Changing my tune

I have a history of being a Bruce Weber fan, and I could even be classified as an apologist, probably most evident here. But watching the Illini this season, I've decided that it's time to become realistic. Bruce Weber is not such a great coach.

I'll base this off of a few different things. First, recruiting. Facts is facts folks. This team sucks. And these are largely Bruce Weber's players. Aside from the Eric Gordon debacle, which I've also covered in depth, and largely inaccurately here, he has made a number of recruiting failures. Some of these can probably be due to being strung along by Gordon, or other players having tepid interest yet receiving the bulk of attention. I don't know, I don't know recruiting. What I do know is that this team is Bruce's team. And this team blows. I'll come back to this in a second. But, I refuse to give Tracy Webster a pass in this whole situation. As the lead recruiter, he did a shit job of getting any serious recruits. Derrick Rose was at least open to the idea of coming to Illinois, even attending Midnight Madness. Could we have gotten him? Perhaps, with someone who wasn't inept at recruiting as our lead recruiter.

Next: Bruce sucks at player rotations. Why is he so resistant to playing freshmen that HE recruited and that HE refused to red shirt. There are 15 active players on the roster, and only like 8 see regular court time. Of those, two are seniors, a couple are juniors, there is an occasional spotting of Alexander (though he's battling injuries I guess) and like 3 freshman get court time. This is just retarded. If the players can't play, then they should have been redshirted. If they can play, then why aren't they? Especially now that the season is a wash, it makes absolutely no sense for the Illini to not play the kids. Let Semrau in a game. Give Holdren some SHOTS. He lit us up, we can't get him an open fucking shot? Let's see what Bill Cole can do.

Now I have an entire point based around Chester Frazier. I have no ill wishes againts Chester outside the basketball world. I hope his education gets him a great job, or it's possible he'll be following in the Jerrance Howard footsteps. Whatever. But my god does he suck at basketball.

The thing we all learned with Dee, Deron and Luther was that with a lot of gym time, and a lot of effort, the sky was the limit. Potential was untapped, but Deron turned himself into a lottery pick. Just unheard of. Not even Frank Williams could do that (and I could have sworn Frank had more talent, probably just more unrealized potential. But damn was he smooth). But, now with Chester Frazier, we're seeing a limit reached. I love his defensive intensity. But it's not consistent, and I think his basketball IQ is terrible.

As a coach, you want to put your players into a position where they will succeed. Why would you put Chester, a player with limited ball-handling skills, as the primary dribbler, and the initiator of the offense? I would say the evidence during the Purdue game was rather damning. Demetri at the point has us up big. Chester relieves him, and we spent 25 seconds dribbling and passing the ball around 35 feet from the basket. It would have been nice to sniff the 3 pt. line before 10 seconds left in the shot clock. Also as a coach, you want to have a guy who wants the ball in his hands at the end of the game to ice it with free throws. Chester shoots, what, 60%? Pruitt shoots slightly less, and I have no idea why he's in at the end of games either (although lately he's shown that he can make a free throw or two in the clutch). And Chester can't dribble his way out of a wet paper bag that has giant holes for dribbling through in it.

Asking Chester to do too much is not helping anyone. The offense becomes stagnant, especially when he's at the point. He holds the ball too much, doesn't reverse it enough, his passing is average at best (and I'd say that's rather optimistic). His defense on the ball is pretty good, his intensity and desire are amazing. But too often he's out of position, or he'll have a lapse. And off the ball he's probably only average at help defense.

Also, Dee Brown's tenure saw the introduction of Hustle stats or something. I think these should be done away with, because I can see Chester having a high number of Hustle stats or points or whatever they're called (that's how withdrawn I am from Illini basketball right now; it's sickening). He's always chasing down loose balls, getting rebounds (which other Illini players are normally around him while doing so), and he's fairly solid, again, on the ball defending. But does this take into consideration turnovers? Lack of motion in the motion offense? Refusal to fast break??

And what of Demetri McCamey. The kid's got ball skills, he can drive to the basket, he can actually make a shot so you're not playing 4 against 5. He's in while the Illini rack up the score (his defense isn't that poor, regardless of what Weber may say), and then he's on the bench as they lose it. Yet Bruce rails into Demetri. While Chester gets a free pass. Consistently.

So now we come to the final point, in game coaching. Bruce has just been outcoached basically all season. How do you come into halftime with a lead, or open up a big lead, only to lose it? Failure to make adjustments. Refusal to make adjustments. All Bruce seems to do is stand on the sidelines and yell at the kids rather than actually do anything. I read recently on Blogabull that yelling doesn't make a good coach. It can be effective, but if it doesn't elicit a noticeable change, then you're just wasting your breath and voice, and we all know Bruce has no voice to spare. And that's all Bruce does. Hell, it was only like 3 or 4 games ago where I actually saw us run a play designed to get a shot on an inbounds play and it worked!

So it's a combination of adjustments, strategies, and players. If the players in aren't doing the job, why would yelling make them change it? And what the hell do they do when they're at practice exactly? Miss free throws? Son of a bitch this team is just awful to watch.

This team has no identity. Wait, I'll take that back. Lack of offense is this team's identity. That and going long stretches without getting field goals. At least if the kids were playing, there would be some experience for next year. Remember how awful this team was when Cory Bradford ran the point? He was the only offense the team had that year. But then, when those guys were seniors, the team produced. Who the hell would have thought that Damir Krupalija would do anything effective? Or Archibald for that matter?

This team is tanking, and in the worst way, because there's nothing to gain from any of the losses we've had except we know that we need to make free throws, which we've known for two years but still can't do. I know Bruce has some great recruits coming in in a few years, but I'm really starting to wonder if he'll be around when they matriculate.

A closer look at the Illini '07 recuiting class

According to the News-Gazette, the Illini have secured their fifth and final commitment from Rodney Alexander for the 2007 incoming class. While nothing has been made official (Alexander has until the end of the spring signing period, May 16), I'm going to assume it is official that Alexander will be with the Illini next year. Because this class is complete, and this is the first time in years that all of the scholarships have been used up, I thought I'd take a closer look at the players the Illini will be getting.

PG Demetri McCamey - Demetri was the first commit from the 2007 class (if memory serves). I could bore you with statistics and everything, but why would I do that? Demetri's got pretty good size for a PG at 6'3", and he should fit right into the relatively tall Illini backcourt. Demetri, as many of you may know, is also known for the time he spends with Big Brothers of America, as he often volunteers much of his time with that program. In addition to that, he volunteers at numerous hospitals and retirement homes. It is said that Demetri saves at least one person's life a week just by showing up and brightening their day.

PF Bill Cole - Bill was technically the second to commit to the Illini. Well, not technically I don't think, but of the people who actually signed LOI's, Bill was the first. He has helped lead Richwoods to various successes in recent years, including a 2nd place finish in the offensive shootout vs. Chicago Simeon in March, 2006, in which the game was tied at 29 at the end of regulation. One of the commonly known facts about Bill around the Peoria area (with which I have become increasingly familiar) is that, while not very imposing, he has the strength of 10 men. He often puts on feats on strength for anyone who asks him. Rumor has it that if you make him mad enough, he will go on a phonebook tearing rampage. And we all know that that's never pretty.

C Mike Tisdale - The third of the 2007 commitments (it has recently dawned on me that I could be way off on these), Mike Tisdale may be one of the most controversial. He committed very early for a Class A player, and he also seems to have a similar build to one Nick Smith. Really, pretty much any comparison to Nick Smith is grounds for disturbance, and I'm sure it's one that Mike is not comfortable with. Anyways, in his free time, you can find Nick volunteering for the Riverton Fire Department. No, he doesn't fight fires. He takes advantage of his length by rescuing adorable kittens and puppies from trees and roofs. He also cleans gutters and gets kites out of trees. Oh, he probably works on his game too.

SG Quincy Watkins - Quincy was a recruit who came out of nowhere pretty much (I can guarantee he was the fourth commit). Watkins was sort of late to the game when it came to garnering attention, but he certainly managed to do so, as both Arizona and UCLA showed interest. He (19.7ppg, 4.2rbg)emerged as a scoring threat down the stretch, so Illini fans are optimistic that he can continue improvement and give the Illini the scoring they desperately lack. Quincy is sort of a local hero in Compton, as he once walked into a convenience store while it was being held up. Quincy was overcome by adrenaline and beat up both of the thieves, absorbing two gunshots in the process. I use the term absorbing loosely, however, as numerous eye-witness accounts report the bullets appeared to bounce off of Quincy's chest and fall to floor. Quincy then rescued a runaway stroller from a busy intersection and helped 4 separate old women across the street. Then he returned to kick the thieves' asses a little bit.

