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1. Unexpected heroes If we would have told you that one of
the Illini would tie the school record for 3-point baskets in a
game, you probably wouldn't have been stunned. After all, Rich
McBride is one of the better shooters in recent Illini history, and
sophomore Jamar Smith is being hailed as one of the best shooters in
the nation. But Trent Meacham? Calvin Brock? If you weren't from the
Champaign-Urbana area, you might not even know this Centennial
graduate and Dayton transfer. But, Meacham and fellow sophomore
Brock have really stepped up at the right times for this Illinois
team. Brock is looking more and more like the wing and small forward
that many Illini fans hoped for when he graduated from Chicago
Simeon in the spring of 2004.
Senior Warren Carter has been pretty good at times, and Jamar
Smith sure looked great for the first 22 minutes of the season,
before succumbing to a serious ankle injury. Shaun Pruitt, expected
to be a force in the post, has struggled at times early this year,
something that will need to change over the next couple of weeks.
2. Five wins in five games
Bottom line is wins last time I checked, and Illinois has started
the year five for five. Granted, Savannah State, Austin Peay and
Florida A&M won't make anyone think of Michigan State, Maryland or
Ohio State, but hey -- wins are wins -- right? And at least no one
can call out names like Butler or Oral Roberts while giggling. That
wasn't very nice, so please don't say anything to Bail or Sanctions,
OK? I mean, after all, it's Thanksgiving week. Aren't you thankful
Illinois has laid an Indiana or Kansas-type egg early this year?
Illinois is trying to win 25 games for the seventh straight year,
and starting 5-0 is a step in the right direction. The schedule gets
tougher real fast with upcoming games against Bradley, Maryland and
Arizona, but hopefully the early wins will give the Illini the
confidence needed to win against much better competition.
3. Defensive toughness (at least most of the time)
One of the real staples of the Bruce Weber era has been the
lock-down defense Illinois has been known for. This type of effort
has been seen at times through the first five games, but has been
missing early in games at least twice. Point guard Chet Frazier is a
force defensively, and down low, Pruitt, Arnold and Carlwell have 15
fouls to spend on the D.J. White's and Greg Oden's of the world.
In games one, three and five, Illinois came ready to play on the
defensive end, and it showed with great early efforts, holding teams
to 20, 25 and 11 points in the first half. However, in games against
Jackson State and Florida A&M, Illinois came out slow and was forced
to fight from behind for large stretches of the game. Against a team
like Xavier, Purdue or Wisconsin, such a start will almost assure a
loss.
4. Conditioning, endurance
Another source of pride for Illinois basketball over the past
four years is in the area of conditioning. During Weber's first
year, the team got stronger late in games. The national runner-up
team in 2004-05 seemed to be at their best down the stretch of key
games like Wisconsin, Michigan State and the incredible comeback
against Arizona. Last season, Illinois also seemed to go and go and
go.
This year, through the first five games, the guards have been
forced to play big minutes. We're not talking about McBride's and
Smith's and Randle's. We're talking about Frazier, Meacham and Brock
-- guys that have never been asked to play this much on the college
level. The result? You guessed it -- Weber's trademark conditioning
is paying off, even with players not expected to be needed this
much.
[to top of second column]
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 5. Depth
We were pretty excited about the projected top six coming into
the season. Between Rich McBride, Brian Randle, Jamar Smith, Shaun
Pruitt, Warren Carter and Frazier, we felt that was a good
foundation for another successful season. The real question marks
included guys like Brock, Meacham, Arnold and the two freshmen most
knew little or nothing about. Brock and Meacham were forced to play
major minutes due to injury and made the most of the opportunity.
This should force Weber and staff to "find" minutes for these two
and thus help Illinois in the long run.
Just as positive from our perspective are the early contributions
from freshman center Brian Carlwell and freshman forward Richard
Semrau. Carlwell is already a defensive force, the best pure
shot-blocker in decades to suit up for Illinois. Semrau is a tall
and gifted offensive-minded forward who should fill in nicely for
Carter at the four spot all season long. While neither will
regularly play for big stretches, both should help with depth this
year and be ready to play big minutes for the three seasons to
follow.
= = =
I wish we could live the "cup half-full" life exclusively, but
journalistic integrity (we think we've got some of that) requires we
share about a couple obvious, but troubling aspects of the 2006-07
Illini -- at least through five games:
1. Injuries
Illinois has been incredibly lucky in this area the past couple
of years. Remember back to 2001-02, when players like Damir
Krupalija, Lucas Johnson and Robert Archibald struggled all season
long to stay healthy? Remember when hopeful Illinois seasons were
derailed by major injuries to players like Jerry Hester, Doug
Altenberger and Steve Lanter? Illinois never recovered during those
seasons and has dodged the major injury bug throughout the Weber
era.
We wondered if luck was changing when injuries to Brian Randle
and Jamar Smith in the very first game knocked both players out for
four to six weeks. Add to that the suspension of senior Rich
McBride, and trouble seemed to brewing. Illinois might just be fine
in the long run, but the hope here is that the injury bug is just a
freak thing and not a season-long trend developing.
2. Free-throw percentage (or lack thereof)
Definitely not a strength in 2005-06, free throws don't look to
be one this year either. It has to begin with Frazier and Pruitt,
the two who look to shoot the most charity shots, and early on,
neither player has impressed. McBride and Smith are both really
solid from the line, but neither has the game to get to the stripe
on a regular basis. For Illinois to win close games late, this is
one area that must improve, and in a hurry.
3. Leadership
Who's team is this? Last year, it was Dee and Augie's team. We've
seen "Deron and Dee's team," "Jerrance's boys," "Cookie's team" and
even "Sergio's crew." I'm not sure I could name the leader for this
year's team. Seniors Warren Carter and Rich McBride seem too
soft-spoken for the role. Randle has the players' respect, but
missing much of the nonconference won't help him in this much-needed
area. The two who could pull this off seem to be Frazier and Smith
-- time will tell if they are up to the challenge.
= = =
Five games in, we see more good than bad. But it is early -- real
early! Games this weekend against Miami of Ohio and Bradley will
help us begin to see what this team is made of. And next week's
slate against Maryland and at Arizona will be downright brutal. From
here on out, every Illinois game will be televised -- good news for
Illini fans without the hottest ticket in central Illinois.
[Greg
Taylor] |
