled masses I was met with the usual looks of “hey that guy must be important” that I usually get when I arrive.  Coach Harrington walked up and gave me the usual ribbing about Mrs. Rube being a better basketball player than me (she was the star at the Women’s Luncheon last year as she was the only one who could make layups off the inbounds plays.  Of course they were the same inbounds plays the team runs and they were able to teach a group of women who have never played the intricacies of the plays in 15 minutes….what does that say about our inbounds plays?!?!?!?!)  But I digress, Sean wasn’t allowed to be in the gym as the players came out so he hightailed it back into the offices.

The practice (a term I use very, very lightly) began with some shooting around and some stretching by a few of the players.  They were playing IMPE rules (games to 11 win by 2 up to 15 every basket no matter where its made from is 1 point).

The first game featured a squad of D-Mac, Tiz, I am Legion, Brandon Paul and Tyler Griffey against Mike D (with his bad breath onion rings!!!! sorry B-Boys refernce), Semrau, Bubba, Joe Bertrand and Keller.  This was a better game than would immediately appear as Mike D. (whose know to be the mackinest), hasn’t played all summer with the broken ankle and the tonsils removed a couple weeks ago.  But, Keller tried to run the show until Bubba decided he had no business trying to be the PG.  D-Mac and Tiz won mostly do to the cyborg-like offense of I am Legion.  Alex was on FIRE!  Couldn’t miss, whatever ESPN term you want to use etc.
The next game brought DJ Richardson in for Bertrand, Get it the F out Stan Simpson made an appearance for Keller and the teams changed around some.  DJ and D-Mac were on the same squad and D-Mac deferred the PG duties to DJ.  Interesting, but then again there were no coaches and this wasn’t really a clinic on the Motion Offense.  During the entire time the scrimmage was going on there was some semblance of offense as there were pick and rolls, some post feeds and some basic things going on, but there was also alot of fast breaks and run outs as well.  What there wasn’t alot of accept for DJ Richardson and Stan Simpson was defense.  Bubba did the best he could, but just isn’t quite the athlete the rest of them are, still he played his heart out and was overheard more than once directing people and getting on a few guys for messing around.

Below was my assessment of each player in this limited environment:

D-Mac; has lost 20 pounds according to Weber and it shows.  He still looks very strong, but also appears to be about a step and a half quicker and now has hops!  Kind of deceiving hops not unlike D-Will had his last year here.  He made several NBA distance threes, but still drove to the basket alot.  I didn’t see him hit many mid range jumpers, but he did get to the rim alot and tried to finish most times with a dunk (almost to his detriment).  He tried to take the lead and did well most of the time, but he was also the first to start messing around so still some work to be done there.

Tisdale; looked pretty good.  Looked stronger although he’s still thin.  I don’t think he’ll ever be really big as far as that goes, but looked stronger none the less.  He’s developed a left hook to go along with the one from the right that he seemed to be comfortable taking out to about 8 feet or so.  He rebounded well and played solid defense, though he wasn’t tested much on D as he was usually guarding Simpson or Semrau neither of which are offensive juggernauts!  Still can hit a long jumper, but wasn’t looking for it as much.

Mike D.;  was playing as I stated above for the first time this summer and it showed a bit.  Missed several of those 12-17 foot jumpers that made him so effective last year.  He hit a few, but probably missed more than he made.  Played good defense about three trips total the entire hour.  He lost 11 pounds because of the tonsil thing, but says he shouldn’t have trouble putting it back on and maybe a few more before the season starts.

Keller; was trying most of the time to play point guard which was odd and a bit scary.  That said his ball handling has improved (although he still has no business trying to play PG).  He was very effective posting up against everyone other than Simpson and Tisdale.  Semrau also had some success pushing him out, but then couldn’t stay in front of him when he faced up.  Dominique is the real joker of the group, he along with D-Mac tried to take charge, but just like D-Mac was also one of the first to start screwing around.  Overall, he looked more comfortable and rebounded very, very well.

Semrau; unfortunatley for Rich he may not see the floor alot this year.  He missed several from 10 foot in.  He doesn’t jump as well as the rest, although he’s put on 10 pounds of muscle and looks like he could twist someones head off until you look at his face.  He still looks like a shy really, really nice guy.  Needs a scar or a bald head if you ask me.  He pushed pretty much everyone anywhere he wanted, although most of it wasn’t legal in a real game.

