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Post by huisrealgood on May 7, 2008 9:35:07 GMT -5
What does that leave IU with then? They certainly weren't studying hard and they couldn't win a post-season game so...
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Post by Kyle Feller on May 7, 2008 9:49:48 GMT -5
Indiana checked out well before the post-season began. The players were very loyal to Scumson, but unlike Purdue (that's what's important here!) they didn't receive any punishment from their APR standing.
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Post by huisrealgood on May 7, 2008 10:03:27 GMT -5
Won't all of the defections hurt them in the future or is that not how it works?
Either way IU will lose a scholarship or two when the NCAA ruling comes down.
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Post by Kyle Feller on May 7, 2008 10:04:13 GMT -5
They've already punished themselves enough......most people aren't expecting much more to happen from the NCAA.
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Post by huisrealgood on May 19, 2008 22:04:08 GMT -5
Illinois assistant coach Jerrance Howard is coaching a team of college players including Illini players Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis on a tour of China. McCamey has played great so far. He almost notched a triple double the other night with 10 points, 14 assists, and 9 rebounds. He also held the Chinese league MVP to 2 points when guarding him in one game. Great to see him continuing to improve over the offseason.
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Post by huisrealgood on May 20, 2008 12:22:40 GMT -5
The final leg of the tour has been canceled. There are still aftershocks being felt in China and they don't want to endanger the players if something more substantial comes.
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Post by huisrealgood on May 21, 2008 11:52:22 GMT -5
This is a very fair and accurate picture of the state of Illinois basketball from Scout.com
07-08 Review – To call this a rough season for Bruce Weber would be an understatement. Illinois finished 5-13 in conference play and 16-19 overall, marking the first season in Weber's tenure (and the first in several years before he arrived in C/U) that Illinois failed to earn an NCAA berth. The reason why was fairly simple; not nearly enough offensive firepower. Illinois needed big senior years out of guys like Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle, and what they got was an OK year from Pruitt and less than that out of a banged up (again) Randle. The Illini were a poor perimeter shooting team, and while they were generally their usual solid selves on the defensive end and they were a decent rebounding bunch, that wasn't enough to offset their difficulties in running their offense. Eventually, at some point, you have to put the ball in the basket.
The bottom line is that Illinois lacked playmakers, guys (especially on the perimeter) who could get and make shots. Demetri McCamey showed potential to develop into a solid future combo guard, and Calvin Brock had a mild breakthrough season of sorts, but neither guy was going to be able to carry an offense. Weber has won when he's had guys who can at least run an adequate offense...we've seen enough of him now to assume with some safety that his teams will always be physical and will defend reasonably well. The question is, can they put up enough points to win with?
PLAYERS LOST Shaun Pruitt – Pruitt is a kid who had a solid career, but I'm left thinking he could have done more, particularly as a senior. He had a perfect frame for low post college basketball...a wide body, enough height at 6'9” to get his shot off, and a nice sense of how to use his bulk to create space. He reminded me a lot of former OSU big man Terence Dials, except Dials kept getting better as he went along. I didn't think Pruitt improved from his junior to his senior season, and Illinois desperately needed him to do exactly that last year. The numbers look respectable enough...more than 12 ppg and 7 boards per...he shot 57% from the floor. Still, he just wasn't active enough at times, unable to impose himself on games when a team that really struggled to score needed him to produce easy baskets. His free throw shooting was a continual problem as well, finishing sub 60%, and he had turnover problems to boot. Ideally, Pruitt should have been a guy who could get you production down low AND create good looks for his teammates as a result of that production. He did some of the former, but very little of the latter. Illinois doesn't have anyone of his caliber on the immediate horizon, but you wonder if more of a “team effort” inside might pay off a little better...it's possible.
