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Since so many of these first-semester games will be contested
while Greg and I both have ministry obligations, we're going to miss
at least a month of the season. That will be by far the longest
stretch of missed Illini hoops for either one of us for quite some
time. Knowing that going in, we did something we haven't done in
years, and that was to attend an exhibition game together last
night. It was good to see the Orange and Blue and begin to get a
feel for this ballclub. What follows is my attempt to give you a
very quick scouting report on the beloved. Schedule
I've got one word for you: brutal. I can promise you that neither
Taylor nor Mayfield had any input into this train wreck. Those who
have been clamoring for a tough, challenging slate of nonconference
games have gotten their wish this year. My grandma used to say to be
careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it, and that
would aptly describe my feelings about this slate of games. It's one
thing to be challenged; it's quite another thing to be overwhelmed.
A team's psyche is much more brittle and vulnerable than you can
imagine. Break a kid's spirit or a young team's heart and you may
never get them back the rest of the season. The Illini do possess
some seasoned veterans, but leadership has not been one of this
team's strongest suits. My hope is that we're even more ready than I
think we are and that we'll hold our own during this very difficult
stretch.
How difficult is it? Well, how 'bout going to Hawaii to play
before the Maui Invitational even begins. Then try strapping
them up with Arizona State, then Duke, then maybe recent Final Four
teams LSU or Marquette. Then if you survive that, you fly all the
way home in time to grab the shut-eye to the East Coast to take on
Maryland, a team we always seem to struggle with. When you catch
your breath you'll quickly realize that Arizona and Missouri are
still looming on the first-semester horizon. And I won't even go
into the Big Ten scheduling dilemmas until I recover from thinking
about the non-league tilts. This would've been the perfect schedule
for the '04-'05 Illini; I hope it works out as well for this
edition. In honor of yesterday being Election Day, let me just say
that I vote NO on this schedule and would gladly take a rerun of
last year's model!
Defense
I think Bruce Weber could get pygmies to play lock-down,
in-your-face defense. That is a given. Even these new guys, who
played zone in high school, already seem to have some of the keys to
Weber's ferocious "D" down. Playing championship-caliber defense not
only makes the Illini competitive, it just always puts them in a
position to win.
Last year's nightmare of injuries left the team with little depth
and not in a position with lots of fouls to give. I don't see that
as being nearly as big a problem this season. In fact, with the
early emergence of some of the "bigs," Illinois has a chance to be
vastly improved in areas that were affected by injuries and other
incidents last year.
Weber's club does a good job in transition defense and usually
makes the opponents work, claw and scrap for anything they get. That
is a must for this year's squad to be successful. They also will
need to eliminate silly fouls that they draw because they aren't
moving their feet, they're out of position, they're reaching, or
they're taking too many risks and chances. When they play it
straight up, they can be tough to score on.
It all starts with pressure on the ball, and who better than
Chester Frazier will get that assignment? I think it was Michigan
State coach Tom Izzo who called Frazier "the toughest player in the
Big Ten." High praise coming from one of the most fiery, intense
coaches in the business. I don't want to disappoint our loyal LDN
readers, but I don't always buy coachspeak from coaches on any
level; in fact, I seldom do. However, in this particular case I
think Izzo might be correct. Frazier just brings it every night, and
he sets the tone. If he ever finds a little more offense to go with
his great defensive tenacity, the Illini will be onto something.
Brian Randle and Shaun Pruitt will have to plug up the middle.
They will also have to do it without constantly putting their
teammates behind the eight ball by committing crazy fouls. At this
point, my guess is that maybe Rodney Alexander and Trent Meachum
will be rounding out the starting quintet. Alexander appears to have
the athleticism and the savvy to be a stopper, but Meachum needs to
step up and perhaps even be more physical to help the Illini's
cause. Other newcomers who could be in the mix are Mike Tisdale,
Mike Davis, Demetri McCamey, Richard Semrau, Bill Cole, Steve
Holdren and Jeffrey Jordan.
With a roster this deep, I would probably look to run a variety
of full-court, three-quarter and half-court presses. Luckily for
you, the fans, Weber doesn't care what any of us think. Greg
commented to me after the game that Bruce is an old-school warrior
who believes games are won and lost in the half court. Since Weber
is tied for the best record in all of college basketball over the
last four years, I'm going to defer to him (though I sure would like
to see this team in a press for a segment to see what they could
do).
Final analysis: If you're a worrier, don't worry about this
aspect. Weber will have it covered. Save your worry for the
offensive end!
Offense
I know it's early, but I sorta like what I see on the offensive
end so far. I think this team is quicker and faster up the court. I
think it has overall better vision and a better idea of what they're
trying to accomplish. Though I didn't see it in print, I think one
of last year's biggest weaknesses was in the passing game. Our
passing was pathetic. Guys would telegraph passes, try to thread
impossible needles, throw to guys in positions where they couldn't
do anything with it and just basically broke down at the worst
possible times (roll footage of the Virginia Tech meltdown).
