On paper, it was easy to take NIU lightly. It became easier in warm-ups. A team of dwarves in candystripe pants presents a psychological conundrum to the freakishly tall: How to take this team seriously?
The Illini weren’t laughing once the game started. By halftime, NIU was looking huge. Having fallen behind by 19, the Huskies clawed their way back. They were faster than Illinois. They penetrated, and finished at the bucket.
After the break, NIU cut the gap to three points. With six minutes to go, the Huskies were still in the game. This was not supposed to happen! They were without Xavier Silas! The Illini have super new freshmen!!
WTF?!!?!
Well, like the Quincy and Missouri Southern exhibitions, the offense looked jumbled. The “crisp” passing you heard about in the season opener? Didn’t happen.
Demetri McCamey got into early foul trouble and Illinois looked disorganized on offense, porous on defense. They still scored, though. Especially Brandon Paul. His 20-point first-half shooting display was the difference in the game.
Apart from Paul, the most encouraging thing I took from this game was the continued heavy rotation of players. Lots of guys played lots of minutes. Bill Cole won serious praise from coach Bruce Weber. Cole played fourteen minutes without taking a shot, concentrating his energy of hard-nosed defense.
I thought Alex Legion played better than his stats suggest. He didn’t always look to shoot, and he played the weak side defense with a better awareness of ball and player movement. In other words, his coach only had to yell at him once about guarding the lane.
Richard Semrau had a bad night, only two minutes with a turnover in each. He didn’t have a very good practice the day before, either. Weber and Jay Price both got after him (three times in all) for moving out of position, or just being in the wrong place to start with.
FRESHMAN FATIGUE
Brandon Paul ran out of gas. The 20 point spree tempted the coaching staff to leave him in too long. Coach Weber said his assistants complained when he first substituted for Paul. He said the assistants complained when he didn’t substitute for Paul in the second half.
Assistants are fickle.
Brandon didn’t attribute his diminishing returns to fatigue, but his 14-foot free-throw speaks for itself. Weber attributes the falter to Brandon’s calm demeanor. “Sometimes he’s hit a wall in practice, and he just give in to the wall.”
Dietrich Richardson has lost confidence in his ballhandling, according to Weber, who adds that he’s perplexed by the psychology, but has faith in the ballhandling. SP contributor Tony Pomonis points out that DJ began the day with five flapjacks at Merry Ann’s. Interpret the results as you will.
For the second time in as many games, it was DJ and Mike Davis who came out at the first substitution, about four minutes into the game. In each case, Legion and Dominique Keller were the the subs-in.
THE TANGIE CURSE
Until last night, Davis had been unable to perform with both parents in attendance. Mom Tangie Davis makes about one game per month, whereas dad Steve is a frequent flyer.
Mike dropped 14 on the Huskies, and pulled 17 away from them. Coach Weber was relieved to see Mike get over the “big bugaboo.”
Tangie Davis is not only gorgeous, but also charming. “You look a lot like Mike,” I told her. “Steve not so much.”
“Yes,” she japed “but he really is Mike’s father.”
They chuckled.
“Is she usually nice to you?” I asked Steve, himself a deft jester.
“Not enough,” he quipped with a wink.
CORY BRADFORD DROPS IN
Cory Bradford took in the game with friends John Fleming (pictured) and John’s son Jaylin, a Bradford mentee and protégé.
Intriguingly, John says his wife confused the spelling of Jaylin’s name in her post-natal delirium. It was meant to be “Jalen.” But I think she knew what she was doing. The alternate spelling, if you ask me, is a passive protest to naming the child for a Wolverine.
Cory also brought along his good friend Kenny Kim. I was embarrassed to put my toy camera in Kenny’s face, because he’s a world-class photographer. Seriously, check this out.
Cory will play in Venezuela this year. So far his professional basketball adventure has taken him to Hungary for four years, France for two, a year in Cyprus and most recently Colombia. He makes it back to the states as often as possible. Wife Erika is an interior designer, based in Chicago.
He says he’s 30 but feels 20, and hopes to play professionally for another four or five years.
Cory reports that Cleotis Brown is still with Libertad Sunchales, in Argentina. (This is not the same as Frank Williams‘s Union de Sunchales team, even though Sunchales has fewer than 20,000 residents. But hey, if Danville can have professional sports teams …)
The Illini men return to action on Saturday night, at home against Presbyterian.