Brian Randle – Talk about unmet potential...Randle, to me, is a guy who was just star-crossed. The only consistent thing about his career was the fact that he was perpetually hurt, or so it seemed. It started to go poorly when he hurt himself in an ill-conceived moment of frustration just prior to the 04-05 season, thus missing out on the Illini run to the National Championship game. From there, it was a continual battle to stay healthy. When he was even close to being right physically, you could see the potential in his game. Randle had great length, an ability and mentality to defend at a high level, a decent handle, decent range, etc. I always thought he was a Big Ten version of Tayshaun Prince, again, when he was right. Last year, Illinois needed him to step forward and become an All Big Ten level player. Instead, he regressed. He only shot 20% from three, thus limiting his ability to stretch defenses. He wasn't as assertive overall on offense as they would have wanted, either. Defensively, he was fine, but this is a guy who should have been one of the better all around players in the conference, and he just wasn't. Being nagged constantly by health issues had at least something to do with that, but I'm not sure that makes it any easier for he or his fans to swallow.
Rodney Alexander – Alexander only lasted one year after transferring in from a JUCO last season. He didn't have the kind of impact Illini fans had hoped for. The Benton Harbor product was a guy they thought could provide some scoring help, but he only averaged about 14 mpg and was miserable from deep (less than 20% from three). In the greater scheme of things, he isn't a major loss, given how little he ended up contributing.
RETURNING PLAYERS: Trent Meacham – Meacham started to deliver a bit more on his promise as a junior, after a disappionting first season in C/U. A Dayton transfer, Meacham emerged as a (and really, THE ONLY) consistent perimeter threat for the Illini, hitting 40% of his threes en route to a 10ppg season. The thing is, I tend to think less is more with a player like Meacham. He's a very good shooter, and an adequate ballhandler, but he's not a strong defender and he doesn't do much offensively in terms of creating for others. Ideally, I think he's a 15-20mpg role player off the bench, and with some of the new/returning perimeter talent Illinois will have this season, he may be able to get back to that more appropriate spot. Don't get me wrong...any team, but especially THIS team, needs guys who can hit open jumpers, and he can. However, on a good team, he's playing a role, not a featured guy.
Demitri McCamey – The brightest hope for this team in the backcourt group last year was the stocky freshman combo guard. McCamey is built like a fullback, and his strength should be an asset he can use to his advantage as his game matures and he better understands how to exploit smaller/weaker defenders. He's a leader in waiting, IMO...I liked his willingness to take big shots and he seems to me to be a guy you can build around. McCamey has strides to make, of course. He's at best an adequate shooter, and you probably still give him a jumper at this point...he also needs to tighten up his decisionmaking if he's going to be the floor leader. He can also be exposed a little bit by quicker guards on the defensive end. All that said, however, I like him and his future a great deal. With Illinois set to add some good young talent over the next couple of years, McCamey is going to have to emerge as a leader. I think he's got a shot to be very sound in that role.
Calvin Brock – Brock finally stepped forward as a fairly reliable option as a redshirt junior. He was one of their better shooters, and his size and athletic ability on the wing make him a threat from a number of different positions on the floor. He's also a pretty decent defensive option, again with his length helping his versatility on that end. He's another guy who isn't a great decisionmaker, but he really shouldn't be asked to make a ton of plays for others on this team. Brock's a guy who needs to continue to work to develop greater consistency on the offensive end if he's going to play the same (or increased) minutes, because Illinois is adding more talent at his position. As it stands, he's a piece to the puzzle...not a guy who's emerged as any kind of star, but a reliable, and now experienced wing who can hit the occasional shot, defend another team's scorers, etc.
Chester Frazier – Here's a guy who took a step back, IMO. As a soph, I thought he was a broke man's Dee Brown, which is not an insult. He used his quickness well to create space (a necessity, given his lack of size), ran the club reasonably well, was disruptive on the defensive end while also being sound (a tough trick to turn), etc. In other words, he was a pretty effective player. Last year, however, was a different story. Frazier was still pretty damn good on the defensive end (ask Drew Neitzel), but offensively, it was a whole other deal. You simply cannot shoot 27% from three at his size and be effective, not taking the number of shots he did. His overall shooting wasn't much better (33%), and again, you just can't have that from your floor leader if the offense is going to be reasonably effective. He wasn't great the year before, but he was better enough that he was more effective and thus, the team was a little bit better because of it. This will be an interesting season for Frazier. He was a starter most of the way last season, but with Smith and Legion coming on board, Brock's development, and McCamey looming as the future of the team, I don't see it as any automatic that Frazier remains in that role. Regardless of whether he's starting or not, Illinois needs Frazier to be better than he was last season. At his best, he's a guy who can shake up a game with his quickness at both ends.
