Undersized Illini fall to Northwestern

For those who watch the end of the Illini game against Northwestern, perhaps you noticed this but maybe not.  John Shurna, listed at 6-9 for the Wildcats was guarded by Brandon Paul, the outstanding 6-4 guard for Illinois.  Shurna was basically unstoppable during much of the game, and is quite a player.  Meyers Leonard at 7-1 was guarding Davide Curletti, a 6-9 forward for Northwestern.  Drew Crawford, the 6-5 guard for Northwestern was guarded by Joe Bertrand, who is listed at 6-5 for Illinois.  Reggie Hearn, a 6-4 guard for Northwestern was guarded by DJ Richardson, listed at 6-3 for Illinois, but likely 6-2.

Years ago, Northwestern would frequently be dominated by a larger Illini team, due to their small size.  So it's interesting that Illinois has been unable to put players with size on the floor this year against teams like Northwestern.

Paul Klee was listening to Weber after the Minnesota game, and I found this amazing from Bruce Weber. From Klee's article: After Saturday's 77-72 overtime loss to Minnesota, Bruce Weber suggested that win or lose — he can't really win. "They're all hard to take," Weber said after Illinois suffered its third straight loss. "When we win it's hard to take (because) we have to listen to the critiquing. What's the difference?" If Weber is not willing to be critiqued by the media and/or fans, he might as well pack it in and head to a mid-major by resigning from Illinois' head coaching position. Being critiqued is part of coaching a major program such as Illinois, and something that Henson, Kruger, and Self were able to take, that's for sure. In fact, they have all survived the fans and Chicago media quite well. I recognize that Weber has been a fine coach for the Illini for many years, similar to Henson, but for a shorter time. But it might be the right time for a change, since the Illini just don't look too promising this season. But let's see how the season progresses. Weber might still turn it around since we can still make the tourney and could develop into an interesting tourney team. If it doesn't work out, I like Jerrance Howard to take over the team, since he is a great recruiter and has played under Kruger, Self and Weber a good mix of coaching philosophies for any young coach to follow.

That was a disappointing loss to Wisconsin today, but very predictable. The Illini are mostly featuring a 4 guard offense that passes the ball around and has trouble getting it to Meyers Leonard, their athletic center. Most of the season, the ball handling has been sloppy with too many turnovers. That was not the case today. The biggest fundamental flaw for the Illini is the struggle to block out and rebound the ball on the defensive end. They gave Wisconsin too many chances today and it cost them dearly. Bruce Weber has not been using much of his bench, either. Egwu gets on the floor when Leonard is in foul trouble, Sam Maniscalco provides relief when healthy to Tracy Abrams, and Tyler Griffey seems to enter the game when the rebounding woes are evident. With losses at Penn State and now the home loss to Wisconsin, the Illini are no longer looking like a sure tournament team. Will have to see how they turn things around, with the next game at Minnesota. I hope Bruce Weber can shake things up and try some bench players in some kind of a rotation. The bench scored zero points today, which is rarely going to win games. Would like to see Henry in for some serious minutes, since he is one of the better scorers on this team, and the guards looked tired today.

Challenge to the Illini Basketball Team (Mizzou Game)

After watching the high-scoring football game last weekend against Missouri, it made me wonder, can Bruce Weber's guys hold Mizzou to less than 52 points this fall? That would be something, since the game of basketball is typically much higher scoring than football. Further, will the Illini basketball squad continue to be offensively-challenged this season? Will our bballers be able to score 42 points against Missouri when we play them in our annual match-up?

Normally, it's automatic for Weber's squad to score over 50 points in a game. But with Jamar Smith now gone, and a depleted and young frontcourt, it's questionable if this team will be able to score. I will try to remember to come back and compare the football and basketball scores against Missouri once we get to December.

Illini Basketball Players excel in the Classroom

The Illini basketball team is being recognized by the NCAA for being in the top 10% of the NCAA for academic progress, and the only Big 10 men's basketball team receiving this recognition this year. Congratulations to the team and Bruce Weber for being true student-athletes.