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In Weber's motion offense, guys need to be constantly moving
without the ball. They have to screen and pop, reverse the
basketball, cut and go, etc. When guys stop moving and the passing
is as ineffective as I just reported it was, you have a major
malfunction. That's another of the many reasons you may recall that
the Illini often went deep in the shot clock without getting a
quality shot and then just had to throw some ridiculous herniation.
I believe that you will see some improvement with the offense
this season. What is the reason for my optimism? Where are the facts
and evidence supporting my keen prognostication? I've got two words
for you: blind faith. Seriously, I think from a personnel
standpoint, more of the needed pieces to a fluid offensive flow will
be available to Weber this campaign. Hopefully the team won't have
to deal with multiple injuries every week. And even if a few come
our way (and they always do), there just seems to be more quality
depth this year than most people imagined.
Biggest concerns? Scorers and scoring options. One of the reasons
I'm excited to see the Illini run more is that I think it takes a
lot of pressure off their half-court offense. When you can find a
multitude of ways to score, you do nothing but help a team like
this. Once again, Weber needs no help from anybody, but I'd run
every chance we got. I'd run after missed shots and I'd run after
made shots. I'd run on all free throws made or missed. Illinois just
didn't have the bodies to do it last year. And I think when you do,
you put constant pressure on your opponents, not to mention that you
can really wear them down.
With that being said, I'm not sure who will emerge as scoring
options. I vote for bringing back Jamar Smith and throwing the
redshirt away. Since I think they have already tabulated my vote
(read -- they don't give a rip what I think), someone else better
get ready to step up. Pruitt and Randle need to be in double figures
every night and need to haul down six to 10 rebounds per contest as
well. Meachum has to get to the free-throw line and score points.
Alexander and Tisdale need to make contributions on the offensive
end. McCamey. Davis, Semrau and Holdren need to contribute anywhere
they can. I just don't see that go-to guy yet, so I guess this team
will have to do it by committee.
I think you will see more continuity and more flow in this year's
offense. Having some really strong post-up guys like Pruitt, Tisdale
and Randle, just to name three, makes the defense collapse more and
have to guard the paint more than they want to. This puts a lot less
pressure on the perimeter, and the Illini will need a little space
out there because they don't have a lot of guys with quick releases
on their shots. We'll give you more breakdowns of individual players
once we see how they respond to the physicality and the speed of the
college game, but there are lots of reasons for hope in Champaign
this winter.
Final analysis: It will take time, but I believe that this team
has the potential to be a much better offensive team than last
year's squad was. And yes, I know that the Illini lost Rich McBride
and Warren Carter, two of the LDN's favorite players. I just see
more chances for the team offense to create shots for a variety of
players and that this team might get it done more by committee than
by the star system. It will be a better passing team, and it will
move without the ball a lot better than a year ago. Look for this
team to find more ways to score, and it will need to, to be
successful.
Intangibles
Two months ago everyone was so down in the mouth about the state
of Illini basketball, that there were regular meltdowns on the
message boards. The coaching staff couldn't recruit, they couldn't
coach; heck, they didn't even know how to dress! After a few
recruiting "gets" (detailed
by our own Greg Taylor), all of a sudden things became a little
rosier in the Illini Kingdom. Let me just reiterate a few things
here. Bruce Weber can flat-out coach. Love him or hate him, he'll
still find a way to get it done. How he ever got 23 wins out of that
squad last season is a modern-day miracle. He never takes a day or a
night off. He prepares his team well and usually puts them in
situations where they can be successful. He sees what you and I see,
usually months before we see it, and he knows how to fix it.
Sometimes it comes down to simple execution. When players execute
properly, the coach looks like a genius; when they don't, the coach
looks like an idiot.
Take free-throw shooting for example. People all over Illini
Nation always ask me: When is he gonna fix that? You don't think
he's tried? Due to a pretty large workload, I've been able to attend
only a couple of practices the last few years, but I can promise
you, guys were working on free throws when I was there. And I'll bet
they each shoot hundreds per week. The catch is, can they make them
when it counts? I have an idea. Let's just not talk about it. All
the talk the last few years has done nothing to improve it. I will
just hope, along with you, that the team will improve in that area.
Heck, a 5-10 percent better percentage would go a long way to
winning some of those marginal games.
Team chemistry seems to be good, but you worry who will be the
odd man or men out when you have so many vying for playing time.
Continued good chemistry will dramatically help this team if it is
to surpass last year's unit.
The addition of new assistant coach Jerrance Howard has done
nothing but raise the program to new heights. I still like my idea
better (that was the idea to add Howard and a coach with
Chicago ties and make one of them a DBO and the other one a coach),
but I certainly vote for this hire. Howard will get it done on the
recruiting trail, on the bench, in the locker room and off the
court. What else do you need to know?
Final analysis: Intangibles may well determine the success or
failure of this Illini ballclub. My impression is that this team
will surprise a lot of people. I am happy to see so many experts
writing them off. While they don't have a lot of marquee players,
the collective sum of their parts is more than their whole, and
that, my friends, is one way to win college basketball games. Is it
easier to win with studs, burger boys and five-star athletes? Of
course it is. But one great American once said, "It's not the final
destination that's important, it's the journey." I, for one, vote to
enjoy the ride.
[By JEFF MAYFIELD]
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