SB Nation - Trent Meacham

Basketball Q&A with Blogging the Bracket.

Joe Kutsunis — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:01:35 -0000

The star studded week of basketball enthusiasm continues as we direct questions to Chris from Blogging the Bracket, SB Nation's resident bracketologist and basketball guru. Lets see what he says about the great grindy Big Ten.

HTTO: The Illini surprised alot of people by finishing second in the Big Ten and returning to the NCAA tournament. This year the team loses two starting guards in Chester Frazier and Trent Meacham, but gain several highly regarded freshmen, overall do you see the Illini taking a step forward or backward this year?

I think the Illini will take a bit of a step back without Frazier and Meacham, but they'll still be a contender for an NCAA bid, and maybe in the conference. Demetri McCarney is a good point guard, and if he's as motivated as the offseason chatter says he is, Illinois will have the right guy running the offense. Alex Legion HAS to be better than he was in his first year in Champaign. If Mike Tisdale can be more aggressive down low, the Big Ten better watch out. He already shoots well enough from the field and the foul line to be a force, but he's got to get himself more opportunities to up his scoring average of 10 per game. Mike Davis was only two rebounds short of averaging a double-double last season, so he's likely to have a huge year inside as well. If Bruce Weber can get good numbers out of Dominique Keller, you may see fewer three-guard sets this season.

The freshman class is a talented, local group. Weber has been criticized for not getting the big time local talent, and he did a nice job of quieting those critics with this class. D.J. Richardson's experience at Findlay Prep means he should adjust to the college game quickly. His defensive skills will help fill the void left by Frazier's graduation. Brandon Paul will be a versatile scorer, which the Illini needs. Joseph Bertrand should learn a lot from McCarney over the next two years and give Bruce Weber some good minutes at the point. Tyler Griffey, much like Keller, gives the Illini an inside option beyond Tisdale and Davis if he can show some consistency, especially on the rebounding front.

HTTO: The Big Ten has the makings of a very competitive season, with the talent gap seemingly the slimmest it has ever been. Is it still MSU's conference to lose, or will one of the many challengers take the title from them?

I really think the Spartans are going to miss Goran Suton in the middle and Travis Walton's defense, and that really gives Purdue, Ohio State, or if things break right, Michigan and Minnesota, the chance to steal the league crown from them. If the freshmen mature quickly, the Illini could even surprise and contend.

HTTO: Along those same lines, this looks like it could be a banner year for the Big Ten, with MSU going to the NCAA finals and Penn State winning the NIT and nearly all of the top talent from last year's teams returning do you see the conference flexing its muscle come tournament time? How many teams do you expect to come from the Big Ten in the NCAA tourney, and how do you rank it along with the other conferences this year.

The Big Ten is going to have a great chance to build on the strong showing it had in last year's postseason, especially with the Big East probably being a bit down and the Pac-10 likely being way down. Obviously, I think MSU and Purdue will get high seeds.

For the rest of the league, it's crucial that they make a real statement during the non-conference season. Otherwise, it could be a repeat of last season, where everyone outside of MSU, Purdue, and Illinois really beat the tar out of each other in the league and didn't have the wins outside of the conference to boost themselves out of the middle of the bracket.

From a bid perspective, I think the Spartans, Boilermakers, Buckeyes, Wolverines, Gophers, and Illini are a safe group of six. Beyond that, I feel the only two teams who don't have much hope this season are Indiana and Iowa. While Wisconsin may be down, I'm never going to discount a Bo Ryan-coached team. Northwestern has a real shot at getting their first-ever bid, but they cannot do their usual thing where they lose a headscratcher or two at the end of the year. Penn State will have some real momentum from their NIT triumph and they have a shot to get some decent wins at the Charleston Classic, but it may not be enough with how good the rest of the league will be.

HTTO: Illinois, the state that is, along with Indiana and Ohio routinely manufacture a lot of top tier basketball talent, but are also some of the most often "raided" states by other schools. Do you believe that the reputation of the Big Ten as a low scoring tough defense conference has hurt it in terms of recruiting? The up and down score happy ACC has enjoyed a more positive national reputation (and the benefit of the ACC/Big Ten challenge dominance.) In short what do you believe is the national perception of the conference, and how does it, in your opinion affect recruiting and performance?

