Illini Threesome: Bruce Weber, Lon Kruger, and Bill Self

Well, ladies, who would you rather have take you to the Dance?

Meltdown Leaves Illini On NCAA Bubble

The Illini blew a 12-point lead in the second half to lose to Michigan and leave themselves, once again, at the whims of the NCAA Selection Committee.

The Illini were in disarray over the last 8 minutes of the game. They refused to push the ball inside, they stood around watching each other dribble, no one took matters into their own hands and drove to the basket, and, in a dazzling display of team ineptitude, Jereme Richmond, a freshman with one made three pointer during Big Ten conference play, was set up for a key three-pointer in the final minute. This on a team with four senior starters.

Jereme also had the ball in the last seconds and, down 5 with about 6 seconds to play, inexplicably passed up a three pointer and passed to Demetri McCamey who wasn't ready for the pass. The ball bounced to a Michigan player and the meltdown was complete.

More painful news came later in the day when Penn St. beat Wisconsin in one of the worst-played games in basketball history, and Virginia Tech beat Florida St. when the refs waved off FSU's apparent game-winning shot in the final second. Penn St. and Va Tech are competing with the Illini for the last available spots in the NCAA tourney. The results were doubly worse because Va Tech beat PSU earlier in the season, and that win now gives Va Tech another RPI top-5o win because PSU moved into the top-5o with its win over Wisconsin.

Of course the Illini also have a win over Penn St. so factor that in as you will.

The whole situation would be humorous if it wasn't so infuriating.

Must Win Tonight At Ohio State?

I wish Bruce would just say F everybody and wear this tux on the sidelines tonight when the Illini visit Ohio State.

I really don't know what other changes he could make to get a win tonight. The odds are seriously stacked against him and the Illini. The cummerbund could be our only hope.

Another Illini Loss ... To Northwestern

Yesterday's game wasn't televised in New York. That's just as well because it sounds like it was an absolutely frustrating loss, characterized by an up-and-down performance by Demetri McCamey, another disappearing act by D.J. Richardson, and a melt down at the end of the first half that resulted in 6 unanswered points for Northwestern.

I don't have any solutions for the way Illinois loses these games. How do you train players to have the mental toughness to avoid meltdowns, hold second-half leads, and play hard on every play? Is that just about recruiting the right type of mentally tough player? Or can that mental toughness be coached up? I have no idea. And what scares me is that Bruce Weber has no idea either.

Illinois Just Might Be Not Very Good

What is the deal with the Illini basketball program?

Here's a quick list of things that annoy me about the team:

- the three seniors - Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, and Mike Tisdale - are inconsistent and don't appear to have a winner's mentality;

- Tisdale can't stay on the court because of foul trouble;

- Davis, despite having innate rebounding talent, manages to have games where he only gets 1 rebound;

- Tyler Griffey doesn't get much playing time and then whines about it;

- Meyers Leonard looks like a goofy doofus, is often out of position, and looks like he's focused on dunking every play rather than improving his post presence on the offensive and defensive ends;

- D.J. Richardson hasn't made a basket in two games;

- Brandon Paul always seems to be knicked up or fighting a cold and isn't all that good on defense;

- Bill Cole should play for a mid-major;

- Jereme Richmond mysteriously missed practice last week and was benched for the Wisconsin game;

- the team in general relies too much on the three-point shot; and

- Bruce Weber yells all the time, calls out his players all the time in the press, and generally seems like a guy the players don't have a ton of respect for.

I say Bruce has two months to get this together. If Illinois isn't in the Sweet Sixteen in March I say we hand the program over to Jerrance Howard or Wayne McClain and start anew.

The Illini's Win Over Northwestern Was Impressive, Kind Of

The Illini crushed Northwestern last night 88-63, shooting a school record 70.5% from the field. As I've read in a few places today, if the Illini are shooting well they can play with, and beat, any team in the country. The Duck Blue Devils included.

What interests me more though is that the team increased its lead at the outset of the second half. Letting up on teams and coasting is the Achilles heel of this group of Illini seniors, and I'm encouraged to see them show a killer instinct.

