“Thanks guys,” said Mike Tisdale when reporters finally ran out of questions.
He’d stood there for 12 straight minutes, talking about Las Vegas. Because some of the reporters arrived late to the scrum, he answered some of those questions a couple of times.
Never particularly joyful about cameras and microphones, Tisdale seemed right at home.
That’s the Mike Tisdale story. And if you can’t listen at work, don’t worry. You’ve already read the details in every other Illini beat reporter’s column.
To me, the fascinating moment of the day came when Meyers Leonard arrived. That’s when the excitement began.
Appearing on the catwalk with Jereme Richmond and Crandall Head, Meyers called down to the floor for a ball.
Trent Meacham recreates the moment
From 13 feet above the floor (and of course another 8 feet above the catwalk) Meyers nailed the 35-foot trick shot.
Richmond then called for the ball. His first attempt fell short, but the second one banged through.
Then Demetri McCamey appeared on the catwalk, and called for the ball. But something was different. In seeming frustration, DMac slammed the ball to the floor below.
Was he angry with the freshmen for goofing around? Is he trying to instill a sense of seriousness, a sense of purpose.
The ball hit the floor just inside the three point line, and formed a perfect arc through the air … to the bottom of the net.
DMac calmly walked out the door.
DMac is chill
To recap, the media came for a Mike Tisdale availability, and Meyers Leonard stole the show.
Maybe Meyers wasn’t trying to upstage Tiz. Meyers can’t help it. He’s a showman. He loves the camera.
TWOS A CHARM
The Twin Towers are fraternal, and not identical. Their vastly different personality types presage vastly different playing styles.
This is good.
As Shaun Pruitt’s arrival allowed James Augustine (finally) to play his natural position, Leonard’s arrival might allow the same for Tiz. That’s if Bruce Weber doesn’t make The Kevin Stallings Mistake.
After the Vanderbilt game last year, I asked Stallings why he didn’t play A.J. Ogilvy and Steve Tchiengang simultaneously. (Ogilvy is the Euro-finesse guy, Chain Gang the enforcer.)
“Because I never do,” he rejoined, as if that were a reasonable rationale. Stallings evinced complete comfort with his losing strategy.
Gene Keady cast Stallings and Weber from the same mold. Let’s hope Weber can break it.
CAN’T MISS
The team came to Ubben for a seminar, presented by a man with extremely nice hair.
Before that started, DMac and Richmond got loose on the floor. They took turns shooting and rebounding. Each player shot until he missed.
Jereme quickly became a spectator.
DMac perched just outside the NBA arc, draining threes like working an assembly line. Bored with the well-worn “swish,” Richmond birthed new onomatopoeia each time the ball hit bottoms.
“Pshew! Whoosh! Tchick!”