Speaking as an SEC grad who grew up watching the Big East, I admit that I make plenty of jokes throughout the season about many Big Ten matchups setting basketball back to Naismith's time. But really, if you look at non-conference and postseason performance, the criticism is pretty unfounded. I mean, eight Big Ten teams have made the Final Four in this decade, albeit with only one winning (MSU in 2000). From a recruiting perspective, it's harder to say. I honestly don't spend a ton of time on recruiting over at my site because a lot of it is a crapshoot. And the Big Ten experience is a great example of this. Sure, Big Ten schools may sign as many McDonald's All-Americans as their counterparts in the other major conferences, but they do land a lot of talented players who believe in teamwork and are coachable. When you combine those two characteristics with the coaching talent in the conference, you're going to end up with teams that feature a lot of "diamonds in the rough" who go on to shock the experts

Patterson and Patacsil win Big Ten Medal of Honor

BoilerTMill — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:23:10 -0000

I just recieved the following press release from Scott Chipman, Assistant Comissioner of Communications for the Big Ten Conference. Purdue highlights are brought out after the jump, as Wrestler Jake Patacsil and Track and Field Olympian Kara Patterson were named as winners from Purdue.

BIG TEN MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced the 2009 Medal of Honor winners today. The award was established in 1914 when the Big Ten endowed a Medal of Honor to be given annually to a student in the graduating class of each university that demonstrated proficiency in scholarship and athletics. In 1982, the Medal of Honor was expanded to include a senior female athlete from each institution.

This year, 22 student-athletes, representing 14 sports, have been chosen for the Medal of Honor. The recipients include 16 All-Big Ten selections and 21 Academic All-Big Ten honorees.

In addition, six Medal of Honor winners were named Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees for their respective sports during the academic year, including Illinois' Trent Meacham (men's basketball), Indiana's Austin Starr (football), Minnesota's Matt Nohelty (baseball), Northwestern's Eric Peterman (football), Penn State's Zoe Bouchelle (soccer) and Purdue's Jake Patacsil (wrestling). Of the more than 270 Sportsmanship Award honorees named throughout the year, Meacham and Peterman were chosen as two of 22 winners of the Outstanding Sportsmanship Award announced on June 4.

On the field, Medal of Honor selections guided their teams to four Big Ten Championships and two Big Ten Tournament titles during the 2008-09 campaign. Iowa's Lauren Pfeiffer led her field hockey team to the Big Ten Tournament crown, Ohio State's Brian Robiskie boosted his school to a share of the Big Ten Championship in football, while Penn State's Bouchelle helped her squad claim the Big Ten Championship and Big Ten Tournament title in soccer. Both Michigan State Medal of Honor winners claimed titles, with Doug DeMartin helping the Spartans to the Big Ten Championship in soccer while Sarah Schmidt was part of a Big Ten title team in rowing. Five Medal of Honor choices also garnered individual Big Ten titles, including Michigan's Steve Luke (174-pound wrestling title) and Tiffany Ofili (indoor 60-meter hurdles and outdoor 100-meter hurdles and long jump champion), Minnesota's Jenny Shaughnessy (200- and 400-yard individual medley swimming champion), Purdue's Kara Patterson (outdoor javelin champion) and Wisconsin's Gwen Jorgensen (indoor 3,000-meter champion).

Additionally, six Medal of Honor winners garnered Big Ten individual accolades for their performances during the 2008-09 campaign. For the Spartans, DeMartin was picked as the Men's Soccer Player of the Year while Schmidt was named the Rowing Athlete of the Year. In track and field, the Wolverines' Ofili was chosen as the Indoor Track Athlete of the Year while the Boilermakers' Patterson was tabbed the Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. In field hockey, the Buckeyes' Linda Haussener was named offensive Co-Player of the Year. In the pool, the Gophers' Shaughnessy was honored as the Swimmer of the Championships.

