Ruminations, Haunts, and Errors

Roger Powell couldn’t establish an inside presence. James Augustine didn’t play long enough to begin to help. Too many bad shots in the first half. Too many good shots that simply didn’t fall in the second (hell, just the last 90 seconds!). Play by the Williams-Brown-Head tandem that wasn’t as crisp and smart as usual.

Yet with all that, the Illini managed to roar back from 15 down to tie it late, and made the Tar Heels play hard for 39:57 to earn their victory.

A disappointing end leaves a somewhat bitter taste, but that doesn’t completely erase what a wonderful season this has been. There’s no shame in defeat that happens in the last few seconds of the last possible game. Hail to the orange, hail to the blue!

First time ever in the national championship game. Tied the all-time NCAA mens’ record for victories in a season–and obviously the chance to set a new one. Three (Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head) of the five players on the all-Big 10 team. Astounding ratios of assists to turnovers (709/420) and field goals (709/1065). Loud statement games against Wake Forest, Wisconsin, and Michigan State… not to mention the comeback in the regional final against Arizona. Yep, it’s been quite a special season for Illinois basketball, no matter what happens against the Tar Heels.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino gave a very succinct summary of what has made this team such a joy to watch this season (apart from all the winning, of course):

I don’t know if they necessarily had the greatest talent I’ve seen at a Final Four, but they’re the best team I’ve seen in some time.

And, if there needed to be any more proof of what an amazing season this has been…tomorrow I will view the Cubs’ season opener as an event of only secondary importance for the first time that I can remember!

I think my heart has finally started beating normally again. Wow!

With 4:04 left, Arizona was up 74-60 and this game looked to be over. While the loss to Ohio St. was sorta fluky, this one seemed to be a loss earned on merit: no inside presence to speak of, terrible rebounding. Only hot shooting from the perimeter and solid defense kept them even within shouting distance of the Wildcats.

Then it happened…a flurry of steals and treys, and suddenly it was all tied up again at 80 with 0:38 left in regulation. It was such an uncharacteristic position from Illinois, an unbelievable change in momentum, and a blur of activity that not until well afterwards, when my mind had calmed again and the despair had did I appreciate what an amazing display of gritty defense and hustling offense that it turned out to be.

I didn’t even really enjoy the outcome at first. Leading 90-89, I saw Arizona’s last shot go up and had a moment of glee when it bounced off the rim and apparently into Illini hands…then it was on the floor, a scuffle, and up again. Out of the corner of my eye it appeared the shot went up with 0.8 seconds left, and my heart sank with the ball through the net. Only then did I realize that time had expired before the shot (replays showed that it wasn’t even close in that regard).

What a finish! An bigger margin and an ending in regulation would have allowed me to enjoy it more immediately, but I at least got some whoops and high-fives from other fans on Southport. Some are already comparing this finish to the epic ending of the Duke-Kentucky regional final in 1992. On to St. Louis!

Illinois 67, Fairleigh Dickinson 55…but only after a struggle.

The downside of having the #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is that the first-round game is simply no fun to watch. Blowout by halftime? Bo-ring! Twelve-point win? Well, shouldn’t the margin have been bigger? And if, say, the #1 team were to spend the first half shooting poorly, rebounding worse, and generally getting out-hustled to lead by just a slim point, then said team’s fans spend the next half-hour worrying about becoming That Team, you know, the first one ever to actually lose to the #16 seed. Thus, a win in this opening-round game is at best a foregone conclusion or at worst simple relief. Not a whole lot of joy in either case.

Ah, well, one round down. Hopefully the Illini who showed up in the second half will take the floor against Nevada for all 40 minutes.

A long 3-pointer gives the Buckeyes a 65-64 win, and thus the Illini win streak and quest for a perfect season comes to an end. I’ve been a bit uneasy about this game for the last couple weeks, since apart from the bid for history the game meant nothing for Illinois, while it meant everything for Ohio State: the chance to be giant killers on their home floor, thus putting something honorable in a season where sanctions will prevent them from heading to the NCAA Tournament.

The Buckeyes have a solid team this season, but in truth the Illini simply lost this game. With a 12-point lead midway through the second half, something changed…I couldn’t believe it was the same team I’ve seen all season. Instead of crisp passes, motion, and good looks at the basket they got sloppy (7 turnovers) and took low-percentage shots with few players in position for an offensive rebound. Their penultimate possession is a perfect example of what went wrong: faced with the opportunity to ensure a two-possession game with under 45 seconds left, they tried to run down the shot clock (good) but put no one in motion, made no decent passes, and ended up shooting a brick with only white jerseys in the paint.

Ah, well, 29-1 is still damn impressive, and unless Illinois gets their clocks cleaned in the Big Ten quarterfinals they are probably still assured of a #1 seed whether or not they win the conference tourney.

They may have fallen short of total perfection, but a perfect record over three weekends in March and April is still possible and would make today’s result just a footnote.

