Mike Davis won’t ever change. That’s fine with me. I like Mike the way he is.
But his coach expects all players to behave like interchangeable parts of a fantasy 1960s Hoosier basketball machine. `Mike will never be that floor-burned, psycho kid opponents love to hate.
Mike’s not going to panic. Call him detached, aloof or — in the original jazz sense — cool. He’s an individual, idiosyncratic, even a bit nutty.
But to satisfy his coach’s quest for uniformity, Mike has adopted a strategy. Going with the flow, Mike’s learned to pretend.
To prove his cool under fire, to show he can adapt to expectations — a day after being kicked out of practice — Mike played his best ever game as an Illini.
His twenty points included tough, off-balance shots. His ten rebounds did not all drop into his hands. His five assists included some nifty needle-threading. His three steals showed activity and awareness on the defensive end. He hit consecutive free throws for the third time this season.
CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION?
In beating North Carolina Tuesday, Illinois again demonstrated its ability to win when hitting 70% of its three-point shots.
There’s plenty of fodder for pessimists.
The offense fell to pieces when Demetri McCamey was out. Reasonably descriptive adjectives include stagnant, uninspired and even lost.
Neither team scored between the under-16 and under-12 media timeouts.
Jay Price nearly blew a gasket when the team failed to get back in transition defense, the primary emphasis of his scouting report.
Illinois revealed its Achilles Heel. Strength in the paint will continue to be an exploitable weakness for opponents.
Although Mike Tisdale used his weapons well, anyone could see who had the biggest guns in the pivot. That was true at the forward position, too. Davis could not hold his position against Justin Knox — which is why some of his shots were tough and off-balance.
Bruce Weber, adept at diffusing criticism with his opening statement, apologized for shortening his bench. But in this case, he shouldn’t have.
Tyler Griffey got only two minutes and Bill Cole twelve, but its hard to argue that Davis or Jereme Richmond should have played less.
Brandon Paul’s 18 minutes was too much. For whatever reason, BP’s composure sagged in critical moments.
No, this was a game where Bruce Weber got everything right, including match-ups. And with Meechi directing, the offense flowed beautifully.
CAROLINA IN THE WOODS
But this Carolina team is 4–3 on the season. Roy Williams is still trying to figure things out. He rotated fives of players at times.
Williams was magnanimous in defeat.
You should totally watch his post game presser. The media were transfixed. Former WAND sportscaster Lon Tay turned to a friend saying “this guy would be fun to cover.” And he’s right.
Williams raved about McCamey, and almost frothed over Weber. But he pointed out that UNC is young, and Illinois is old. In sum, he said the game should have gone the way it did. And he’s right, too.
THE MATTO CHART
DJ Richardson collected a whopping ten Heldmans.
The easiest “play hard” point us earned diving for the ball. The most difficult comes from pinning a 5-second violation on your opponent.
Playing hard works only if you execute too. The Illini performed well under pressure, reacting well to North Carolina’s endgame full court press. At that point, the Tarheels threw in the towel.
BIG TURNOUT
Everyone showed up, despite the late-night start. Lots of national media types. Lots of recruits. Lots of VIPs.
The atmosphere was better than recent years. It was so exciting. Local developer Peter Fox stopped following the Nikkei Index on his Blackberry for minutes at a time.