The 2009 Big Ten Medal of Honor winners are:

Illinois

Trent Meacham, Men's Basketball

Emily Zurrer, Women's Soccer

Indiana

Austin Starr, Football

Whitney Thomas, Women's Basketball

Iowa

Eric MacTaggart, Men's Cross Country and Track and Field

Lauren Pfeiffer, Women's Field Hockey

Michigan

Steve Luke, Wrestling

Tiffany Ofili, Women's Track and Field

Michigan State

Doug DeMartin, Men's Soccer

Sarah Schmidt, Women's Rowing

Minnesota

Matthew Nohelty, Baseball

Jenny Shaughnessy, Women's Swimming and Diving

Northwestern

Eric Peterman, Football

Samantha Nemecek, Women's Fencing

Ohio State

Brian Robiskie, Football

Linda Haussener, Women's Field Hockey

Penn State

James Pagana, Men's Track and Field

Zoe Bouchelle, Women's Soccer

Purdue

Jake Patacsil, Wrestling

Kara Patterson, Women's Track and Field

Wisconsin

Joe Krabbenhoft, Men's Basketball

Gwen Jorgensen, Women's Track and Field

Expectations are everything: a look back at the full breadth of the '08/'09 season

Joe Kutsunis — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:17:10 -0000

Lets take a trip back in time shall we? The day is October 11, 2008. The location: Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The Illini dropped a disappointing game to the Golden Gophers, and all though the Illini came back in the closing minutes, ultimately it wasn't enough to win. The loss was so deflating that by the end of the game, very few people were left in the stands. Even fewer waited around to see "the world's largest outdoor basketball practice" as it had been unfortunately named. Where a year before hand the Assembly Hall had been packed for Midnight Madness, now the Illini basketball team took the court at a very sparsely attended kickoff to their season. The expectations for the year were clearly reduced.

The team's 07/08 campaign was not one worth remembering, a losing season, a recruiting defection, a player suspended for nearly killing a team mate, that team mate possibly never regaining his full abilities. Anger, infighting and not living up to expectations. Bruce Weber's job even appearing to be in jeopardy.

Following that season a lot of changes took place. Brian Randle and Shaun Pruitt graduated. Brian Carlwell transferred, a depressing end to a once promising career at Illinois, but one that was more than likely hampered by the car accident with Jamar Smith. Jamar violated his probation and was finally removed from the team. Rodney Alexander transferred to Oklahoma City University.

There were three new players to the team, Stan Simpson, who took a redshirt, Dominique Keller, another JUCO, and Alex Legion, who transferred the previous year but still had to wait until halfway through the season before he could begin playing. Recruiting, the Achilles heel of Bruce Weber's tenure was looking up thanks to the addition of former player Jerrance Howard as an assistant coach. The '09 commits seemed to be a bright light at the end of the tunnel, but the 2008 season did not look to be all that bright.

This could seem like a long protracted apology or excuse for why the Illini lost in the first round of the tournament, but its not. I am simply trying to provide some context for this season, as much of a failure and a breakdown as last season was for the basketball team, I believe this season was a success that eclipses that failure.

I have been told that the expectations for a season do not matter, and that the success of a team should be judged solely on the end result. I have also been told that no matter how bad we thought this team could have been, the fact that they did not live up to the expectations they had established for themselves through a season of play matters even more. Essentially that a team that won 24 games in the regular season and finished second in the Big Ten should have been able to win at least one tournament game.

So that's the question, what set of expectations do you use to judge a season?

I for one think that you can't judge a season without context, nor can you determine it's success purely upon the team's performance in the tournament.

I honestly think as far as an entire season goes this was a phenomenally successful season for Weber, and showcased just how good of a coach he can be. Without the team's best shooter (Jamar Smith), and the supposed team savior (Alex Legion) never finding his shot and riding the bench all season Weber put a team together that won 12 games in conference.

He did it with a former walk on at shooting guard, a player who was never a real scoring threat at point and 3 sophomores who all had potential but no guarantees that they would pan out. Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis were both undersized big men who relied on open shots and jumpers to score and had trouble getting rebounds because of their light weights. Demetri McCamey, although having shown flashes of NBA talent is, and probably always will be inconsistent, but when he does show up, he is the most talented player on the team.

There are people who would respond then, that if he can engineer a successful season in which the team beat 2 sweet sixteen teams, why couldn't he beat WKU in the first round. My answer would be, in the same way that the team lost to Penn State twice in the last month. This was a very good team, but a team that is also limited in a lot of ways, and always vulnerable to the inconsistency youth. This team lived and died by the jump shot, and when it was not there it was as vulnerable as any team in the nation. This was a shortcoming that was almost always masked by lock down defense. When the shots don't fall and the defense has a Chester Frazier sized hole, the team is very vulnerable.