Apparently it's something the team has been practicing, as Mark Tupper noted in his blog post today:

He [Weber] seemed most pleased by the fact that after opening a 23-point lead at halftime, Illinois still came out strong and won the first five minutes of the second half. It’s something the team has been working on.

“We have actually practiced it by putting up the score. With 14 minutes to go we’re up by nine and we have to increase the lead in the next three minutes. If we don’t, we run. I’m trying to get them to understand playing with the lead. You can’t be relaxed and casual.”

If the Illini can learn how to put a foot on opponent's necks when they have them down, they could be a special team.

Jereme Richmond Comports Himself Well For USA

Well played, Jereme.

I see you played huge for the USA U18 basketball team a few weeks ago in San Antonio, helping the team to a 5-0 record and a championship game win over Brazil in the FIBA Americas U18 Championships. Your averages of 10.8 points in 19 minutes per game off the bench speak highly of your ability not only to be a game-changer, but also to accept a role as a super sub, which Bruce may have you do to start the Illini's '10-'11 season.

You're also saying all the right things during your first week on campus, complimenting Billy Cole, your competition for a starting spot, and noting that hard work is the key to success at the D-1 level.

Welcome to the Illini.

Best,
Bevormo

Mycheal Henry Is In The Fold

The Illini - thanks in particular to a stellar recruiting job by Peoria's own Jerrance Howard - picked up a verbal commitment from Chicago Orr's Mycheal Henry yesterday.

Henry exploded during his junior season averaging 29 points and, by all reports, developed into a deadeye three-point shooter.

With Henry's commitment, and with the previous commitments of Tracy Abrams and Nnanna Egwu, the Illini are well-positioned with the 2011 recruiting class. If any of Mike Shaw, Chasson Randle, Jarrod Uthoff or Anthony Davis also fall into place, Bruce Weber will have himself another Top 10 class.

Bruce Weber. Getting. It. Dun.

A Visit To Stony Brook

A plush benefit of the Illini not making the NCAA Tournament was that, by odd circumstance, they played a road NIT game at Stony Brook University on Long Island.

Stony Brook is about an hour and 45 minute train ride from Manhattan. I made it out there a few minutes after tip-off. My friend Jeff and I had tickets in the front row. Unfortunately, Stony Brook had double-sold some seats, and someone was already sitting in our spot. We managed to move around the packed arena and eventually grabbed some seats on the other side of the court.

It was a crazy fun atmosphere, made all the better by the Illini victory.

This was our view as we stood along the sideline in the first half. Demetri McCamey had just drained a three here.

Another good shot of our first-half vantage point. Stony Brook hung tough throughout the game, running a steady halfcourt offense.

I believe that's Brandon Paul setting up a free throw shot.

The old-school scoreboard hanging from the rafters.

For a few minutes we sat a few feet behind the ESPNU announcing crew. I didn't recognize any of them.

The Stony Brook mascot is a wolf. Considering their team name is the Seawolves, I thought the wolf should be wearing some kind of Navy uniform. But he wasn't.

We had a great view of the Illini as they walked out of the locker room for the second half.

This is during halftime warm ups.

Bruce Weber walked right past us on his way out for the second half.

This was our view for the second half. The Stony Brook cheerleaders and dance team got a major work out during the game. They danced at every time stoppage.

Weber doling out some instructions during a timeout.

And there you have it. The Illini held on to win a competitive game 76-66 over a frisky Stony Brook squad.

Cardinal Sins Of The 2009-10 Illini

In discussing the NCAA Tournament chances of various bubble teams with my advisors this morning, I came to the following conclusion:

I can really only speak to the Illini, who made two cardinal sins this season:

1. they lost to Utah and Bradley in Vegas over Thanksgiving; and
2. needing one more win over the last three weeks of the season, they were blown out three times at home to OSU, Wiscy and Minny.

They don't deserve any favors for that performance.

Oh man, the Illini need to win against Wisconsin on Friday.

