Bruce Weber’s great moment Saturday came half an hour after the game, as he met the media. He emoted in crisp soundbite form, just barely safe for broadcast.
After most Illini basketball games, I do a write-up and provide some audio for WILL-AM 580. But reporter Jeff Bossert was on hand Saturday. I’m very glad he was. I’d have found myself in a quandary.
“Can you put that on the radio?!?” I asked. He nodded, somewhat solemnly. And they did. Pledge your support here.
THE MAXIMEGALON INSTITUTE FOR SLOWLY & PAINFULLY WORKING OUT THE SURPRISINGLY OBVIOUS
Douglas Adams has been dead for nine years, and even he could have predicted what would happen Saturday: Rob Sacre had his way with our Thins.
Before the game, watching the Gonzaga team in warmups, it seemed the universal sentiment among sideline observers. Illinois would find itself incapable of banging with big guys. Everyone knew it.
For the next ten minutes, the Illini players joined the sideline observers, the fans in the cheap seats and a semi-national television audience in watching Gonzaga play basketball. That slow start — being an entirely other major problem — distracted everyone from The Main Issue: The Mikes need someone to free them from Muscular Big Man Duty.
Like Maximegalon’s robot, the Illinois staff seems caught in a pre-programmed thinking loop. They continue to watch the Thins struggle against stronger bigs.
Like the robot’s dropped herring sandwich, even the slowest fans are catching on to the ridiculous predictability of it.
Rob Sacre employed every hook and barrel the refs allowed.
Kevin Stallings has the same problem at Vanderbilt. His rangy big man needs support from his bulky big man. But Stallings never inserts Steve Tchiengang in support of AJ Ogilvy. He only inserts Tchiengang in place of Ogilvy. After Illinois polished off the Commodores, Stallings was surprised that I even brought it up.
Stallings and Weber represent different branches of the Gene Keady coaching tree. The personalities are different. The philosophy seems the same.
Dominique Keller is not really a big man.
To his credit, Weber correctly identified just about everything that’s wrong with the team, and everything that went wrong against Gonzaga, after the game. Tisdale needs someone to give strength in the middle. The team takes too many jump shots. He should have called a timeout. He should have set something up. He recited the catalog beginning about three minutes into his statement.
Now if only he knew someone who could make adjustments to confront these persistent problems.
Weber says there may be a new lineup. I’ll believe it when I see it, and I’ll applaud his flexibility. Earlier in the season I applauded his flexibility, which has since morphed into the same old rigidity.
Dick Cartmell (center) asked for a clarification of the Brandon Paul dunk & foul call.
I don’t blame Rob Sacre for beating and trampling our Thins. You take what the refs give you. And as Sacre said post-game, officials usually award the aggressor in any sport.
I also don’t blame the officials. They communicated with each other when one made a bad call, or another needed an explanation of a ruling. Their interpretation of charging or traveling befuddled the game’s Midwestern participants and their fans. But they kept giving the Zags those steps, and they consistently allowed Sacre to bull around Illinois’ china shop. At some point, teams must adjust to the pace of officiating.
Brandon Paul was highly amused by Mike Reed’s interpretation of the Charging rule.
INDETERMINACY
Gonzaga players routinely squared up, stepped into their shots, and hit them. Illinois’ shooting was atrocious. I don’t know how it looked on TeeVee, but I’ve never seen an Illini team throw so many dying quail at a hoop. They weren’t just off target, they were also the wrong distance. Boatloads of our shots were a foot short. Others sailed over everything. And a foot or two to the left.
Shot selection killed Illinois.
To beat the dead horse, if Bruce Weber continues to play the freshmen, he must employ more set plays. They don’t know enough about his motion theories to understand where they should stand, where they should screen, when they should shoot.
The adjustment in the middle requires a muscle man. Like Sergio McClain or Chester Frazier, this role player need not be a seven footer.
The adjustment on the wings is as simple as inserting Bill Cole and Jeff Jordan. Both. At the same time. (sic) But if he chooses to stick with the freshmen, Weber must give them instructions.
DOCTOR HICKS
Chris Hicks is preparing for medical school at UIC. He talked about his future in medicine, as well as his impressions of the current Illini team.
DICKEY SIMPKINS
LuBara Dixon Simpkins, former Chicago Bull and current coach of Team NLP, watched the game from courtside. I asked him for his impressions at halftime.
He assessed the performance of the freshmen guards and the value of Jeffrey Jordan.