There are people who want to categorize this as a letdown, as an individual game yes I would agree, I think we could have beaten the Hilltoppers. But as a season, where this team began and where it ended up are miles apart. If there was one year where the the lackluster recruiting came home to roost, it was this year. For the past 3 seasons the best players on the team were the ones graduating. This year for the first time in some time, there is real talent to build on for the future and incoming talent that will actually play a large role in the team's success. Given what Weber could do with a team that was a work in progress, it should be exciting to see what he can do with the level of talent that it incoming.Better times than this are ahead, and a team that overachieves with this level of talent foreshadows a team with a great coach. It may be optimistic, but I do believe this season's success is nothing but a good sign for next year. If nothing else, it has raised our expectations.

I know my opinion isn't universal, so feel free to share your thoughts on Bruce, the team and the season.

It's Banner time!

BoilerTMill — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:30:19 -0000

Much like Purdue's basketball season, today had its ups and down. I got in the car and heard the new HURT song when I started driving to Marion, which rocked. A St. Patrick's Day race in downtown Indy delayed me from getting my coffee, which sucked. My breakfast sandwich from Dunkin's rocked, but I got pulled over on the way to Marion. Kokomo lost, but Purdue won in the ultimate up and down. Both were in games against rivals that had already beaten my respective teams this season. In the end the Purdue win triumphed over everything, even the difficult Marion loss. I am very happy that I can sit on my couch with laptop in hand exhausted and sated, knowing that the morning will bring the Big Ten HoopsDay 5k and the potential to hang a new banner in Mackey Arena.

It has been a relief the past two nights to see the team that we all expected to see for the past few months. It's amazing how just a few minors tweaks can make us look like an entirely different team. We're hitting our shots again. We're disrupting teams on the defensive end. When we're hitting shots from outside it frees things up for JaJuan in the paint. The motion offense we run actually has motion in that regard. Things are running so smoothly right now that we will be very dangerous in the big tournament next week if it keeps up.

It was a fun day to be JaJuan Johnson

Positives from the Illinois game:

Robbie Hummel - For the second straight game he gave us the play we have desperately needed from him. Robbie has become the type of guy that is essential to our offense because he opens things up for everyone else. This is because of Robbie's versatility. He play virtually anywhere on the floor, a trait that no one else has on our team. JaJuan is primarily and inside guy. E'Twaun is a shooter and a slasher. Keaton is strictly a shooter, but can occasionally drive. LewJack pushes tempo and distributes. Robbie can do all of these, and that allows everyone else to do what they do best. Best of all, Robbie's back is holding up nicely with games on consecutive games.

Chris Kramer - Chris' offensive play gets back to a key point for our offense. When we get surprise offense him, such as 8-10 points when he usually only has a couple, that is another thing that opens things up everywhere else. Kramer is also a guy that gets what I like to call momentum points. For example, his authoritative dunk last night was worth just two points, but it had untold value in terms of setting tone and gaining momentum. Since many of Kramer's baskets come from steals created by his defensive play they lend themselves to getting the crowd involved. They also motivate the rest of the team and play a vital role in giving us confidence.

JaJuan Johnson - It was a doubly good day for JaJuan. He had a Chevy Player of the Game level of performance. Later in the evening his old high school, led by future teammate Patrick Bade, won its first ever regional title by taking down state power Lawrence North in a shocking upset. JaJuan is another guy that provides momentum points because you have to be clinically dead if you don't get out of your seat when he thunderdunks like he does. If he can ever become a dominant rebounder he will have a completely unstoppable game. When our defense contains the perimeter like we have in the past two games it allows JaJuan to eliminate everything within five feet of the basket. Just wait until we get to the NCAA Tournament and we start plying teams that haven't seen him yet.

Defense - Illinois is an up and down offensive team. When they are hitting they look very good, but today was one of those days, especially in the first half, where Illinois was completely disrupted by our defense. A large reason for that is the loss of Chester Frazier, who clearly makes them go. After Meacham made those two early 3-pointers we made the necessary adjustments and Illinois did virtually nothing for the rest of the half. It's easy to win when you hold a team scoreless for the last eight and a half minutes of the half.