Evan Turner Must Be Stopped, And I Know Just The Team To Do It

I don't know how he's going to do it, but Bruce Weber must find a way to stop Evan Turner tonight.

Last year, I'd say that Bruce should just dial up some Chester Frazier action and call it a night. But this year? Yikes. I don't know what to do.

D.J. Richardson is probably the team's best perimeter defender, but he's only a freshman. Demetri McCamey is Turner's peer in many ways - most notably because the two were high school teammates - but I'll be darned if he can D up Evan for 40 minutes.

What about the Richwoods beast, Billy Cole? I don't see it happening.

Maybe Weber goes all postmodern tonight and lets Evan get his points and rebounds, but has Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis and the rest of the boys lock down the Dieblers, the Bufords, the Lightys and the Lauderdales of the world. Easier said than done, no doubt, but still perhaps a more manageable task than shutting down the probable National Player of the Year.

Whatever will be, will be. The Illini need this game. Badly.

Game on tonight at 9 PM EST.

Whither The Illini?

After back-to-back home losses to Ohio St. and Minnesota, a competitive road loss to Purdue, and an ugly road victory against lowly Michigan, the Illini may well find themselves in a similar position to the girl in the above photo, which is to say on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament.

So what happened in that four-game stretch the Illini played from February 14-27?

To wit,

February 14 - hosting the Buckeyes: a pure beatdown by the red-hot Buckeyes from start to finish;

February 20 - at the Boilermakers: a good, competitive game, the Illini just couldn't hit the big shots down the stretch;

February 23 - at the Wolverines: an ugly-fest in which Michigan just played worse than the Illini; and

February 27 - hosting the Golden Gophers: an inspired second-half led by Peoria Richwoods-grad Bill Cole couldn't make up for absolute ice-cold shooting and lack of defensive intensity in the first half.

And now the Illini stand at 18-11, 10-6, good for 5th place in the Big Ten. Joe Lunardi has the Illini as a #10 seed in his latest Bracketology, but most pundits believe the Illini need to win at least one more game (at Ohio St., home against Wisconsin, or a first-round Big Ten tourney game against, most likely, Wisconsin) to secure an NCAA Tournament bid.

It's time for McCamey, Cole and the boys to gather up their britches and bring a little Illini pain to Columbus tomorrow night.

Let's get this dun, Illini!

Worst Home Loss For Illini Since 1976, i.e. Since Before I Was Born

I was going to lead this post with the statement that Sunday's 72-53 loss to Ohio St. was the worst Illini home loss of the Bruce Weber era. That is, until I read Mark Tupper's blog post last night and realized it was not just the worst home loss of the Weber era, but the worst Illini home loss since January 1976.

Holy Lou Henson!

That's not a good way to start the stretch run of the Big Ten schedule.

I came away with a couple competing thoughts from the game. On the one hand, after watching Ohio St.'s performance against the Illini, I'd venture that they are a national title contender. They have an extremely talented starting five and, with the possible exception of a matchup against John Wall and Kentucky, will have the best player on the court no matter who they play (that would be Evan Turner for those lucky enough not to have watched Sunday's game). If David Lighty and Jon Diebler are hitting shots and making dagger plays like they did Sunday, and it is conceivable they could go on a run of 4 or 5 or 6 games playing as well as they did Sunday, and Dallas Lauderdale continues to man up in the post and snag rebounds and putbacks, I'd put this Ohio St. squad up against anyone.

On the other hand, Illinois played Sunday's game like my Grandma's rec league team (note: my Grandma doesn't even have a rec league team). I'm pretty sure I, like Jon Diebler, would have hit 6 of 11 threes against that threadbare Illini perimeter defense. Not to mention that not one Illini could make a shot on the offensive end. Demetri, D.J. Richardson and Chris Paul made it look like Thad Matta invented the 1-3-1 defense minutes before the game. News flash: there's a reason not many teams play a 1-3-1 zone ... and that reason is it has wholesale weaknesses against strong guards who can push the ball up the court, swing it around the perimeter and either find a big man on the weak side post or hit an open shot resulting from a late-rotating defender.

