Illini Recap

Now that the college basketball season is over (I understand there are still games, but none of us really care), we can look back on what the season gave us. First I want to dispel some myths that people have concocted in their minds because they are focusing on the last 2 games instead of the season as a whole.



1) Illinois was a bad offensive team



This is a favorite for people who don't understand basketball, look at the ACC or Big East and assume that is the only way basketball should be played, or only looked at the box scores after a game. Here is the first point I would like to make, Illinois was the second leading team in field goal % in Big Ten. For the most part of the year, they were first. They also led the NCAA in assists per field goal. Now most of you probably don't put a lot of stock in those facts, but one relates to the other. Having such a good FG% and assist total is based on the fact that Illinois runs a good offense, and more importantly gets good high percentage shots. Guess what? You can shoot a 23 foot 3 pointer any time you want in college basketball. Alex Legion proved this theory everytime he stepped on the floor. Why waste the 35 seconds you have on the shot clock chucking these bullshit shots when you can try to get an open look from 15? This is probably my biggest gripe with Illinois fans. They assume that the fact that Illinois doesn't score as much as other teams in different conferences, automatically means that the motion offense is crap! Fans assume that it has nothing to do with the fact that we don't have the level of players that UNC, Duke, UConn, or Pitt have. Or the fact that we didn't have a guard that could consistently take his man off the dribble to the paint. Here are the facts of Illinois' offense.



- The motion offense is the reason that Mike Davis averaged 11.3 points a game. Mike can't dribble or effectively post yet, but this offense gets him open looks in spots that he can shot he can do damage. Just wait till he develops a back to the basket game or the ability to take a bigger less athletic post player off the dribble.



- The offense leads to good defense. You know the reason that Illinois had one of the best defenses against the 3 point shot? Because opposing guards have to spend 25-35 seconds running around screens on defense. To steal a line from the now "retired" Billy Packer, their legs get tired.



- A balanced offense leads to more wins than having one or 2 good players. Here are 6 teams that were in the Preseason top 25 that underachieved: Texas (#7), Notre Dame (#9), Miami (#17), USC (#18), Florida (#19), and Davidson (#20). You know what all of these teams have in common? Yep, they have 1-2 great scorers, and beyond that nothing offensively. This is why Illinois was had better years than all of these teams. Illinois does not have one player on their roster that would have been a focal point on any of these teams, yet they won 24 games this year because guarding 5 people is much more difficult than guarding 2. Everyone of those teams I mentioned has at least one person on their roster that will get drafted if they left school right now, Illinois has none, yet we had a better year.



- I won't argue against the fact that having a playmaking guard would have helped this team. That along with the fact that Illinois was a terrible transition team this year is what led to our downfall. And that just leads to recruiting, and losing Jamar Smith. Having a guard that could come off the bench and be able to score is what we were missing. Alex Legion could not fill that role this year, so we had to rely on 3 guards, none of whom could consistently score on their own.



2) Demitri McCamey is not as good as we thought



Let's not all jump off the bandwagon just yet. He was still just a Sophomore, and didn't have much around him. Remember Dee Brown his senior year? At least he had Augustine who was consistent inside. Beyond that he had an inconsistent Rich McBride, Brian Randle, and a Freshman Jamar Smith who couldn't shoot during the Big Ten season. Dee tried to carry that team instead of deferring to others, and he averaged 14.2 points a game, and 5.8 assists a game, but he shot 36% from the field and 32% from 3.

The Vanderbilt game, which very easily could have changed the course of our season was your typical big time Demitri game. He had 23 points that game, and then turned in his next big performance in the Clemson game where he scored 20. Then he dropped 20 against Mizzou, and of course none of us should ever forget him during the Northwestern game with 21 points and the game winner. The only thing about Demitri is that he allows his offense to effect the rest of his game. As long as he progresses like he did from his Freshman year, he will be a solid player when everything is said and done. Also take into account that he will have better, more experienced players around him. He shouldn't have to carry the offensive burden as much. I hate to break it to everyone, but he will never be Frank or Deron Williams, but he will still help this team develop. Especially if he does lose a few pounds and tries harder on the defensive end.


3) Bruce should have used his bench more.

He might have been able to use the one more player at times, but who do you want to bench in order to get Bill Cole minutes? He is not a guard and not a post. If he was a huge mismatch on offense, then I'm sure Bruce would have sacrificed his lack of defense to get him in the game. Also no one after the none conference uses more than 8 players. You need to play Jeff Jordan because you are short on guards. Calvin Brock was able to play the 2, 3, and 4, so he is in, and Keller could score and also somewhat defend the post, so he is in. Alex Legion got his shot and played himself out of the rotation, and Semrau just was not effective on the offensive end. When you already have Chester Frazier who is not a great offensive player, and Trent and McCamey who were streak shooters at best, you can't afford to put another player in that can't score. In the next 2 years, you can bitch about players not getting PT because the gap between the bench and starters is going to shrink. Also you are going to damage consistency and chemistry when a player doesn't know what his role is, just look back to the 2008 season if you don't believe me.

Now a look to the future

Illinois will lose Chester Frazier, Trent Meacham and Calvin Brock. The one player out of those 3 that will hurt the most is obviously Chester. Calvin Brock will also be a major loss as he could play many positions and brought some intensity off the bench. Trent Meacham as well as he played in his career will be the easiest to replace because we have some guards who can step in who love to shoot (Alex Legion)

Backcourt

Demitri McCamey is the only guard who can handle the ball who returns. Jeff Jordan is not yet able to handle ball pressure to the point where you are comfortable with him as your primary PG. DJ Richardson has been playing the point mainly this year in high school, so he will got a lot of playing time in the backcourt. Brandon Paul who won Mr. Illinois this year, will probably come off the bench with Calvin Brock's minutes. He is 6 foot 5 and a slasher who can get to the rim and finish. Alex Legion will be a starter this year, and take over Trent Meacham's spot. Joe Bertrand might red-shirt this year as he is the one player out of the 4 coming in who is pretty raw.

Frontcourt

Tisdale and Davis are locked in at starters, so the question that you have now is whether or not Bruce goes big and starts Keller, or keeps him coming in off of the bench and goes with a 3 guard line-up. The depth in the froncourt is going to be the strong point for the Illini. You have 3 year players in Cole and Semrau, and also red-shirt Freshman Stan Simpson. Add to that mix Tyler Griffey who is a bigger, stronger Bill Cole, and you are going to have a problem getting everyone minutes. You will have 4 players vying for one spot as a back-up to Davis. If Cole can get quicker, he might be able to play the 3 and take some pressure off of the Freshman coming in, and also this opens up more time for Griffey, Semrau, and Simpson.

Outlook

Look for next season to be comparable to this season. With only one Senior on the team, this season will be used to develop chemistry and teaching the young guys how to play defense. The reason that I don't feel that we will be better is because you lose a lot of defensive intensity, and also the rest of the Big Ten will be much better. Hopefully this off-season is as productive as last year's was. If this occurs than you will have a much better offensive team, yet other teams will be able to score on us, especially against our backcourt. It will be a much more exciting team to watch, but the results will not be much better than this year.