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[NOV. 18, 2000]  Though Brian Cook and his Illinois teammates got off to a sluggish start, once they got rolling it all added up to an 86-57 win over the Black Bears of Maine.  Coach Bill Self became the 13^th head coach in Illini history to become victorious in his career opener.  In fact, Illinois head coaches are 13-2 in all-time career openers.  As for Cook, he started off rather slowly as he did not score until the contest was 12 minutes old.  He did not get very many first half touches and by the break had registered 5 points on 2 of 4 shooting to go along with 2 rebounds.

It was in the second half that he really got things going.  He hit a long 3-pointer and had a nice dunk to go with two sensational blocked shots that electrified the 13, 044 patrons!  Brian continues to shoot the ball well as evidenced by finishing the game 4 of 6 from the field in 24 minutes of action.  Cook joined 3 other teammates in double figures.  Sergio McClain led the way with 16, followed by Marcus Griffin with 15, Cory Bradford with 11 and Cook with 10.

Although these offensive numbers were impressive, after the game LDN reporters

Ryan Seggelke and yours truly heard Cook, McClain and Bradford speak mostly about their defensive prowess.  The Illini defenders held Maine to 36% shooting for the game and limited the Black Bears to just four 3-point field goals on 20% shooting.  And that from a team that made 247 three-point field goals a year ago!  Former Danville High product Huggy Dye, led the way for Maine by scoring 18 points.  Former Illini and Champaign product Carvell Ammons chipped in with 4 points.  Maine coach Dr. John Giannini, who served as a graduate assistant on the ‘89 Flyin’ Illini team did not have a very nice homecoming in this contest.

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The Illini cleaned up the boards against Maine as well.  Again, McClain led the way pulling down 9 caroms, followed by Griffin with 6 and Cook with 5.  Surprisingly, Griffin and Cook combined for 10 turnovers while the rest of the Illini combined for only 5.  Illinois forced the Bears into 27 turnovers and by half-time had already converted those turnovers into15 points!  Look for that statistical category to be a point of emphasis this year by Coach Self; aggressive, full-court defense creating scoring opportunities off of their defense.  Coach Self will look to score a certain percentage off that, a certain percentage in the half-court offense, some in transition, some at the free throw line and some on intangibles.  He has a very good system and if the players buy into it, the Illini could become a very dangerous team!

[NOV. 17, 2000]  The Illinois basketball team enjoyed a very good season last year, but many fans viewed the year with some amount of disappointment. Why? Because preseason expectations from both the media and central Illinois fans were sky high. Viewing last year objectively, it is really difficult to not see great progress on many fronts. Illinois welcomed three new starters (Lincoln's Brian Cook, Frank Williams and Marcus Griffin) and also played one of the most challenging schedules in the country. Illinois enjoyed a few strong stretches last season but was never able to establish a consistent level of play. However, Illinois is being tabbed by many experts to have a phenomenal season on the hardwood, and expectations for the 2000-2001 are already sky high.

Listed below are five reasons to get excited about Illinois basketball, followed by the current Illini roster, including a brief biographical sketch for each player.

1. "WE ARE FAMILY"

Eight of the top nine players from the 1999-2000 season return, including all five starters. A major weakness of last year's version of Illinois basketball was the team chemistry, or lack of it. The good news is this: Every single Illinois player, except new freshman Nick Smith of Florida, spent the entire summer in Champaign in preparation for this year.

2. SCHEDULE breaks during the conference season

Once again, Illinois will line up to face Indiana (away), Purdue (away), Wisconsin (home) and defending national champion Michigan State (home) only once during Big Ten play, while enjoying home and away scheduling with struggling teams like Northwestern, Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State.

3. LEADERSHIP, Leadership, Leadership!

Illinois fielded the one of the youngest teams in the country the past two seasons, after starting five seniors during their Big Ten championship season in 1997-1998. This year, Illinois will start two seniors and a junior and will feature a lineup with six seniors and juniors among their top nine players.

4. BACKCOURT excellence!

Every college basketball magazine listed Illinois' guard tandem of Cory Bradford and Frank Williams as the best in the Big Ten, if not the best in the country. Most experts believe the NBA is a big man's game, while college basketball is a guard-driven game. If Bradford and Williams continue to excel, 2000-2001 could be a special season in Champaign.

5. The BILL SELF system!

All signs in Champaign point to a high-energy, up-tempo game plan on both ends of the court. Illinois has great depth and the athletes necessary to promote this potential strength. Most Illini fans watched in horror as Florida wore down Illinois in the second half of their second-round NCAA tourney game last March. Coach Self is determined to install a similar system. And by the way, the last time an Illinois coach turned loose a group of great athletes was the fall of 1988, and the result was a season to savor, including a trip to the Final Four.

Seniors

Sergio McClain, 6'4", 230, Peoria, Manual HS

A natural leader, McClain will need to step forward and show leadership, while being content being the fifth option on offense. A great defender, he will probably guard several All-Americans this season, including Shane Battier of Duke and Kareem Rush of Missouri.

