Tag: Illinois

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Illini Basketball

Working Trip

Suzuki Method fiddlers gathered at center-court, moments before the tip-off of Northwestern’s annual orange invasion. Both teams formed a single-file line, facing each other.

The children bowed their instruments, commemorating a flag that was still there.

Elyjah Williams did not foul Kofi Cockburn here.

Elyjah Williams looked over his shoulder, and spotted a fivesome of six year-olds in kimonos, or whatever martial artists wear. Karate kids. He motioned them toward him. They stepped into the line, between Williams and Pete Nance. He looked down at the youngsters, placed his hand on his heart, and turned back toward the Star Spangled Banner. The kids copied his motions.

Kofi Cockburn releases a shot, Da’Monte Williams sees a path to the basket
Da’Monte navigates a path between Greer & Audige

I don’t remember thinking I’m gonna root for this guy from here on out. I thought it was a nice gesture. I got the idea that he’s a good guy, and that he thinks of others. And then the fiddling stopped and the game began.

Tracking the trajectory

As I watched Williams frustrate Kofi Cockburn, I wasn’t rooting for him. I thought it was kind of funny, because Elyjah obviously had a good attitude about his mountain-sized task.

Kofi broke into a smile momentarily, after some shit-talking. I appreciated that Kofi appreciated Elyjah.

I feel like I’ve written “Kofi is a kind & sensitive person” enough, and I don’t want to be boring. But did I say it enough?

I enjoyed watching two kind, sensitive and enormous people battle vigorously. At an elite level might say this one coach I know.

It’s been a strenuous time in America. These moments gave me some hope.

Meanwhile, Da’Monte continued his years long slog at proving the value of hard work.

It was demonstrably the best moment of the day for Illini fans. But because it was so needed, so necessary; a lot of Illini fans are feeling down about their team.

Maybe that’s appropriate. The #EveryDayGuys have been plenty bad on most recent days. But they closed the deal against Michigan, Michigan State, and this group of NUrds that’s played everyone close, but hasn’t learned how to close the deal.

It took Chris Collins to remind everyone, in 13 heartfelt minutes, how good this Illini team is. How hard it is to shut them down. And how good his Wildcat team is. And how they shut the Illini down,

You’ll feel better for watching it. And it’ll make you feel better about the Illinois performance at Welsh-Ryan.

Categories
Illini Basketball

Terrapin Soup

Feel like celebrating after Illinois’ 64-57 win?

Happy they beat a ranked team?

Go ahead. Enjoy it.

In a lot of ways, it was an improvement on the last couple of games.

In one very important way, it was not. The Illini tried to puke on their shoes again, but Maryland refused to be outshittyed. The Terps saw our bad pass, and raised us a kick it out of bounds.

Where Ohio State and Michigan took advantage, Maryland fainted.

By this point in the season, all Illini fans and perhaps even John Groce have figured out that one very important way. Groce made major and minor changes on Wednesday, to forestall that way of losing games.

It sufficed.

Malcolm Hill buried most of his shots, just like he usually does.

Jaylon Tate moved the ball, and exploited defensive weaknesses, just like usual.

Nnanna Egwu hustled to fill every gap, just like he always does.

The obvious difference between this game and astonishing collapses at Ann Arbor and Columbus is this: When Illinois offered the opportunity for its opponent to crawl back into the game, it got no response, until it was too late.

Enough changed for Illinois to win.

Enough stayed the same for Illinois to win.

Maryland clearly didn’t want to win. But because Mark Turgeon is an excellent tactician, Maryland nearly completed a miraculous comeback.

At one point in the second half, the Terrapins were shooting 40% on free throws. They finished at 56%.

A late barrage from three raised the Terps’ long-range percentage to an admirable 43%.  For most of the game, Terp shots dented the rim from all distances.

Jaylon Tate’s free throws — combined with Kendrick Nunn’s and Ahmad Starks’s refusal to panic — saved the game when Turgeon’s tactics threatened a third consecutive collapse.

John Groce did enough with rotations — and especially with constant defensive switches — to allay new-found accusations of managerial incompetence.

Ahmad Starks shot his traditional 1-for-x from the floor, as did Aaron Cosby.

