CHAMPAIGN -- After the Illini's victory over Indiana on Saturday, junior Bill Cole vented his frustration about an issue that has plagued the Illini too frequently this season -- their tendency to let teams stick around when Illinois has a chance to blow them out.
Saturday, the Illini had a 13-point first half lead and lost it by the end of the half when Indiana's Devan Dumes banked in a half-court shot to tie the score at 36-36.
"It's like, man, can we just push it to 15 or 20 and get out of here with a good win?" Cole said. "Eventually, you just want it to stop. It gets so frustrating at times because we do it almost every game."
Having been in this position before, Weber thought it useless to rip into his team at halftime.
"It's too frustrating to keep yelling," Weber said. "Somewhere they have to figure out or understand that it's not summer basketball and any shot can go up at any time." This tendency cost the Illini a potential resume-building victory against Purdue earlier this season and with several games against the Big Ten's top teams ahead, it's a habit they need to lose.
"Time and time again we got casual," point guard Demetri McCamey said. "You can't do that in college basketball at all."
Photo: Illinois coach Bruce Weber tries to communicate from the sidelines in the second half. (AP / Heather Coit)
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Right on Rall.....What the heck is up with Mike Davis? His head seems to never be in the game and he's playing so soft it's ridiculous. Having been an Illini hoops fan for some 40 years I have NEVER seen such a weak team effort defensively. Coach Weber really needs to get serious about this and refuse to play anyone who doesn't give an all out defensive effort. Who cares if they lose with less talented players whom are at least hustling on "D" as without this kind of effort they will be losing when it counts anyway? No need to yell, just sit'em.
This Illini team is not going to win anything this year. They just don't have the tools. Having talent means nothing if it hasn't matured. And when the talent that has matured that are the team leaders, is laid back like McCamey, Davis, and Tisdale, that doesn't inspire extreme effort by the rest of the team.
Another big problem is that the Illini don't have a solid point guard. McCamey should be receiving the ball rather than distributing it. I had hopes that Jordan would progress and take that crucial position over but he has regressed since he started getting more playing time earlier in the season. Weber has to get a legit point guard out of Junior College till Tracy Abrams is ready.
And the defense. What crap. I haven't seen any Bruce Weber team play this poorly on defense. I'm sure that Weber is teaching the same system, but these players aren't standing up and doing what needs to be done.
Last year we had a leader in Frazier who mourned that he wasn't good enough to will his team to important wins. But the Illini played defense. And they won 25 games, I think. Does anybody believe that they will win that many this year? A few more stops on defense at the end of a bunch of our games this year would have them challenging MSU and Purdue. Defense is sacrifice and discipline. These Illini don't have enough sacrifice in them. And I'm not referring to the underclassmen.
These Illini are going to have to look themselves in the mirror and decide if they are going to work on defense till they pass out from now on if they have a chance this year for anything. They have to refuse to be scored on every possession. Will they try? I don't think so unfortunately.
Davis and Tisdale are two of the most mentally and physically weak big men in major college basketball. They are upper classmen and they play with the inconsistency of freshmen. Both play six inches shorter on the court than they are because they have no inside game on offense and get pushed around so much that they can't hold their positions to get a rebound. They both feel more comfortable playing 15 feet away from the basket and Weber's frustration stems from the fact that he knows if the three ball isn't dropping from his guards, his team is going to get beat. Weber will continue to be frustrated until he gets some meat on the front line who know how to defend, score inside and crash the boards. Right now, he has nothing inside and he knows it. Unfortunately, so does every other Big Ten coach who goes against the Illini.
IMO, Bruce is too negative. He gets on these players too much. It seems win or lose all I hear is what someone didn't do or how someone can't do this or that this guy needs to learn how to share the ball. He has taken the confidence away from Brandon Paul an Mike Davis. McCamey plays without a care of what Bruce says and that's not a good thing. True this team is very talented, but when you have a coach that just stays negative and never wants to be positive, then this is the results. that 2005 team had an issue as well with Bruce thats why he had to have a funeral like approach before a game becasue the team wasn't listening to him. They won on their own will to win not because of Bruce coaching them. Bruce doesn't have a track record for coaching big time talent or big time talent high school superstars. If he doesn't learn how to demand the most and also be encouraging and motivating, then his talented teams will just be talented and neverwin anything. I have no problem with his approach and his hard nose attitude, but he needs to stroke these young men's ego and let them play thru mistakes and let them develop a swagger. He needs to understand that while he has control over the team, they also control his job status. And in this day and age, it's about what you have doen for me lately and lately the Bruce Weber Illini aren't winning like they should with the talent they have.
Brian, You are part right, The players need to step it up, BUT Webber has to Keep his mouth shut to the media. He talks to his players through the media. He has caused Davis & Paul to lose all their confidence with his comments. Treat the players with a little respect and they will work for you. Hes got to shut up and coach.
I know it's been popular to rip on Coach Weber this season, but I think these players deserve the blame. This team is as talented as any in the Big 10, but they're just lazy and uninterested when they get any kind of lead. Not to mention they're probably one of the worst defensive teams I can remember since Weber's been at Illinois.