Marcus Griffin, 6'9", 235, Peoria, Manual HS (Lincoln College)

Can be a great low-post defender and rebounder and will need to be in Illinois’ hopes to contend for the Big Ten title. Also, gives the Illini a great one-two punch down low when playing alongside Brian Cook.

Nate Mast, 5'11", 170, Champaign, Central HS

Walk-on from Champaign is a great practice player, but Illinois is in huge trouble if Mast gets any significant minutes.

Joe Cross, 6'2", 200, Carbondale, Carbondale HS

Ditto Mast.

Juniors

Cory Bradford, 6'3", 200, Memphis, Tenn., Raleigh Egypt HS

Preseason player-of-the-year pick by both the coaches and the media. Look for Bradford to excel in Self's up-tempo system. Can slide over and play point guard when Williams is on the bench but will spend most of his time in the shooting guard role he has performed in so well.

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Lucas Johnson, 6'8", 230, Des Plaines, Maine West HS

Johnson is Illinois' version of Brian Cardinal and will probably become the Illini's sixth man. A very flexible player, Johnson can play on the wing or down in the post. More than likely he will get most of his minutes sharing the "3" spot with Sergio McClain.

Damir Krupalija, 6'9", 230, Rockford, Boylan HS

An incredible rebounder, Damir could become a serious force in the low post, providing great depth behind Cook and Griffin. However, he must overcome constant injury problems and play within the team system.

Robert Archibald, 6'11", 250, Baldwin, Mo., Lafayette HS

Will start the season as the backup center, playing behind Cook and Griffin. His five fouls per game will be needed once the rough-and-tumble conference season begins.

Sophomores

Brian Cook, 6'10", 240, Lincoln, Lincoln HS

The sky is the limit for this former Lincoln HS standout. Cook will be given several opportunities to become the No. 1 option on offense, and Self appears to love his ability to play both inside and out on offense. Cook will also benefit from having Griffin guard the premier low-post threat on respective teams’ rosters.

Frank Williams, 6'3", 205, Peoria, Manual HS

Could be a first team All-American or could cause coach Self to pull his hair out. Simply put, Frank Williams is the only person who can stop Frank Williams from becoming a superstar and an NBA first-round draft pick. If Frank becomes the point guard that coach Self is envisioning, championships will follow closely behind.

Sean Harrington, 6'3", 185, Bartlett, Elgin HS

The LDN was not real excited when Sean Harrington signed with Illinois. However, we have been pleasantly surprised with his progress, and we see major contribution from Harrington this season. He can back up both Bradford and Williams and is able to shoot well under pressure.

Freshmen

Brett Melton, 6'5", 195, Mahomet, Mahomet-Seymour HS

Class A players have typically struggled at Illinois and other Division 1 schools (although Brian Cardinal was able to break this cardinal rule), but Melton appears to have the athleticism and shooting skills to contribute in his freshman season at Illinois.

Nick Smith, 7'2", 245, Valrico, Fla., Bloomingdale HS

The 2000 Florida High School player of the year fits into coach Bill Self's plans for 2001-2002, but not before. Translation: Smith will redshirt.

Jerrance Howard, 6'1", 190, Peoria, Central HS

Howard could become a defensive specialist and back up point guard in the mold of former Indiana and Peoria Central standout Chris Reynolds.

The Bill Self era is here, and all the speculation will be worthless after 7 p.m. Friday night, when Illinois opens their season at home against Maine. The LDN encourages Illini fans to take advantage of the four non-conference home games this year and cheer the Illini on to victory. Listed below are the November and December Assembly Hall Illini games:

Friday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. vs. Maine

Sunday, Nov. 26,  at 3 p.m. vs. Texas Southern

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m. vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Saturday, Dec. 9, at 1 p.m. vs. Seton Hall

GO ILLINI!!!

[Greg Taylor]

2000-2001 Illinois men's basketball roster:

http://fightingillini.fansonly.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ill-m-baskbl-mtt.html

2000-2001 Illinois men's basketball schedule:

http://fightingillini.fansonly.com/sports/m-baskbl/ill-m-baskbl-sched.html

Men's college basketball polls:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/polls/

[NOV. 16, 2000]  Brian Cook and the U of I men’s basketball team are ready to begin a new era of Illini basketball. Under the hard-driving direction of new head coach Bill Self, Illinois will do just that in the Assembly Hall this weekend. The first game matches the Fighting Illini with the Black Bears of Maine. No one is quite sure how good the Illini can be, but look at these poll results. The AP writers tab us as the eighth-best team in the country. The coaches’ poll lists us as No. 9 in all the land, and now Sports Illustrated has probably cursed us more than it’s helped us by ranking us No. 4 in the nation. This week the LDN gives a short overview of the upcoming season. In the days ahead we’ll also give you loyal readers an outlook on the Lincoln Railers’ upcoming season as well. This is my favorite time of the year. Let the games begin!!!

