Illinois basketball fans

[TheGame414]

Weird.

To the surprise of no one, Mike Shaw committed to Illinois today. Good shit.

[IlliniFan]

McCamey made an appearance on...Judge Mathis

Who found that and what's he doing there?

[TheGame414]

I have a gut feeling we close out our 2011 recruiting class this weekend with Devin Langford. I have no inside info, just my gut feeling here. I really know nothing about him other than he has good size and athleticism and according to Rivals has offers from Maryland, Auburn, Alabama and Georgia. He kinda sounds like a Joseph Bertrand clone, except maybe bigger.

But he's liked Illinois for some time despite the lack of an offer and I think he commits when he gets one. An Alabama kid that has no otherwise ties to Illinois that's stayed interested in us despite not having an unconditional offer that's coming to visit as soon as our No. 1 (remaining) guard priority committed elsewehre?

I think he gets an offer and commits soon. Again, just a gut call.

[InspiredLebowski]

Who found that and what's he doing there?

It was on a Purdue blog, he was just there to watch I guess.

Also, in regards to Randle, bummer he chose Stanford of course, but I agree with Game, the kid's a complete class act that handled his recruitment in an incredibly mature manner. Generally there's a bit of short lived animosity towards a kid who spurns your offer, at least for me, but it's hard to get mad at Randle. On to the unlikely recruitment of Amir Williams, which'd be an odd get for Purdue after getting in on him so late.

[IlliniFan]

After watching the replay of those exhibitions on BTN, I'm not really sure what to think of this team. I understand that Weber was experimenting with lineups and the games don't count, but with the talent we have neither of those games should have been close, especially the second one after they got a wake up call in that first game. I hope we see a better performance for the season opener.

I highly doubt Weber uses an 11 man lineup during the season though. I think he will go as deep as 9, with the 9th being Crandall Head, and the 2 odd men out being Bertrand and Cole.

[YAH trick YAH]

Unfortunately, I don't see Weber not playing Cole even though he isn't very good

[ILLsmak]

Unfortunately, I don't see Weber not playing Cole even though he isn't very good

Especially since he's a Senior and he was a starter last year. I think Griffey might be left out, if anyone, even though I like his game.

I could see him (Griffey) being a swap in for when some of the bigs get in foul trouble or when Mike Davis is not doing what Bruce wants him to.

-Smak

[TheGame414]

Unfortunately, I don't see Weber not playing Cole even though he isn't very good

He's one of the best help defenders on the team and on a team where the best shooter is your 7'1" center, he's a three-point threat that can play a perimeter spot at 6'9". He belongs in the rotation, but hopefully Richmond and Paul play well enough that it's only 12-14 minutes a game.

I went to the first exhibition game and had no reaction at all. Too many expiremental lineups- Crandall Head playing point guard for a big chunk of the first half, for example- everyone playing extended minutes, guys feeling out new roles.

But Weber said it himself, this team needs to figure out its identity. I truly believe Bruce wants to be deep and wants to run and score 75-80 points a game, but they have to rebound and defend at a high level to do it.

So I think the best reaction to the exhibition games is to not react, but take note that this team isn't here yet. And that's fine, because it's November 6th. Hell, Syracuse lost an exhibition game last year and was a No. 1 seed.

[TheGame414]

Especially since he's a Senior and he was a starter last year. I think Griffey might be left out, if anyone, even though I like his game.

I could see him (Griffey) being a swap in for when some of the bigs get in foul trouble or when Mike Davis is not doing what Bruce wants him to.

-Smak

I think you might be right about Griffey, especially if ballhandling is an issue and Weber wants a three-guard lineup a lot of the time and puts Cole or Richmond at the 4 when Davis is out.

[TheGame414]

Richmond and McCamey both ranked among Chad Ford's top five NBA prospects from the Big Ten.

ESPN Insider

[TheGame414]

Just watched the first half, liked the defensive effort and ball movement, and obviously BP3 lighting it up was fun to watch. Now what will really be fun to watch is if on Wednesday night, he waits a moment for the defender to come at him and he attacks the rim. If he wants to do that and be physical, he'll be really hard to stop.

Not gonna bother with the second half, because I don't think there's much to learn from it. The important thing was they came out strong after two lackluster exhibition games and defended well, moved the ball and were energetic. After building a 28-point lead in the first 16 minutes against an overmatched opponent, there's really not much else to see.

[ILLsmak]

Just watched the first half, liked the defensive effort and ball movement, and obviously BP3 lighting it up was fun to watch. Now what will really be fun to watch is if on Wednesday night, he waits a moment for the defender to come at him and he attacks the rim. If he wants to do that and be physical, he'll be really hard to stop.

Not gonna bother with the second half, because I don't think there's much to learn from it. The important thing was they came out strong after two lackluster exhibition games and defended well, moved the ball and were energetic. After building a 28-point lead in the first 16 minutes against an overmatched opponent, there's really not much else to see.

Yea they scrubbed around in the 2nd...

McCamey was playing great, despite his stat-line. He did everything I could ever want him to do. Even passed up a few shots I thought he should have taken to run offense. He played like a great PG and even gave the ball up and ran off ball coming off screens. Was a joy to watch.

Tisdale and Davis... are gonna get worked if we ever face a team with good bigs, though. Every year I think Davis is gonna come out with something and he doesn't. He is always talking about how he's gonna be a great rebounder, and he's not. He gets numbers rebounding, though, but mostly it's just defensive ones. I was surprised at how well that 6'5 guy boxed out our bigs.

We have such a great team. Dickie S. (great basketball mind... looool) compared McCamey's role to Rondo in that he's got so much talent around him, he just has to decide who to get the ball to at what time and in what position, and I agree. Obviously McCamey is still our best offensive player, too... but I think we can live without him looking for his shot. He needs to use his threat of scoring as a way to get others involved, and he did. But he's still gonna get his numbers, too, I'm sure.

In terms of talent, we have a great team. Leonard is a monster... too bad he's not our starting C.

-Smak

[IlliniFan]

I honestly don't see Griffey being left out of the rotation going into the season. He's one of the hardest workers on the team from what I've read and he will earn his minutes. Weber used all 11 guys last night, but he's definitely going to tighten it up as we start facing more legit competition. I can say with some certainty that Bertrand is going to be at the end of the bench. That leaves 10. Will Weber regularly use a rotation that deep? Will be interesting to see what happense once when we get into Big 10 play.

[TheGame414]

Mike Davis has said multiple times that he wants to hit the offensive glass harder this year; we'll see. But he remains one of the best defensive rebounders in college basketball, in any case. Davis and Tisdale are what they are; they're never going to be overpowering. But it's important to remember that they present matchup problems for most opposing frontcourts themselves: Davis with his ahleticism and shooting out to 18 feet, and Tiz with his inside-out ability at 7'1". Some frontcourts will out- physical them but their height and skill presents matchup difficulties for most teams.

[TheGame414]

And while Leonard has a bright future and will contribute with defense/rebounding/energy this year, he's nowhere near ready to start.