Pentagram: Illini Basketball Preview

The Fighting Illini 09-10 Basketball season tips off tonight against SIU-Edwardsville.  Coach Weber has four freshman to incorporate, three of which have already proven they will play (and Joseph Bertrand might be in that mix too if not for a knee injury), and his top three returning scorers in McCamey, Davis, and Tisdale.  Illinois has three more talented players coming in next year, and Weber deserves a lot of credit for his recent recruiting success.

But if the football team has taught us anything, it’s to be wary of the local hype surrounding the Illini.  Don’t get carried away with lofty prognostications.  That said, we’re optimistic about this year’s hoops team.  They will be fun to watch with young athletic players and depth on the bench.  The days of low-scoring milk-the-shotclock-and-hope offense should be behind us, and we won’t see many more games in the 40s and 50s (let alone that nightmare Penn State game in the 30s).

Last year’s team overachieved its way to a 24-10 record behind the grit of Chester Frazier and the scoring of the now-junior class.  So what do we see for this year?  Five points in the pentagram…

Hoops Season Pending

Mike D in the House

A quick look at the official website schedule tells us we only have 12 days until the first televised Fighting Illini Basketball exhibition game.  Two weeks after that we have the season opener against SIU-Edwardsville.  For Illini fans, hoops can’t get here soon enough.  We can officially turn our attention to the four heralded freshmen and the talented junior trio of Mike, Mike, and D-Mac.

The Illini are a top 20 kind of team but may not start the season in the polls as it has become fashionable to stock a lot of mid-majors there (a trend Beemsville wholly endorses BTW).  But win against the cupcakes and come into December with one or fewer losses, and the Orange & Blue will get some attention.  If the freshmen can produce and no major injuries befall us, the Illini should contend for the Big 10 – and the conference will be as tough as it’s been in many years.  For a detailed scrimmage report from earlier this year, check out the Rube’s analysis.  More preseason coverage of Coach Weber’s team will be forthcoming.  Turning briefly to…

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.

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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.

Pentagram: Illini Hoops Off-Season

At last week’s Illini Basketball Postseason Banquet, Chester Frazier took home most of the awards, including team MVP.  We’ve said it before and we’ll say it one last time:  Bruce Weber deserves a lot of credit for milking 24 wins and a second-place Big 10 finish out of this team.  The Illini had some glaring holes and were built around Frazier and jump-shooting.  Not bagging on Chester here; I love the way he ran the team this year, but he’s essentially a role-player.  And as far as the jump-shooting, if the last two weekends of the tournament reemphasized anything it’s that you must have driving threats to compliment your jump shooters if you want to reach the highest levels.

Sounds like Chester will be around next year as a graduate assistant.  This is good news as everyone could use a little of what he has.  Will some of it rub off?  Illinois fans will recall what happens when your hardest working toughest player is also one of your best athletes.  See Battle, Kenny and Powell, Roger…  Yeah, there was a lot of talent on both those teams as well, but also some truly tough-minded guys, led by Flight #33 and the Rev.

The most important off-season development has already ocurred:  Jerrance Howard is staying put.  After overtures from both Kentucky and Memphis, Jerrance will meet with AD Ronnie the G about a raise.  Open up the checkbook Guenther; J-Ho is on the rise.

And now, your Illini Hoops Off-Season Pentagram…

Sparty, J-Ho, Jereme

With the NCAA basketball championship game set to tip off in less than two hours, you’ve probably had your fill of the ‘Michigan State’s performance in Detroit could mean so much to the beleaguered state of MI’ storyline.  Me, I could care less about that aspect of the game; wouldn’t matter to me if Michigan were the wealthiest most carefree state in the union – I’d still be pulling for Sparty tonight.  Why you ask?

Something about the two uncalled charges on Sean May in the first half back in 2005 continues to make me a little ill when I see powder blue.  I’m kind of like that Cop in the F*#$ing Nike commercials.  I’ll be bitter about that game for all time.

Watching of the Hoops

A long, long, long, weekend of watching Hoops:  the NCAA tourney, the Illinois State High School Finals.  In the Big Dance I have 12 of 16 teams remaining, and all my Final Four.  Didn’t do a particularly good job picking the upsets, and I overestimated the power of the Big 10 (as usual).  See, I drank the ‘we play defense in the Big 10′ kool aid, and it turns out the good teams from other schools play some D too.  Also, a lot of these teams have playmakers.  You know, guys who can do stuff of the dribble…

Which brings me to the Illinois High School 3A and 4A finals.  In 3A, Champaign Centennial looked very much like a well-coached team with good athletes and two very good playmakers in Kinney and Rice.  If the Illini were where they need to be in terms of talent, maybe they could run motion like Centennial, and if I were Bruce Weber, I’d offer Rayvonte Rice a scholarship right now.  Rice has the body and mentality of a linebacker and the skills of a 2-guard.  I was glad to see the downstate boys win.  In 4A, the games were a lot more frantic and a lot less disciplined.  In the end Whitney Young won.  Not coincidentally, they seemed to be the the best coached fundamentally sound team.  Waukegan, with Illini recruit Jereme Richmond played Arkansas style with little regard for running any kind of offense.  In fact, in the 4th quarter, they flashed the stats and Waukegan only had 5 assists.  5 assists. It was one pass and shoot it, and Richmond, their biggest and most effective player, looked frustrated.  He needed the ball in the post at least 12 to 15 times.  Instead he seemed content to make moves from the wing.  The good news is Jereme is the kind of get-your-shot athlete Illinois sorely needs; the bad news is, he has another year of high school.

