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.

Illini Squeak Out Home Win Against Lowly Michigan

I can't wait until these two guys graduate.

Seriously. This senior crew - McCamey is the ringleader, and Bill Cole gets lumped in too - have brought me nothing but frustration, anxiety, and shame. Worse, they have brought me far too few wins. They simply don't know how to win, a point driven home last night where they eeked out a 54-52 home win over Michigan only because Michigan was ice cold from the field, including two missed chances at a game-winning three as time expired and the Illini defenders looked on helplessly.

For example, look at Tisdale in the above photo (by Chris Sweda of the Chicago Tribune). He has that look of, "Oh man, Mikey D. We survived and pulled out a tough victory. I'm satisfied. I mean, we weathered that storm and pulled out a tough victory. We should go celebrate."

Whereas what Tisdale should be doing is jogging off the court with his head down, thinking about what time tomorrow morning he'll be back in the gym working on post moves and finding his long-lost jump shot.

The Illini go at Michigan St. and at Ohio St. in the next 6 days. Are the seniors going to grab an edge and play with some ferocity? Or will they lollygag and do just enough not to get blown out?

I have literally no idea.

McCamey Benched, Leads Illini To Victory Over Minnesota

Last night's win wasn't always pretty - the Gophers seemed to have a lot of shots rim in and out - but one takes what one can get in the wild and woolly world of college hoop.

The win moves the Illini to fourth place in the Big Ten ahead of Sunday's showdown with the second-place Purdue Boilermakers.

Until then I'll leave you with the following quote from Chris Hine's article in today's Chicago Tribune:

"The last couple of weeks, I let my play on offense affect my defense, my energy and being a vocal leader for this team," McCamey said. "My teammates called me out and told me I had to be better than that. I stepped up tonight to show them I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere."

McCamey. Finally getting it.

(At least for today.)

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.

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.

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.

McCamey v. Turner: Cage Match

Oh man, that was a choice win over Wisconsin last Tuesday. Bo Ryan's squad had never lost a home game to an unranked team during his tenure. Not only that, he's now only lost 6 home games to Big Ten teams in 10 years - 3 of those losses have been to the Illini.

Our boy Demetri was once again a huge part of the Illini victory. He was 11-17 from the field for 27 points, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. He added 7 assists because, at bottom, he is a generous guy.

Today will be an equally dangerous test for the Illini. McCamey will lead the Illini against his old high school cohort, and current National Player of the Year Candidate, Evan Turner.

No doubt Evan Turner is strong with the force, but McCamey has been an absolue Jedi lately.

Tip-off in Champaign in about 5 minutes.

Illini And The Hoosiers ... Today And Yesterday

The Illini play Indiana today in Champaign, a game that is crucial to the Illini's postseason chances, but that lacks some of the lustre of Illinois-Indiana matchups of the past.

Take the 1989 season for example. On March 5, 1989, the Illini and Indiana played one of the great games in the history of the rivalry, with Nick Anderson hitting an absurd game-winning thirty-foot shot as time expired. Dick Vitale's head exploded. Even Keith Jackson thought it was "In-cred-i-ble!"

The Illini started this five: Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Lowell Hamilton. Marcus Liberty was the sixth man.

To face them, Bobby Knight ran out the likes of Jay Edwards, Eric Anderson, Pat Graham, Magnus Pelkowski and Jamal Meeks. That team won the Big Ten title despite being in a league that had two Final Four teams: Illinois and Michigan.

Today we're going to see Hoosiers like Verdell Jones, Christian Wafford, Jeremiah Rivers and Tom Pritchard. The Illini will counter with Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis and D.J. Richardson. These are all solid players, but it's possible none of them, from either team, will ever play much in the NBA.

Today will be a far cry from March 5, 1989.

You Can't Stop McCamey, You Can Only Hope To Contain Him

I posted this photo after an immediate request to do so by my trusted advisor, Tam O'Flannell.

Nice find, Tam.

Who Is John Effing Hart?

What a dagger thrower this John Hart kid is, eh? Kid is an unheralded freshman, has played about 30 minutes all season, is not even listed in the Purdue scorebook, and comes off the bench last night to light up the Illini for 14 points in 18 minutes of play.

Steve Lavin said it best during the game. This was not a "one-hit wonder" performance. Hart was hitting hesitation shots, was creating separation from defenders, was getting to the basket and was dropping long threes. He may not light it up night after night, but in the 18 minutes he played last night he flashed moves that will play even when teams actually have him listed in their scouting reports.

F this guy.

That's all this Purdue team needs. Another good player.

Also, good game by Demetri.

Big Ten Network Outsmarts Me

Last night's Illinois - Penn St. game aired at 9 PM EST in New York. I wasn't in the apartment at the time so I set the DVR to record the game. On my cable package, the Big Ten Network is channel 472. That channel airs the games and other BTN programming. Problem is, channels 473-476 are other Big Ten Networks - BTN2 through BTN 5 - that aren't included in my cable package, but are listed in the Guide function. They just show the Time Warner logo and zero programming.

You know where this is going.

I accidentally set the DVR to tape channel 473 last night and recorded 2 hours of the Time Warner logo and none of the Illini game.

