The spring game is here at last. For the last three years the spring has come and gone, and one thing was constant. Juice Williams was the starter. This year the quarterback position is up in the air giving us a opportunity to watch two guys battle it out for the chance to open the season as "the guy". But what should one hope for when watching a spring game? You would love to be entertained by 30 yard completions and Leshoure runs up the middle for 8 at a time, but what would that mean for your defense? It would be fun to watch Terry Hawethorne take two INT's to the house... but wouldn't that make you feel even more insecure about replacing a four year starter in Juice? The best way to go about it is to break it down into smaller pieces.
Does the offense has a sense of consistancy? It may be a little early to expect these guys to all be on the same page every snap, but what this team has been lacking is the ability to sustain a long drive. The M.O. for this offense has been big play or punt. With the exception of the Rose Bowl season, Ron Zook hasn't had the pieces to make this work. Juice was inconsistant in his passes, and the line couldn't hold up long enough to develop a running game. The defense would just sit back on us and wait to react. This year the throwing arms aren't as strong, and the running game will start with the quarterback behind center as opposed to the shotgun. I would like to see the quarterback hit receivers in stride and let them go to work with the ball in their hands. Paul Petrino always has said his system opperates on one theme, FTS... Feed The Studs.
Does the running game look in sync? Look at the offensive line and see if they are blocking people... I know that sounds simple, but this is a new system on offense, and these guys are learning a new way to open holes for the running back. On top of that, this year's defense is stunting and doing things the offense isn't used to doing in the last few years. Zook has said that his offensive line is lighter this year, so look for them to try and get up field to block.
Are the Defensive backs in the right place? Count the number of times you see a wide receiver wide open and figure out whose man he was. It can be a little confusing, but this new defense will be trying hard to hide their coverage. My hope is that the new style will open up more oppertunities for defensive take aways as well, another area the Illini have been lacking in over the last few seasons.
Overall the Spring game is just a fun day for fans and a good oppertunity to work out a few kinks. People should be careful not to overvalue things like who is with the first and second teams, because there is still a lot of time until the season. The Camp Rantoul scrimmage is a much better barometer of how the team is progressing.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Flyers Land in Assembly Hall
The Fighting Illini will take on the Dayton Flyers in a loser goes home match as both teams try to get to the Big Apple. Dayton is going to give Bruce Weber's team all that they can handle with athletic players all over the court. The object of the Flyer game plan will be to wear the Illini down. Brian Gregory loves to go deep into his bench, sometimes even 5 players deep. Power Forward Chris Wright will be a tough match-up for Mike Davis as he will play at 100% all night. If Davis isn't giving it his all on defense then he is going to get exploited. I also expect to see London Warren pressuring McCamey all the way up the floor for most of the game, causing him to use extra energy and speed things up a little. The Flyers boast a quick defense and athletic players all over the court. I think the score will stay in the low 60's, and hopefully the Illini can shoot better from outside than they did to start the game against Kent State.
The Flyers have come out and just run us to death. Gregory said that the team was going to come out with high energy, and so far he's been right. Marcus Johnson hit a well guarded three ball and also took one to the hole for a dunk. The game plan for the Illini needs to be to settle down and get into an offense... so far we have rushed everything too much, and the result has been some bad shots and turnovers. 9-3 Dayton with 16 left in the first.
The Illini are forced to call a timeout with 13 left in the half because the Flyers have gone on a run and stretched the lead out to 11 points. Gregory's team now holds a 17-6 edge.
At the 12 minute timeout, things haven't gotten much better. Dayton is still running all over the court, and the Illini are struggling to keep up. Mike Tisdale just picked up his second foul after having to help defend a guard as he drove to the basket uncontested. The energy level is going to have to change for Weber's team if we are going to come back in this half.
Dayton calls a timeout after a small Illini run, and the fans go crazy after what they will tell you is a long overdue traveling call. 29-17 Dayton with 9 left.
One minute later the 8 minute timeout is called, and the score is the same. Dayton has turned the ball over 3 times now in the last couple of minutes with dribbling errors.
4 left in the first half, and the Illini are still down 33-21. Dayton continues to play fast, and it's been a real challange to just get back on defense in time to get into a half court game.
It's halftime, and the Illini trail the Flyers 38-25. You don't win many games when your team shoots 30% and the other shoots 50%, but that's just the situation the Illini have found themselves in. Dayton has been able to get to the basket at will. I was worried that the team speed and depth of the Flyers might be too much for us, but what I wasn't worried about was the Flyers shooting the lights out from three point land. Nine different players have scored for Dayton who have spread out the offense extremely well. If Illinois is going to come back, we are going to need to get Tisdale and Davis involved... To this point the two bigs have 6 combined points. The only real shining stat for the Illini in the first half was the 4 turnovers.
Dayton opens the second half with two straight offensive rebounds on the first possession and a dunk by Chris Wright.
The Illini are going inside to start the second half. McCamey, DJ, and Tisdale have all gone inside for their shot attempts.
The Illini made a nice run and cut the lead to 9, but the Flyers came firing back. The score sits at 47-33 Dayton, and now the Illini have only 15:45 to make up the ground. I still think it can be done, but the Illini are going to need to hit some shots.
The fans are about ready to storm the court here and lynch the officials. It's hard to get a good view of the players feet from the floor, but the crowd sure seems to think that Dayton is getting away with a lot of traveling.
Mike Tisdale picks up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left in the game and has to go to the bench. 48-37 Dayton.
The 12 minute timeout arrives, and Weber is hoping to find another spurt coming out of the break. His team is still down 12, but Dayton isn't shooting quite like they were in the first half which has opened things up a little.
The theme of this game has been Dayton gets on a run, Illinois responds, then Dayton does it again... the only problem is that the Illini didn't start "responding" until about 10 minutes into the game, and by that time the Flyers had pulled it out to a 19 point lead. 8 left, and the Illini trail 57-45.
Mike Tisdale fouls out of the game with 7:53 left to play. Tisdale may have just played his last minutes of the season unless his team can rally with him as a spectator.
The Illini may be out of time here with 6 minutes left to play. The Flyers lead the game 61-47, and we seem to be completely out of order.
Back to back shots by the Illini cut the lead to ten, but Griffey fouls Chris Johnson, and the Flyers get one back. 62-51 with 4:25 left.
Brian Gregory has clearly taken a page right out of Tom Izzo's playbook when it comes to transition offense. Dayton pushes the ball up court faster than anybody we have faced all season. I don't know if Dayton was just hot tonight or if this was just a case of a bad match up, but the Flyers are taking it to the Illini pretty hard.
2:30 left, and Dayton is just extending the lead now at the line. Illini fans won't be happy, but this was a good Dayton team that showed up today. I would have thought the score was going to be a little closer than this and that we would have kept them under 70 points, but it looks like neither of those things will be represented in the final score.
Mike Davis goes to the line after a three ball by Richardson and a UD turnover. The Illini can cut it to nine. First one good, second shot the same. 67-58 Dayton with 2 to play.
McCamey steals the inbounds pass and converts to draw the Illini within 7, but a Chris Wright dunk and Richardson turnover gives the ball back... Things look bad until London Warren misses a free throw, and Bill Cole nails a quick three. 69-63 Dayton with 1:20 left to play.
McCamey looked to be good from deep, but the roll wasn't there and that may have capped it off for the Illini. Dayton shoots free throws and goes up 7 with 55 seconds left... Paul misses the front end of a one and one, and Dayton starts to go into celebration mode.
Tyler Griffey is fouled on a one and 1 and converts for the three point play. A quick foul, and Dayton's shooting two. 66-73 Dayton after a free throw. Mike Davis makes a bucket down low, and Dayton goes quickly to the line.
McCamey is fouled and goes to the line with 2.4 seconds left, but it's too little, too late. The final score in this one is Dayton 77 - Illinois 71.
The Flyers have come out and just run us to death. Gregory said that the team was going to come out with high energy, and so far he's been right. Marcus Johnson hit a well guarded three ball and also took one to the hole for a dunk. The game plan for the Illini needs to be to settle down and get into an offense... so far we have rushed everything too much, and the result has been some bad shots and turnovers. 9-3 Dayton with 16 left in the first.