Mike Tisdale – Tisdale was one of the three freshmen interior guys that Illinois used, and if anything positive came out of last season, it might have been the chance to get those guys some minutes and experience building toward this season, when Illinois will need them all to play bigger roles. Tisdale is a legit 7 footer who, as most of the young ones do, needs to add bulk and strength to improve significantly. As it stands, however, he can help you with a nice shooting touch and the ability to use his length to block and alter shots. I would guess he has a reasonably good shot at starting this year, though how many minutes that translates to is anyone's guess. I look at him as a similar situation to Tom Herzog, but perhaps with more urgency on him to develop sooner for his team.
Mike Davis – Davis is the second of the three freshmen big kids. He's a long, active 6'9” power forward who, like Tisdale, can alter shots on the defensive end. To me, he looks like a guy who could be an effective garbage man on offense. The other bit of good news is that he was playing his best basketball late in the season, suggesting that perhaps the light was starting to go on for him. Again, an increased role is likely this season for him.
Bill Cole – The final of the three young big men is Cole. At a whopping 6'9”, 210lbs he's the “biggest” of these three guys, though he can still use more bulk as well. Cole got hurt fairly early on last season, so it was something of a lost opportunity for Cole, but they still believe his future is bright. Like Tisdale, he's got some perimeter skill to go with his size. I would expect he has a chance to earn more minutes as well going forward.
Richard Semrau – Here's a guy who was pretty highly regarded coming out of high school, but injuries have almost completely derailed him in his first two years in C/U. He's got some strength and bulk at 235lbs to go with his 6'9” height, so in theory there should be an opportunity for him to earn a role, given the other big kids' lack of strength. Yet, with his injury history, you have to wonder about his ability to stay in the mix. The jury is very much out on him heading into this season, and he's starting to reach a point where they're permanently in recess.
Jeffrey Jordan – One of the more ballyhood walkons you'll ever come across, due to his father of course. Jordan actually played some as a freshman, but that probably won't happen as often this season. He's not really a Big Ten caliber talent from what I saw in limited action a season ago.
NEWCOMERS Jamar Smith – Not a newcomer, strictly speaking, because he has played two seasons in C/U. Smith is a talent, but he's also heading into what will certainly be a difficult year. You may recall that he was suspended for last season due to a felonious DUI charge, where he left former teammate Brian Carlwell injured in a vehicle after a collision IIRC. Smith is back, and on the court, he's exactly what the doctor ordered for this team. He was a revelation as a freshman, as a relatively unheralded recruit who proved to be a deadeye shooter, hitting 48% of his threes. As a soph, he took a big step down, falling to 31% from deep as teams were able to adjust to him. That was before the incident referenced above. All that said, however, there's little doubt that he can add a great deal to this team's offensive arsenal. The two things that give you pause in terms of exactly how much to expect would be the sophomore slump and the likely massive attention he's going to get from opposing fans when he's playing on the road. Certain guys thrive with that stuff...Scott Skiles seemed to feed on it, for example. Others...don't. We'll see what Smith is made of, but there's just no way he doesn't figure as a guy who will see major minutes next season for this team. They desperately need what he brings to the table.