But I'll give credit to Matta and the Ohio St. players. They took advantage of the freshmen Illini guards and schooled them.

My only hope is that Ohio St. used up its juice in this more or less meaningless game and now the Illini can learn from the loss and bring the fury in their next meeting.

Nnanna Egwu Is In The Fold

Bruce Weber added another potential beast to the 2011 recruiting class yesterday with an oral commitment from St. Ignatius star Nnanna Egwu. Nnanna is a 6'10" kid who has only been playing basketball for three years and has an unlimited ceiling in terms of improvement. He'll team with the likes of Tyler Griffey and Meyers Leonard to give the Illini a strong frontcourt well into the 20-teens.

So now the 2011 class has a big man and a point guard (Tracy Abrams) but work remains to be done. The Illini want to add 2 or 3 more guys to the class. Here are the main targets:

- Bradley Beal: a slick 6'3" guard from St. Louis, Beal is highly recruited by the big boys and is one of the top ranked players in the 2011 class ... he would be a monster "get";

- Wayne Blackshear: another beast from a stacked Chicago class, Wayne is looking at a bunch of schools and seems to be leaning towards leaving the state;

- Sam Thompson: thin, lanky, 6'6" swingman from Whitney Young in Chicago, Thompson, like Blackshear, is considering a ton of schools, including the likes of Oregon St. which recruits well in Chicago;

- Chasson Randle: a 6'2" guard from Rock Island, Randle is ranked a bit lower than the three other guys on the list but is still the #13 ranked SG in the 2011 class according to Scout.com.

There are a few more guys the Illini have their eye on, but these four are the main targets.

Not to look too far past the '09-'10 and '10-'11 teams, because they are both going to be stacked, but as of now, the 2011-2012 roster is shaping up nicely:

Joseph Bertrand - Jr.
D.J. Richardson - Jr.
Tyler Griffey - Jr.
Brandon Paul - Jr.
Stan Simpson - RS Jr.
Jereme Richmond - So.
Crandall Head - So.
Meyers Leonard - So.
Tracy Abrams - Fr.
Nnanna Egwu - Fr.
[insert beast]
[insert beast]

Nice.

Let's get it dun, Bruce.

Comeuppance Is A Comin'

Derrick,

Well, it was only a matter of time I guess. The Karma Gods already slayed Kelvin Sampson for being a shady bastege at Indiana, and now it looks like they are on the prowl for your alma mater, possibly in connection with your recruitment.

Of course you and your ex-coach, Slimipari, are probably untouchable in the investigation leaving Memphis and its new coach, Josh Pastner, to bear the penance for your actions. Not that I really care. That whole program reeked of shadiness the last few years so I hope the NCAA takes a flamethrower to the place, Colonel Frank Slade-style.

With Kelvin long gone, the investigation of Memphis underway and the Tim Floyd-O.J. Mayo debacle unfolding over on the Left Coast, pretty soon the only guy left standing will be Bruce Weber, the White Knight, standing on a hilltop, the sun setting behind him, ready to dispense fair play on the land.

What a beast Bruce Weber is, eh Derrick?

Too bad you were never man enough to play for him.

Too bad you'll never be the caliber of player of Deron Williams.

Sweet dreams.

Best,
Bevormo

ps - After further research it appears the current Memphis team will not face penalties for the past violations. Instead, Memphis might just have to forfeit its victories and Final Four appearance during the '07-'08 season. With what happened at UMass back in the day, Calipari might never get to a Final Four that counts.

Weber To Get More Caysh

Bruce,

Let me say congratulations in advance on your upcoming pay raise. I know you've had some recruiting disappointments the past few years, and the first-round tourney losses in 2007 and 2009 still sting a bit (the Chester injury still chaps me), but I like the way you run a program.