SF(?) Rodney Alexander - The final piece of the recruiting puzzle this year is Rodney Alexander. A direct descendant of Fresno State standout Courtney Alexander, Rodney is a JuCo transfer from Redlands Community College in Oklahoma. He averaged about 13 and 5 this past season, but at 6'7", he possesses excellent size and athleticism. Not much is known about him to the Illini faithful, except that he was recruited by Oklahoma, Indiana, Tennessee and Kansas State. They're all losers. A fun fact about Redlands Community College, they actually teach a course there called Crop Art. The class explains various styles of crop art, including Alien Circles, and then the students are called upon to create their own designs. Rodney won first place for his submission of The Accolade, and then the entire class went out to a nearby cornfield to bring Rodney's creation to life.

Now imagine this in crop-form

So it looks like the Illini should have a pretty excellent class coming in, and at least three of the players should be able to be impact players. Some of them may even have some superhuman powers as well. I look forward to excellent years to come.

At least it's over

I was so disappointed with the Illinois team this weekend. But, on the positive side, this season is now over. And what a relief that is. So here are my final thoughts on this year's Illini team.

First, I can't believe we didn't win that game Friday night. It's so disappointing. When you lead a team that's struggling to score, it should be pretty simple to take good shots. Of course, if to describe your own offense as stagnant at best, good shots are few and far between.

The game Friday was a microcosm of the entire season. You've seen that game before. Illinois played it against MSU and Michigan on the road early in the Big Ten season, and also at home against Wisconsin. And I think it might have also been similar against the Hoosiers in Indiana.

Build an early lead. Basically shut down the opposing team's offense. Make a few shots. Stop hustling. Don't really move on offense. Wait until there are 10 seconds left on the shot clock, give the ball to Frazier, who can't really create his own shot. Maybe get off a terrible shot, maybe have a shot-clock violation. Do that every time down the floor. Give up big shots. Call time-outs to draw up plays, and then don't execute them. Shoot free throws poorly.

It's so frustrating. How can the Illini not take any shots within the last 5 minutes of a game?? The worst thing about that statement is that it's not much of an exaggeration.

In the tournament, it comes down to execution and making big shots. I loved that the Illini went for the win, rather than go for the tie. Deron Washington just took over the game, and no one really had an answer for him down the stretch. The Illini offense certainly wasn't going to answer back.

In the end, yes there were some botched calls, heinously, miserably botched calls. But you can probably say the same thing in any number of games. And, even if they do call that foul at the end of the game against VT with Illinois only down two, who's going to shoot the free throws? Chester Frazier? We'd still probably be losing after he shot them.

Ultimately, Illinois just didn't execute. I think one of the biggest problems with this team is that with all of the constant injuries, the inability for some of these guys to practice led to problems in crunch time. Or, maybe the last 5 minutes of a game.

Next year, Chester Frazier needs to work on free throws and creating his shot. And getting into the offense sooner. He needs to stop getting across halfcourt, then dribbling for 10 seconds. Randle needs to work on his aggressiveness and decision-making. He still seems pretty much like the player he was last year, and with his athleticism, he should totally be improving. He needs to stay healthy. Pruitt needs to work on free throws and his interior passing. That and passing out of double teams.

I'm hoping that with Demetri McCamey coming next year, he can spell Frazier and/or allow Frazier to change positions. I also hope that it allows Illinois to get into their offense faster. I'd like to see McCamey and Quincy Watkins put up some big scoring numbers as well. I would also like to see Semrau log quality minutes next year, as well as Carlwell. And, let's not forget we have that kid from North Dakota who transferred and can pretty much shoot the lights out.

Next year's team needs to take a big step forward, otherwise it's going to be hard to continually support Bruce Weber's coaching ability (which, let's not forget, is amazing) while not being able to bring in the players to produce. It's difficult to place any predictions on next season because you have no idea what to expect. In this long offseason, hopefully the players can make the necessary changes to their game, and hopefully they have the motivation to do so.

An Optimist's predictions for the Illini

The NCAA tournament starts today and I couldn't be happier. There is absolutely nothing better than this time of year. I mean, unless you hate college basketball, and you particularly hate close, exciting college basketball games. Then maybe it's not so great for you. But in that case, you're an idiot.

Looking at the Illini's matchups, I would say that there is an extremely, EXTREMELY outside chance that they could make the elite 8. And that's being incredibly optimistic. But, the Illini can totally advance past this weekend. A closer look at the matchups:

vs. Virginia Tech

VT is a quick, athletic team. Athletic teams can give slower teams a big headache if they control the pace. However, if there's one thing we've seen from the Illini this year, it's that they can slow down ANYBODY. They will make you play an ugly game. I don't necessarily see that as something Va Tech can handle. Also, I like the matchups that they present Illinois with defensively. Deron Washington is out-of-his-mind athletic, but I think Brian Randle can match his athleticism well. Leading scorer Zabian Dowdell will probably get matched up with Rich McBride, who is just about as good a defender as anybody on this team, which is actually a relief to most Illini fans, since he doesn't always bring his shot to the gym. After that, you've got a G/F who will either draw Warren Carter or Brian Randle in defense, or perhaps even Calvin Brock, the center who doesn't score a lot, and the other guard who will get matched up against Chester Frazier.

Defensively, I think we can interrupt this team's flow pretty easily, assuming the officials let us play. I also think that, since they don't really defend much in the ACC, the ACC may face some extremely tough challenges in the tournament. I like the Illini in this game, because they can out-ugly you with some of the best.

vs. SIU/Holy Cross

I'm just going to pretend that Illinois would play SIU in the second round, although Holy Cross isn't one to be taken lightly. SIU averages close to 66 ppg as a team. This could make things difficult for the Illini, because, as opposed to the ACC where they don't really defend, some of the MVC teams CAN defend. There are also some teams on the low end of the MVC (cough, Illinois State, cough) who you can go light up.

Regardless, the Salukis both defend and can score, and they bring a pretty even attack at you. Their leading scorer is Jamaal Tatum, who I assume will draw Rich McBride. After that you've got Randal Falker, whom I believe will be guarded by Brian Randle when he's on the floor. Again, I like these matchups. If there's one thing Illinois does pretty fucking well, it's disrupt the offense. Also, of the top 5 scorers on the team, the tallest guy for SIU is 6'7". I think that Pruitt's (and Carter's) size can disrupt the guys on the inside, and possibly can disrupt the Saluki's gameplan, should they need to bring in their center. (They have the size, I just don't know much about what type of offense they run or who's in their starting lineup.)

Also, I like the master coaching against his pupil. Lowery used to be an assistant of Bruce Weber's, and, whatever you feel about the Illini, you have to admit that with this team, and all the distractions, it's pretty much a miracle the Illini are in the tournament. I don't know if the Illini WILL win this game, but they definitely CAN.

vs. Kansas

I will say that I'm not even sure Kansas will make it this far. Remember last year? Everybody said they were playing the best basketball in the nation, and then they lost in the first round to Bradley.

Anyways, Kansas creates tough matchups because they bring a pretty balanced attack. Well, maybe you could call it balanced, maybe you could call the players inconsistent. I figure you match up Brandon Rush with either Rich or Randle. You don't have to worry about the PG much. You may match Julian Wright up with Randle or Carter, depending on who's on the floor for Kansas. I think, again, with the Illini's ability we can disrupt their offense. But, the problem is that Kansas can score bunches of points quickly.

One of the reason's I think the Illini can win this game is because Bill Self isn't a great coach. I think throughout the course of a season he can learn his team's abilities and whatnot. However, we've seen him fail TWICE in the tournament. With the gritty Illinois defense, we can give Kansas a game. However, if we play like we did in the Purdue game and give them a 13 minutes head start, we're definitely screwed.

Should the Illini actually advance past the first weekend, I'll update my predictions. I think Illinois might actually have a little bit of the upper hand against Virginia Tech. Gotta love the 5-12 matchup.

The easiest way to win games in March is to play perfect basketball (obviously). No turnovers, smart shots, good possessions, solid defense, make your free throws. If UNC doesn't shoot 100% from the free throw line, NC State could have taken the Illini's tournament spot away. Unfortunately, the Illini only have like one of the keys to win easy games in solid defense. If, IF we catch fire and get a lucky break or two, Illinois can find themselves in the Sweet 16. If not, we'll be looking forward to Demetri McCamey and Quincy Watkins next year.

I-L-L

The Illini are in

Well the Illini made it into the NCAA tournament. I was positive that the Illini would get in regardless of what happened in the conference tournament, but it's pretty apparent that had they not beaten Indiana, or had they gotten their shit handed to them by Wisconsin from the beginning, then Illinois would have been left out in the cold. But they're not.

