Illini End Their Five Game Skid
January 17, 2008
John Brumbaugh
Watching basketball is more fun when your team is the one that is winning the basketball game, and your coach is not the one that is just not doing what he needs to do to put his team in the best position. I feel for Michigan fans that had to watch that basketball game tonight, because I know what it was like. Ahh, screw that, who am I kidding, I don’t ever feel for Michigan fans, nor should any one. In fact taking pleasure in the pain of Michigan fans (when it happens) is one of the central tenants of my sports fandom.
On Wednesday night, the Illini got their one home game sandwiched between four difficult road contests in the Big Ten, and they took advantage of the game. Michigan came into Champaign after defeating Northwestern in Evanston, and the Fighting Illini were reeling. They were on a five game losing streak, the longest streak in Bruce Weber’s tenure as Illinois’ Head Coach, and were looking for a “W” no matter how they got it, even if it was winning ugly. But on Wednesday night, the Illini were not going to win ugly, they were going to win a game in what was the prettiest basketball game they have played since Maui.
The Illini were coming off two very hard fought games against Wisconsin and Indiana, and were ready to play from the second the game started. Led by seniors Brian Randle and Shaun Pruitt, the Illini jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead. Randle and Pruitt combined to score nine of Illinois; eleven points, and all but Brian Randle’s free throw were points in the paint. Just before the under twelve TV timeout, Bruce Weber went to the bench and replaced Randle, Pruitt, and starting point guard Demetri McCamey.
Over the next five minutes, Illinois’ lead started to slip away, and I know I was thinking, “oh great not this shit again” and I was afraid the players were thinking the same thing. Weber quickly went back to Pruitt, Randle, and McCamey to regain control of the game. The Illini did regain control of the game heading into the half, and built up a 36-32 lead.
In the second half, the Illini extended their lead to seven before the under sixteen TV timeout. The Wolverines put up one last fight in the next four minutes of the game and tied the game at 43-43. From that point forward, Illinois dominated the game and closed it out on a 32-14 run, included in that stretch was a 15-1 run over the next five minutes of the game. During that run, Shaun Pruitt scored six of his nineteen points and Demetri McCamey and Trent Meacham both added three pointers.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- Why didn’t John Beilein play zone more? He is known for his one defense, and when his team played a 1-3-1 or 2-3 zone, the Wolverines cut into the Illini leads. Yes, Illinois did cut through the 1-3-1 trapping zone thanks to their attacking the zone and finding Pruitt over the top (that ally-oop pass from McCamey to Pruitt was very nice) for easy baskets a lot, but as any one that has watched Illinois knows, if you don’t want them to score, you zone them.
- Related to the previous point, for the first time this season the Illini looked ready to attack a zone defense. They were attacking the pressure zone with pressure of their own, and that was leading to easy baskets for both Pruitt and Randle. Demetri McCamey did a great job of withstanding the pressure on the perimeter (something he didn’t do at Indiana), and then taking the ball to the middle to make a play. McCamey’s dribble drive really neutered the Wolverine zone when they played it, and forced Beilein to leave the defense he made famous at Richmond and West Virginia.
- It isn’t surprising to any one that watched the game, but the Illini’s offense was great on Wednesday night. I don’t think we have been able to say Illinois’ offensive execution has been great since the 2005-2006 season, and even during that season there were times it was the “stand around and watch Dee Brown do something” offense.
- Along with breaking the five-game losing streak, the Illini broke their streak of giving up more than one point per possession on Wednesday night. Sure, a lot of that had to do with the overall ineptness of Michigan’s offense, but the Illini defense still deserves a lot of credit for continuing to keep a hand in the face of the Wolverines, even if they are the worst shooting team in the Big Ten.
- The last Illinois team to lose as many as four games to start the Big Ten season, the 1998-1999 team, also ended up beating Michigan for their first win in conference play. It took that team eight Big Ten games before they won their first one, and they did it in Ann Arbor.