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Illini race past Leathernecks
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By LDN staff
[NOV. 24, 2003]
If you're
a new coach and nervous in your first outing in front of the home
folks, you'd like to see your team come out and put a game away
early. That would especially be the case if you had as many
distractions as this team has had over the last couple of weeks. But
that's almost exactly what Weber's Illini did Saturday night to
Western Illinois (0-3) in a convincing 94-66 win.
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It was almost as if the Illini
told Weber to sit down: "We've got it from here, coach!" Illinois
(1-0) raced down the court, flying to their spots and unselfishly
making extra passes here and there.
It reminded us of the middle
'90s. IF memory serves, Arkansas won in Charlotte in 1994, UCLA won
in Seattle in 1995, and Kentucky won in New Jersey in 1996… What did
these three teams have in common? According to Lincoln Railer coach
Eric Ewald, "Those teams played fast." And if Saturday night's game
at the Assembly Hall was any indication, this Illini team is gonna
play fast!
We have to say that we love it!
We love a track meet in transition. We love primary breaks. And we
love early offense. We think when you can score a minimum of 30
percent of your points in the fast-break game, you can take
tremendous pressure off your half-court situations. Knocking down
your free throws helps too.
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Dee Brown was on fire and he
led his team, just like he said he would, with 23 points; and
unselfishly passed up some chances to make a few more. The Roger
Powell of old was back, and he chipped in 14. Big Nick Smith tallied
13. James Augustine threw down 12 markers while hauling down a
career-high 13 caroms. And Deron Williams flirted with the rare
triple-double, scoring 11 points, pulling down nine rebounds and
dishing off eight assists. His overall play seems to be dominating
at this time.
Why was Weber so nervous?
Because three players -- Luther Head, Aaron Spears and Richard
McBride -- sat the bench for violating team rules. Weber has been
around long enough to know that whenever ANYthing comes along and
messes with team chemistry, bizarre things can sometimes happen. And
if you recall, WIU and other teams like 'em have given the Illini
wake-up calls before.
But
credit this Illini bunch for taking care of business and for handing
coach Weber his first victory as the Illinois mentor. After enduring
the Illinois football woes for so many weeks, it was just nice to
win again! Illinois hosts Mercer Wednesday night.
[LDN sports staff] |
