#14 Purdue 81 Illinois 70

[Bravesfan]

This was a pretty lame performance by the Illini in the second half as Purdue outscores Illinois 54-38 in the second half at the Assembly Hall and loses 81-70. The normally raucous Illini crowd sounded like a morgue most of the second half. And Illinois guard Demetri McCamey obviously decided not to show up today as he stunk up the joint, save a couple of Purdue turnovers he was credited with late in the game. All in all, the Illini certainly do not have the feel of an NCAA Tournament team right now.

It's getting hot all the way up in Chicago as I can already feel the heat from the Bruce Weber "hot seat" and Illini meltdown threads all the way up here!

[Da Coach]

I watched, and was also really disappointed in Illinois. Now that the talent level has improved, and Bruce Weber continues getting the top kids in Illinois every year, they should be able to compete with these Big Ten teams, especially at home. The top teams in the Big Ten do not appear to have superior talent, but the difference in the teams' play was noticeable.
Though I think Weber is an outstanding coach, I can't fully explain why they fall flat so frequently against good teams, and can't do better than this. I think the heat might start to build on BW himself from the fan base.

[LittleBrave]

Illinois' performance in the 2nd half was horrendous. They looked like we did in the first half of the Valley season - getting outrebounded, out-muscled, out-smarted, etc.
They had a stretch of about 5 min. where they couldn't have looked worse.
I'm watching the same thing from UNI right now (on tape from last night), as UNI has totally fallen apart from the 9 min. mark.

[tornado]

For those who picked Illinois to get an NCAA bid:
..you might be disappointed...


For those who claimed confidently that Northwestern was an NCAA team:
Whoa -- take a look at today's score...they're losing to Penn State 45-20!
They will drop to 4-9 and be only a game ahead of last place Indiana.
Speaking of Indiana -- there were some who were so bold as to claim the Hoosiers might also get an NCAA bid this year -- and if not, at least an NIT bid.
I doubt the last place team in the Big Ten is even going to get a CBI bid!

[Bravesfan]

I watched, and was also really disappointed in Illinois. Now that the talent level has improved, and Bruce Weber continues getting the top kids in Illinois every year, they should be able to compete with these Big Ten teams, especially at home. The top teams in the Big Ten do not appear to have superior talent, but the difference in the teams' play was noticeable.
Though I think Weber is an outstanding coach, I can't fully explain why they fall flat so frequently against good teams, and can't do better than this. I think the heat might start to build on BW himself from the fan base.

I think Weber is a great coach as well, which is why it is highly unfair that there is so much support for the "Bruce Weber must go" threads that I am sure are ongoing at this moment on their message boards. I'm not sure why he can't get his team to play at a higher level either.

Obviously there is more to coaching than just X's and O's, and maybe it's communicating with the players. But hearing Weber in post game news conferences and interviews, I don't know how much more plain he can be in expressing to his players what needs to be done. And for that, I think it would be highly unfair to fire a coach just because some players refuse to listen or don't care, unless you have a nut job Larry Eustachy type alienating the team. But from what I see Weber certainly would not fall into a Larry Eustachy type of coach. Sure he may shout at the players at times, but I would hate to think that's the reason why a few players seem to be tuning him out. What do we need, only coaches that coddle their players and aren't allowed to yell at anyone?!

Maybe it's the PC climate in today's modern lifestyle that keeps certain players from not reaching or not even caring to reach their potential. And no coach will be able to solve that problem, unless Illini fans think "zenmaster" Phil Jackson would be a great "calming" college coach, this despite the fact that he got on Luc Longley and Toni Kukoc quite a bit when he was coaching the Bulls!

[Bravesfan]

Illinois' performance in the 2nd half was horrendous. They looked like we did in the first half of the Valley season - getting outrebounded, out-muscled, out-smarted, etc.
They had a stretch of about 5 min. where they couldn't have looked worse.
I'm watching the same thing from UNI right now (on tape from last night), as UNI has totally fallen apart from the 9 min. mark.

That UNI performance last night was even more dreadful than the Illini's performance today! Talk about a team folding the tent! UNI was outscored 23-1 right after they completed an 18-4 run themselves! Not a good performance on national tv last night.

[tangjar1]

Illini

I'm sorry to say this about my 2nd favorite team, but I think the Illini will be better w/o Tisdale, Demitri, & Davis. They don't show up for every game, making me think they are either mentally or physically soft, or both. These three should be at their very best with their careers winding down, but seem to be going the other way. Davis had a nice game today, but where were the other two? They all seem to be nice young men, but don't seem to have the "edge" needed to win consistently at this level.

