Saturday, December 25, 2010

Tough Sledding for Weber going into Big 10 Season

After two unimpressive showings by the Illini, the ballers go into the Big 10 season with 3 losses and a two game losing streak. The Illini seemed to be sleepwalking in Chicago, and ended up with a bad loss. In St. Louis, they did put on a decent effort, particularly on the boards, but weak defense, cold shooting spells and untimely fouls put the game out of reach at the end. So we have dropped the past two border wars to the Missouri Tigers.

What is likely to happen at the Big 10 opener at Iowa? Hard to say which team shows up, but if the Illini can't get it going again soon, they run the risk of another disappointing season missing the NCAA tourney. On the other hand, if they can shore up their defense and rebounding, and retain the scoring they have had in the early non-conference season, they could be a contender in the Big 10 this year.

Stay tuned.