Where Did That Come From? December 3, 2011
I thought we could win this game. I didn’t expect that.
Before the game, in order to win that game, I thought we’d have to grind it out. 59-55, something like that. Keep it close, limit the damage from Sacre and Harris, and find a way to pull it out. I did not expect 82 points. Or 53% shooting. Or an answer for every single Gonzaga run.
The key to the game, to me, were the two bursts after Gonzaga tied it up. We pushed out to a 25-17 lead but let Gonzaga creep back in to tie it at 26. What do we do next? 8-0 run in 55 seconds to push back to an eight point lead.
And then, after halftime, Gonzaga ties it with a layup, but we push away again with a 7-0 run (part of a 14-4 run) that gave us the cushion we needed to hold them off the rest of the second half. Top-25 opponent fights back – we pull away again. I was not expecting that.
So now I have to re-evaluate the way I watch this team. There were so many late-game meltdowns the last few seasons that I have very little confidence in our ability to counterpunch. When Gonzaga fought back to within 2 with eight minutes left, you were probably thinking the same thing I was: great game, but this is a young team – we all know what happens next. What happened next was an 11-4 run to push it back to a 9 point lead.
Which leads me to look at the schedule and think “12-0 heading into the Missouri game is more than possible – it’s probable”. Play like this against UNLV in Chicago, and I think we win. Play like this, and we should hold serve at home against a sneaky St. Bonaventure team. 12-0 heading into a top-20 matchup against Missouri? Yes, please.
What I liked in this game:
Tyler Griffey 2.0
The initial release of Tyler Griffey in late 2009 was encouraging. It appeared to be something we’d be able to implement and use for the next 4 years. But when the 1.1 release came out late last year, it was very bug-y. Slow processing, froze up at just the worst times, didn’t show any of the benefits of the initial release.
But now that the 2.0 release is out, I’m loving it. All of the bugs of the 1.1 release appear to be fixed. Runs much smoother. Hasn’t frozen up a single time. And it comes with this add-on called the JumpStop that’s just a killer addition. I’m already crazy excited about the 3.0 release next year.
DJ and BP3 being DJ and BP3
For this team to be successful, we need DJ to play defense and hit jumpers and we need BP3 to fly around and create offense.
In the game against Gonzaga today, we saw DJ play defense and hit jumpers and we saw BP3 fly around and create offense.
If we can get that consistently, I really like the roles for this starting five. Maniscalco runs the point, creates late, and hits every free throw he sees. DJ is the outside shooter/lockdown defender combo. BP3 runs around on the wing and creates offense off the dribble. Griffey sets picks against man, flashes against zone, hits from the outside, and occasionally uses his new jump-stop to score. And Leonard is our go-to guy down low and our shot blocker at the other end.
I think that lineup is flexible enough to handle a frontcourt like Gonzaga or a backcourt like Missouri. Well, we know the first and are hoping for the second. But having our two junior leaders settling into their roles is a big step towards being prepared for Missouri.
Give me Ibby
I believe the sole purpose of internet message boards to be “find an angle that no one else is taking and then harp on it for months until it becomes your issue”. That, and flame wars. So much fun.
So in the dark corners of the Illini Internet where I hang out, I championed one thing last spring: we do NOT need to spend the last 2011 scholarship on a project big man. Save that scholarship for 2012 and find someone that can help immediately in the fall of 2012. So when Ibby verballed, I was all “WHY DO WE NEED A 3-STAR BIG MAN WHAT ARE WE DOING?”
It took exactly 8 games to realize why we needed a 3-star big man. With Leonard, Griffey, and Egwu all with 2 fouls in the first half, what would we done in this game without Ibrahima Djimde? The box score tells me he only played 12 minutes (good for 6th-best on the team), but it seemed like he played 25. And even though he still has a ways to go on offense, he was HUGE on defense against Sacre.
In fact, I’ll say it this way: had I gotten my way last spring and we’d saved the scholarship for the 2012 class, we lose this game today.
OK. There were a few things I didn’t like today, but why go through those now? This was our best game of the season. I want to go to this Christmas party with my wife and have that cool moment where I forget about this game, then remember this game, and have that “oh yeah, our basketball team is on the way back”. Three weeks ago, I did NOT see that coming.