Coming off a lackadaisical win against the Hoosiers on Sunday and only having a two-day turnaround between a road game at Michigan, I was a bit uneasy regarding the Illini’s chances in the game tonight. Even with a depleted Wolverines team in a six-game free fall the conditions seemed ripe for an upset. Scarily, Illinois trailed by 4 at halftime, 8 with 14:50 left, and went nearly twelve minutes without a field goal…but again fundamentals came to the rescue. Sure, Dee Brown–the One-Man Fast Break–provided the spark, but I’m sure the players and coaches will agree that the Illini’s 12-24 FT shooting and holding Michigan without a basket for over six minutes are what turned the tide. 57-51? Ugly game, this team sorely needs some rest.

Yet…they’re 24-0, and with Boston College losing to Notre Dame just a few counties (and one state line) over, Illinois remains the lone unbeaten team in Division I.

22-0 now. This was supposed to be another tough test, but after an 8-0 Illinois run wiped out an early deficit, the Spartans never got closer than three, and that required a furious effort on their part to open the second half. Again the Illini seemed always in the right spot defensively, passed the ball around, made free throws, shot (and made) high-percentage shots…it was almost pedestrian in its way, just another all-around impressive display of the Right Way to play basketball. They make it look so effortless sometimes, it’s almost scary to realize one must step back to appreciate how unusual and special this season has been so far. Sure, having the starting guards drain 3s left and right, then watching a team make every field goal for twelve straight minutes of game time are impressive, but even more so is just to admire how talent and practice have aligned to produce a consistently high quality of execution.

(As a snide remark, I always chuckle when I see Michigan State’s major teams play, for the uniforms and parephenalia for several sports simply says ‘State’. Wow, that vague, generic name will really get the fans fired up, huh? I can’t help but think of Blutarski in his sweatshirt that simply said ‘College’.)

20-0! Wisconsin had won 38 straight at home (last losing in December of 2002) but that history wasn’t quite enough. I’ll admit that I thought it was starting to look bleak for Illinois midway through the second half–Badgers up by 8, the Illini frequently turning the ball over and shooting poorly–but when Richard McBride drained a trey from the deep corner the sense of an impending momentum shift was palpable. It seemed to snap them out of a trance…and they slowly but surely crawled back to tie, then lead, then pull away.

Proof it’s the little things: Illinois hit 17 of 19 free throws, Wisconsin only made 5 of 12. Illini win by 10. Hmm.

Illinois snapped an impressive win streak with a hard-fought game. Unless they inexplicably fall at home to Minnesota on Saturday, think that lone AP voter who placed Duke at #1 on his or her ballot might reconsider for next week’s poll?

I figured it would be a tough test when Iowa came to play the Illini tonight, but I didn’t expect overtime! Again, it appears that the depth and poise of this Illinois team allowed them to bend–more than they have against any other team this season–but not break. The Hawkeyes are a top-25 team, a bitter rival (I still remember the ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Go To Iowa’ t-shirts from college :), and they brought their A-game.

Tonight was the Illini’s worst shooting effort of the season, after several games in which their percentages have been going downward, but this seems in line with a pattern they’ve established in recent years: impressive play during the non-conference portion followed a few stumbles early in Big Ten play. In previous years they’ve recovered to play solid all the way to the conference and NCAA tourneys. Perhaps a couple more of these tough games–and each one will get tougher the longer they stay undefeated–are good things that will harden the team enough to withstand the pressure of winning six straight when it counts in March.

Given their current #1 ranking and the lesser talent (and active strength) of Penn State, Illinois’ 90-64 win at home tonight might be kind of ho-hum, except that

• The win pushes their record to 17-0, matching the 1988-89 ‘Flying Illini’ team for best start in school history.
• They drained a school-record 15 3-pointers, with 5 each from Dee Brown and Luther Head.
• They became only the 15th team in NCAA history with 1500 wins.

A win in Evanston on Saturday would make it a nifty 18-0, but rather than taking possession of the best-start-to-a-season record I hope the team has its eyes focused more on matching the ‘89 team’s Final Four appearance.

But still…Hail to the Orange! Hail to the Blue!

Wow, the Illini sure took Wake Forest to task tonight! I expected a closer game, but the orange and blue were throwing pretty shots and prettier passes all around the floor and the game was essentially over by halftime…methinks the chant of ‘O-ver-rat-ed!’ that started up early in the second half was quite appropriate. Should be a new number 1 next week, perhaps a certain squad from Champaign? Hopefully this game will be an extra confidence boost, and it will certainly look good come tourney seeding time in March.

Boy, that was a whole lot of orange in Assembly Hall, and that was some jacket Coach Weber was wearing. Add in the coaching staff’s orange ties and the players’ orange unis, and the effect was obnoxious but impressive in its way.

Ah, it’s nice to have one of my teams at the forefront of it’s sport again, there’s been not much to get excited about since the Cubbies collapsed back in September. And college basketball conveniently wraps up right at the end of Spring Training…

Hey, look! The Illini won their second game of the season, so they’re already vastly improved from last year’s debacle. I would have thought that it wouldn’t take a last-minute touchdown to beat the likes of Western Michigan, but I suppose that MAC teams aren’t pushovers and the talent on the Orange and Blue side is less than overwhelming. I’m still not confident in having much to watch between the end of the World Series and the start of college basketball season. Can someone find a way to clone Kurt Kittner and bring some excitement (and winning) back to Memorial Stadium?