Here's what I don't like though. Illinois was obviously one of the last 4 teams to get into the tournament. This is bullshit. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we're in. But why did we get the fuckjob?

You take a team like Purdue and put them at a 9-seed. What does Purdue have to show for themself? An inability to win any big games on the road, plus the ability to lose in Minnesota, zero quality wins, and a worse strength of schedule and RPI than the Illini. And yet, somehow, all of those things translate into a higher seed. Good work selection committee.

Then there's Michigan State. I understand that they helped themselves by beating Wisconsin at home and almost beating both Wisconsin and OSU on the road. But what about bad losses? The Illini beat the shit out of them when they played at Champaign.

Then you had people arguing for Drexel. I watched Bracketology on ESPN before the selection show, and the guys there said that Drexel would only be in if you put in Old Dominion. ODU just played better in conference. It says a lot for a Drexel team to play a strong out of conference schedule (and catch teams early in the season, hello Georgetown), but you've gotta back up that play in the weak conferences or you're screwed. I would have liked to see Drexel make it though, in favor of:

Stanford. Why the fuck does Stanford get in? Is it the terrible RPI? The 18-12 record? The 4-4 record vs. the 51-100 RPI teams? And they get a better seed than Illinois? I understand that Stanford did fairly well in the Pac-10, but they also got their asses kicked by an Air Force team that got left out of the field of 65. And everyone beat up on each other in the Pac-10. It's not like beating UCLA alone is enough to put you in the field either (right West Virginia?)

And Indiana gets a 7? They're RPI is one better than the Illini, and their Strength of Schedule is 52 compared to the Illini's 24. Illinois also won the series 2-1. And let's look at the quality wins that Indiana had: SIU, Wisconsin. Does beating the Illini count as a quality win also? Indiana was 5-8 vs. teams in the RPI top 50, Illinois was 4-9. Illinois beat Indiana twice. Shouldn't Illinois be closer than just one of the final four teams to be in the tournament if Indiana got in as a 7?

None of this is to say that any of these teams shouldn't have gotten in, except for Stanford. I was especially annoyed yesterday when Billy Packer was bitching about how this is the year when the fewest mid-major teams have gotten in in the past 6 years or something. You know what Packer? Just because you say things doesn't make them true. Maybe it's related to the level of play. When you've got mid-major conferences beating up on each other, the teams that stand out are the teams that are going to get at-large bids. But, maybe you're right. Maybe we should just pick the teams who haven't really played quality competition (or who have, but haven't been able to match the intensity within their own conference) as opposed to those who have. You jackass.

I'm just glad that Illinois didn't get the fuckjob I was so terrified they were going to get, even after beating Indiana. Some point before Thursday I'll go through and look at the matchups Illinois has, and I'll take a (most likely very, very optimistic) look at their chances for advancing. But until games start, I'll probably continue to bitch about the Illini not getting a better seed.

Handicapping the Illini

Last night the Illini survived the battle against Penn State to advance out of the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. I'm ecstatic that the Illini won, because Penn State is a team that, while overall not incredibly dangerous, can steal a game from just about any team in the Big Ten.

I actually didn't watch the game, and I blame ESPN for this. And my job. But, regardless we're out of the first round.

I am actually quite curious as to how we managed to score 66 points. This isn't a team that has been able to shoot the lights out, and scoring often comes sparingly. So how did we win this game? Thankfully, Chester Frazier and Warren Carter were making shots.

But what did I see from the highlights? Well, first, Illinois came out strong. They've done a much better job of this since early in the year when they fell behind to everyone, then battled back, only to fold (usually) again late in the game. Of course, maintaining their MO, the Illini once again failed to maintain the intensity down the stretch.

Illinois isn't going to score a lot of points. I get it. But why are we so incapable of scoring within 3-4 minutes left in the game? We don't even get shots up. I don't know if it's so much a matter of anything more than the players on the floor either being inexperienced, or lazy, or terrible free throw shooters, or what. But to lose a 10-point lead (I'm not talking about this game specifically) in the final three minutes is unacceptable. And I often wonder why someone like Trent Meacham isn't on the floor. The offense seems to flow better with Trent in, possibly because no one is entirely comfortable with him dribbling for 20 seconds. Then again, Trent doesn't quite have the intensity and quickness of a Frazier on the defensive end.

But I'm getting off-track here. I like this win, and I think that Illinois is probably safely in the NCAA tournament now. However, we can totally help our chances with a win vs. Indiana, and I think today could be one kickass game. You've got the Indiana inbreds chanting something about how they're bitches (I fucking hate them. It's really immature, but guess what: I am) and then you've got the Illini fans actually chanting poignant, relevant, original things (like "Fuck you Hoosiers" (perhaps a poor guess on my part)). There's the animosity towards the Hoosier coach, there's intensity among the players. The rivalry has totally been revived. I'm at least happy for that. It's too bad that the occurences leading up to said rivalry had to happen, but they did, so whatever.

Anyways, back on track again. I think the Illini are in the tournament now. I'm not entirely confident about it, but, come on, 22 fucking wins, and 34 RPI ranking and 32 strength of schedule. But how will the Illini fare? I actually had this discussion the other night.

As per usual with the NCAA tournament, it all comes down to matchups. Illinois, obviously, is an outstanding defensive team. So, say they get matched up against a team that is all offense and no defense. I'd like the Illini's chances for an upset in that game. Say, however, Illinois matches up with a fundamentally sound team that makes very few mistakes, maybe we don't match up quite so well. I would also like to say that I think we match up really well against a Georgetown type team because we defend the Princeton offense so well. But that's just me. If we get refs who call touch fouls, as often happens to Big Ten teams in the tournament, that is going to hurt the Illini's chance.

Basically, unless this team can show the ability to score points, I don't think we'll get very far in the tournament. Maybe yesterday was a sign that the points will be able to come from elsewhere than expected, but I'd like to see it come from somewhere else (Calvin Brock? Marcus Arnold? Did I really just hope Marcus Arnold scores a lot today?) again today. And if that happens, then we'll get a better seed and a better matchup for us to win.

So we're in the tournament hopefully, assuming no more crazy business happens with these conference tourneys. I think Illinois can advance out of the first round (and possibly even the second) but it's going to depend on matchups. And maybe we can come out of this with, say, a 12-seed, and just make it to the sweet 16. A 12-seeed would be perfect for us to do that.

Update: Illinois is 3-8 vs. the top 50 in the RPI, which doesn't look too great. But I looked at the games they've played. Of the 8 losses, 7 came against teams with RPI's higher than Illinois. And the 8th loss was at Purdue, who has a lower RPI, and a lower strength of schedule. Many people say Purdue is in. Looks pretty crazy to put in a worse team than Illinois and not put Illinois in. Also, the two of the three wins came against teams with higher RPIs. Illinois better fucking get in.

So long Chief; we hardly knew ye

I discovered this morning that today is the day that the University of Illinois beloved Chief Illiniwek will unfortunately be retired. We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later because of the jackasses at the NCAA, and we all knew it was going to happen this year, but no one was sure when the Chief would be put to rest.

Let me explain my relationship with the Chief. I didn't go to Illinois, but I'd been a fan of Illini sports since junior high, back when Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice were terrorizing opposing Big Ten QB's, and back when Kiwane Garris was controlling the Illinois offense. Back when Jarrod Gee was Jerry. I really wanted to go to a basketball game, but I live a solid 2.5 hours from Champaign. Also, my parents weren't alumni, and they probably didn't think it was really worth it to drive 5 hours for 2 hours of entertainment. Well, college entertainment at least. And maybe they were trying to shelter me from the profane chants (not that they happen a lot at U of I games, but it's not like my parents would know anyways).

I ended up going to Illinois Wesleyan University, although one of my best friends went to the U of I. After I went on temporary hiatus from my girlfriend freshman year, my dad asked if I would be interested in going to an Illini game in Chicago. One of his friends had a son who went to U of I, and they were both avid Illini fans. So I went, and this was the first time I'd seen or even heard of the halftime performance. It was something to behold. Also, my best friend was in the Orange Krush, so he was in Chicago and I saw him at the game. He got to go out and stand around the court while the Chief performed. I was in awe. I got chills.

Cut to about a month later, and my friend invited me down for the weekend. He was in the Farm House, so I got to discover (sort of) frat life at U of I before even experiencing it at IWU (I was kind of a turd freshman year). He managed to get me a ticket to the Sunday game of Illinois vs. Michigan State, and I was going to be in the Orange Krush.

