In its second and final exhibition, the Illini looked even less organized than the first time round. They committed only six turnovers, but point guards DJ Richardson and Demetri McCamey had three each. And as Bruce Weber pointed out post-game, it wasn’t a pressure defense.
Center Mike Tisdale got pushed around in the paint. But Richard Semrau played only seven minutes; better than Stan Simpson who finished with zero. The visitors outrebounded the considerably taller Illini.
Consequently, Division II Quincy College raced out to an early lead and didn’t go away until the last ten minutes. That’s when DJ and Bill Cole went on a shooting spree. The 84–63 final is not exactly deceptive, because Illinois shot the lights out — 49% from the floor and 43% from the arc. And again, it’s just an exhibition.
The freshmen guards, DJ and Brandon Paul will acclimate. They will make fewer mistakes with the ball, and switching on defense. What about the older guys? Weber was happy with Tisdale’s aggression on a tip dunk, early in the second half. But while Tisdale finished with 10 and 5, his man (bulky 6’8″ forward Justin Brock) had 12 and 8.
Alex Legion checked in at the under–16, and yes he laced two threes immediately — but that only sent him into a tailspin. Suddenly Alex seemed to be firing from anywhere, just like last year. His fourth shot attempt came on a breakaway. He ignored his trailer, and instead spun around and launched from 18 feet, as his body continued moving toward the baseline. Richard Keene did that a lot, too, in his Illini career. You may recall Richard did not play in the NBA. Steve Alford, on the other hand, got his body squared before he shot. He did play in the League.
Alex will make money playing professionally. If he wants to do it in the United States, he will choose his spots. One person on media row muttered those darkest of words “Andy Kauffman.”
In Chester Frazier fashion, the game’s most valuable scored no points. Jeff Jordan entered at 13:27 with Illinois trailing by two. The deficit grew to 15–22, but over the next few minutes Jeff changed the tone of the game. He remained composed on offense, while disrupting the easy ennui with which Quincy had moved the ball to that point.
Statistically, Jeff shows only 4 assists and a rebound to go with two fouls. But solidifying a team’s composure has yet to be reduced to quantifiability. Weber praised the typically scrappy effort, adding that the coaching staff kept Jordan in too long — past the point where he’d visibly gassed himself. This comment on Jordan’s conditioning tacitly (and I suspect intentionally) reminds that Jeff took the summer off.
Another Fraziere
sque performance came from Mike Davis. He attempted only four shots and made two. In 25 minutes he also grabbed six rebounds (all on defense), dished three assists, and blocked two shots. He held Quincy’s flashy swingman Billy Baptist to 10 points. You could tell when Davis got beat on D. That’s when Baptist was flashing. The first flash was an impressive breakaway slam. We’ll see if Quincy-friendly photographers managed to get Davis in frame. Later, Baptist lost Davis in a crossover from the top of the lane, and quickly buried a 12-foot jumper. Davis played center for some of the game, so the fact that he was outquicked by a 6’5″ combo guy should not disappoint. Davis did fine, all things considered.
Indianapolis recruiting target Jeremy Hollowell (Lawrence Central) spells his first name more conventionally than does Jereme Richmond. Hollowell doesn’t have a Fro-Hawk either. Richmond does.
Both were on hand Sunday.
This week, Richmond will finally sign his Letter of Intent to play at Illinois. Same with Crandall Head and Meyers Leonard. Don’t panic if one of these LOI doesn’t fax on the 11th. School will be closed for Veterans Day.
I’m an optimist, so I saw the Illini performance against Quincy much as I saw the stadium: half-full.