Alex Legion – Yet another “interesting” case coming on board next year for Illinois. Legion was long known in Michigan basketball circles to be a “difficult” player, not so much for what he himself did as much as those around him. Yet, as time went on, even the kid started doing strange stuff...calling out his HS coach in a newspaper at DCD before transferring to Oak Hill for his senior year (and then his former HS team won a title in his absence, with a strong suggestion that despite his obvious talent it was a case of addition by subtraction). His recruitment was no less “interesting,” having involved two separate commitments to Michigan, before finally settling on Kentucky...and then choosing to leave UK well before his first season was out. On the court, there is little doubt that Legion can help. He's got a good, solid frame for a wing and a fairly reliable perimeter shot. He's a born scorer, and much like Smith, his strengths address a screaming need on this team. He has the frame and athleticism to be a plus defender, but does he have the mindset? This will be a fascinating one to watch. Weber hasn't taken many risks in his recruiting, but Legion has to be classified as a pretty big one. Reportedly, he's no longer dealing with the same level of involvement from those around him. If that's true, he has a shot to be a player. Again, talent has never been the issue here. As a player, he's a roughly comparable talent to guys like Summers, Harris, and Darty Tucker. Can he make good on that promise? There's the rub.
Stan Simpson – Simpson is a center from Chicago Simeon HS. He's got good size at 6'9” 230, and he would seem to have a shot to earn some time due to his frame if nothing else. They think in the long run he can be a post presence, but most likely would be asked to provide rebounding and defense early on.
Dominique Keller – Keller is another late signing for Weber. He's a 6'7” 235lb JUCO forward, signed soon after Rodney Alexander left the scene. I would guess he'll be expected to play a similar role, given how Weber suggests he has the versatility to play either on the wing or in the paint. Again, with this team lacking their usual level of interior strength, he has a chance to play right away, one would think.
OVERALL – Tough year to forecast for this team. They don't have anyone with remotely the track record as an interior scorer that Pruitt had, and honestly, no one who's even done what Brian Randle did. Yet, their perimeter group HAS to be significantly better, given who they add, and that might be enough to allow for improvement.
To me, there are a couple of big keys that will determine whether this team will tread water or take a step forward back to the plus side of .500. One is their ability to defend and rebound. They have a lot of length and this could be their best shotblocking team in forever. That helps, but it can't offset a lack of strength. Unless the returnees are able to add a lot of good weight over the next few months, they're going to need to rely on new guys like Simpson and Keller to help. I don't think Illinois needs any one guy to emerge as a 15/10 guy or anything...but they do need the group to come together and collectively play the kind of defense and rebound the way Weber teams traditionally do.
The other key is chemistry. Smith and Legion are the two best offensive players from the moment they become eligible to play (for Legion, that comes a little later in the season). However, both guys had pretty serious issues, and you put that together with their coming into a team with some experienced perimeter guys...well, I think there's the potential for some trouble. Not a certainty, but the potential for it. Something to watch....
IF those two things go well, Illinois can turn things around, maybe substantially. Honestly, if they get good rebounding and interior defense and if Smith and/or Legion don't blow the team up, I can even see a return to the Tournament. A McCamey/Legion/Smith perimeter group with Meacham, Brock, and Frazier as the second unit? That's easily NCAA caliber, IMO. In fact, it might be one of the better groups in the entire conference. Lots of big, important “ifs” in play here, though. In a year where so much of the conference looks difficult to gague to me, Illinois might be right at the top of that list.
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Post by huisrealgood on May 21, 2008 12:06:34 GMT -5
Me too. It's a big risk, but he and Smith have developed a strong relationship working out together this past semester. Hopefully that translates to chemistry on the court and ultimately some wins.
I love this backcourt of McCamey, Smith, and Legion, with Meacham able to take a sharp-shooter's role off the bench, Frazier coming in as a defensive stopper, and Brock as a solid reserve for either Smith or Legion. However, it's the frontline that scares me. Will these young guys step up and assume the roles they need to? Can Tisdale and Davis be solid 25 minute per game players in the Big Ten? Even if they do will Keller/Cole/Simpson/Semrau be able to make up for the other 30 minutes? A lot of question marks for this team. Probably a 20-22 win team with the potential to go to the NCAA if things go right, but probably an NIT team if some of these questions have negative answers.
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Post by huisrealgood on May 27, 2008 23:53:31 GMT -5
'09 Illini recruit Tyler Griffey touched 11'8" this weekend in testing off of two steps. Not only is he a talented 6'9 forward, but that leaping ability is phenomenal and should pay off on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.
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