The Illini are forced to call a timeout with 13 left in the half because the Flyers have gone on a run and stretched the lead out to 11 points. Gregory's team now holds a 17-6 edge.
At the 12 minute timeout, things haven't gotten much better. Dayton is still running all over the court, and the Illini are struggling to keep up. Mike Tisdale just picked up his second foul after having to help defend a guard as he drove to the basket uncontested. The energy level is going to have to change for Weber's team if we are going to come back in this half.
Dayton calls a timeout after a small Illini run, and the fans go crazy after what they will tell you is a long overdue traveling call. 29-17 Dayton with 9 left.
One minute later the 8 minute timeout is called, and the score is the same. Dayton has turned the ball over 3 times now in the last couple of minutes with dribbling errors.
4 left in the first half, and the Illini are still down 33-21. Dayton continues to play fast, and it's been a real challange to just get back on defense in time to get into a half court game.
It's halftime, and the Illini trail the Flyers 38-25. You don't win many games when your team shoots 30% and the other shoots 50%, but that's just the situation the Illini have found themselves in. Dayton has been able to get to the basket at will. I was worried that the team speed and depth of the Flyers might be too much for us, but what I wasn't worried about was the Flyers shooting the lights out from three point land. Nine different players have scored for Dayton who have spread out the offense extremely well. If Illinois is going to come back, we are going to need to get Tisdale and Davis involved... To this point the two bigs have 6 combined points. The only real shining stat for the Illini in the first half was the 4 turnovers.
Dayton opens the second half with two straight offensive rebounds on the first possession and a dunk by Chris Wright.
The Illini are going inside to start the second half. McCamey, DJ, and Tisdale have all gone inside for their shot attempts.
The Illini made a nice run and cut the lead to 9, but the Flyers came firing back. The score sits at 47-33 Dayton, and now the Illini have only 15:45 to make up the ground. I still think it can be done, but the Illini are going to need to hit some shots.
The fans are about ready to storm the court here and lynch the officials. It's hard to get a good view of the players feet from the floor, but the crowd sure seems to think that Dayton is getting away with a lot of traveling.
Mike Tisdale picks up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left in the game and has to go to the bench. 48-37 Dayton.
The 12 minute timeout arrives, and Weber is hoping to find another spurt coming out of the break. His team is still down 12, but Dayton isn't shooting quite like they were in the first half which has opened things up a little.
The theme of this game has been Dayton gets on a run, Illinois responds, then Dayton does it again... the only problem is that the Illini didn't start "responding" until about 10 minutes into the game, and by that time the Flyers had pulled it out to a 19 point lead. 8 left, and the Illini trail 57-45.
Mike Tisdale fouls out of the game with 7:53 left to play. Tisdale may have just played his last minutes of the season unless his team can rally with him as a spectator.
The Illini may be out of time here with 6 minutes left to play. The Flyers lead the game 61-47, and we seem to be completely out of order.
Back to back shots by the Illini cut the lead to ten, but Griffey fouls Chris Johnson, and the Flyers get one back. 62-51 with 4:25 left.
Brian Gregory has clearly taken a page right out of Tom Izzo's playbook when it comes to transition offense. Dayton pushes the ball up court faster than anybody we have faced all season. I don't know if Dayton was just hot tonight or if this was just a case of a bad match up, but the Flyers are taking it to the Illini pretty hard.
2:30 left, and Dayton is just extending the lead now at the line. Illini fans won't be happy, but this was a good Dayton team that showed up today. I would have thought the score was going to be a little closer than this and that we would have kept them under 70 points, but it looks like neither of those things will be represented in the final score.
Mike Davis goes to the line after a three ball by Richardson and a UD turnover. The Illini can cut it to nine. First one good, second shot the same. 67-58 Dayton with 2 to play.
McCamey steals the inbounds pass and converts to draw the Illini within 7, but a Chris Wright dunk and Richardson turnover gives the ball back... Things look bad until London Warren misses a free throw, and Bill Cole nails a quick three. 69-63 Dayton with 1:20 left to play.
McCamey looked to be good from deep, but the roll wasn't there and that may have capped it off for the Illini. Dayton shoots free throws and goes up 7 with 55 seconds left... Paul misses the front end of a one and one, and Dayton starts to go into celebration mode.
Tyler Griffey is fouled on a one and 1 and converts for the three point play. A quick foul, and Dayton's shooting two. 66-73 Dayton after a free throw. Mike Davis makes a bucket down low, and Dayton goes quickly to the line.
McCamey is fouled and goes to the line with 2.4 seconds left, but it's too little, too late. The final score in this one is Dayton 77 - Illinois 71.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Winner New York Bound as Dayton Invades the Hall
I went to Dayton and have followed these guys very closely since I left. They never cease to amaze you both with games where they rise up and beat teams that they aren't supposed to (Top 10 Pitt and top 15 Marquette come to mind in the last couple of years) but they also lose to teams like Duquesne at times. Brian Gregory has done a pretty good job of recruiting, but his strong point is team defense, and I expect that to be the theme to the game...The Starting Bigs...
WARNING!!! Chris "Top Flight" Wright PF- Junior, has 62 dunks on the season, and he WILL throw down at least one big one... I promise you. Weber joked that he doesn't think our whole team has 62 dunks this year. I linked his dunk last year where he posterizes Maurice Ager Meyers Leonard style... He'd be the most athletic player on our team, (although it's hard to compare him to Brandon Paul who I think is just out of this world athletically.) but his offense can be a little sporadic... in fact... keep that word in mind because the whole Dayton offense can be that way. The Illini offered Wright as did a lot of top schools. He was a top 45 recruit by Rivals and luckily for UD he decided to play ball 5 minutes from home in Dayton Arena. It will be a challenge for Tisdale and Davis to get close to the basket like they did last night (we had 40 paint points). I believe that the inside presence of Dayton will be felt mostly when we are on offense.
Kurt Huelsman-Senior C. Kurt doesn't do a whole lot on offense, scoring like 4 points per game, but his 6'10" 245 lbs. frame helps on defense. He's been getting good minutes since he stepped on the floor as a freshman, and if a guy his size is only getting 4 points, 4 rebounds per game, and still starting... well I think that alludes to his solid defense.
The starting Guards.
London Warren, Senior PG, leads the team, and I would compare him to Clemson's Andre Young in terms of speed, but without the finishing ability. He's a very easy going and laid back guy off of the court, and players love to be around him... that translates to his basketball leadership because you can tell that the team trusts him. Back-up point guard Rob Lowery has almost double Warren's points per game this year, but the team still turns to London to carry the ball up court. Warren doesn't score much, but look for him to be a set-up guy often as the clock runs down.
Marcus Johnson, another senior, is the on-off guy who can change a game. One day Marcus will put up 25 points, and the next night he will put up 6. Like most of the rest of the team, he plays hard on defense. Marcus will be the guy who challenges you one on one for drives to the lane, puts up turn around fade aways, and puts up off balance leaners... some of which miss badly, and some nights it's all bottoms of the net.
Chris Johnson, a sophomore, plays a sort of guard/forward combo. At 6'6", he can be a tough match-up for some small forwards because like the rest of the starters, (with the exception of Huelsman) he is very athletic. If we have Bill Cole guarding him to start the game, I look for the Flyers to take it at him because I don't think Cole can shuffle side to side fast enough to cover Johnson. He can step out and shoot it (170 3PA, 35%), but I wouldn't call him a "shooting big" like I would Davis.
Important Bench Players
Mickey Perry, Guard transfer out of Wisconsin. I list Perry because he's scored in double digits 5 times this year, but really I don't see him having much of an impact.
Rob Lowery, Back up Point Guard who also happens to have Little Wayne hair like the starter. Dayton found out how important he was when he went down last season for an extended period of time, and the guard play seemed to struggle from fatigue on defense.
Luke Fabrizius- 6'9" forward from Arlington Heights who can just light it up from three. He was forced to miss 12 games this year with injuries, but still managed to knock down 33 three balls at a 42% clip. If Davis is guarding Fab, and he starts slacking off, I could see this being a game changer. Don't let his 5 points per game fool you because he missed between 2 and 5 games in a row three times this season, plus another game later so some of his outings were 4 minutes or less whereas in the beginning of the year he was getting 20+.