I had no idea what I was about to get into. Being such a huge Illini fan, living and dying with the team's performance, and, frankly, swearing way too much for a normal person at my TV while watching games, this was an amazing experience for me. The Illini ended up losing, and they blew their home winning streak that game, as Marcus Taylor lit up the Illini. No matter though, he left after his freshman year, and who knows what he's doing now. Maybe cleaning toilets. Or making millions overseas.


Regardless, at halftime, I actually GOT to run out onto the court and watch the Chief perform. It was amazing to see it so closely, and then to look up at the alumni in the upper decks and see them just as captivated. Again, I got chills. Well, to commemorate the trip, I bought myself a Chief shirt celebrating 75 years of the Chief (which a different girlfriend later bogarted and never gave back).

I ended up dating a girl at U of I for a while sophomore year, so I went to like 3 football games that fall, never leaving before the Chief performed.

And now they're taking the Chief away. I thought it was a ballsy move by the university to keep the Chief around all year after basically being told to get rid of him.

But who exactly is the Chief offending? There is no single tribe that he was based on, and the dance was researched and based on dances of various tribes. Because there is no one single tribe that the Chief can be attributed to, when Illinois was told they must get rid of the Chief, no one tribe could come forward in support, the way that the Seminole tribe did for Florida State.

And what's with uneducated people stepping forward, making Illinois out to be extremely prejudice, hostile and hatefilled? I'm looking at you Bill Plaschke. He wrote an article about how Illinois should get rid of the Chief. Yet he knows little to nothing aside from the name and possibly what the Chief looks like.

So what do the Illini do now that the Chief is gone? Well, they're being extremely classy in removing the dance, keeping the name and giving the symbol to not-for-profit organizations.

Do I agree with this? Under the circumstances, sure. I think it would be better if we could come up with a performance that was legitimately offensive though. I now live in Peoria, IL, hopefully not for much longer, but I'm close to the town of Pekin. The high school was the home of the Chinks. Yes, they were the Pekin Chinks. That is legitimately offensive.

Why not make Illinois the Drunken Irishmen, or the Women's Rights Activists, or the Mexican Laborers? Those are legitimately offensive. But would the NCAA step in and do anything about it?

What the fuck is hostile about the Chief, except for those people who want to get rid of him? Fuck this PC bullshit. I probably wouldn't even care that much, except it's those retarded, ACLU pricks who are probably driving this whole thing. Bring me a legitimate reason Illinois should get rid of the Chief. Is he doing harm to anyone? Washington has the name the Redskins for fucks sake. How is Chief Illiniwek less offensive.

Fuck the NCAA for bowing down to this bullshit, and fuck everyone else who thinks the Chief is offensive. I'll offend you, then we'll see how fucking offensive the Chief is.

Anyways, I can at least be glad that I got to see the Chief perform. So farewell Chief.

Oh, wait, you're right, this is terribly offensive. Look at him, all offensive and stuff. I'm so offended. Jackasses.

Elevator, elevator

Illinois got the shaft in the game against the Shiteating Hoosiers on Saturday. That's not to say they didn't partially deserve to lose the game, but all things considered, I really thought that they played hard enough to win the game. We finally saw an Illini team that played nearly all game, but they played their worst down the stretch. However, like Billy Packer (he was the announcer, right) mentioned, I, yet again, have optimism for the team this season. It seems like everything is meshing at the right time heading into the tournament. If we can take a team that is supposedly so dominant at home (and a top-25 team no less) to the wire, we can escape the first round of the NCAA tournament. Anyways, here's what I noticed from Saturday's game. Also, I should note, I really wanted to post a recap of the game directly after the game, but I was so fucking angry. I was a giant ball of rage.

Kelvin Sampson and his coaching staff love cancer. Saturday was the day when the head coaches across America ignored dress codes and wore tennis shoes in support of the Coaches vs. Cancer foundation. At least, that was what Billy Packer explained; I'm not sure if he's to be believed. Regardless, it was for a good cause. But where were Sampson's sneakers? In hindsight, he probably could have approached the situation differently. Why was it his job to wear the sneakers? Why couldn't the sneakers call him? Asshole. (Note: I also saw Thad Matta without sneakers, while I think all of his staff had them on. So, if it's any surprise, Thad Matta loves cancer also. And what kind of a name is Thad? If he name is Thaddeus, he should shorten it to something else. I'd go with Deuce.)

Rich McBride continues to show up, which is really a relief to see, because not many other players do. Warren Carter had a big day, but Chester did nothing offensively, except for miss 3 free throws and have a lot of rebounds and assists, Jamar did little more than make a shot, and Pruitt was ineffective. So, it's good to see someone stepping up consistently. If only Rich could have turned into the Kevin Turner of this team as opposed to just a 3-point shooting off-guard.

Who would have expected to see Marcus Worthless Piece of Shit Arnold actually perform at a Division 1 level? I didn't, that's for sure. I heard IU is offering him a scholarship if he'll take a 5th year of eligibility after that performance. It was good to see him come in and do anything, especially since Pruitt was so ineffective.

And let's get back to Pruitt being ineffective for a second. The reason he did nothing in the first half was because he didn't play. He was called for two touch-fouls, in which he did nothing wrong. He was the victim of a fuck-job by the referees. The referees held a press-conference after the game.

Reporter: So, were you watching a different game on a mini-tv, and then making the calls based on what you were seeing on that tv? Because the calls you made had no relevance to the game you were actually refereeing.

Referee: Nope, no, I'm pretty sure we were watching the game on the floor today and making calls we thought were pertinent.

Reporter: Ok, well, then exactly what kind of excriment is your head filled with where your brain should be? Is it all human excriment, or is there dog excriment, or is it just a mixture?

Referee: No, I'm pretty sure my head isn't full of excriment. Good question though.

I don't understand how you could call two touch fouls on Pruitt, and then Carter leaves with two fouls around 10 minutes in the first half, and then Randle goes out with two around 5 minutes. And Illinois had the lead after the first half! I expected big things in the second half, but luckily the referees put the kabosh on that. Randle picks up his third quickly, then picks up his fourth. Pruitt remained ineffective despite not really getting into foul trouble (I don't think). Meanwhile, calls were not going both ways. I saw Warren get pushed on one play two different times that would have been called on the Illini, yet they weren't called. The refs called it closer down the stretch at least. Randle really fucked up where he fouled out holding that dude's jersey, but what about the push in the back that the dude offered him before Randle held his jersey? Nothing on that? Also, there were two or three times that I noticed Warren, when on offense, going to rebound a ball and he jumped on one side of the basket, but was pushed and landed on the other side of it. Obviously, the referees thought he wasn't pushed, which makes sense, because everybody knows if you jump on the side the ball goes to, you want to end up on the side it doesn't go to. Seriously, the referees were retarded.

But, all that aside, Illinois still should have won this game. At the end, we got fucked over on fouls a little bit, but the main thing was that our offense turned to shit. The problem I see with Chester Frazier is that he can't get into the offense. He'll spend 12 seconds dribbling before he makes a pass. By that point, we've got about 4 seconds to get into the offense or he gets the ball back to isolate for a shot, which he usually misses.

I also have a problem with our inbounds plays. Indiana was running plays and getting shots, but when does Illinois ever score off an inbounds play. There was the play that Carter dunked on on Saturday. Rarely have I seen that against any other team though. And then to take two timeouts at the end of the game Saturday and on one possession you don't get a shot, and on the other the best shot you can get is Rich shooting kind of a pull-up three? In the final three minutes of the game, I think Illinois only attempted something like three or four shots. Actually, it was closer to three if it was that many. That's going to kill you. Especially on the road. The one game we get to the free throw line and actually make them, we end up making turnovers at the end.

One more thing. Pruitt needs to learn to pass out of a double-team. I know it was easier for him early in the season because double teams, when they would come, would come late. But now teams are planning for him. He gets the ball and he's immediately double-teamed. He needs to learn to recognize double teams and if he can't split them (and usually he can't) he needs to kick the ball back out.

So we lost the game, fuck the Hoosiers. But I think there's definitely reason for optimism. First, Jamar's shot finally seems to be coming back around. Second, Brian Randle played a lot of the game, and he played pretty well. He still makes dumb fouls, but his defense is so aggressive. Third, the team finally played an entire game. We know that our defense can carry us against lesser opponents. Now we just need to work on closing out close games, which is something we really haven't had to do. And, we're at 18 wins. We should close the season with at least 22 wins, and our RPI is good enough that it should put us in the tournament. We've defended the home floor, and if we can finish with a win at Iowa, I think that makes us a pretty solid bet for the NCAA tournament. Maybe we can even make a run at the Big Ten tournament.