Pentagram: ILL v. WKU

Admit it, Illini Nation: you just didn’t think this would happen.  Why didn’t you?  Because even in the face of all the evidence, you refused to accept just how integral Chester Frazier was to this year’s Illinois team.  You let yourself forget that based on the talent level and the respective skills of the players, this team has overachieved all year.

Does that make us feel any better?  Hell, no.  I’m angry that Coach didn’t have the guys more ready to play.  I’m disappointed that he didn’t develop the bench better to shore up some of the shortcomings.  I can’t understand how the players come out so flat and continue to make the same mistakes over and over.

That said, and despite losing 4 of their last 5, I enjoyed this team’s efforts this year.  I thought these Illini would struggle to make 20 wins and the NIT.  And I truly believe (as stated by my rube brother) that if Chester Frazier plays, we beat WKU by 10 and are looking at beating Gonzaga and a chance to get pummeled by the Tarheels…  Anywho, 5 points to your final Illini bball game pentagram:

Passivity Bites

Is there anything worse for a sports fan than seeing your team take the passive, play-not-to-lose role in a game?  Well, yeah, if you’re team really sucks and doesn’t play hard…

But if you’re team is basically good, competitive, and tough to beat in most situations, it’s exceptionally frustrating to watch said team adopt a passive approach.  Ten men behind the ball in soccer, the prevent defense or 3rd-and-long draw play in football, the milk-the-clock stall ball in hoops…  Last night it was a last second loss by the Illini to Penn State:  a game the orange-and-blue should have won.  Illinois was the superior team for about 2/3 of the game, but with about five minutes left to go and an eight point lead, Coach decided it was time to run the stall ball.  PSU went on a 12-3 run during that time and won on a last second shot.  Sure, a few more free throws would’ve iced it, or a little better D at the end, but you could tell by watching — the Nittany Lions had the momentum, the Illini suddenly looked unhinged, and the motion stalled.  Again.

Mike D in the House

…Whatcha gonna do?

I go A.W.O.L.!!!

I think they should play that classic Beastie Boys riff in the Assembly Hall every time Mike Davis goes for a double-double.  Sure, Mike was in diapers the year Paul’s Boutique came out (if he’d been born at all) and may have never heard the tune, but everyone in Champaign would get used to it next year.

So a a 70-68 victory over the Buckeyes, headlined by Mike Davis, Demetri McCamey, and Trent Meacham (but mostly Mike D).  The motion that looked so feckless against recent man-to-man defenses seemed positively clinical against the OSU zone  (thanks to Mike D).  A quick look at the box score tells us the Illini were 58% from the floor and 53% from 3.  You shoot like that you should beat about anyone*.  Mike Davis was 11-14 from the floor and seemed unstoppable; in fact the only thing that stopped him was not getting a few more shots.  They were short flare jumpers in the seam of the zone, often with guys running at him (he also shot no free throws – indicative of the holes in his game).  Still, Coach Weber’s offensive strategy from now on should involve getting Davis 10-12 shots per game (or more).

Pentagram: Ill v. PSU

What a pathetic display of offensive basketball that was.  33 point?  33 god damned points?

You just don’t win with that kind of impotent O.  Credit to Penn State and Ed DeChellis:  much like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Northwestern earlier, he had an excellent gameplan taking advantage of Illinois’ tendencies and stalling the motion in its tracks.  PSU knew very well where we like to take our shots and defended them well.  In fact everyone the last few weeks, except Indiana who simply cannot match up, has held this vaunted motion offense down.  And if no one is particularly on, well, the Illini are not exactly going to bull their way to any easy baskets.

A quick look at the box score tells us the co-leading scorers for the O & B were Frazier and Meacham with 7 apiece.  The team was 30% from the field and 19% from 3.  And they attempted no free throws. Mike Davis took 6 shots.  How does he only get 6 shots with a 6-6 guy guarding him?  How?  Because we never throw it to him in the post?  Because he’s too busy screening and the guards never throw it to him off the pick-and-roll?  How the hell do you only score 33 points?  Why not put in Legion, or Cole, or Bubba effin’ Chisholm?  Nice defensive effort by the team, but…