Paul Williams. I still think Williams is a year away from showing us the player he can become, but I list him because he is really one of the only shooters on a team that loves to work you on the dribble inside. Williams was up for Mr. Basketball in Michigan a couple of years ago and signed with Dayton as sort of a surprise to a lot of people because Michigan had interest, but the scholarship situation was cloudy so he pulled the trigger for UD.
Dayton's Strengths
1. Athleticism
2. Defense
3. 7 Seniors
Dayton's weaknesses
1. Dayton's not a good road team (4-8 on the road this season compared to 18-4 at home or neutral).
2. Holding onto leads
3. Gregory is never going to win an XO battle with a good coach
4. Not a whole lot of outside shooting from the starters.
I say the Illini can win this one if we are shooting the ball at a decent mark, but if we show up and shoot like we did for the first 30 minutes last night, we will probably lose. We need to be careful with our passes as Dayton will run you to death on turnovers. I expect Tisdale and Davis to float because it's hard to get a lot off inside... I know Huelsman has no stats to back it up, but for some reason he has been a mainstay in a rotation that has been able to boast a pretty good defense the last couple of years. I'm excited for this match-up because I honestly think that Dayton and Illinois both could have competed in this year's NCAA's, even if their numbers didn't get them in. Dayton's RPI was 54 and SOS was 33... don't expect this to be easy just because it's an NIT team from the A-10. I do have the Illini winning and moving on to NYC, I have the score in the mid to lower 60's... take your pick but lets say 66-63 Illini.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Illini Fall to the Buckeyes for the Third Time.
Mike Davis pulls in 18 boards and Demetri McCamey adds 22 points, but in the end it wasn't enough for the 5 seed Illini to beat the top seeded Buckeyes of Ohio State, falling 81-88 in double-overtime.
"I couldn't be more proud of our kids." were Weber's opening words, and I echo the sentiment completely. The team you watched today was nothing like the team who lost the final two games of the season... in fact neither was the team you saw yesterday either. "In a week I think they grew up, they matured, they competed". Something about this March Madness had Weber's squad up for the challenge... and it was a big one.
The game opened with a ton of energy on both sides, and the result was sloppy play... it's not that the players weren't paying attention, I just think the adrenaline was over flowing. By the time we had figured it out, Ohio State had run to an 8 point lead. But like any good Bruce Weber team, don't count us out until the whistle blows. Not only did the Illini fight hard to make up the ground, at one point we brought our own lead all the way out to 11... Then Evan Turner woke up.
The current Big Ten player of the year has been proving all weekend that he was the right selection. Whether it was his 40 foot buzzer beater yesterday, or it was his 31 and 10 today, when the kid decides he is going to score he is almost impossible to stop...
"I couldn't be more proud of our kids." were Weber's opening words, and I echo the sentiment completely. The team you watched today was nothing like the team who lost the final two games of the season... in fact neither was the team you saw yesterday either. "In a week I think they grew up, they matured, they competed". Something about this March Madness had Weber's squad up for the challenge... and it was a big one.
The game opened with a ton of energy on both sides, and the result was sloppy play... it's not that the players weren't paying attention, I just think the adrenaline was over flowing. By the time we had figured it out, Ohio State had run to an 8 point lead. But like any good Bruce Weber team, don't count us out until the whistle blows. Not only did the Illini fight hard to make up the ground, at one point we brought our own lead all the way out to 11... Then Evan Turner woke up.
The current Big Ten player of the year has been proving all weekend that he was the right selection. Whether it was his 40 foot buzzer beater yesterday, or it was his 31 and 10 today, when the kid decides he is going to score he is almost impossible to stop...
Third Times the Charm?
Let's hope so... Because if this one goes by the way of the previous two meetings, it just may leave a bad taste in the mouths of NCAA committee members. Both teams had byes in the first round so what we have to look at is what you saw yesterday... a convincing win by the Illini turning into a close one, and a sure loss by OSU turning into the biggest shot of the season for the Big Ten's Player of the year.
The Illini faught hard but will fall in this one after what came very close to being the biggest win of the season. Final Score: Illinois 81 Ohio State 88.
Evan Turner fouls out with a minute left, and Tyler Griffey goes to the line to shoot 2... Misses the first, makes the second, three point game.
1:09 left in the game, and OSU leads it 84-80. The Illini don't have an answer for the Buckeyes when they go hard to the basket on offense.
Evan Turner is taking over. I don't think he's missed yet in the overtimes.
Jon Deibler wakes up and joins Even Turner as OSU has shot an incredibly high percentage in the overtimes.
Evan Turner again ties the game with under a minute left, and we're going to a second OT. If the Illini lose this one they are are going to be kicking themselves because twice we have had the last shot of the game and neither time did we get a shot off.
Evan Turner with two more free throws.
Billy Cole with his biggest basket of his career there on the put back.
Turner to the line again with 2 minutes left, and he brings the Buckeyes within 2.
McCamey with another three!
Evan Turner makes his first free throw and misses the second. 70-69 Illinois with 2:30 left.
Mike Tisdale has come up big in this tournament. Another 16 footer for the 7 footer before his fifth foul gives him a spot on the bench for the remainder of the game.
McCamey with a great reverse lay-up to open the OT.
Davis misses at the buzzer, but the shot wouldn't have gone anyways. Overtime for these two, and the biggest key here are the 4 fouls to Evan Turner.
Turner ties it up, and the Illini will have 3.2 seconds to get the game winning shot off... Welcome to March.
Lighty misses his one and one opportunity, and McCamey is fouled. Makes both. Two point Illini lead with 26 seconds left on the clock... I wonder who's going to get the ball?
Demetri McCamey with a HUGE three pointer, and the Illini are back on top 64-62 with under a minute to play.
Davis with another on a runner in the lane. 61-62 OSU.
Mike Davis missed another bunny, but was fouled on the successful put back. 59-60 OSU.
Evan Turner with 4 fouls.
The Illini with a little 6 point run of their own, and it's a 56-59 ball game with 3:30 left.
The Illini end a 7 minutes drought on Tisdale free throws. 52-59 OSU.
OSU is on an 18-0 run, and the Illini have begun to launch prayer threes. Nothing about this team is the same as the first 20 minutes.
The Buckeyes have just opened the flood gates, and I don't know that we have an answer. The first half went the Illini's way because we controlled the pace of play... since the Bucks put the press on, we have looked confused and scared to move the ball the way we did in the first 20 minutes.
Jon Deibler hits a three, and the Illini are reeling. Ever since the Buckeyes started to press this one has taken a turn for the worse.
Evan Turner has taken the game over scoring 7 points in a little over a minute, his latest gives the Buckeyes their first lead in the second half.
10 minutes left, and the Illini lead has fallen to one... 50-49.
Evan Turner showing off his range with another three pointer, followed by break away basket and an Illini offensive foul... like I said, OSU has really picked up the urgency adding the press.
11:35 left to play, and the Illini still hold onto a 50-41 lead. Weber has to balance out the three fouls to Tisdale, but with Tyler Griffey playing like he is, it hasn't made as much of a difference as we would have guessed. Ohio State is realizing that the clock is getting close to that point where it becomes a factor, and the urgency level has risen. I look for the Buckeyes to start driving the lane hard looking to get a fourth on Tisdale and also for Diebler to start shooting more.
OSU breaks into a 2-3 zone, and McCamey hits a contested three.
13:45 left to play, and you can sense that the pressure is mounting. The Illini are still in control of the pace, but you can never rest easy knowing that Lighty, Turner, and Diebler can all fill up the bucket in a hurry.
Demetri McCamey drives the lane and finishes to give us a 10 point lead.
The Ohio State bench seems to be a little dejected as the lead is as big as it has been all game. The Illini lead it 43-35 with 15:39 left to play. Tyler Griffey is doing a hell of a job filling in for the Tis who has three fouls.
Thad Matta NOT happy as the Illini are quick to pull the lead back out to 6 points. It took a minute, and I got worried that the energy was gone, but a 4 point spurt has the fans on their feet once again. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that every Gopher and Boilermaker fan in the house is cheering for the Orange and Blue.
Already the Buckeyes look to have twice as much energy as we do. It's only been a minute, and it's a 2 point game.