Continuing their reign of underwhelmtion*

I didn't watch the first half of the Illini game last night, except for a couple minutes here and there. I was really hoping they would come on at 6 and then I could watch the entire game. Anyways, I'm not sure how the first half went, so I'll just have to assume I know how it went. Shittily. So I'm going to base my opinion of the game purely on the second half that I watched.

First, another poor, poor output on offense. We would have scored in the 60's if we could have made some fucking free throws, but in general I was very underwhelmed. I get really sick of watching the players just stand around while Chester dribbles the ball, only passing it around the backcourt while players are getting great position down low. Then with ten seconds left Chester creates and throws up a shot that's pretty ugly, but last night it was going in. That's not offense. That shouldn't be considered a reasonable option. It's not.

And why can't we make any fucking free throws? Do we not practice it? This is the second year in a row where we've been terrible from the free throw line. And we're LAST in the Big Ten this year in it. We should never be last in anything in the Big Ten, unless they keep a statistic called sucking. We can be last in that. And has anyone else noticed Shaun Pruitt's practice stroke he takes while he's at the line? I sure have. He never uses his legs when he does his practice stroke, but then he's obviously using his legs when he shoots actual free throws. Seriously, should I just coach the team?

I think the players on this team in general just have a terrible basketball IQ. I think that might be part of the reason why the Illini can never close out games. I would like to reiterate that I don't see the point of fighting through a screen along the baseline, because by going under it, you can basically pin your man in the corner and get in the passing lane. Yet the Illini continue to do it, and they continue to get burnt on it. But I just think in general that as the game goes on, the other team is able to make adjustments to what the Illini do, and that is how they go on runs. Meanwhile, the Illini don't seem to make the adjustments and they make the same mistakes late in the games that they make early in games. I mean, we just saw it two times in a row last night where Neitzel was coming off of screens and got a three. Part of that is on the coaching staff to help these guys realize the adjustments they need to make, but I think a huge part of it is just that the basketball IQ isn't there.

I can't really speak about a whole lot of good things about the game last night because I didn't see much. I was glad to see Chester scoring and shooting with more confidence, but I'm pretty sure it was just because it was a home game. Maybe I'm wrong and he has a great ability to forget about the previous game, but I don't thinks so.

Also, it's not like this was a great win for us. This was a win we needed, but we didn't beat their brains out, even though we probably should have after only giving up 17 points in the first half. MSU was coming off a huge high after nearly beating OSU at OSU, and this was their second road game in a row. They were pretty much set up for a let-down game.

I pretty much think the Illini backed into this win, kind of the same way that we backed into the Indiana win. This win doesn't leave me feeling confident about anything other than the fact that we'll probably play the rest of the home games this way: build a big lead, then give it up down the stretch, then we may or may not hold on to win.

We might as well be Purdue since we're only about 50/50 to win anymore games on the road.

So now the question is, even if we get that 10-6 or 9-7 record in the Big Ten, do we have a chance to get into the NCAA tournament hanging our hat on a win at a neutral site during the non-conference, and then winning at Minnesota, but defending (mostly) at home? And then even if we do make the NCAA tournament, is there any chance that we make it out of the first round?

I don't mean to sound all pessimistic, but this is what was running through my head at the end of the game last night. I'm just too used to watching this team blow games down the stretch to think that anything good can come from it, regardless of what (if any) tournament we play in at the end of the year.

I sure hope this team can prove me wrong with a vengeance.

*It's a word, look it up.

I think I'm going to the dark side

Well, what a game the Illini had on Saturday afternoon. I didn't know if they would be able to maintain their high level of play after beating the Hoosiers at home, but they sure proved me wrong. Yep. No let down whatsoever.

I don't know what the deal is with the Illini any more. I'm sick of trying to figure it out. First, granted, they played on the road against a Purdue team that is apparently unconscious playing at home. That same Purdue team lost to Minnesota on the road. So it's hard to say whether or not the team just plays lights out at home, or if they're an actually better team than the Illini. But here's what I saw from the game.

How does Illinois come out so terribly on offense? While I can argue all I want that they weren't getting any calls for the first 10 minutes of the first half, that doesn't mean anything. They managed to get Landry into foul trouble early. Then the calls were called either evenly or actually in the Illini's favor for the rest of the game. Purdue just had the intensity and no one on the Illini did. How we come out and lack the ability to match intensity with a team who should be inferior is beyond me.

What is Chester's problem? He's never been afraid to shoot from the outside in past games, but recently his shot has stopped falling. But how immasculating must it be to not even be guarded unless you're within about 15 feet of the basket? And not only that, he didn't even make Purdue play at all. He would just stand behind the three-point line, trying to decide if he should shoot or not, then pass the ball. He wasn't being guarded, he could have been slashing to the basket during ball reversal or something. And while his intensity on the defensive end was useful at times, at other times it worked against him. I seriously don't know what the deal is with him, but he needs to pick it up. Big time.

Also, why could no one defend Teague? He's got a quick, pretty accurate shot, yes. But look at where you are on the floor before you try to fight through a screen. There were a number of times when Teague was curling around a pick only to have the Illini defender follow him through it. But the majority of the time, the pick was occurring below the free throw line, which would have meant that the only place he could have gone to get his shot, if the defender went under the pick, was to the corner. And that's an extremely difficult pass to make for anyone. Plus, they would have had to lob it over the defender/screener anyways, allowing time for recovery. Where was the defensive adjustment to recognize that though? Probably about 60-75% of the time Teague was defended pretty well, but he made his shots when he needed to.

The one lone spot in the entire game, at least in my opinion, was Rich McBride' s aggressiveness. It's about fucking time we saw the player we all expected to be seeing at the beginning of the year. It was like he realized that no one else was doing anything on offense, and he managed to get to the rim a couple of times. Well, maybe not the rim, but he attacked the basket and made a couple shots inside the three-point line. In addition to that, he got to the free throw line a couple times as well.

However, that was the one lone spot. I know I've been an avid supporter of Bruce Weber for a long time. Right when we first hired him, I was tentative, then we were 3-3 in Big Ten play his first season, I thought it was a mistake. But since then I've not had a problem with him. I even thought his recruiting was sufficient. However, I may be starting to change my tune. It's not to say I think Bruce is a bad coach, because I don't think he is. And I'm not sure he's a bad recruiter. But with all of the young, up-and-coming coaches in Division I these days, think of all the good recruits we could be getting in addition to the solid coaching. Could we make a mistake and bring in a shitty coach who rode one good team to success? A Lon Kruger of the 2000's if you will? Absolutely. And that would suck. But this team should be in a much different state than it is currently in.

Before I was thinking that Illinois would have a cake-walk through the rest of the Big Ten season, but now I don't think so. If teams defend their home floor the way Purdue did, then we're screwed. However, if they defend their home floor the way MSU or Michigan did (both games we should have won), we may have a chance to finish fourth and make the NCAA.

After Saturday, and with Arizona getting the shit beat out of them by UNC, I'm not sure it matters where we end up playing at the end of the year. It's not going to be good enough.

Cram it up your Hoosiers*

Last night was a very important win for this Illini team. I don't think that's a surprise to anyone. However, I think this could be a game that will (hopefully) be the turning point game that I hoped the Minnesota game could be (but wasn't). So here are my thoughts on the game last night.

First, it Orange Krush was awesome. I thought maybe the only thing that would happen was that they would boo Simpson** and that would be it. But damn was I sorely mistaken. The chants as old Cal*** walked out of the locker room of 'Call me Kelvin' were hilarious and poignant. I really also appreciated the 'Don't call us; we'll call you' chant while Wilmont or whatever his name is was trying to shoot his free throws. And finally when he was getting booed like crazy during his interview right before halftime was awesome. The Krush brought their A-game. And it was all insulting to the coach and not to the players, which I found particularly classy. It was much more classy than I would have been.

Now to the game. You could tell that Bruce Weber wanted to win the game because he was all up and down the sideline on the bench. He was screaming, pointing, arguing, pouting, and calling out plays and directions. This team has had a tendency to just kind of fall into a lull, and I think this might be the best way that Weber can offset that.

In the first half the defense started out pretty slow. D.J. White was hitting, other players were hitting, and Illinois was slow to rotate. They picked it up though, and Indiana stopped making anything. To be able to shut down any team for over 10 minutes without a field goal is a credit to any defense, and also our rebounding prevented second shots from close range. It was too bad that our offense was sluggish, otherwise we may have been able to not only come back to tie the game but pull away.

Rich McBride was pretty impressive last night. I'll admit I was all over him at the beginning of the season. I think it was fair too, because he blew. Hard. But now his defense is continually improving and he is shooting the ball with confidence. And if he makes his shots, I don't care where he shoots them from. He is still a liability passing the ball occasionally, which should be one of his stronger points, since he's usually passing it anytime he's not wide open. But it's not. However, he makes his free throws, and last night he even made a shot or two inside the three point line. Overall I was impressed.

