Ohio State Game brings Rodney Out, Shaun In

What am I talking about? The Weber Dog House, of course. Rodney Alexander, having spent most of the season (post Maui Invitational) in Bruce Weber's Dog House, finally emerges with a fine showing at Ohio State, scoring 20 points in 24 minutes. With this kind of night, he makes Illini fans wonder what he has been doing on the bench most of the year. Meanwhile, Shaun Pruitt does not even dress for the game, as he is thrown into the Dog House by Weber after an apparent altercation with Weber after the Purdue game. What in the world did Pruitt say to get to wear street clothes to the game? Not much comment from the coach, who is probably experiencing his toughest season ever as a head coach.

Coach Weber's Dog House

After the last game, I became motivated to create a new distinction among the Illini basketball players, Coach Weber's Dog House. I will periodically name a new player who seems to be in Coach Weber's Dog House.

Rodney Alexander played fairly well in the first half of the Maryland game. He was one of the bright spots on the team, particularly his dunk of a missed shot. In the second half, he had some defensive lapses guarding a freshman named Tucker, and sat on the bench the rest of the game while the Illini suffered from a scoring drought. For this benching of a starter, Rodney is the first member of Coach Weber's Dog House this season.