The Censeco Field House is as loud as I've heard it all week as the Illini march into the locker room with a 37-31 lead. Ohio State has to be feeling the effects of playing yesterday already because Thad Matta refuses to use his bench. Even if the Illini lose this one, tomorrow is going to be almost impossible for the Bucks. That being said, let's hope we won't have to worry about the Buckeyes. For the first time this year, the Illini have a lead at half time over OSU. The biggest differences in those games to this one? I would have to say the fact that OSU looks confused on offense whereas the first two times they looked like they could do whatever they wanted. If we come out and hold our own to start the half, I think we can win this one... Let's see what the score is 5 minutes in.
Jeff Jordan with a three ball, followed by an answer from Simmons and another from DJ. 34-29 Illini with 1:45 left.
3:45 left in the half, and the Illini are holding onto a 28-23 lead. Bruce Weber's giving the guys a piece of his mind in the huddle, and you can tell how badly he wants his guys to keep up the intensity.
Brandon Paul with a great pass to Mike Davis as the Illini get back on the board.
8 minutes left in the first half, and the Illini have run out to a 19-15 lead due to some serious hustle... If Weber had found a way to light this kind of fire under the team all year things might look very different for us.
Ohio State's just rushing things too much, and it's been a big gift to the Illini... 6 turnovers for both teams.
Bruce Weber with a little bit of that fire he's been trying to rub off onto his players.
DJ Richardson hits a three, and the score closes again to a 15-14 OSU lead.
Tisdale picks up his second foul with 11:30 left in the first half. Tyler Griffey is going to get some good minutes here if he can contribute.
At the 12 minute timeout, the Illini have crawled back piece by piece and have closed the gap to 15-11. Ohio State has slowed down a little bit on offense as a few missed shots seem to have thrown off that great rhythm the Bucks had early. I like having Brandon Paul in the game if he is playing solid enough because his athleticism is going to be needed to match up with a strong Ohio State perimeter team.
Jon Deibler doing what he does best against us... mark that down as his 14th three point basket against the Illini this season.
8-2 Ohio State with 15:21 left in the half. The key for me would be to throw it inside a couple of times early and see how they react. So far they are switching on our ball screens well enough that McCamey is having a tough time creating.
Nothing looks good about what we're doing right now. Ohio State is out working us by a good margin, and it shows. Our offense looks nothing like it did yesterday. Our shots are contested, and our rebounders are just standing there.
Not a good start for the Illini. We look to be rushing plays, and our defense hasn't been in the place where they are supposed to be. Davis just got caught on a bad switch allowing the Lauderdale dunk.
The Illini faught hard but will fall in this one after what came very close to being the biggest win of the season. Final Score: Illinois 81 Ohio State 88.
Evan Turner fouls out with a minute left, and Tyler Griffey goes to the line to shoot 2... Misses the first, makes the second, three point game.
1:09 left in the game, and OSU leads it 84-80. The Illini don't have an answer for the Buckeyes when they go hard to the basket on offense.
Evan Turner is taking over. I don't think he's missed yet in the overtimes.
Jon Deibler wakes up and joins Even Turner as OSU has shot an incredibly high percentage in the overtimes.
Evan Turner again ties the game with under a minute left, and we're going to a second OT. If the Illini lose this one they are are going to be kicking themselves because twice we have had the last shot of the game and neither time did we get a shot off.
Evan Turner with two more free throws.
Billy Cole with his biggest basket of his career there on the put back.
Turner to the line again with 2 minutes left, and he brings the Buckeyes within 2.
McCamey with another three!
Evan Turner makes his first free throw and misses the second. 70-69 Illinois with 2:30 left.
Mike Tisdale has come up big in this tournament. Another 16 footer for the 7 footer before his fifth foul gives him a spot on the bench for the remainder of the game.
McCamey with a great reverse lay-up to open the OT.
Davis misses at the buzzer, but the shot wouldn't have gone anyways. Overtime for these two, and the biggest key here are the 4 fouls to Evan Turner.
Turner ties it up, and the Illini will have 3.2 seconds to get the game winning shot off... Welcome to March.
Lighty misses his one and one opportunity, and McCamey is fouled. Makes both. Two point Illini lead with 26 seconds left on the clock... I wonder who's going to get the ball?
Demetri McCamey with a HUGE three pointer, and the Illini are back on top 64-62 with under a minute to play.
Davis with another on a runner in the lane. 61-62 OSU.
Mike Davis missed another bunny, but was fouled on the successful put back. 59-60 OSU.
Evan Turner with 4 fouls.
The Illini with a little 6 point run of their own, and it's a 56-59 ball game with 3:30 left.
The Illini end a 7 minutes drought on Tisdale free throws. 52-59 OSU.
OSU is on an 18-0 run, and the Illini have begun to launch prayer threes. Nothing about this team is the same as the first 20 minutes.
The Buckeyes have just opened the flood gates, and I don't know that we have an answer. The first half went the Illini's way because we controlled the pace of play... since the Bucks put the press on, we have looked confused and scared to move the ball the way we did in the first 20 minutes.
Jon Deibler hits a three, and the Illini are reeling. Ever since the Buckeyes started to press this one has taken a turn for the worse.
Evan Turner has taken the game over scoring 7 points in a little over a minute, his latest gives the Buckeyes their first lead in the second half.
10 minutes left, and the Illini lead has fallen to one... 50-49.
Evan Turner showing off his range with another three pointer, followed by break away basket and an Illini offensive foul... like I said, OSU has really picked up the urgency adding the press.
11:35 left to play, and the Illini still hold onto a 50-41 lead. Weber has to balance out the three fouls to Tisdale, but with Tyler Griffey playing like he is, it hasn't made as much of a difference as we would have guessed. Ohio State is realizing that the clock is getting close to that point where it becomes a factor, and the urgency level has risen. I look for the Buckeyes to start driving the lane hard looking to get a fourth on Tisdale and also for Diebler to start shooting more.
OSU breaks into a 2-3 zone, and McCamey hits a contested three.
13:45 left to play, and you can sense that the pressure is mounting. The Illini are still in control of the pace, but you can never rest easy knowing that Lighty, Turner, and Diebler can all fill up the bucket in a hurry.
Demetri McCamey drives the lane and finishes to give us a 10 point lead.
The Ohio State bench seems to be a little dejected as the lead is as big as it has been all game. The Illini lead it 43-35 with 15:39 left to play. Tyler Griffey is doing a hell of a job filling in for the Tis who has three fouls.
Thad Matta NOT happy as the Illini are quick to pull the lead back out to 6 points. It took a minute, and I got worried that the energy was gone, but a 4 point spurt has the fans on their feet once again. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that every Gopher and Boilermaker fan in the house is cheering for the Orange and Blue.
Already the Buckeyes look to have twice as much energy as we do. It's only been a minute, and it's a 2 point game.
The Censeco Field House is as loud as I've heard it all week as the Illini march into the locker room with a 37-31 lead. Ohio State has to be feeling the effects of playing yesterday already because Thad Matta refuses to use his bench. Even if the Illini lose this one, tomorrow is going to be almost impossible for the Bucks. That being said, let's hope we won't have to worry about the Buckeyes. For the first time this year, the Illini have a lead at half time over OSU. The biggest differences in those games to this one? I would have to say the fact that OSU looks confused on offense whereas the first two times they looked like they could do whatever they wanted. If we come out and hold our own to start the half, I think we can win this one... Let's see what the score is 5 minutes in.
Jeff Jordan with a three ball, followed by an answer from Simmons and another from DJ. 34-29 Illini with 1:45 left.
3:45 left in the half, and the Illini are holding onto a 28-23 lead. Bruce Weber's giving the guys a piece of his mind in the huddle, and you can tell how badly he wants his guys to keep up the intensity.
Brandon Paul with a great pass to Mike Davis as the Illini get back on the board.
8 minutes left in the first half, and the Illini have run out to a 19-15 lead due to some serious hustle... If Weber had found a way to light this kind of fire under the team all year things might look very different for us.
Ohio State's just rushing things too much, and it's been a big gift to the Illini... 6 turnovers for both teams.
Bruce Weber with a little bit of that fire he's been trying to rub off onto his players.
