Illini Basketball

So I have watched every Illinois basketball game this year except for the Kent State game, and I couldn't be more impressed with everyone. I want to talk about last night's Clemson game first and then go over what I like and don't like about this team so far.

-Most of my friends hate Chester Frazier, well without Chester we lose by at least 10 last night. He did have 5 turnovers, but he ran the break pretty much flawlessly, and hit a big three with 7 minutes left to put us up 3 when we desperately needed a basket, then he got a put back on a Calvin miss. Chester had 12 assists and 7 of those were to Mike Davis on the press break or transition. 2 more were Trent and Demitri for lay-ins. He played pretty much as tough and hard as he could.

-Demitri McCamey fell in love with the 3. He was 2-2 and then went 2-10. In the first half he was playing great defense with a nice steal on a inbound, ran the floor well, and hit a pull up jumper. He also hit that same pull up at the end of the game, and I really wish that he would do that more. He isn't athletic enough to finish in traffic yet, so that pull up needs to be used more. A lot of people are bashing Demitri too, I think he played a good game until he got tired. He disappeared until the end of the game, and without him, we don't have a shot to win at the end of the game. He scored 7 straight at the end when we were down by 5. Contrary to popular belief (Fran Fraschella and Jay Bilas) Demitri is a penetrating point guard. He can cross anyone over that he wants, he just needs to develop the D-Will pull up 15 footer. Bruce had an absolutely disgusted look on his face when he glanced at the floor after Demitri missed Trent for the last shot of the game.

-I immediately thought that Trent Oglesby was a mini Lucas Johnson, and that was before he threw a tantrum when he stepped out of bounds and then shoved our strength coach Jimmy Price because he saved him from planting his head in the first row of stands. What a little bitch!!

-Rich Semrau might actually have been better off getting hurt for the last 2 years because he has bulked up and is the only big body we really have inside. He had 8 boards, and 4 of them were offensive. That doesn't include the 3 balls that he tapped out or kept alive that somebody else ended up getting. He hit a nice jumper, and look for him to assert himself on the offensive end a little more.

-I love Calvin Brock, and for him to be a senior and accept coming off the bench and play as hard as he does is amazing. He defended great last night and was flying to the hoop for offensive and defensive rebounds. Dominique Keller is the exact same way, except he gets lost on defense. He hit a lot of good shots, and also fought hard on the boards. Keller will be an absolute stud next year when he is comfortable on offense and defense

-Tisdale did not show up at all for this game. He has been inconsistent all year, and the most upsetting thing about him last night was the fact that he was pouting. If I see that Brian Randle bullshit on the floor from him again I am gonna totally give up on him. When Bruce pulled him after the first minute of the second half, he put his head down and started walking. Bruce screamed at him to "RUN!" and he did. Everyone says that Tisdale has problems with confidence, but this game was not a good matchup for him. He will play better in the Big Ten with less athletic post players.

-Meacham played like crap in the second half. I hate to jump on the bandwagon that he only plays well against lesser talent, but it is true for the most part. I get frustrated when he stops shooting. He did a good job of finishing in the lane, but he was short-arming 3's and then stopped looking for his shot. I like the fact that Bruce designed the last play for him, but it might have been better if he didn't get the shot, because if he missed, Illini Nation would be in an uproar. He missed 2 wide open 3's in the last 3 minutes that were designed for him off of double screens. For the record he was pretty wide open on the last play of the game.

-Mike Davis was a one man press break. 9 of his baskets came in either transition or the press break. He can also shoot free throws and actually does a decent job on the boards. On the other hand I think he might have a problem in Big Ten play having to guard bigger post players. He was made for the motion offense where he can screen and then roam the inside, or pop out for a jump shot. It is exactly like Warren Carter's senior year, except he has better hands and runs the floor better.

-Overall we got worn down in the second half. Everytime Tisdale and Jordan were in the game, our offense and press break were terrible, and neither played defense. With 15 minutes left in the second half, Illinois was up 50-44, we had a line-up of Brock, Tisdale, Jordan, Meacham, and Keller. By the 11:34 mark the score was 54-53 and Illinois had 4 turnovers, 4 fouls (two of which were on converted shots) and a missed block out on a free-throw. We subbed, but by the 10 minute mark we were down by 3. We just didn't have the depth at guard to stay with Clemson all game. Instead of being able to put the game away during that time, we played terrible and let Clemson stick around. After that they just penetrated the entire last 6 minutes because Meacham, Chester and McCamey were tired and that is all she wrote.

Durty