Negatives from the Illinois game:

Second half - The second half of this game seemed very lackluster to me. Instead of going for the kill we just kind of held them at arm's length and didn't allow them to get too close. We still hit some shots, but it was almost like we simply tried to conserve the lead and energy for tomorrow instead of push for more. Hopefully this strategy will pay off in the long run.

Ohio State Preview: Eleven Warriors game wrap

Tomorrow is obviously a big day for us. We get another team that is capable of playing very well or very poorly, just like Illinois. Today was a day when they looked every bit as good as their talent level on paper indicates. We have seen both already. In Columbus Evan turner and William Buford went nuts. In West Lafayette we stomped the life out of them. I think we'll see a little bit of both in this game. Ohio State will play better because they will certainly remember the 25 point loss at Mackey Arena. We will play better because we have the confidence of that win.

The same things from my earlier Ohio State preview will apply tomorrow. We have to step out and not let Turner and Buford drive. When they drive they can either finish or set up Mullens and Lauderdale for easy baskets. We have to rebound well, which we refused to do in Columbus. Robbie Hummel will be huge in this area. He has been a rebounding machine in this tournament, and he was absent in the overtime loss at Ohio State.

JaJuan and Chally have to repeat their performance from the second Ohio State game. They completely dominated Mullens and Lauderdale the second time around. We had a 32-17 rebounding edge in that game. Surprisingly E'Twaun led in rebounding that day with 10. It's time for him to get more involved in the flow of things too. I honestly feel like we're going to take this thing tomorrow. We're finally getting on a bit of a roll at just the right now. Let's go raise a banner tomorrow. Purdue 62, Ohio State 58

For now though I am exhausted. It's time fall asleep on the couch and get ready for tomorrow. I apologize for the disjointed thoughts here tonight, as I am so tired I feel like I am just repeating myself. I will be running in the 5k in the morning at 11am, then I will be trying to scalp some tickets and actually attend the game. Though I won't be online since I'll probably be at the game, the Big Ten bloggers have proposed a giant Cover It Live to participate in for the final. That will be going up some time before tipoff, so I encourage you to stop by and participate.

So how good is this team really?

Joe Kutsunis — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:10:10 -0000

It was mentioned again during the CBS broadcast Sunday afternoon, that this team is, based on talent "over achieving" and that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Two of the most cliched terms used in all of sports, which can be taken as a knock against the talent level of a team (based mostly on player stats) or it can be extremely complimentary of a coaching staff. It has been argued elsewhere that a team that relies on the system and tight teamwork will beat teams that are far more talented than themselves, but at a certain point if players cannot matchup one on one they are will lose to the team with more talent.

So is that the case with the Illini? Did it find in Michigan State's Kalin Lucas a player that can simply overcome whatever the defense could offer? Is Illinois playing at a level beyond what the stat sheet and projected player talent would predict. More importantly, if Illinois is playing over its head, what will its tournament prosepects be?

If you take each player as an individual you get a point guard who doesn't score too much, a center who doesn't get very many rebounds, a guard who can spot up threes but doesn't really make his own shot, a could be superstar who is streaky, and Mike Davis. Mike Davis gets double doubles like a mad man, but his doubles are closer to 14 points 10 rebounds, not a Harangody or Blake Griffith like 25 and 16.

It is a team of players that each have a flaw to their game. In some cases its a talent gap, in some the youth or maturity factor, for some it is a question of weight and strength. Through all of it though, this team has 23 wins, is in third place in the Big Ten and is absolutely going to the NCAA tournament. Credit has to be given, over and over again to Bruce Weber.

Some individual weakness can be masked and covered by good coaching, and Bruce is among the best. Have trouble scoring consistently? Play stifling defense and slow the game down. With two big men that don't really have the size to bang it out down low, have them take a step back and take J's or hook shots. Chester Frazier rarely scores in double figures, but that doesn't mean hee can't lead the team in assists, steals and possibly even win defensive player of the year.