Personally, this season is going to be a huge adjustment for me. I’m not just speaking of the fact that my new son will be born any day now. I’m going through Lon Kruger withdrawals! You see, I loved Coach Kruger. To me, he represented everything that is good about college basketball. I’m told that I will love Bill Self, too. I hope the jury is right about that. Right now I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Again, it’s not just all of the excitement leading up to the birth of my child. It is also the excitement leading up to the birth of our new Illini. What will they be like? Who will they look like? How will they act? These are just a few of the questions that I’ve been pondering.

I’m more than a little concerned about our high ranking. I hope it does our recruiting wonders. However, I have always been of the notion that it’s better to come out of nowhere and knock people off than it is to have a target on your back. Maybe I’m just too snakebitten by what we’ve endured in Illini football and years of Illinois sports frustrations. Maybe I should take my normal "glass is half full (or a little more in the right light)" optimism and say that coach Self is going to extract so much out of this team that a dynasty will be started with this edition of the Illini. Forgive me for only being cautiously optimistic. I want to believe. Bless my unbelief.

Actually, Illinois is returning all five starters from last year’s team. In fact, six of the Illini’s most-used eight players were either freshmen or sophomores a year ago.

A lot will depend on how point guard Frankie Williams matures in his role of quarterbacking the team. As Illinois strung off 12 of its last 15 contests, Williams averaged 4.2 assists and only 2.3 turnovers a game over that span. If he can repeat and improve on that performance, spaceship Assembly Hall will be launched into orbit.

Cory Bradford, who will be starting his junior year, has already been named by some publications as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year! I hate those things. They’re sometimes the kiss of death. I hope it does nothing but motivate Cory and the boyz to go out and dominate their opponents.

The closest thing that the Fighting Illini have to a true presence in the post is Marcus Griffin. After honing his skills right here at Lincoln College, Marcus emerged last season as a force when he was healthy.

Sergio McClain can occasionally go inside and muscle with the big boys and still is one of the Illini’s best defensive players.

On the other end of the spectrum is Lucas Johnson. Even though he can and will mix it up, his ability to step out to the perimeter and consistently hit shots has been a big boost for Illini fortunes.

That brings us to Lincoln’s favorite son, Brian Cook. Brian was voted as the co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year (I like it when the awards come after the season) and that was in spite of getting little playing time early in the conference season. He did not put on as much weight as many thought he would. Sports Illustrated is reporting that Brian told them that he never ate breakfast and sometimes skipped lunch, too. Apparently, the coaching staff force-fed him and locked him in the weight room, for now he’s a formidable 245-pounder! If he can even equal last season’s output, much less improve on it, the Illini are destined to have a very solid year.

The bench should also be deep and may make the difference as to how far Illinois can go in 2001.

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The schedule

In a word, absolutely-totally-brutal! (OK—so I can’t count—send me to Florida if you must!) Of all the great things that Lon Kruger did for Illinois basketball, the one thing he did not do for coach Self was to leave a cupcake schedule. We’ve gotta play Duke,

Seton Hall, Texas, Missouri and possibly Arizona twice, not to mention other possible tournament matchups, all…before Christmas! If we were the Lakers, I’d say bring ‘em all on…but, since we’re not…I hope it doesn’t rattle our confidence. There I go again with my cautious optimism. Someone please tell me to take two aspirin and that everything will be all right in the morning entering the Big Ten portion of the schedule. I’m so rattled right now; I’m going to save my Big Ten review for you until after the holidays.

No team in the country may be better equipped for this critical area than the Illinois Fighting Illini. As I mentioned earlier, my friends in the know say that we’re going to love coach Self. Chris Widlick of Channel 3 TV in Champaign told me Saturday that we’re going to love him and that he’s going to make a difference for us. I hope that he and all the other prognosticators are right. I would love to see a "special" season in Chambana!

Another intangible in our favor is our crowd, when it shows up. I don’t mean just their physical presence in the Hall, I mean when they show up to do battle. I thought we had learned our lesson well a few years ago when we magically stole a Big Ten title. I’ll never forget the raucous crowd the night we completely destroyed Michigan State. I told Coach Izzo, who is a friend of former Lincoln resident Craig Zastrow, that he could expect more of the same every time he comes calling on us.

In case you’ve been off the planet for a while, I’m a lot like Z-93…I’m all Illinois…ALL the time (as a matter of fact, wherever I am in the world, even when I was in Africa…I am ALWAYS on ILLINI time).

So, once again I implore you wonderful, faithful Illini fans to come out in full force and back the greatest team in all the land! The more a raucous environment rules the day, the better chance there will be of the Assembly Hall becoming such a hostile atmosphere that no one will ever want to play us here. It’s still a long way from that right now.

If I were forced to give a prediction (which I hope I’m never held at gunpoint to do such a thing), I would say that the Illini, in spite of a tough schedule, might still make a run at a 20-win season. Learning a new system with a new coach, I will go conservative and predict that we will be somewhere around 18-10 going into the Big Ten tournament in March…but you won’t want to play us in the Big Dance!

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