Stan; Stanley Simpson looks improved.  Still needs to get stronger, or more aggressive or both, but he’s long and gets up and down the court very well.  He blocked several shots even one of Tisdale’s Hooks and altered several other shots.  He’s adept at getting in the way on offensive drives by the guards!  He did rebound pretty well and was adequate when he got something close in.

I am Legion; was as they say En Fuego in the first half of the scrimmage.  He couldn’t miss and probably had 7 of his teams 11 in the first game including a myriad of shots and drives to the hoop.  He cooled off some after he sat for a bit leading one to believe he just needs to be on the court more to be effective.  He was still a factor just not hitting his shot as well after he sat for a bit.  Played about as much defense as Mr. Beemsville used to (for those who don’t know how much that is…imagine Jason Elam trying to play Middle Linebacker…. for the Steel Curtain Defense of the Steelers long ago…you just don’t see it!!!).  Editor’s note: Untrue – I was an effective if risk-prone defender…

Bubba; Bubba is short, white and has a mean streak.  Won’t play, shouldn’t play, but everyone listens to him because he works harder than any two guys on the team put together.

Billy Cole; Billy Boy can shoot.  You won’t lack hearing that from the coaches, players, TV talking heads etc.  Unfortunately that’s all I saw him do.  Didn’t see him take a shot inside 17 feet.  Took probably 10 threes, made 6 or 7.  I’m not sure I saw him in the paint other than to slip through it to run to the other side to try to get a three.  Still doesn’t appear to be quick enough to guard a three so he may end up being the best Gus Macker player of all time, but might not make it to the floor much for the Illini.

Tyler Griffey;  Tyler by contrast to Bill, was happy to go into the paint and bang around.  He isn’t built as thin as they usually come and by they I mean 6′9″ guys who play inside and out.  He has some meat on him for an 18 year old.  He’s also very skilled.  Saw him hit some jumpers even a three, but wasn’t afraid as I said to go down low and mix it up.  Got pushed around by all the other bigs, but didn’t back down and pushed right back.  Runs the floor very well and is an above average passer and ball handler for a guy his size.  He may supplant Cole and Semrau for 7-10 minutes a game giving Mike D and Keller some breaks, if he can pick up the defense and the offensive scheme.

Joe Bertrand; Joe is on the other hand very thin.  He’s a legit 6′5″ if the other two freshman guards are 6′3″.  He’s got the highest verticals on the team according to Weber of 42.5″.  So almost a full foot under the Rube’s, but good none the less!!!  I’m not sure I saw him shoot during the entire scrimmage and he looked very timid.  He is very athletic and didn’t seem to loaf, he just deferred to EVERYONE.  May be the odd many out and may redshirt if it were up to The Rube he would.

DJ Richardson; Hard nosed Peoria kid also pretty thin, but wiry.  He didn’t back down and as noted above took the PG duties with whomever he played with including D-Mac.  He also was one of few guys to actually play defense, which as we all know is a big advantage in a scrimmage like this.  He hit some threes and drove fairly well.  He didn’t make many mistakes.  Didn’t make alot of plays, but not alot of mistakes either.  He’ll get time this year.

Brandon Paul; Wow what an athlete.  This kid looks like a Halfback, but has a very smooth jumper.  He went in and rebounded with the big boys and reminded me of how Luther Head used to rebound.  He hit some threes, drove hard and even hit some mid range jumpers old school style!  He and Keller got into it a bit and were jawing with each other and the good thing was Paul the Freshman didn’t back down from Keller the Senior even though Keller has 3 inches and 20 pounds on him.  Brandon played with confidence, but wasn’t really a match for Dominique the Snake Keller when he decided to post him up.  Of course Keller couldn’t stay in front of Paul on the drive either.

The Rube came away seeing a starting line up of
D-Mac
Mike D
Tisdale
???
???

I know, I know you could have said the same thing without reading all the above carp!  That said understand that Bruce could play Richardson, with Keller, Paul with Keller, Paul with Richardson, Legion with Keller, Legion with Paul or Richardson.

What I would envision because Weber wants the team a little meaner and rebounding a bit better would be:
D-Mac
Mike D
Tizdale
Keller
Legion, Richardson or Paul.

Defense may be a problem with a quick 3 on the other squad, but its doable!

Jay-P in tha house

The dinner afterwards was nice and the players all seem to be very nice young men.  They of course were asking The Rube for his autograph after they found out my secret identity since they are all lifetime subscribers to Beemsville!  In all seriousness The Rube did have Jay Price ask him to start doing his memoirs for him entitled How a Bald White Guy Relates to Inner-city Baskeball Players……but thats a story for a different time…

Rube out~