DJ Richardson hits a three, and the score closes again to a 15-14 OSU lead.
Tisdale picks up his second foul with 11:30 left in the first half. Tyler Griffey is going to get some good minutes here if he can contribute.
At the 12 minute timeout, the Illini have crawled back piece by piece and have closed the gap to 15-11. Ohio State has slowed down a little bit on offense as a few missed shots seem to have thrown off that great rhythm the Bucks had early. I like having Brandon Paul in the game if he is playing solid enough because his athleticism is going to be needed to match up with a strong Ohio State perimeter team.
Jon Deibler doing what he does best against us... mark that down as his 14th three point basket against the Illini this season.
8-2 Ohio State with 15:21 left in the half. The key for me would be to throw it inside a couple of times early and see how they react. So far they are switching on our ball screens well enough that McCamey is having a tough time creating.
Nothing looks good about what we're doing right now. Ohio State is out working us by a good margin, and it shows. Our offense looks nothing like it did yesterday. Our shots are contested, and our rebounders are just standing there.
Not a good start for the Illini. We look to be rushing plays, and our defense hasn't been in the place where they are supposed to be. Davis just got caught on a bad switch allowing the Lauderdale dunk.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Big Ten Tourney Time
The Fighting Illini come into action today in desperate need of a win. The season ended with two straight losses, and the word in bracket town is that Weber's squad will need another win to keep them dancing. Bo Ryan will sleep easy tonight win or lose knowing that his Badgers are solidly in, but additional wins in March are never a bad thing. I hope to see an Illini team who fights tooth and nail for what could be the final piece to the puzzle. The Badgers take really good care of the basketball, leading the nation with only 9 turnovers per contest. Ryan's team will try to lull you to sleep on defense before a quick back cut or pick and pop. When this team hits shots they are hard to stop. The keys today will be can the Illini contain the great duo of Jon Leuer and Trevon Hughes, can the Illini prevent falling behind against a team that makes you really work to catch up, and who will step up as the court leader when McCamey takes a seat.
The Illini have turned the ball over a couple of times, and it's allowed the Badgers to score 4 unanswered points, then a foul gives the ball away. If the Illini become complacent, this could change in a hurry.
Tisdale with a baby hook in the lane. He's played a great game! As I type that, he hits his second three of the game. 41-26 Illinois.
The Badgers turn it over. Normally that isn't news, but every missed possession for them is a big deal.
McCamey runs the clock under 5 again and is bailed out with a foul as he drove the lane a little bit out of control. Illinois leads it 36-23 with 12:50 to go in the game.
We dodged a bullet as Bohannon misses his second wide open three of the day.
Tisdale stops a 4-0 Wisconsin run with another 17 footer.
Taylor scores for the Badgers at the 15:25 mark, and those are your first Badger points of the half.
DJ Richardson hits a three, and this one is now a 14 point game. Wisconsin trails the Fighting Illini 20-34... Not good for a team who loves to run the clock, great for a team needing a win to go dancing.
Weber about lost it after an out of bounds call gave the ball to Wisconsin... but a calm coach Price settled him down until things got sorted out, and the call was reversed.
Over three minutes into the half, and neither team could score until DJ is fouled on a three point attempt and he hits 2 of 3. 31-20 Illini with 16:45 to play.
Some internet problems erased the end of the first half notes.
The Badgers miss to close out the half, and the Illini will be happy with a 9 point lead at the break... not exactly a barn burner here, but the score doesn't tell the whole story. If you are an Illini fan you have to be very pleased right now and not just because of the score. The effort is there, the shots are falling, and the team has to sense that they could be 20 minutes away from something big. If you are a Badger fan, you have to be missing a little bit of hair after that. The offense looks lost. Last week the Badgers had a great inside-outside game going that gave the Illini fits... Today the shots are all coming from deep, and nothing is falling. To the credit of the Illini defense, the times the Badgers have gone to the rim, there has been a big guy waiting. The keys to the second half are simple really... Just repeat the first half... that's simple right? Well, just in case, I think the main goal is to come out with the same intensity. Wisconsin doesn't seem to be catching up much with their current strategy, so maybe look for the offense to pick it up a little in this half. If I'm Weber, I just beg my guys to remember what's on the line. The Illini are dominating the boards 22-15, but the Badgers still managed 8 offensive rebounds... you don't see a team with more offensive rebounds than defensive very often. Beyond that, the Badgers are really taking care of the ball as always. They lead the turnover battle 9-1 with DJ Richardson committing 4 in the first 20 minutes. Remember, we could be a half away from dancing... at least I hope they remember...
McCamey is breaking down defenders and shooting the lights out. 29-18 Illinois with 1:45 left.
Bill Cole dives onto the floor for a loose ball and ends up getting fouled... You could just see the Matto points on that one.
McCamey is really looking for his jump shot today.
25-18 after two made Badger free throws.
The Badgers are shooting 19% and 12 of their 16 points have come off of the three or a free throw... not gonna win many like that but the Badgers are doing their best to keep it close.
The Illini lead it 25-16 as there is another terrible call sending the Badgers to the line. Weber is besides himself but regardless of the call, the Illini are playing tough defense and you have to love that!
Wisconsin now shooting 1 and 1, but still struggling from the line.
Demetri McCamey runs the shot clock down and hits the guarded shot as the buzzer sounds.
Wisconsin hits a three, and it's a 21-16 game with 5 left in the half.
Brandon Paul has missed two wide open shots in the lane... it almost looks like he's rushing a little to get the shot off.
Mike Davis with a nice jump stop in the lane for a 6 footer.
Mike Tisdale gets called for a travel, and I'm not sure WHAT the the ref saw on that one... Tissy executed the pump fake perfectly in my opinion.
Trevon Hughes has now missed 2 of his 4 free throws, and the Illini are thanking him for that as he is normally a good foul shooter.
The Illini with 6 team fouls, and this is something Weber will keep an eye on. He has to love the aggression with taking the ball to the rim, but a team who doesn't do it a lot might not be foul aware.
That's Wisconsin's third air ball of the game... not a good way to gain confidence for a team who shoots a lot... and you may have just seen that as Bohannon passes up a wide open three.
DJ picks up his second foul with 9 left in the first half. The Illini still lead 17-12.
Mike Tisdale with a three! I know the kid can shoot, but he really doesn't take a lot of threes... Leuer answers with a three of his own... it's the battle of the shooting centers.
Weber with a lot of substitutions, perhaps trying to run the floor hard and make Wisconsin alter their offense to keep up?
The Illini are taking it to the basket more than I've seen in a while... very refreshing but we have to knock down our free throws.
Mike Davis slams home a dunk off the great feed from McCamey.
Some quick fouls have given the Badgers some points. 11-8 Illinois with 12:30 left in the first half.
The Badgers have found a way to get after offensive rebounds that seems to be working pretty well as it did last week when the Badgers pulled in 14 offensive boards against the Illini.
A very questionable call gives Leuer a one and one. He misses the free throw, but that looked like NBA continuation to me.
There's a timeout with 15 left in the first, and the Illini are up 9-3. The intensity is up, and the shots have been falling so far. We can't afford to let back for a second though, because as slow as this Badgers team likes to play, they have some scorers who can put up numbers quickly. One thing I have noticed that concerns me is on defense we have switched twice and left DJ to cover the 6'10" Jon Leuer. So far the Badgers have missed on both opportunities, but I'm sure Bo Ryan is letting them know during this timeout.
The Badgers get an offensive rebound and hit a three, but so far the Illini look very good.
Mike Tisdale being very active on offense with the shot fake... twice now he has gotten it to work.
DJ with a three to follow Tisdale's 16 footer, and the Illini come out to an early 5-0 lead. 17 to play.
DJ Richardson has the assignment of guarding Hughes early.
The Illini have turned the ball over a couple of times, and it's allowed the Badgers to score 4 unanswered points, then a foul gives the ball away. If the Illini become complacent, this could change in a hurry.
Tisdale with a baby hook in the lane. He's played a great game! As I type that, he hits his second three of the game. 41-26 Illinois.
The Badgers turn it over. Normally that isn't news, but every missed possession for them is a big deal.
McCamey runs the clock under 5 again and is bailed out with a foul as he drove the lane a little bit out of control. Illinois leads it 36-23 with 12:50 to go in the game.