Both Shaun Pruitt and Warren Carter were monsters on the boards. A number of times we held the Hoosiers to just one shot on a possession because of their ability to rebound the ball. And I don't know if the Hoosiers just had a small lineup or if none of their guards ever went in to rebound, but it seemed like on every possession either Carter or Pruitt was pulled down a rebound. I know Carter only had six, but it seemed like he was pulling down big rebounds at the end of the game a lot.

I liked seeing Carlwell get some action last night, but I did not like seeing Marcus Arnold get into the game before Carlwell. Why must we continually play Marcus Arnold. He is a waste. I wouldn't say Carlwell is a liability on the defensive end, as he helped cause (I believe) two steals last night. On the offensive end, he's at least tall and has pretty soft hands. Arnold has nothing. He's undersized, can't jump, can't rebound, can't really defend, except for his wide base. I just don't understand the thinking here.

I really like Chester Frazier's intensity, but I have a question. Well, I guess I have two questions. First, why can he not shoot free throws? He wants to be a point guard, he needs to be shooting 1000 free throws a day. He just looks terrible at the line. Second, when the game is going to come down to free throws, I appreciate that he wants the ball in his hands. But can't he give it to someone who is money from the free throw line? We had Rich McBride, Jamar Smith and Warren Carter all perfect from the line last night, yet Chet refused to pass the ball to them and took the foul himself. He did make the front of of a bonus last night (twice, I think), but he was 3-7 from the free throw line. There comes a point when you need to make the decision that's right for your team, and as a point guard, if he can't shoot free throws he should be able to get it to someone who can. In addition to that, what was the deal with just having the ball taken right away from him as he was basically dribbling right in some dude's face. His passing can be kind of lazy too. I like having him on the floor, he just really needs to focus and make the right decisions.

There was a stretch in the second half where I was pretty sure we were trying to give the game away, but we managed to come back strong. Once we got up by 8, we never led by less than 4 the rest of the way out. I think this game could help us to keep intensity in the second half when we have a lead.

So now we're 3-4 in the Big Ten. We benefit greatly this season by not having to go to Wisconsin or Ohio State, so we're done with them. And, personally, I think the refs screwed us out of the Wisconsin game, not so much with fouls called against us, but by not giving us baskets on various plays. Regardless, we're done with those teams, and we've already played Michigan and Michigan State on the road. We should be able to win out with the schedule we have left, and if we lose, I see only two potential losses coming at Purdue and at Indiana. We've already shown we can beat the Hoosiers, so hopefully we'll have Brian Randle to help drive the point home in Bloomington.

If we go 11-5 in the Big Ten, we're in the NCAA tournament. If we go 10-6, I think we're still in. If we go 9-7, I think it's close. But I see no reason to believe that we can't at least go 7-2 in the final 9 games.

*I'm pretty sure this doesn't make sense as it is. However, since I think of the Hoosiers as assholes, you can just substitute assholes and make it work.

**I know his name. It is out of pure disrespect and contempt that I misspell it.

***Ditto. I loathe him.

The serious turning point of the season

So I came out in huge defense of Bruce Weber, and some people agreed, some didn't, no big deal. I welcome all opinions. Yours just sucks. But, regardless, the team came out and let me down hugely, making me look kind of like a jackass. Which is nothing I'm not used to.

I didn't watch the game on Sunday. There were more important things at hand, such as the Bears game. I would pick a Cubs playoff game over the Bears regular season (luckily I don't ever have to make that decision) and I would pick a Bears playoff game over the Illini, and obviously, March Madness trumps everything.

But anyways, I can't accurately say how disgusted or enamored with some portions of the game. And I'm totally cool with that, because from the sounds of it, I should have been disgusted with all of it and enamored with less than none of it, even though that's not technically possible.

I mean, seriously, how is Rich McBride our leading scorer? Don't get me wrong, I think it's a pleasant surprise, since I pretty much hate everything about Rich McBride after I was such a huge fan of him during his freshman year. And then Brian Randle just disappears after beating ass in the Iowa game? So disappointing.

This team has been up and down all season. Initially we couldn't come out to a fast start and we would fall behind every competitor consistently. I think right around the Arizona game was where we turned that around. But, then we couldn't finish the game. Missing our two best players (arguably at that time at least), we thought we'd be in for great things when everyone got healthy.

But we still can't finish games. Up against Arizona, Xavier, Michigan, Michigan State, we just can't play in the second half. Hopefully this team will learn to play as well in the second half as it does in the first half, but so far this team has been a team that will only play one half well.

So tonight is a turning point for the season. If we lose tonight, at Minnesota, we can probably write off the NIT in addition to writing off the NCAA tournament. If we win tonight, we're home against Wisconsin and Indiana. Wisconsin is not an unstoppable team, and if Randle is able to lock up Alando Tucker (which is obviously no easy task) then we have a chance in that game. I don't expect us to win, but I hope it would be a closer game than against OSU.

Following that game is the home game vs. Indiana. The only other games we can lose this Big Ten season are to Wisconsin and atIndiana. If we lose anything else, I would write our chances of making the NCAA Tournament off.

It's not just the fact that we have to win those games though. The way this team is playing, they're making virtually every game look way more difficult than it should be. And they're also showing they can't win on the road.

So that's why tonight is a turning point. Come out strong, beat the shit out of Minnesota and prove that we can win big on the road. If we lose tonight, or if it's a close game, people will just be talking about how we barely squeaked by a shitty opponent and how we could lose to Penn State or Purdue or at Iowa.

And I probably won't have much of a rebuttal. I mean I will, because I'm a know-it-all jackass, but it will be even more far-fetched than usual.

Addendum to Bruce Weber post

One note from the Bruce Weber post that I made the other day.

I brought up Bill Self's name to prove that Weber is an upgrade over the former coach. I didn't necessarily mean to slam Bill Self's name, it just sort of turned out that way.

However, finding out that the link was posted on a KU forum (apparently they're now literate there), they seem to take offense to some of the claims I made. It didn't really appear that it had anything to do with what I said; I guess the problem was more the fact that I was saying it, since I didn't really say anything offensive or outlandish (although feel free to point out if I'm wrong).

But let's just call a spade a spade. Bill Self is ENTIRELY OVERRATED. Bucknell, Bradley. That is all.

To make a point I've made 8 times before

Ok, I've made this point before. Probably at least 5 solid times before. So I will excuse everyone who has read some form of this before from reading this again.

GET OFF BRUCE WEBER'S CASE.

People. This should not be this difficult. Bruce Weber is an excellent coach. I believe his record as head coach of the Illini is 101-21. That comes to an 83% winning percentage. Just for simple math's sake. We all know who the Illini had before BW. And he sucked. His record was 78-24. And we were ecstatic to have him as our coach. Crunch a couple numbers, we'll call it a 76.5% winning percentage. Ok, so we have established that X's and O's, Illinois is much better off. (Sidenote, it should be pointed out that I hate comparing BW to that dude who blows ass.) Also, as far as we're concerned about Big Ten records, here's what we've got. Twice Self coached the Illini to Big Ten CO-champions. BAM coached us to 2 OUTRIGHT Big Ten Championships. And, I also want to point out, the Big Ten CO-champ teams both had 11-5 records.

Enough lousy comparison between an excellent coach and a shitty coach on coaching ability. There is a lot of talk about Weber being unable to recruit. He won with Self's guys, right?

I agree that Self was responsible for Brown, Williams and Augustine. But let's not forget what Self inherited at Champaign. Illinois Mr. Basketball Sergio McClain, Illinois Mr. Basketball Frank Williams, Illinois Mr. Basketball Brian Cook (can't remember if Cook was recruited by Self or not, but I don't believe he was). Not to mention Marcus Griffin. Had Self been able to coach, there is no excuse that this team should not have been able to get to the National Championship game, at least two of the guys are significant players in the NBA (it's debatable whether or not Cook is significant; also, I don't follow the Lakers, so I admit ignorance). Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Had Self been able to coach those guys well, we would have been pissed off about the recruiting classes he brought in. Technically, I think for the most part we were pissed off with the class that brought in Brown, Williams, and Augustine. Because we weren't even mentioned in any of the top ten recruits' final 5's. Except for, say, Eddy Curry, but that's neither here nor there.

So, BAM comes in. First, the team starts out pretty poorly in Big Ten play. At one point, they fall to 3-3 in conference, and I'm thinking, "We hired the wrong guy." They end the season winning the Big Ten OUTRIGHT.