So I didn't see McCamey's go-ahead three with just over a minute to play. I didn't see Tisdale's monster block on Talor Battle's running layup in the closing seconds, and I definitely didn't see McCamey's lock down D that forced Battle to take a last gasp fadeaway three at the buzzer.

I didn't see any of that goodness.

Zounds!

Highlights here.

They Call Him Mr. Meacham

I can't begin to describe how impressed I was by the Illini's comeback last night. So many great things happened in the last six minutes of the game - Wayne McClain drawing up that trapping press with 5:00 to play comes to mind - that I hesitate to single out one guy for honors.

That said, Trent Meacham really was a monster beast in those last minutes.

If you haven't seen the finish of the Illini's stirring 60-59 victory at Northwestern, please check this out. It's the best way I can imagine to spend 8:21 of your day.

If you can't spare the full 8 plus minutes, allow me to point you to Trent's artistry (these are times on the YouTube video, not the game clock):

1:06: the Illini come out of a time out in Coach McClain's trapping press and Trent steals a pass at the top of the key and lays it in to pull the Illini to 57-47 with 4:53 to play;

2:40: Demetri McCamey flies down the court on a fast break, puts the ball behind his back and then finds Meacham on the perimeter for a long two ... 57-50 with 3:38 to play;

4:25: Northwestern has just hit a bucket (their last of the game) to go up 59-50 with 2:15 to go ... Meacham takes the ball at the top of the key and splits two players to lay it in (after a suspensful bounce on the back of the rim) and pick up a foul ... he sinks the free throw to make the game 59-53 with 2:09 to play;

6:04: the Illini get the ball back on the possession arrow and McCamey dribbles up, spots Trent in the corner, and Meacham catches-and-releases in a split second, firing up a moon ball that drops through the hoop ... Illini down 59-56 with a minute to play;

(Incidentally, Stephen Bardo was calling the game for ESPN and as McCamey passes the ball to Meacham at this point, Bardo starts to say, "This finish for Northwestern has an eerie feeling ... [now Meacham's shot drops through the hoop and Bardo finishes raising his voice] ... like the Purdue game!" Classic.)

6:37: the Illini force another turnover and have the ball down three points ... Tisdale thinks about a three pointer but then gives it up and sets a monster pick for Meacham, who takes the ball at the perimeter and cuts through the defense for a leaning one-hand layup ... Illini down 59-58 with 42.6 seconds to play;

7:11: Meacham guards Northwestern's Michael Thompson as Thompson dribbles around the perimeter ... Thompson finally decides to drive to the basket and Meacham reaches out for a block just as Thompson starts to elevate for a layup ... the ball bounces out of bounds to the Illini;

and finally ...

7:30: with under ten seconds to play, McCamey passes the ball to Meacham who, seeing McCamey curve around him, dishes the ball back to McCamey for the game winning assist and bucket.

Just an incredible job down the stretch.

Oops ...

Bill,

In a shocking development, it was announced today that you are a shady bastard. You were caught talking to that recruit, John Wall or whatever, during a no-contact period.

So shady.

I also love the slimy way you admitted to it immediately. You played it off like, hey, I was at a high school game, and after the game I went to the locker room to say good bye to the coaches and, whoops, the player was standing there. Imagine that, a player in the locker room.

No way you could have seen that coming.

Keep fighting the good fight, Bill. The Man's rules don't apply to guys like us, right Bill?

Best,
Bevormo

Ps - Illini lead the Bluckeyes by 12 at the half. Demetri has three nice looking threes and also picked up a blatant technical foul. What a monster.

Spartans Make Comeback, Beat Illini

Well now, that was frustrating. To be leading the #7 team in the country nearly the entire game, on their floor, only to lose out in the end makes for a frustrating, painful afternoon. Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan played a solid second half for the Spartans, and the Tommy Izzo defense locked down in a big way over the last 4:40 or so.

The real story of the game, however, at least from the Illini perspective, was the cold shooting of Demetri McCamey and Trent Meacham. Combined, the two shot 1 for 16, the one being a long three by Trent from the top of the key. A few of Demetri's shots looked like they were going to fall but either rimmed out or flew a tad long. It just happened over and over again. Very annoying to watch.

I do have to hand it to Alex Legion though (not to mention Calvin Brock). Legion had 15 points off the bench and shot the ball with confidence throughout the game. He had a big turnover late when he stepped on the baseline while driving to the basket, but he looks like he is about to break out for a huge game soon.

My bet is it will be Tuesday night against the Buckneyes.

Illini Dabble But Then Lose In Ann Arbor

The Michigan team that beat the Illini 74-64 in Ann Arbor on Sunday was a good team. They were good because they were hitting their threes. If that team hits their threes - as Beilein teams tend to do - they could be a source of annoyance as the Illini grow into a very good team the next two or three years.

In related news, I think the Illini have three pros right now, all sophomores. The more I watch Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis, I think they might all become pros someday. Tisdale has size and that great mid-range and turnaround jumper game that's popular with the European kids; McCamey can run point and hit threes from long distance and criminy, the kid scored 31 in a game as a freshman last season; and Mike Davis has a long, athletic body, can get to the basket, and can hit the open shot. He has an NBA game in the making. If you project all three out I think you get three pros.

Time will tell.

The Illini are off until next Saturday when they host Tom Crean and the Indy Hoosiers.