But Starks’s game was among his best as an Illini.

Using speed, strength and floor vision; Starks keyed the second-half pile-on by exploiting advantageous spacing, with timely passes, a steal, three rebounds, and a fuck y’all attitude toward Maryland’s antagonistic trash talkers.

Cosby was not as awful as every statistic, comment & write-up will suggest. He contributed some good things.

Still, he made little argument from the “players play players” perspective, which John Groce continues to preach while largely failing to practice.

STRIPES

Interesting back-and-forth between Mike Eades and John Groce, throughout the night.

The two spent some time together in the tunnel at Miami, after the game. Groce remarked then that Eades is a good official. There’s obviously a rapport between them.

As the touch fouls accumulated against Illinois (mostly whistled by Terry Oglesby), Groce demanded that the Illini get a call next time a Terrapin breathed on him too hard.

“John!” Eades exclaimed, getting the coach’s attention. “We got the message.”

Groce’s next apoplexy came when Ahmad Starks was not awarded two shots when fouled while passing the ball. “John, he was passing the ball” Oglesby explained. Courtside fans joined in the nonsensical, misguided harassment.

I prefer to reserve referee criticism for those moments when the referees are obviously wrong, rather than when they’re obviously right. It just seems more logical, and credible.

 

Illinois won this game because Maryland coughed up this game. That’s fair. Illinois coughed up its previous two B1G contests.

Naturally, dominance would feel more satisfying. But at this point, in a season on a brink, one takes what one can get.

John Groce continued to allow freedom to his players, did not blame them for his shortcomings, and did not fail to provide them with a game plan while simultaneously criticizing them for not having a game plan.

Categories
Illini basketball

The Jalen Brunson Weekend

In the long run, the biggest news from Labor Day Weekend 2014 will have little to do with Jalen Brunson: Allison Groce is expecting her third child. The due date is March 18, “right between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA’s” she notes.

And if Abraham* Groce does not choose to vacate the womb early, March 18 will be his birthday: With John Groce on the road for half the year, even live birth must be scheduled months in advance. Thus, as with the succesful debuts of Conner and Camden, Groce child #3’s delivery will be induced.

 

A note to the H8erz Gonna H8 crowd: Yes, I asked Allison if her happy news was fit for publication.  She laughed it off. “I already posted it on Facebook.”

Now, about Jalen Brunson.

If it weren’t for those famously silly NCAA rules about publicizing recruiting activities; the Illini coaching staff would be delighted to share its vision of Jalen Brunson’s future. But they can’t.  The Brunsons themselves were off-limits to the media during Jalen’s Official Visit, per those same silly rules.

Thank god for pictures. They say a thousand words. So here are twenty-thousand words.

Mark Morris, as Director of Basketball Operations, had the responsibility of coordinating movements around town, and picking up all the tabs. (Official Visits are the one and only time a basketball program can pay for benefits to families, including travel expenses, lodging and meals.)

Mike LaTulip and Aaron Jordan ran point on Brunson, from the player’s perspective. Paris Parham took the lead on Rick Brunson.

Old friend Rob Jordan and new friends Laura & Jeff Finke made Sandra Brunson feel like family.

LaTulip is perfect in this role. He can articulate the offensive and defensive principles of John Groce’s system, perhaps better than anyone else in the program, and from a Point Guard’s perspective.  Mike is a team favorite, considered  by his teammates to be the funniest guy among them.

Mike Basgier did not attend the football game, and Ryan Pedon was Best Manning a wedding. But the rest of the coaching staff was on hand, plus the Groce and Parham families.

Parham is streetwise. Despite a devilish sense of humor, he’s capable of communicating the lay of the land to an old-pro like Rick Brunson, whose BS-detector is well-honed from his own college and professional basketball career.

John Groce is ultimately the most important figure in this recruitment. But Rob Jordan is the wild card.

Aaron’s dad is sincere and lighthearted. But he’s nobody’s fool. His relationship with the Brunsons goes back years. His understanding of the process, and his faith in the direction of the program, may be the most important intangibles in determining the final verdict.

 

*This is just my hunch at a name.  “Caleb” seems possible as well. Or “Catherine.”