Not having a go to scorer can burn a team in key situations, like it often did last year, but with consistent scoring spread among four players scoring droughts by individual players is masked by the play of the rest of the team. You don't end up then in a situation like Kentucky, where a player like Jodie Meeks can go off for 40 in a night and still lose.

As far as the tournament is concerned, I am optimistic. This team should be able, as it has played for most of the year, to make the Sweet Sixteen. The balanced scoring of the team makes the team very difficult to defend, because there is no one player that is most important to stop. Mike Davis, when given space to shoot can go off on a team and Meacham and McCamey can make three's if an opponent is playing soft defense.

Illinois, and Chester in particular will play stifling defense, and for teams that rely too much on one player, this could mean a struggling offense. There is a chance of course that the team could run into a player that no matter how well you defend him he will score, think Stephan Curry in last years tourney. But as Jay Bilas will tell you, you reduce the damage a player like that can do by slowing down the game, use the clock and make every possession valuable.

I have every confidence that this team can be successful in the tournament. Bruce Weber knows how to game plan with the best in the country, and if the players listen to him, there will be some very real results as this month goes on.

(H to the) Izzo. Illini vs Spartans preview.

Joe Kutsunis — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:00:09 -0000

So, what to say about this game, other than the fact that the entirety of our championship aspirations depend upon it. It may lead to a three way shared title for the Illini, but would any of us really turn that down at this point?

Assembly Hall will be hosting a Senior day matchup between top 10 and top 20 teams, with nothiing less than the Conference Crown on the line. Yes, it is a sellout. Yes i the Hall will be rockin. And no, I didnt get a ticket. Regardless, lets get to meat of this shall we.

When last these two teams met, Illinois led most of the way, helped by strong jump shooting and MSU repeatedly turning it over. Unfortunately for the Illini, the wheels fell off as the lead evaporated in the closing minutes. When the Spartans started to run and push.

One of the key match ups will be Mike Tisdale against Goran Suton or Marquis Gray down low. I am pretty much conceding the rebound battle to MSU right now, but I am hopeful that Tisdale will be able to better defend under the basket. We cannot allow the sort of bunnies that got through against Minnesota.

Chester is more than likely going to be matched up against Kalin Lucas, but that still leaves Raymar Morgan to be dealt with. With rebounding and speed in favor of MSU, I sure hope the Illini hit their shots, because there could be quite a few fast breaks going the other way if that is not the case.

Good news is, with the exception of Chester, the entire starting lineup is averaging in double figures for points. If we keep the keep our possessions efficient, take open shots, slow the game down, we can definitely beat this team. It would help of course if the tight man defense creates as many turnovers as it did in East Lansing.

Oddly enough, the last time these teams met, Alex Legion actually led the team in scoring with 15 points off the bench. He has not matched that output since. Hey today is as good as any for things to click, right?

On a personal note, today is Senior day, and I am a graduating senior here in Champaign. The Minnesota game will end up being the last home game that I attend as a student. So in honor of Senior day, I'd like to single out rhe 4 graduating seniors on the team. Trent Meacham who transferred to Illinois, just like me, because its always where he had wanted to go. C.J Jackson who is by far my favorite dual sport player. Calvin Brock who has seen the highest of the high and the lowest of the low for this program over his 5 seasons in Champaign. And lastly Chester Frazier, who in his senior year has transformed himself into the catalyst of the offense the best defender, and the heart and soul of the basketball team. He caught a lot of flack for his play last year, but this year, there are very few people who would criticize this guy.

Way to go guys, you have led the resurgence from last year.

We broke 50! Illini Gophers recap.

Joe Kutsunis — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:30:16 -0000

As the game entered its final minute last night, I was actually surprised to see that the game was out of reach for Minnesota.. This game is sort of an oddity, even though the Illini led anywhere from 3 to 5 points for most of the game, it felt like we were down by ten the whole way. On the defensive side either we could not pull down a rebound or, if the ball went out of bounds it was always last touched by an Illini player.

At some point in the game, the fans became very hostile to the referees. Perhaps it was the chest bump on the an bounds that was not called, (dear IU fans, I know what you want to say, and I don't care) followed by a ticky-tack foul called on Mike Davis at the other end of the court.