We dodged a bullet as Bohannon misses his second wide open three of the day.
Tisdale stops a 4-0 Wisconsin run with another 17 footer.
Taylor scores for the Badgers at the 15:25 mark, and those are your first Badger points of the half.
DJ Richardson hits a three, and this one is now a 14 point game. Wisconsin trails the Fighting Illini 20-34... Not good for a team who loves to run the clock, great for a team needing a win to go dancing.
Weber about lost it after an out of bounds call gave the ball to Wisconsin... but a calm coach Price settled him down until things got sorted out, and the call was reversed.
Over three minutes into the half, and neither team could score until DJ is fouled on a three point attempt and he hits 2 of 3. 31-20 Illini with 16:45 to play.
Some internet problems erased the end of the first half notes.
The Badgers miss to close out the half, and the Illini will be happy with a 9 point lead at the break... not exactly a barn burner here, but the score doesn't tell the whole story. If you are an Illini fan you have to be very pleased right now and not just because of the score. The effort is there, the shots are falling, and the team has to sense that they could be 20 minutes away from something big. If you are a Badger fan, you have to be missing a little bit of hair after that. The offense looks lost. Last week the Badgers had a great inside-outside game going that gave the Illini fits... Today the shots are all coming from deep, and nothing is falling. To the credit of the Illini defense, the times the Badgers have gone to the rim, there has been a big guy waiting. The keys to the second half are simple really... Just repeat the first half... that's simple right? Well, just in case, I think the main goal is to come out with the same intensity. Wisconsin doesn't seem to be catching up much with their current strategy, so maybe look for the offense to pick it up a little in this half. If I'm Weber, I just beg my guys to remember what's on the line. The Illini are dominating the boards 22-15, but the Badgers still managed 8 offensive rebounds... you don't see a team with more offensive rebounds than defensive very often. Beyond that, the Badgers are really taking care of the ball as always. They lead the turnover battle 9-1 with DJ Richardson committing 4 in the first 20 minutes. Remember, we could be a half away from dancing... at least I hope they remember...
McCamey is breaking down defenders and shooting the lights out. 29-18 Illinois with 1:45 left.
Bill Cole dives onto the floor for a loose ball and ends up getting fouled... You could just see the Matto points on that one.
McCamey is really looking for his jump shot today.
25-18 after two made Badger free throws.
The Badgers are shooting 19% and 12 of their 16 points have come off of the three or a free throw... not gonna win many like that but the Badgers are doing their best to keep it close.
The Illini lead it 25-16 as there is another terrible call sending the Badgers to the line. Weber is besides himself but regardless of the call, the Illini are playing tough defense and you have to love that!
Wisconsin now shooting 1 and 1, but still struggling from the line.
Demetri McCamey runs the shot clock down and hits the guarded shot as the buzzer sounds.
Wisconsin hits a three, and it's a 21-16 game with 5 left in the half.
Brandon Paul has missed two wide open shots in the lane... it almost looks like he's rushing a little to get the shot off.
Mike Davis with a nice jump stop in the lane for a 6 footer.
Mike Tisdale gets called for a travel, and I'm not sure WHAT the the ref saw on that one... Tissy executed the pump fake perfectly in my opinion.
Trevon Hughes has now missed 2 of his 4 free throws, and the Illini are thanking him for that as he is normally a good foul shooter.
The Illini with 6 team fouls, and this is something Weber will keep an eye on. He has to love the aggression with taking the ball to the rim, but a team who doesn't do it a lot might not be foul aware.
That's Wisconsin's third air ball of the game... not a good way to gain confidence for a team who shoots a lot... and you may have just seen that as Bohannon passes up a wide open three.
DJ picks up his second foul with 9 left in the first half. The Illini still lead 17-12.
Mike Tisdale with a three! I know the kid can shoot, but he really doesn't take a lot of threes... Leuer answers with a three of his own... it's the battle of the shooting centers.
Weber with a lot of substitutions, perhaps trying to run the floor hard and make Wisconsin alter their offense to keep up?
The Illini are taking it to the basket more than I've seen in a while... very refreshing but we have to knock down our free throws.
Mike Davis slams home a dunk off the great feed from McCamey.
Some quick fouls have given the Badgers some points. 11-8 Illinois with 12:30 left in the first half.
The Badgers have found a way to get after offensive rebounds that seems to be working pretty well as it did last week when the Badgers pulled in 14 offensive boards against the Illini.
A very questionable call gives Leuer a one and one. He misses the free throw, but that looked like NBA continuation to me.
There's a timeout with 15 left in the first, and the Illini are up 9-3. The intensity is up, and the shots have been falling so far. We can't afford to let back for a second though, because as slow as this Badgers team likes to play, they have some scorers who can put up numbers quickly. One thing I have noticed that concerns me is on defense we have switched twice and left DJ to cover the 6'10" Jon Leuer. So far the Badgers have missed on both opportunities, but I'm sure Bo Ryan is letting them know during this timeout.
The Badgers get an offensive rebound and hit a three, but so far the Illini look very good.
Mike Tisdale being very active on offense with the shot fake... twice now he has gotten it to work.
DJ with a three to follow Tisdale's 16 footer, and the Illini come out to an early 5-0 lead. 17 to play.
DJ Richardson has the assignment of guarding Hughes early.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Senior Day Vs. Wisconsin
We all know what happened when the Illini traveled north of the border earlier this season. They picked up possibly their biggest win on the season... But Badger fans will be quick to remind you that their loss came without one of their best players, Jon Leuer. The atmosphere should be a good one as the Illini celebrate their seniors in front of a crowd who would just love to sleep easy tonight after a win, knowing that the Illini are all but a lock for the field of 64.
The game ends, and the Illini's future is up in the air. A win against this same Wisconsin team is going to be an almost must after losing this one by 15. Final score: Illinois 57 Wisconsin 72.
55-65, and it's not looking good with the style of game the Badgers are playing.
Bill Cole with his fourth three of the game, and there is still hope. 55-62 Wisconsin, 2:30 left in the game.
Illini in a full court press.
The Illini are only shooting 36% from the field, but the biggest difference in the game are the 14 offensive rebounds Ryan's squad has managed to pull down.
Again the Badgers find a way to score with 1 on the shot clock.
Big Mistake by Brandon Paul. You just can't foul a guy shooting with 3 left on the shot clock.
Tisdale hits two free throws as Nankivil picks up his fourth foul. 52-59.
The Badger lead is 8 again after an intentional foul called on Demetri McCamey as he grabbed a player taking off on a clear break to the basket. Jordan Taylor hits one shot, still Wisconsin's ball.
Billy Cole with another giant three ball. 48-55 Badgers with 7 left... Tisdale going to the line. The first half only saw 2 Illini free throws, 19 in the second half to this point.
The calls never stop!!!! McCamey drives the lane and is fouled, makes a circus shot to get the crowd on their feet, but the ref decided in a delayed call that the shot wouldn't count. Moments earlier the Illini got the ball on a fast break 3 on 1, and the play was called dead because the Badger shot clock didn't reset at the end of their possession... just bad bad officiating. 43-54 Badgers with 8 left to play... McCamey shooting two.
Leuer and Hughes back in with 8:30 left.
The Badgers are starting to foul, and with the Illini in the double bonus, we will be shooting two the rest of the game.
The mood in here is a little tense as bad call after bad call seems to be sinking the Illini hopes.
Tisdale hits two free throws, and the crowd is up one more time in hopes that the Illini will pull off another big time second half comeback... Sort of the MO for this team.
Now Hughes and Leuer are on the bench with 4 each... a window maybe? If ever there were a time to capitalize, it's now... Paul missing the front end of a 1 and 1 doesn't help.
Trevon Hughes sinks a three, and 16 points is the Badger lead.
38-51 Wisconsin with 12 left.
We're just shooting ourselves now... Davis is missing 5 footers and knocking rebounds out of bounds, the refs are calling basically everything wrong at the moment, and we don't seem to have a game plan when it comes to getting back into this one.
Jon Leuer picks up foul number four. I really respect Bo Ryan, but I don't see the logic in playing Leuer with that much time left and up 12.