Then Illinois comes out, assumes #1 in the nation and holds it until the National Championship game, which came down to a final shot (and which BAM had to deal with Augustine getting fucked over on fouls (I'm still not over that)) that was missed. Finally, we're all excited about the carry-over this will have in recruiting.

We miss out on Sherron Collins, Julian Wright, Brandon Rush. Well, those guys had relationships with Self, and we all know how greasy he is. Can't be surprised they went there. So our class suffers. Yet we still get a top 50 recruit in Brian Carlwell (yes, top 50). But we're not satisfied.

Finally, we get the big one. Eric Gordon commits verbally to Illinois, and I was incredibly excited about the ramifications. Derrick Rose? Perhaps. Who knows who else?

Well, we missed out on some good players because Eric Gordon was committed. Players who were ready to come to Illinois, but also wanted playing time. So unfortunately they committed elsewhere. Oh, but what's that? He's backing out? A week before signing his Letter of Intent?

Aside from how classy that was, the real problem was the timing. A week before Signing Week? What were we supposed to do? Everyone who had considered Illinois had already verballed elsewhere (aside from O.J. Mayo. By the way, who the fuck goes to USC for TIM FLOYD? He won about 4 games total in 3 years with the Bulls. Good luck with that USC). So we were screwed. And, shit, were people pissed.

So, now Weber signs a kid from Compton, and people are still not satisfied. Listen. He's a 3-star talent, one of the few available left, and I seem to remember another late-blooming talent getting a scholarship from Illinois who turned out all right. Who was it again? Oh yeah, Calvin Brock, who, in only his RS sophomore year has improved immensely and is probably most improved on the team. And who's to say this kid can't be a lot better than Brock? Rivals.com has him listen in the top 100.

As for how this team is performing, remember this: 5 losses in the Big Ten used to be able to win at least a share of the conference title. Illinois has 2: one on the road in Michigan (that they should have won, but winning there is never easy), and the second against OSU. Now, aside from Wisconsin, point out a team that the Illini shouldn't handle easily. All I see is MSU. If Illinois runs the table at home (aside from WI), and loses 2 on the road (I'll throw IU a bone, even though they suck) that gives us 5. So let's just chill out before we whine about 5 losses in conference.

I understand wanting constant improvement and perfection. But at a certain point, it becomes nitpicking. It's incredibly shortsighted to say that Bruce has no control over this team after just 2 conference games. At the end of the season, if we sucked, then jump on him. If we don't make the NCAA tournament, I'll probably shit my pants in rage. But maybe we shouldn't base our entire opinions of the season and his coaching ability on what he's done through roughly half a season.

Note: I also want to point out the school's academic requirements. This is a fairly weak argument that Notre Dame fans use a lot, but I feel like Illinois passes on players they know will struggle in classes, or perhaps not even qualify. So comparing recruiting classes of a team who has no academic requirements, say, Ohio State, to a school like Illinois is unfair, because Illinois graduates its players. I think the more accurate comparison would be a team like Michigan State (while still probably not the most accurate). And if you look at how MSU is doing this year, do you start calling for Tom Izzo's head?

Let's just chill out everybody

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for me, I didn't watch the Illini game. I was busy shopping for purses/trying not to stab my eyes out. I DVR'd the game, mainly because if the Illini won the game, I was not going to miss it. I checked the score while I was gone however, and since Illinois lost, I deleted it never to be seen again.

Anyways, people (at least some people) are really starting to freak out about the way the Illini have played their last 3 games. I'll admit, none of them have really been pretty. And 5 losses at this point in the season is pretty shitty. But, let's just look a little closer, first at the last game.

Ok, we shot like shit. You'll have that sometimes. This team is still inexperienced for the most part. OSU is the best team we're going to see until the NCAA tournament. The fact that we were able to hold them to only 62 points is pretty solid. Especially when you consider that Greg Oden, the Big Ten wunderkind (seriously, he is. Is that a word?) was held to JUST 7 points. Again, I didn't see the game, so I'm basing this on stats and what I've read about the game.

Second, we got smoked by one dude behind the 3-point line. So, again, our rotations are probably too slow. But would you rather get smoked behind the line, or by a dude inside just completely dominating everything?

The problem is that the Illini basically didn't rebound and didn't really rotate well on defense. And they shot like shit. They're still adjusting to playing against tight, Big Ten defense, so the offense is still stifled. But these are all things that can be improved. Practiced. And you're going to have off nights. Say Illinois doesn't shoot like shit and we lose by 6. It's still a loss. It's easier to not freak out about the team's lack of offense, but it's still not good enough.

So the Illinoi are 0-2 in the Big Ten. Yes, it looks terrible. But, we got really lucky with our scheduling this year. We play Wisconsin at home (the only other team who can beat us at home in the Big Ten), at MSU and at IU. MSU has the ability to play well, but they've also come out and completely blown games. Let's also not forget that Wisconsin has the ability to blow games just as easily. IU is coached by Captain Unethical Fucktard Who Is Also Incapable of Coaching, so that should be a win.

And let's not forget Bruce's first year with the team. It took the players a while to finally come into their own. They were 3-3 in the Big Ten, and then ran the table to win the conference OUTRIGHT (something Self never did). So it wouldn't be a surprise to see a turnaround from 0-2.

Sure he's not inheriting all new players, but a lot of these players haven't seen playing time before. And I think part of the problem is that Weber is too stubborn in his rotations. Rich McBride should be a bench-jockey, as should Marcus Arnold. There's no excuse McBride should start any more this season (unless maybe all other guards are injured), and Brian Carlwell should take ALL of Arnold's minutes.

So with more experience and a pretty damn weak schedule, Illinois should be able to make a nice turnaround. We already knew this would be the toughest stretch of our season. We failed, yes, but we're in no way hopeless. From here it only gets easier (except for perhaps Wisconsin. It kills me to say that; I loathe them). Now, should Illinois lose to Iowa at home, I will rescind all of this, say that we're screwed for the season and focus on something else.

Of course we won't lose to Iowa. They suck! Seriously, if we do lose to them, there will only be many angry blogs about Illini basketball from then on out.

But let's just get off the team's back for a little while.

Oh, and one more thing concerning the coach. We got GIANT ROYAL FUCKING DICKED this season. To say that we got absolutely nothing out of the trip to the championship game in 2005 is a lie. We had a top recruit; he fucked us over; we had players who would have gladly come had he not been verbally committed who then committed elsewhere. So, yes, there is a glaring hole where that recruit should be. But, it's not Weber's fault. It's that piece of shit's fault in a neighboring state, so fuck that.

Don't act like you didn't see this coming

You knew it was coming. Especially if you happened to catch any of the hideously ugly Illini game last night. I would enjoy tearing everyone a new asshole for blowing so terribly, so I probably will.

But first, the game was being carried on the local UPN channel. I turn on the game at 7, all I see is the UPN symbol in the corner of the screen and the rest is black. I'm like, hmm, ok, maybe wait a second. 2 minutes later, I change it back, still no change. No problem I say, the feed must just be slow getting started. I change it back 4 minutes later, still no game. Ok, you're fucking with me now UPN59. I change the channel and change it back at 7:07. Ok, now the screen isn't black, there are just commercials. Phew, I probably didn't miss much of the game. Ok, I think I saw this commercial already. Ok, it's 7:10, I'm seeing these commercials all twice. Ok, 7:12, still no game, you're fucking with me again! Apparently they fucked up the feed or something and rather than show dead air, they decided to go with showing commercials for all of the shows in syndication that they have, like Family Feud, and other similar shit. Finally I change it back at like 7:25 and see that the feed is now working and I've missed nearly half of the first half. And as luck would have it, that was the best portion of the entire game that I missed.

So now to recap the game. It sucked. That was easy.

Rich McBride continues to be the shittiest shithole on the entire team. The only thing he is good for is defending guards in the post and shooting threes. Except he can't shoot any more for some reason. He's too slow to guard anyone off the dribble (and apparently he's too slow to keep anyone from getting out of a trap as evidenced by the end of the game) and not many guards take him down low. So, he's pretty much worthless. Apparently it looks like Bruce Weber is finally starting to realize this.

I guess I was only half-right when I said that Rich McBride was the shittiest shithole on the team because Marcus Arnold is right up there with him. Just because the kid is a senior doesn't mean that he's actually valuable to have on the floor. Because he is definitely not valuable. All he gives you is a guy who can occasionally make a layup when you find him (because no one needs to guard him--he sucks) and he's a big body that someone at least would have to run around to get to the basket. I've said this a million times. He can't jump and he can't really rebound. His defense isn't very good either.

Speaking of defense not being very good, we blew last night. Our rotations sucked, which left Michigan able to hit wide open threes. That's what ball movement can do for you. Get you open shots.

