Illinois Basketball Preview: #21
October 26th, 2009
by Joel Welser
Illinois Basketball
Overall Rank: #21
Conference Rank: #6 Big Ten Conference
2008-09: 24-10, 11-7
2008-09 postseason: NCAA
Coach: Bruce Weber (152-57 at Illinois, 255-111 overall)
Illinois surprised most people by going into the NCAA Tournament with a 24-9 record. The tournament itself was a disappointment as the Illini headed home early at the hands of Western Kentucky, but overall the season was a success. And now Coach Bruce Weber brings in his most talented recruiting class to date and a trip to the big dance in 2010 will not surprise anybody.
Key Losses: G Calvin Brock, G Chester Frazier, G Trent Meacham
Key Newcomers:
D.J. Richardson, Brandon Paul and Joseph Bertrand will all compete for major playing time on the wing. Richardson is the most polished of the bunch and could step into a starting role right away. Paul is considered to be the best pure scorer and he should be a great spark off the bench if he does not earn a starting spot. Bertrand has shown plenty of potential, but it remains to be seen if he can compete at this level right away. The newcomers in the backcourt will make the biggest impact this year, but Coach Weber also brought in versatile big man Tyler Griffey and returns redshirt freshman Stan Simpson.
Backcourt:
Point guard Chester Frazier, shooting guard Trent Meacham and defensive specialist Calvin Brock were not always the most consistent players around, but they were experienced perimeter players. Now the torch will be passed to the youngsters. Demetri McCamey had a superb sophomore season, ranking second on the team in scoring and assists with 11.5 and 4.6, respectively. This is his team now and he has to mature quickly. Maturing could be a word that also applies to Alex Legion. A disappointment last season, Legion was pretty much a non-factor on a team that could have used a scorer off the bench. If Legion can finally live up to his potential, the Illini backcourt will be in good shape.
Frontcourt:
But it was the play of the frontcourt that led Illinois to the NCAA Tournament last year and it will be again this year. Mike Davis had a superb sophomore season, averaging 11.3 points and a team high 8.1 rebounds. He did not do much as a freshman and pretty much came out of nowhere. With another year of improvement like that, Davis will be averaging a double-double. His partner in the paint is Mike Tisdale. Tisdale lacks the strength and toughness that Davis has, but Tisdale can knock down the mid-range jumper and is the team’s best shot blocker. Barring an injury to Davis or Tisdale, those two alone will make the Fighting Illini competitive in most games.
Who to Watch:
But what makes this frontcourt so dangerous is the depth. Dominique Keller, a junior college transfer last season, showed plenty of promise his first year in Champaign and could turn into an explosive scorer. Bill Cole and Richard Semrau will have to compete with the newcomers for minutes, but both are big bodies and upperclassmen who can give Davis and Tisdale a break.
Final Projection:
McCamey, Davis and Tisdale are all upperclassmen who made big strides between their freshman and sophomore seasons. Now the question is whether or not they can keep it up. The experience should be beneficial, but without the leadership of Frazier there is the possibility that this team can underachieve. That puts a lot of pressure on McCamey to be more than just a scorer…and it would help if Legion could live up to his potential, Davis could stay healthy and Tisdale could add a few pounds.
Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Demetri McCamey, Junior, Guard, 11.5 points per game
D.J. Richardson, Freshman, Guard, DNP last season
Alex Legion, Junior, Guard, 3.5 points per game
Mike Davis, Junior, Forward, 11.3 points per game
Mike Tisdale, Junior, Center, 10.2 points per game
|
Next Top 144 Teams |
||||||||
|
22 |
|
23 |
|
24 |
|
25 |
|
|
|
College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews |
Comments
calvin brock was a very good
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 14:25.
calvin brock was a very good defensive player last year. Dmac did have avery good sophmore season. Did you not watch any of the games???? Alex Legion was one of the most highly rated guards coming out of high school...thats called potential and if he can live up to it then the illni will be in good shape. What is ur beef against keller? You must not get out much...
Are you high dude. Did you
Submitted by Matt K (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 15:19.
Are you high dude. Did you watch any games last year? Calvin Brock was a good defensive player off the bench. He was no scorer, so its no stretch to call him a defensive specialist. McCamey did have a very good sophomore campaign. He was easily our most clutch player and the guy you wanted to have the ball in a close game. Sure, he lacked passion at times, but he still had a very good year as a sophomore. What's the question on Legion. We need him to live up to his potential because he could be our best outside shooter if he perfoms in games like he did in high school/practices.
That was probably the worst set of comments I've ever read, as you have no idea what you are talking about. Must be an Indiana fan or something.
Too High
Submitted by Creamy_Kitten (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 13:33.
The Illini had a decent year last year, but this is a very young team that is relying on a lot of those young unproven players. Tisdale and Davis are skilled but soft...Illinois has to do a better job of recruiting big men, even though they have always been known as a guard-led program. Clemson, Miss. St, Louisville and Georgia Tech will all be better than Illinois.
Wow, you really know very
Submitted by PeoriaSteve (not verified) on Wed, 2009-10-28 11:39.
Wow, you really know very little about the Illini. Let's see, Illini rely too much on unproven players...the Illini will likely start 4 juniors and one freshman. Of the 4 juniors, Davis was 2nd team All Big Ten, McCamey was 3rd team and Tisdale was honorable mention. Davis and Tisdale are soft...maybe you could say that about Tisdale, but Davis not only was 2nd team all Big Ten, he was 2nd in the conference in rebounding!!!! In any case, both have added strength and weight, so will be even better. The Illini play at Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, so we'll just see if the last part of your weak review holds any water.