Leuer hits a one and one, and this could spell out bad things for the Illini. The lead is now 12, and I expect the Badgers to go back to their slow pace of play.
Badgers with a three. 34-43.
Hughes and Leuer back in for the Badgers, another foul for either of them and this will get very interesting as there are 16 minutes left to play.
McCamey just hit Tisdale under the basket with a beautiful pass, but it was a little too hard for the big guy who wasn't expecting it... out of bounds to Wisconsin.
McCamey is fouled taking it hard to the rim for what would have been a dunk. He hits one free throw, and the score is 34-40 Wisconsin.
The Badgers are upping the tempo considerably from the first half, and they continue to make buckets when they need to... The score is 33-40 Wisconsin with 17 left in the game.
Demetri McCamy had three assists at the half, but when the official scoring sheet came out, he was only credited with 2. As of now 2 is the official number, and Demetri still needs 5 assists to break the record.
Immediately after Leuer's foul, Trevon Hughes picks up his third, Tisdale scores, and the lead is only 6 with the two best Badgers in the building sitting on the bench.
Jon Leuer picks up a big third foul early in the second half.
The Badgers pick up the pace to open the half and stretch their lead out to 10.
The end of the second half was a little disappointing as the Illini had 2 fouls to give, and for some reason we allowed the ball to be inbounded with 5 seconds left and a shot to go up... The three went in, and the score at the half is 33-27 Wisconsin. I don't like to make a lot of excuses, but this could have been a different half. The Illini are shooting the ball well, but it seems like we aren't able to get defensive stops when we really need them. The Badgers only have 2 turnovers in the first half and both came when Trevon Hughes was on the bench. For us to comeback and win this game, we are going to have to continue to shoot well and find a way to cause some turnovers.
The Badger lead was 5, then 2 after a three by Cole, followed immediately by a three for Wisconsin. There are 31 seconds left in the half, and the Badger lead is 3.
Weber is telling his guys to talk more on the court.
Weber's really getting after the refs for some blatent missed calls including two travels in the same possession.
Davis with a 2, and it's all tied at 20 with 4:30 left.
Billy Cole with a three ball to tie it up, but Wisconsin again answers right back.
McCamey picks up his second foul with 6 left in the first... this sort of neutralizes the fact that Trevon Hughes has two as well.
Mike Tisdale knocks down a 15 footer, and the Illini have the lead for a moment before the Badgers answer. With 7 left in the first half, Wisconsin leads the Illini 16-15.
Paul hits a three after a short scoring drought, and the Illini are now within one point of the Badgers. I would love to see Paul get a little confidence because he's better than he shows at times due to a missed shot or two draining his confidence.
McCamey sinks a jump shot, and the Illini recover from the early 7-2 hole, only to have Hughes drive the lane and get fouled on a made lay-up. 8-9 Wisconsin with 14:32 left in the first half. You have to like the energy that you see right now, but Wisconsin has 5 rebounds to our 2, and 4 of these were on the offensive end of the floor. The Illini are shooting 80% from the field, but it doesn't matter when the other team has put up twice your number of shot attempts.
The Mikes are working the offense early. Tisdale and Davis have accounted for our first 6 points.
The Badgers are getting offensive rebound after offensive rebound, and the second and third attempts are putting us in a hole.
Jon Leuer makes his presence known early by scoring the first bucket of the game.
The game ends, and the Illini's future is up in the air. A win against this same Wisconsin team is going to be an almost must after losing this one by 15. Final score: Illinois 57 Wisconsin 72.
55-65, and it's not looking good with the style of game the Badgers are playing.
Bill Cole with his fourth three of the game, and there is still hope. 55-62 Wisconsin, 2:30 left in the game.
Illini in a full court press.
The Illini are only shooting 36% from the field, but the biggest difference in the game are the 14 offensive rebounds Ryan's squad has managed to pull down.
Again the Badgers find a way to score with 1 on the shot clock.
Big Mistake by Brandon Paul. You just can't foul a guy shooting with 3 left on the shot clock.
Tisdale hits two free throws as Nankivil picks up his fourth foul. 52-59.
The Badger lead is 8 again after an intentional foul called on Demetri McCamey as he grabbed a player taking off on a clear break to the basket. Jordan Taylor hits one shot, still Wisconsin's ball.
Billy Cole with another giant three ball. 48-55 Badgers with 7 left... Tisdale going to the line. The first half only saw 2 Illini free throws, 19 in the second half to this point.
The calls never stop!!!! McCamey drives the lane and is fouled, makes a circus shot to get the crowd on their feet, but the ref decided in a delayed call that the shot wouldn't count. Moments earlier the Illini got the ball on a fast break 3 on 1, and the play was called dead because the Badger shot clock didn't reset at the end of their possession... just bad bad officiating. 43-54 Badgers with 8 left to play... McCamey shooting two.
Leuer and Hughes back in with 8:30 left.
The Badgers are starting to foul, and with the Illini in the double bonus, we will be shooting two the rest of the game.
The mood in here is a little tense as bad call after bad call seems to be sinking the Illini hopes.
Tisdale hits two free throws, and the crowd is up one more time in hopes that the Illini will pull off another big time second half comeback... Sort of the MO for this team.
Now Hughes and Leuer are on the bench with 4 each... a window maybe? If ever there were a time to capitalize, it's now... Paul missing the front end of a 1 and 1 doesn't help.
Trevon Hughes sinks a three, and 16 points is the Badger lead.
38-51 Wisconsin with 12 left.
We're just shooting ourselves now... Davis is missing 5 footers and knocking rebounds out of bounds, the refs are calling basically everything wrong at the moment, and we don't seem to have a game plan when it comes to getting back into this one.
Jon Leuer picks up foul number four. I really respect Bo Ryan, but I don't see the logic in playing Leuer with that much time left and up 12.
Leuer hits a one and one, and this could spell out bad things for the Illini. The lead is now 12, and I expect the Badgers to go back to their slow pace of play.
Badgers with a three. 34-43.
Hughes and Leuer back in for the Badgers, another foul for either of them and this will get very interesting as there are 16 minutes left to play.
McCamey just hit Tisdale under the basket with a beautiful pass, but it was a little too hard for the big guy who wasn't expecting it... out of bounds to Wisconsin.
McCamey is fouled taking it hard to the rim for what would have been a dunk. He hits one free throw, and the score is 34-40 Wisconsin.
The Badgers are upping the tempo considerably from the first half, and they continue to make buckets when they need to... The score is 33-40 Wisconsin with 17 left in the game.
Demetri McCamy had three assists at the half, but when the official scoring sheet came out, he was only credited with 2. As of now 2 is the official number, and Demetri still needs 5 assists to break the record.
Immediately after Leuer's foul, Trevon Hughes picks up his third, Tisdale scores, and the lead is only 6 with the two best Badgers in the building sitting on the bench.
Jon Leuer picks up a big third foul early in the second half.
The Badgers pick up the pace to open the half and stretch their lead out to 10.
The end of the second half was a little disappointing as the Illini had 2 fouls to give, and for some reason we allowed the ball to be inbounded with 5 seconds left and a shot to go up... The three went in, and the score at the half is 33-27 Wisconsin. I don't like to make a lot of excuses, but this could have been a different half. The Illini are shooting the ball well, but it seems like we aren't able to get defensive stops when we really need them. The Badgers only have 2 turnovers in the first half and both came when Trevon Hughes was on the bench. For us to comeback and win this game, we are going to have to continue to shoot well and find a way to cause some turnovers.
The Badger lead was 5, then 2 after a three by Cole, followed immediately by a three for Wisconsin. There are 31 seconds left in the half, and the Badger lead is 3.
Weber is telling his guys to talk more on the court.
Weber's really getting after the refs for some blatent missed calls including two travels in the same possession.
Davis with a 2, and it's all tied at 20 with 4:30 left.
Billy Cole with a three ball to tie it up, but Wisconsin again answers right back.
McCamey picks up his second foul with 6 left in the first... this sort of neutralizes the fact that Trevon Hughes has two as well.
Mike Tisdale knocks down a 15 footer, and the Illini have the lead for a moment before the Badgers answer. With 7 left in the first half, Wisconsin leads the Illini 16-15.
