NUMBERS LIE
Brandon Paul led the Illini in scoring and played terribly. He dribbled the ball off his own foot. He threw it out of bounds when mistaking a large empty space for a teammate. He drove to the basket for a number of razzle-fizzle lowlight reel plays.
There were a lot of great moments, too. But if Brandon had played within himself, Illinois wins.
On the other hand, Mike Tisdale played a great game, and you’d never know it from reading the stats. He owned Luka Mirkovic. On defense, Tisdale repeatedly picked Luka’s shots out of the air. On O, Mike played like a true center, using power moves to get the ball to the hoop.
But Tisdale got only four shots.
Bill Cole got the team together after a 9–0 Wildcat run to start the game. He kept the team together, focused, when Demetri McCamey’s lane lurch seemed to hand the game to Northwestern at :19.
SHADES OF BILL CARMODY
Bill Carmody and Bruce Weber have a lot in common, but plenty of distinguishing characteristics.
While Weber dances pirouettes of paroxysm, Carmody enjoys a refreshing beverage.
Carmody jested about the futility of practice, noting that his Wildcats had taken a few days off to ponder Evanston’s 20 inches of snow.
But he played John Shurna, who hadn’t practiced for a while in any kind of weather. Contrast that with Weber’s decision to hold Jereme Richmond out at Wisconsin. In either case, you could say that the player in question was the difference between winning and losing.
THE HANDWRITING
Listening to Monday’s First Word with Bruce Weber, I got the feeling that Weber does not fully appreciate What Happened At Indiana.
Something changed that night. A switch flipped. Myriad longtime Weber believers became Weber agnostic. “I’ve always supported coach, but…” began thousands of testimonials, on various Illini social networks, from barstool chatter to radio call-in to chat rooms to tweets.
Bruce Weber’s extemporaneous post-game speech opens with the word “obviously” more often than not.
When Illinois loses, which it did Saturday for the 8th time this season, “obviously” is followed by either “it’s frustrating” or “it’s disappointing.” Saturday, he used both terms.
So if you were wondering whether Weber knows how frustrated and disappointed you are, the answer is “maybe.”
STATE OF THE PROGRAM
Illinois enjoyed decades of dominance over Northwestern. Illinois has a losing streak in Evanston.
Remember Steve Bardo’s inspirational 2007 speech in Saint Louis? “Illinois does not lose to Missouri!” The Illini have a losing streak in the Braggin’ Rights series.
Lately, the motivation speeches aren’t working.
Illinois went a decade without losing to Minnesota. They now face a losing streak in Minneapolis. Even those optimists prognosticating an NCAA berth predict a loss at Minnesota Thursday.
The Gophers came to Champaign last March and stole Illinois’ ticket to the dance. Last time at the Barn, Illinois scored 36 points, total.
FEELING DOON
Northwestern’s booster club placed a few thousand purple shirts on everyone’s seat. Flyin’ Illini walk-on Tyler Cottingham, along with the Dorris-Flannel contingent, felt they made great seat cushions.
Northwestern folk are learning how to handle success. It’s uncharted territory.
But they’re expert at voicing displeasure. They even booed their own a cappella group.
Still, as with the football game at Wrigley, there was more purple than orange in the crowd. In past years, the opposite was true. The Wildcat Nation is optimistic. The Illini Nation is, at best, nervous.