I really didn’t have the traditional feelings of dread watching this game. I think Maniscalco has completely brainwashed me. As long as #0 is out there, I feel like everything will work out. Plus, this team seems to be wired to protect Weber from himself. They commit a ton of fouls so he’s forced to play a lot of guys. He played 12 today. And the team is deep enough that Weber can’t put an incompetent line up on the floor. He would not/could not put his best 5 on the floor at the same time for the last few seasons. Now, he seems to have the right starting 5 and there really isn’t a ton of drop off when they go to the bench.
However, it’s also early December. The UNLV and the Mizzou games are going to be very telling.
Nice win. Zags are a tad overrated, but Sacre was held in check. DJ and BP3 were great. Meyers played up to his competition (still, I think he might be an idiot. BIG 10 play is going to be a rude awakening for him. It’s possible he fouls out/gets ejected/is benched 50% of the time. Ted Valentine might actually explode the first game he sees Leonard)
Still, good times at Assembly Hall. I want for Christmas is a win against Mizzoo (who’s coach is an evil genius for making it out of that Miami scandal unscathed)
St Bonaventure is 3-3, and has lost to Cleveland State, Arkansas State, and Virginia Tech.
“In fact, I’ll say it this way: had I gotten my way last spring and we’d saved the scholarship for the 2012 class, we lose this game today.”
lulz….his 12 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 point were clearly the difference makers..
Sacre had 14 of his 16 points in the 1st half when Djimde was in there playing minutes. If Djimde wasnt in there…are you claiming Sacre would have scored 25 that half??
Illinois won because they shot 53.3% for the entire game. Shooting like that might happen 1 more time the rest of the season.
lulz….his 12 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 point were clearly the difference makers..
Sacre had 14 of his 16 points in the 1st half when Djimde was in there playing minutes. If Djimde wasnt in there…are you claiming Sacre would have scored 25 that half??
No but Sacre would of gotten 3-4 fouls each on eguw and leonard completely changing the dynamic of the 2nd half. Djimde was huge. Great observations Robert. If Griffy can start making his open 3′s (which he is very capable of doing) our offense could end up being pretty potent.
gerbil…stiletto…ahhhhhh
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Robert, clearly you have wronged Joe John either in this life or a past life. Why bother nitpicking against some piece of analysis you don’t agree with after a fun win like that. Oh well, it’s a free country.
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And the 53.3% shooting was pretty obviously affected by the higher than normal amount of dunks we had due to Mr. Sam Maniscalpo driving and dishing – not just getting lucky with shots falling. What’s not to like in a game like that? I’d rather enjoy it (which I’m doing) and save my griping for a game we actually lose.
I think Joe John might actually be Robert’s darker half incarnate.
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Robert writes the review/prediction/blog and then his dark side takes over and comments negatively in the comments section.
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Yeah that checks out.
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Great win by the Illini. As long as we play like that we have a shot to do some real damage this year. The only thing I worry about now is whether we can maintain this.
re: JoeJohn
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Joe and I have gone ’round and ’round like Ratt for years. He has 2 strikes here, but as long as he doesn’t make things personal, he can continue.
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But as I’ve told him several times, until he says something positive about either the football team or the basketball team, he’s simply the inverse of what he hates. He often rails on posters from other boards (ThaKid, Darrin) for only stating Illini positives. Every recruit is a future star. Every coaching candidate is great. Every team will exceed expectations.
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Joe is simply the opposite. Every recruit will fail. Every coaching candidate is awful. Every team will fail to meet expectations. Joe couldn’t be found on this blog from September 3rd through October 15th. When the Illini are winning, he quite literally has nothing to say.
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But he’s a brilliant troll – and I mean that as a legitimate compliment – he’s brilliant at what he does. He can read my mind and knows how to hit me where it hurts. So I would be a bit sad if he ever disappeared. He’s the Salieri that makes my symphonies great.
I go back & forth over whether Joe John is a real person who enjoys crush films vs. the idea that Robert is a marketing genius who created him. For now, I’m giving Robert the benefit of the doubt. Either way, he sells the blog. Kudos to you, Joe John.
Crunch.
Not JoeJohn’s best work. The 1 point and 1 rebound aren’t very significant, but the 12 minutes are. If Djimde wasn’t in there in the first half, he assuredly would’ve been in the second, because our other bigs would’ve be in foul trouble/out. In that scenario, I don’t think we’d be talking about Sacre being a non-factor in the second half.