Paul hits a three after a short scoring drought, and the Illini are now within one point of the Badgers. I would love to see Paul get a little confidence because he's better than he shows at times due to a missed shot or two draining his confidence.
McCamey sinks a jump shot, and the Illini recover from the early 7-2 hole, only to have Hughes drive the lane and get fouled on a made lay-up. 8-9 Wisconsin with 14:32 left in the first half. You have to like the energy that you see right now, but Wisconsin has 5 rebounds to our 2, and 4 of these were on the offensive end of the floor. The Illini are shooting 80% from the field, but it doesn't matter when the other team has put up twice your number of shot attempts.
The Mikes are working the offense early. Tisdale and Davis have accounted for our first 6 points.
The Badgers are getting offensive rebound after offensive rebound, and the second and third attempts are putting us in a hole.
Jon Leuer makes his presence known early by scoring the first bucket of the game.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Illinois vs. Minnesota
McCamey fouls out with 7.8 seconds left in the game. Ralph Sampson shooting 2, we need him to miss one to have a chance... Missed the first... Missed the second, but with no timeouts, the game ends after a miss by DJ Richardson. The Illini fall 62-60 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Illini get two good looks after a Minnesota basket, but are forced to send the Gophers to the line after misses.
Minnesota just looks dejected! Another Illini three pointer, and this is a one point game! 58-59 with 1:20 left in the game.
The Illini have just opened the flood gates in the last few minutes of this one... What looked like a disaster in progress is now a chance for a miracle.
Bill Cole matches his career high at 12 points for the game. His three point shooting has been the highlight of our offense today.
This is the loudest it has been since the first few minutes, but the Illini still trail 41-53.
6 minutes left, and the Illini trail big, 36-51. It seems that everytime we do anything at all, there is a stop to our momentum.
33 minutes into the game, and the Illini attempt their first free throw.
Richardson and McCamey combining for 0-9 behind the line has just killed us. If even one of their shots each had fallen, it would be a 3 point game. Also, the Illini have not attempted a single free throw in this game.
Devoe Joseph is on fire.
Demetri McCamey has all seven of our teams assists on 11 field goals... This kid simply makes our offense run.
Mike Davis with the shooter's roll at the 15 minute mark. 33-27 Minnesota.
Bill Cole has hit two threes now, and both times Devoe Joseph has taken the ball down to the other end and matched it.
Bill Cole finally hits a three, and the crowd is awake again. I have never seen the Illini miss this many shots... It took 12 attempts to get a three to drop.
The story at the half is a familiar one for Bruce Weber. As a past recipient of criticism due to his team's lack of a true scoring ability, the head coach has to be experiencing the "here we go again" blues. It's not that Minnesota is really out playing us, we just can't seem to figure out the zone. Our shooting is ice cold (22% from the field, 0-11 from three), and the result is a ten point deficit at the break. Coming out into the second half, we need to flat out shoot better. I don't know if it's going to take some set plays or what, the bottom line is that 14 points in a half is just not going to cut it. 10 of our 14 points are in the paint, and that alludes even more to how bad our outside shooting has been. Minnesota has been extremely balanced. 6 players with an assist compared to the Illini who have only one player (McCamey) with any assists. Overall, this game has been very flat, like a continuation of the Ohio State game. We could easily turn it around here and come back, but it's going to take an attitude adjustment from the entire team... This game could clinch an NCAA berth, and we seem to be giving it all away.
There doesn't seem to be much too it... Play a good zone defense, and the Illini are going to struggle to put anything up on the board. The Big Ten is known for man to man, but so far the teams who have just shut down the scoring attack have been OSU and Minnesota, and both run a zone defense.
With 3:45 left in the first, the Illini are hitting 20% of their shots.
Mike Tisdale finally ends the Illini drought with a 15 footer, but the score still sits at 18-10 Minnesota with 4:50 left in the first.
The 2-3 zone is giving us fits. Numerous times we have gotten frustrated, and the result has been a well guarded miss. We need to get it inside, kick it back out, hit a couple of shots, and force the Gophers to get out of this defensive set.
Minnesota is making Illinois switch a lot on defense, and to this point they have been up to the task. The Gopher shots have for the most part come on quick cuts to the vacated space after the dribble drive. Look for the Illini to figure out who's hitting their shots, and the pressure will follow accordingly.
Now seven minutes into the game, and neither team wants to open this one up. Minnesota is ahead 7-4, but it hasn't been pretty. This could be one of those games that become very tedious.
Four minutes into the first half, the game play has been a little choppy. Both teams seem to want to push the ball, but neither are converting on their scoring opportunities. Minnesota is having a hard time knocking down open shots, while Illinois is maybe rushing a little bit to get the shot off. Both teams need to settle down a little during this timeout.
The Illini get two good looks after a Minnesota basket, but are forced to send the Gophers to the line after misses.
Minnesota just looks dejected! Another Illini three pointer, and this is a one point game! 58-59 with 1:20 left in the game.
The Illini have just opened the flood gates in the last few minutes of this one... What looked like a disaster in progress is now a chance for a miracle.
Bill Cole matches his career high at 12 points for the game. His three point shooting has been the highlight of our offense today.
This is the loudest it has been since the first few minutes, but the Illini still trail 41-53.
6 minutes left, and the Illini trail big, 36-51. It seems that everytime we do anything at all, there is a stop to our momentum.
33 minutes into the game, and the Illini attempt their first free throw.
Richardson and McCamey combining for 0-9 behind the line has just killed us. If even one of their shots each had fallen, it would be a 3 point game. Also, the Illini have not attempted a single free throw in this game.
Devoe Joseph is on fire.
Demetri McCamey has all seven of our teams assists on 11 field goals... This kid simply makes our offense run.
Mike Davis with the shooter's roll at the 15 minute mark. 33-27 Minnesota.
Bill Cole has hit two threes now, and both times Devoe Joseph has taken the ball down to the other end and matched it.
Bill Cole finally hits a three, and the crowd is awake again. I have never seen the Illini miss this many shots... It took 12 attempts to get a three to drop.
The story at the half is a familiar one for Bruce Weber. As a past recipient of criticism due to his team's lack of a true scoring ability, the head coach has to be experiencing the "here we go again" blues. It's not that Minnesota is really out playing us, we just can't seem to figure out the zone. Our shooting is ice cold (22% from the field, 0-11 from three), and the result is a ten point deficit at the break. Coming out into the second half, we need to flat out shoot better. I don't know if it's going to take some set plays or what, the bottom line is that 14 points in a half is just not going to cut it. 10 of our 14 points are in the paint, and that alludes even more to how bad our outside shooting has been. Minnesota has been extremely balanced. 6 players with an assist compared to the Illini who have only one player (McCamey) with any assists. Overall, this game has been very flat, like a continuation of the Ohio State game. We could easily turn it around here and come back, but it's going to take an attitude adjustment from the entire team... This game could clinch an NCAA berth, and we seem to be giving it all away.
There doesn't seem to be much too it... Play a good zone defense, and the Illini are going to struggle to put anything up on the board. The Big Ten is known for man to man, but so far the teams who have just shut down the scoring attack have been OSU and Minnesota, and both run a zone defense.
With 3:45 left in the first, the Illini are hitting 20% of their shots.
Mike Tisdale finally ends the Illini drought with a 15 footer, but the score still sits at 18-10 Minnesota with 4:50 left in the first.
The 2-3 zone is giving us fits. Numerous times we have gotten frustrated, and the result has been a well guarded miss. We need to get it inside, kick it back out, hit a couple of shots, and force the Gophers to get out of this defensive set.
Minnesota is making Illinois switch a lot on defense, and to this point they have been up to the task. The Gopher shots have for the most part come on quick cuts to the vacated space after the dribble drive. Look for the Illini to figure out who's hitting their shots, and the pressure will follow accordingly.
Now seven minutes into the game, and neither team wants to open this one up. Minnesota is ahead 7-4, but it hasn't been pretty. This could be one of those games that become very tedious.
Four minutes into the first half, the game play has been a little choppy. Both teams seem to want to push the ball, but neither are converting on their scoring opportunities. Minnesota is having a hard time knocking down open shots, while Illinois is maybe rushing a little bit to get the shot off. Both teams need to settle down a little during this timeout.
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