[Bravesfan]

For those who picked Illinois to get an NCAA bid:
..you might be disappointed...


For those who claimed confidently that Northwestern was an NCAA team:
Whoa -- take a look at today's score...they're losing to Penn State 45-20!
They will drop to 4-9 and be only a game ahead of last place Indiana.
Speaking of Indiana -- there were some who were so bold as to claim the Hoosiers might also get an NCAA bid this year -- and if not, at least an NIT bid.
I doubt the last place team in the Big Ten is even going to get a CBI bid!

The Big Ten certainly looks weak all of the sudden. Teams beating each other up only works to their advantage when you have an even balance of power within the conference, or have a top heavy type of conference where there are five or six strong teams well ahead of the bottom feeders, similar to the Valley in 2006. But the Big Ten so far has just three teams above .500 now this late in the season. And if the season ended today, I think the Big Ten is just a three bid league. With nothing to distinguish those middle four or five teams, nothing short of a semifinal run in the Big Ten tournament would get a fourth Big Ten team into the NCAA Tournament.

Now there is still plenty of time for a team or two to play their way back into tournament contention, but I would NOT take Illinois or Michigan St. at this time. 10-8 for each should be enough, but anything above a 7 seed for these two teams would be a travesty!

[bugregshu]

I'm sorry to say this about my 2nd favorite team, but I think the Illini will be better w/o Tisdale, Demitri, & Davis. They don't show up for every game, making me think they are either mentally or physically soft, or both. These three should be at their very best with their careers winding down, but seem to be going the other way. Davis had a nice game today, but where were the other two? They all seem to be nice young men, but don't seem to have the "edge" needed to win consistently at this level.

I'm not sure they will be better by losing 3 starters. They're going to have to play small next year, as Meyers Leonard is their only true post player coming back next year, and he is still only logging 9 minutes a game. Tyler Griffey is 6'8", but he's more of a Bill Cole type and likes playing outside and avoiding contact inside. Unless Egwu or Shaw are coming in as college-ready freshmen (which I doubt, they both need the weight room), then Illinois is going to have continued struggles inside. OTOH, their guard play should be pretty good, and most of their players are capable of playing great defense.

[real fan]

I'm sorry to say this about my 2nd favorite team, but I think the Illini will be better w/o Tisdale, Demitri, & Davis. They don't show up for every game, making me think they are either mentally or physically soft, or both. These three should be at their very best with their careers winding down, but seem to be going the other way. Davis had a nice game today, but where were the other two? They all seem to be nice young men, but don't seem to have the "edge" needed to win consistently at this level.

McCamey is over rated and you cannot beat good teams without a consistent point guard, he is a shoot first pass 2nd type of player.

[tangjar1]

I'm not sure they will be better by losing 3 starters. They're going to have to play small next year, as Meyers Leonard is their only true post player coming back next year, and he is still only logging 9 minutes a game. Tyler Griffey is 6'8", but he's more of a Bill Cole type and likes playing outside and avoiding contact inside. Unless Egwu or Shaw are coming in as college-ready freshmen (which I doubt, they both need the weight room), then Illinois is going to have continued struggles inside. OTOH, their guard play should be pretty good, and most of their players are capable of playing great defense.

You may be correct. We will know next year. But I am frustrated by what appears to be a lack of consistent effort from these 3 seniors, who, by most accounts, should be better than we have seen from them. JMHO.

[bugregshu]

You may be correct. We will know next year. But I am frustrated by what appears to be a lack of consistent effort from these 3 seniors, who, by most accounts, should be better than we have seen from them. JMHO.

I agree with you 100%. I think most people saw what McCamey, Tisdale, and Davis were able to do a couple year ago and thought that their ceilings were incredibly high. In reality, it looks like theyve all reached those ceilings earlier than most thought, and they weren't nearly as high as everyone had hoped.

[tangjar1]

I agree with you 100%. I think most people saw what McCamey, Tisdale, and Davis were able to do a couple year ago and thought that their ceilings were incredibly high. In reality, it looks like theyve all reached those ceilings earlier than most thought, and they weren't nearly as high as everyone had hoped.

You have summed it up better than I could have. They peaked sooner than we all would have wanted as fans of the program. I'm hoping for better things going foward for both the Illini and, of course, BU.

[bert notorius]

Purdue is way more athletic than IL almost to a man.
McC couldn't get an uncontested shot or layup.
Leonard is going to have to be more of a finesse post player.
What IL needs is a power post player.
Matta finds them, all the time.

This really looks like a coaching failure.