WOW II
Submitted by larueisbrumby (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 14:16.
this place needs better reviewrs of the reveiwers
dave s is high cuz teh author nailed it
calvin brock was a defense specialist. he shut down eric gordon. he shut down other all big ten players. get a clue
mccamey scored an average of double figures with a great assist to turnover ratio with most assists in the big ten. he had a great year. get a clue. he had a game winning shot and took illini on his shoulders to whup missouri by 20 points. get aclue.
Illini just had there orange and blue scrimmage and alex legion went off for 28 points. get a clue. d.j. richmond had 32 in a previous scrimmage. get a clue. mccamey had 11 dimes in the 32 minute scrimmage. get a clue. the illinois back court is gonna be just fine.
dom keller can shoot the three and shot over 40percent. he can thunda dunk and drive to the basket. get a clue.
every thing you said was wrong dave s........get a clue!
Wow is right and Not Too High
Submitted by Zentrails (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 14:17.
Calvin Brock was indeed the best defensive player on the team after Chet Frazier. He was indeed a lock-down defender last season.
McCamey had a better sophomore season than most sophomores not named Evan Turner. I think superb is a good way to describe it, but just wait until you see what he does this year, superb will be an extreme understatement.
Illinois will be in good shape at guard this season, because they will have three dynamite quick, talented freshman guards, not because of Alex Legion, who is a small forward, not a guard.
The two Mikes are skinny, not soft. This season they will be forces to be reckoned with and this season we have a number of quality (and physically strong) back-ups to relieve them.
Clemson, Miss. St. and Georgia Tech will not be better than the Illini. I'm not sure how good Louisville will be, but I would not be surprised if Illinois is better than them also.
Good luck, you two, in your careers as critics.
You will need it. LOL
WOW III
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 16:41.
Yeah the Mikes are gaining weight. Mike Davis had a bunch of double doubles last year. He was second in Big Ten in rebounds. U aint soft when u are second in the big ten in rebounds.
Tisdale had a lot of blocks. I will take my 7 foot 1 center blocking youre 6 foot 6 strong center any day and twice on sundays!!!
McCamey is catching on and he was 3rd team all big ten as a sophomore. not bad at all.
Legion and Paul and D.J. Richardson are lighting it up in scrimmage.
Illini
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 16:46.
Mike Tisdale has the sweetest jumper in the NCAA and he is a 7'1" center. He outplayed BJ Mullins (lottery draft pick) in two games, outplayed the NBA centers to be from Tulsa and the one from Vandabilt.
Good write up...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 17:39.
This team could do great this year, or miss the tournament, though that's highly unlikely. Very good incoming talent and lots of experience mixed together. This is a team that will probably have good chemistry, so that's another plus.
Potential problems are that the frosh take time to acclimate to Div. 1 basketball and that Coach Weber hasn't improved his out-of-bounds plays and hasn't figured out how to avoid those possessions where someone has to loft a hail mary as the shot clock runs out.
Should be an exciting season!
He is from Michigan
Submitted by jonbradley (not verified) on Tue, 2009-10-27 17:51.
Joel, the author, is from Michigan not as bad as Indiana but close. He went to school out in California and hung out with all the west coast "fruitcakes" and "dandies" and wanted to be a screen writer. Did not manage that, so he comes back and burdens us with his ill-informed reporting in a soon to be futile attempt to be a sportswriter? Where is your next stop Joel??? jcb
illini basketball
Submitted by Anonymous lou (not verified) on Sat, 2010-01-02 12:09.
Bruce needs to play Simpson and Semaru more to give the other big men a break sometimes. They need the game experience, he is making a mistake by not playing them. In big 10 play on the road they always call fouls early on your big men and your best player to help control the game. But a team needs depth and you must develop the players that you have. That will be Illini problem as the season progressive. They could use the rebounding help to off the bench.
Add comment
 |
Retro College Cuts loves college basketball! That is why they are awarding a FREE trip to Las Vegas for the first weekend of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. |
|
More CHN Articles
Daily Recap
by Raphielle Johnson
>>
 |
|
|
SPONSORS
|
|
About Joel Welser
Columnist
College Preview Editor
Contact
jwelser@collegehoops.net
Background
"Joel Welser does a tremendous job covering college basketball. He gives his readers knowledgeable and insightful information on college hoops." -Ernie Zeigler, Head Basketball Coach, Central Michigan University "Joel Welser writes clean, knowledgeable copy that always hits deadline." -Greg Eno, former editor-in-chief, Motor City Sports Magazine Growing up in Michigan, Joel Welser inherited a love for Big Ten sports. After defying all family traditions and not going to Michigan State, Joel headed out west to earn his bachelor degree from California State University, Northridge in Cinema Television Arts, specializing in screenwriting. For reasons still unknown, after his stint in Hollywood, Joel headed back to Michigan where he remains to this day complaining about the cold. Joel has found a successful formula with the popular top 144 series at collegehoops.net and has also written college football and college basketball previews and articles for various websites and magazines.
Location
Portage, MI
Wow
This is possibly the worst preview I have ever read. The key newcomers paragraph is the only one that isn't completely off base and retarded. Calvin Brock a defensive specialist?!?!?! Demetri McCamey had a superb sophomore season?!?!?! If Legion can finally live up to his potential, the Illini backcourt will be in good shape?!?! I don't even know what to say about Keller.... Please, the next time you have someone do a preview of a team, please make it someone that watched at least one game from the season prior.... Christ