Here are a few reasons why I think you deserve the extra 500K a year:

- You know how to effing coach the Xs and Os. You had Trent Meacham and Chester Frazier as a starting backcourt this season and still won well over 20 games and earned a 5-seed in the tourney. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Trent and Chester, but they don't see the floor if you had guys like Frankie and Cory or Deron and Dee on the roster. I saw what you can do with that kind of talent. I'm looking forward to seeing you do it again.

- The recruiting train is running again. D.J. Richardson and Chris Paul are going to be monsters at the guard positions and I think people are underrating Joseph Bertrand. Not to mention Tyler Griffey as a big man. Then in 2010 we have Jereme, Crandall and Meyers Leonard, all added in with Demetri, Mike T. and - in one of your sneakier recruiting snakes - Mike Davis. Pencil yourself in for a few 30-win seasons, my good man.

- The program is squeaky clean. Obviously Bill Self is likely probably dirty, and I'm not sure about Lon Kruger (I doubt it, but Lon is so sly who really knows). Lou may or may not have been dicey. I don't know. But if anyone ever said your program is dirty I would bust a kidney laughing. You get things done the right way, Bruce, and for that you are a beast. I know you're going to break the shady union of AAU and high school coaches in Chicago and - as you already are with with the 2009 and 2010 classes - get the best in-state kids to play in Champaign. There will always be shady Calipari types to deal with, but I know you'll persevere and come out on top. That's what winners do.

So I'm glad you're getting paid, Bruce. You deserve it, as does your outstanding assistant, Jerrance Howard.

Get r dun.

Best,
Bevormo

Mr. Clean

Bruce,

You sure the University doesn't have someone to do this for you?

Ahh, what the heck. A little elbow grease was just what the doctor ordered.

Illini 52, Golden Smophers 41.

Best,
Bevormo

Criminy!

Bruce,

What ... was that? A 38-33 loss? At home? To Penn St.?

38 to 33?

Snakes that was a strange bad loss. Not only was the team shooting like they didn't want the ball to go through the hoop, but even when they did start to make some shots, they managed to blow a nine-point second half lead.

That potential 3 or 4 seed now looks a lot like a potential 6 seed.

It's not just Illini fans that are upset. That loss may have jobbed up the whole Big Ten. As my advisor Tatty Mareeco, a Michigan fan, wrote this morning:

Also tell Weber and the boys thanks. My squad is having enough of a hard time making the tourney basedo [sic] on their suspect play, I didn't need your boys to gift wrap a game for PSU last night.

Tatt can't spell but he does have a point. Not that I think Michigan is a tournament quality team, but after last night's game, barring some unforeseen conference tourney runs, the Big Ten is looking at 5 teams in the Big Dance. Shameful.

The Ohio St. game on Sunday now looms larger than before. I know you can rally the troops and pull out a win in Columbus.

Best,
Bevormo

Up In Minny

Big game up in Minny tomorrow night. If the Illini win they'll be in position to end the evening either a game back or tied with Michigan St. for first place in the Big Ten (the Spartans play at Iowa tomorrow). If the Illini lose they could fall two games behind the Spartans and into a tie with Penn St. for fourth-fifth in the conference (Purdue would be second and Minny would be third in that scenario).

This is no time to be falling back in the standings.

Lunardi's current Bracketology has the Illini as a #4 seed playing #13 Western Kentucky in the first round, the winner playing either #5 Georgetown or #12 BYU. That's a tough draw but one I see the Illini handling with characteristic panache.

Big Game, Big Game

Big game today in East Lansing. If the Illini upset the Spartans they'll move into a three-way tie with MSU and Minnesota atop the Big Ten. If Tommy Izzo's squad wins they'll remain undefeated in Big Ten play and hold on to a one-game lead over the Golden Gophers.

Beyond the standings implications, we'll find out even more about the potential of our Illini team today. A win or even a strong showing on the road against Michigan St. will give a strong indication that the Illini are capable of making a run in the NCAA Tournament. A blowout loss may mean going back to the drawing board to reevaluate expectations for this season.

This is just a huge Saturday afternoon game in January.

I better start drinking soon.