Of course, you wouldn't have noticed that from watching us on offense. It's much easier to just stand around and try to get the ball inside to Marcus Fucking Arnold who is worthless. It's like our guards don't even see the floor either (especially McBride). An easy way to break a zone is to get to the middle. It's tough to get the ball to the middle of a zone if YOU NEVER LOOK THERE.

I was not impressed with Calvin Brock's defense last night either. He really needs to work on it to keep improving. If he doesn't keep working on it, he's not good enough.

WHERE THE FUCK IS BRIAN CARLWELL? I have no idea what Bruce Weber is thinking by NOT playing Carlwell. At the very least, he's not going to hurt you any more than Shitty Marcus and he's bigger and harder to move, so he can rebound better. And he's younger, and in-game experience is much better spent on Carlwell than Arnold.

And what is Shaun Pruitt's deal? Why does he play soft at times? He's one of the biggest guys in the Big Ten. And Brian Randle. He's reluctant to shoot, he doesn't go to the basket even though he has a quick first step, and he could definitely rebound more on offense. Speaking of offensive rebounding, what happened to that? Don't any of the guards try that any more?

I guess all this being said, Michigan is kind of a tough place to go and win on the road, but that definitely should have been a game we won. It's a shitty way to start off the season in the Big Ten. And Fuck Michigan.

This season could suck for the Illini

I missed the first 10 minutes or so of the Illini game last night, but I knew we were playing Idaho State, so I'm positive it's no big deal. And, of course, I was not happy with what I saw. So I'll just review some of my thoughts on the game.

Glad we sucked a lot. How anyone is down at any point in a game to Idaho State is beyond me, let alone a team like Illinois (who should definitely be ranked in my opinion). Seriously, on offense we were doing nothing but allowing Rich McBride to take shitty shots, and on defense we were letting this dude with a crazy shot make everyting. They're assists leader had 2 fucking assists with 5 minutes left in the game. That means at most every other person had one. So we were getting beat off the dribble. That's shitty on the ball defense.

Rich McBride can't make a shot. All he's good for is shooting. He'll make maybe his first two shots of the game, maybe three, then he'll miss for the rest of the game. It's like clockwork. 'Oh, second half? McBride shoots, and misses, there's a shock.' Also, he can't defend quicker guards. He can get taken off the dribble too easily. And then there's still the argument about his lack of motion IN THE MOTION OFFENSE. I don't see what his deal is, but I think he's just too stupid to understand. Maybe he just spends a lot of time in the game thinking about getting another DUI. (Ok, that was a low blow, but he needs to stop sucking ass.)

Brian Randle is good. However, he seems reluctant to take a shot. There were at least 3 or 4 times last night when the ball got reversed to him and he was wide open, but you could tell he wasn't even thinking about shooting the ball. I think I saw him take one shot from outside the paint, a three with the shot clock expiring, and he drained it. I don't like seeing him hit the ground hard every game and then come up limping. Another thing is that while his defense is stellar, every now and then he just gets slightly lazy and he'll slap a guy (or like last night, hold a guy who is trying to post up 18 feet from the basket). That is why he continues to get into foul trouble. If he could stop with the ticky tack fouls, he would be on the floor that much longer, and if he's on the floor we're better for it.

Fucking Marcus Arnold. Arnold is no better than our 4th post option. Seriously, it should go Pruitt, Carter, Carlwell. Then, if two of those three must be out of the game, Randle moves to a four. Then, if Randle also needs to leave, you put Calvin Brock at 4. Then if all of them are in foul trouble, you go with Marcus Arnold. He's a terrible defender, he's slow, he's worthless, he can't jump more than 3 inches off the ground, so he can't rebound, and he is too short to get shots off inside (because he can't jump either). Also, he's a shitty fifth-year senior. Who will not be going to the NBA. Don't really need to play him for any reason at all. Worthless.

Our offense against the zone looked shitty until Calvin Brock came in with about 10 minutes left in the game. Seriously, the way to beat a zone is dribble penetration and skip passes. It's not that hard. I'm not a coach, and I know that. I also haven't played since I was a sophomore in high school, and I still know that. All Illinois was doing last night was passing the ball around the perimeter slowly. Oh, another way to beat a zone is to overload one side of the floor. Then skip it to the other side. Or get the ball to the middle. The motion offense isn't designed for use against zone offenses. That's fine. But we need something that will work. Also, against a zone, you usually get a lot of threes. Well, Rich McBride sure can't make them if it's the second half, so exactly what is he in for?

Last year the first time I saw Chester Frazier I thought he looked like a Deron Williams type of player. He doesn't run the offense as well, and from what I've seen, he doesn't create his own shot the way Deron could. Then again, he's only a sophomore. And Deron turned his game around phenomenally. So I don't know if it's insane to think that Chet could be the top PG in the Big Ten his senior year. Also, I like the options that McCamey will give us next year, assuming Weber actually plays him, unlike he does with Carlwell. Sidenote: CARLWELL NEEDS TO PLAY. If he can't play against cupcakes, how is he supposed to get coomfortable enough to contribute against good teams? Seriously Weber, what is up with that.

A win is a win, regardless, and if anything this points out a lot of weak points that need to be addressed. We just have Xavier left, so definitely from here on out, every game is meaningful. Hopefully we won't have any of those slow starts like we had, we'll be able to pick up our defensive intensity (which is always a Bruce Weber staple) and we'll be able to blow out the teams we should definitely be blowing out. Also, we might as well just win out and run the table in the Big Ten tourney so we can get a Top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

I am not happy with the Illini

I was really excited for last night's game against Missouri in the annual Busch Braggin' Rights game. And on ESPN no less. I'm not sure the last time that game was on ESPN, but I was totally cool with it.

Until I started watching the game. We came out hot, but we couldn't really stop Mizzou. But we never let them pull away either. We had the lead for most of the first half. Anyways, here are some problems I had with the game last night, in no particular order.

Marcus Arnold. Or should I say shitty fucking Marcus Arnold. I absolutely despise him on the floor. He had, what, two points last night, on one layup? The rest of the time he was entirely out of position on both ends of the floor. He can't jump enough to rebound, he can't jump high enough to make a freaking layup, he's slow, he sucks. Seriously, I can't complain about him enough.

Brian Carlwell. Why the hell didn't he play? He better be sick and or hurt, because there is no excuse to give shitty Arnold so much playing time when he's obviously so incredibly overmatched by everyone.

The rotations. If there is one problem I had last night, it's with Bruce Weber's rotations. I assume this will get better throughout the year as he gets more accustomed to having everyone healthy. However, there's no reason Arnold plays over Carlwell unless there's an injury. And I question why Calvin Brock wasn't on the floor more than he was. Except...

Calvin Brock. Learn to fight through a fucking screen! Brock is easily one of our most athletic defenders on the team, but when you see him a lot of the time defend a shooter, it's like he's lethargic in getting through the screens. If a man is going to curl around a screen and go to the hoop, then let him, but don't get stuck behind a screen as he nails a three. That is probably why he spent some time on the pine last night, as he could have played better.

Rich McBride. Glad to see he's still sucking. A lot. Comes out, hits his first shot, then misses the rest of his shots on the night, save for two free throws. And then down the stretch he actually gets hesitant to pull the trigger. Listen Rich, you obviously aren't going to be making any two's for a while. If you take a shot, I want it to be a three. And if it's a wide-open three and you miss, then you shouldn't be in the game, but that's not your fault. Take a shot.

Mother F'ing Free Throws. Seriously, would it kill this team to practice some damn free throws? Almost all of the team is shooting roughly 60% from the line. That is going to kill us all year long unless we improve. And it's such an easy fix. Shoot 1000 free throws a day. That's overkill of course, but damn we'll suck if we can't make a free throw.

It was good to see Brian Randle playing, although he still has those lapses where he gets called for a touch foul 22 feet from the basket. He's so quick too, he doesn't need to grab guys. I think as the season progresses he'll get more active. It was also good to see him drive to the hoop.

The referees absolutely blew ass. There were at least two no-calls that I saw that were fouls called on the Illini. There were shitty calls both ways, although I think Illinois got just a few more. But it's bullshit that the refs will not let Illinois play Big Ten basketball. Everybody knows that play in the Big Ten is the most physical, and if we're going to get dicked over by the refs in every non-conference game (or in the tournament) then something needs to be done.

All that being said, it's nice to get a quality win. I definitely thought we'd win by more than we did, and the game should not have been so close, but Missouri was a surprisingly good team. That game will do nothing but help us in the long run. Also, I would like to predict Missouri beating Kansas at least once this year (I don't know how many times they play).