Welcome, Guest!
Column: A gloomy change of (sports) seasons for Illini fans
Quarterback Juice Williams (7), shown here in a preseason scrimmage at Rantoul High School, led the Fighting Illini to their first Rose Bowl since 1984. The Illini men's basketball team has had a much rougher time this year, however. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)
Published: Friday, January 11, 2008 - 3:20pm
This time of year most Fighting Illini sports fans are rejoicing at the end of football season and the beginning of basketball season. This year, however, has been a different case because of the football team's success (the Illini's Rose Bowl appearance) and the basketball team's failures.
The Illini men's basketball team is usually a stellar team, which frequents the national polls. Everyone in the area remembers the 2004-2005 team that had a final record of 37-2 and was the national runner-up.
This season, however, has been a different case. The team has had limited success, with a disappointing record of 8-8 after Thursday night's 70-60 loss at Wisconsin.
The previous three losses were at home against what I feel were highly beatable opponents. These were to Tennessee State (60-58), Ohio State (74-58), and Penn State (68-64). Tennessee State is a school from the small Ohio Valley Conference. This type of opponent is usually what is called a "cupcake," which is should be an automatic win for a team like Illinois.
When a team performs like Illinois has, fans, players, and coaches begin questioning what is going wrong. Well, from what I have seen, I have found two sources of their problems. First, the Illini flat out can't rebound. In their game against Penn State they were out-rebounded 40-16 at one point. This gives opponents many opportunities to score and keeps the ball out of the Illini offense's hands.
The Illini also have had abysmal recruiting. They have had two great freshman — Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon — show significant interest only to sign with other schools. Gordon had even verbally committed at one point only to attend for Indiana. Each has made a large impact at their respective colleges, Memphis and Indiana.
The Illini, however, have had bright spots, such as freshman guard Demetri McCamey. He was the only reason the Illini stayed close in their game against Penn State, making several clutch threes. Perhaps he will be able to lead the Illini back to success after a few years of rebuilding and landing quality recruits.
Things are looking as though the Illini might improve over the next few years. They have many strong recruiting classes in the works, based around the tactic of getting players to commit as early as their sophomore year.
As for the rest of this season, coach Bruce Weber probably put it best.
"We shouldn't be in this dilemma," he said after the Wisconsin loss. "If we played this hard back at the time, we wouldn't be in this position, and this wouldn't be a major catastrophe. … We've done all kinds of things. We've just got to find a way to hang together and get a win."
Note: An earlier version of this column was published as an entry in the Gargoyle staff blog.
Comments
Past Misses and Future Potential
The whole fiasco began with Eric Gordon's de-commitment and I as an Illini fan will never forgive his betrayal. After committing before his junior year basketball season, Gordon spent the ensuing year assuring Coach Weber of his intentions to play ball in Champaign. At one point as Jack mentions, Derrick Rose, arguably the best point guard in the nation, was mulling the possibility of joining Gordon at Illinois to form the nation's best backcourt. However with the introduction of Kelvin Sampson as the coach of Indiana, Gordon switched allegiances overnight deciding instead to play for his home state. A short time thereafter, Derrick Rose committed to Memphis amidst rumors of a sketchy (read: illegal) deal between Derrick's older brother Reggie and the Memphis head basketball coach John Calipari.
But the future is definitely bright for Illinois basketball. Next season, Alex Legion, a transfer from the University of Kentucky and an elite shooting guard prospect out of high school, will join the team. After a quiet 2008 recruiting class with just one commit Stan Simpson out of Simeon High School in Chicago, Illinois will welcome some major reinforcements in 2009. The class of 2009 commits Brandon Paul, Joseph Bertrand, and DJ Richardson are all potential top 100 recruits nationally and as a group are quite reminiscent of Illinois's dream guard trio of '04-'05.
And as hard as it may be to believe, the Class of 2010 just gets better with Jereme Richmond, a unanimous top 10 recruit on the national scene, and Crandall Head, the younger brother of past Illini and current Houston Rocket Luther Head. Crandall is starting to gain more and more publicity and is known for his polished handles and amazing athleticism.
With skilled and athletic guards, Bruce Weber will be able to run his motion offense more efficiently and the team will score a LOT more points. Mark my words, there will be Final 4 run in the near future!
Post new comment