Saturday, January 22, 2011
Time Flies...
Whether you are having fun or not. And time has flown for the Illini basketball team. Bruce Weber and his boys have had lots of fun -- the first 3 games of the conference season when they couldn't miss. And they've not had fun, when playing on the road at Penn State and Wisconsin. A roller coaster indeed...
Against #1 Ohio State, the Illini played well overall. Yes, that last possession was incredibly painful. And the Illini had a chance to pull away, and decided to let up a bit in the middle of the second half. Like every game, the Illini had their opportunities. But there was still lots to like in their play.
That's been the case throughout the Big Ten season so far.
Good stuff: Passing -- Demetri McCamey leads the Big Ten, but he's not the only one that can make pretty passes. We've seen some nice high-low play from Mike and Mike, good assists from Brandon Paul, and much more. Shooting -- D.J. Richarson, Bill Cole, Brandon Paul, Jereme Richmond, Mike Tisdale, McCamey...on any given day any or all of these guys can be red hot. Those are fun days. Defense -- for the most part, the Illini have done a good job making opponents work for points.
Not-so-good stuff: Rebounding -- Let's grab the ball, guys, not just tip it to each other, or the other team. Some days it's good, some days not. But with the height advantage the Illini have, this should be a consistent strength. Shooting -- Because on the days when they aren't hot, these boys just keep shooting the same shots instead of working the ball down low. Playing on the road -- the Big Ten is a tough conference, and the teams that come out on top will manage to win a couple away from home. The Illini haven't done that...yet.
I have lots more thoughts, but my personal schedule has made it hard to share them here. Hope to get to that a bit more often in the coming weeks...
|
Against #1 Ohio State, the Illini played well overall. Yes, that last possession was incredibly painful. And the Illini had a chance to pull away, and decided to let up a bit in the middle of the second half. Like every game, the Illini had their opportunities. But there was still lots to like in their play.
That's been the case throughout the Big Ten season so far.
Good stuff: Passing -- Demetri McCamey leads the Big Ten, but he's not the only one that can make pretty passes. We've seen some nice high-low play from Mike and Mike, good assists from Brandon Paul, and much more. Shooting -- D.J. Richarson, Bill Cole, Brandon Paul, Jereme Richmond, Mike Tisdale, McCamey...on any given day any or all of these guys can be red hot. Those are fun days. Defense -- for the most part, the Illini have done a good job making opponents work for points.
Not-so-good stuff: Rebounding -- Let's grab the ball, guys, not just tip it to each other, or the other team. Some days it's good, some days not. But with the height advantage the Illini have, this should be a consistent strength. Shooting -- Because on the days when they aren't hot, these boys just keep shooting the same shots instead of working the ball down low. Playing on the road -- the Big Ten is a tough conference, and the teams that come out on top will manage to win a couple away from home. The Illini haven't done that...yet.
I have lots more thoughts, but my personal schedule has made it hard to share them here. Hope to get to that a bit more often in the coming weeks...
Labels: Illini basketball
# posted by Alma Mater : 11:32 PM