I think that the turnovers also had something to do with it. This team is not yet ready to push the ball with consistency, as evidenced by the far too many long passes that bounced off of unready players, went into the hands of a gopher, or just plain sailed out of bounds.

I am going to have to stop complaining now, because we won, and it turned out to be a very big win. Trent scored 13 including a huge 3 to pull away down the stretch, DMAC was productive with 10 points, 2 assist, a block and a steal.

Mike Davis has become an automatic double double now 14 points and 11 rebounds. Not scary numbers, but this guy is indispensable now.

How did Chester do? Well other than the hair cut nothing has changed, just your boring old 6 assists combined with 4 steals and a block.

Oh in what should not be a surprise to anyone, he held the best Minnesota guard, and leading scorer Lawrence Westbrook to only 4 points. (well below his season average) yeah I predicted it, but since he does this all the time its really not all that hard to foresee. Can we please give him the defensive player of the year award now?

In a somewhat related matter though, I would like to voice my concern about something at the Assembly Hall. There were problems with wet spots on the court all night long. Many times the referees had to stop play to make one of the cleaners to come out and get the missed spots. Part of this of course stems from the fact that the game was so physical that lots of players ended up on the floor, and I realize that the staff is doing its best, but it was unacceptable. When Bruce Weber has to wipe the floor himself to get a spot, there is a problem. On the Orange Krush end of the court, though there was in addition to the normal AH staff, a little kid probably only 5 or 6 years old was helping out with the toweling. Too many times though he was the only one cleaning up the spots, and no one was making sure that he was getting it all.

This is serious stuff. In the closing minutes, when the Gophers were still alive but in need of points, one of their guards had a near break away running down the court. He hit a wet spot (one that supposedly had been cleaned by the little kid) and slipped, hit the floor hard and lost the ball out of bounds. The Gophers lost the ball as it went out of bounds, lost the opportunity for a quick 2 points and were basically eliminated from the game on that play.

Were I Tubby Smith, I would be livid. Not only because a missed wet spot may have cost his team a chance to win, but because he could have lost a player to injury on that play. Its nice to see kids involved in basketball, but if you are trusting a 5 year old to take care of something that could effect the outcome of a game, or worse get a player hurt, and no adult is even checking to make sure the kid is doing his job correctly, it is absolutely unacceptable. Make him a ball boy or something, because kids that small should not be in charge of something so directly related to the game.

Illinois 52, Minnesota 41

PJS — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:06:32 -0000

In some respects, Minnesota's performance Thursday night against Illinois was imporessive. The Gophers dominated the Illini in the paint. They rebounded like Michigan State and established three scoring options in the post.

But in other respects, Minnesota's performance Thursday night was unfortunate. Had it not been for ice cold shooting from the outside and the team's relatively newfound sloppy play, the Gophers would have pulled an upset on the road against a nationally ranked team.

Minnesota's two vices came back to haunt them, as the team fell .52-41 to Illinois, a game that was entertaining and back-and-forth for 34 minutes, until the Gophers went scoreless the last 6 minutes of the game.

The Gophers came out of the locker room with a serious feel to their game. They were apply 3/4 court pressure to the Illini. They were forcing turnovers. They were moving on offence and crashing the boards. Damian Johnson was everywhere. But eventually the pressure-oriented defense subsided and the Gophers' offense couldn't function in the half court.

The Gophers shot 31 percent from the game and an atroucious 1 for 14 from three. Travis Busch provided the only make from beyond the arc. Not one guard had anything resembling a nice stroke last night. Al Nolen, atrocious on offense for the entire game in many respects, was 0 for 5. Devoe Joseph was 0 for 6. Lawrence Westbrook was an out-of-control 2 for 10. Paul Carter looked as if he was playing with moving rims, becuase I'm not sure he touched one in going 0 for 5.

But the daming part of it all, is the Gophers still could have won if they had just protected the basketball. During a second half stretch where the game was hanging in the balance, Minnesota's turnovers ruined the day. The Gophers gave the ball away 20 times, a number far too high to beat a team like Illinois, especially on the road.

The only reason the game wasn't a blowout in the Illini's favor was Minnesota's real dominance on the interior. The Gophers had an asontishing 43 to 28 rebounding advantage and scored the vast majority of its points in the paint. The three effective Gophers on the offensive end were Johnson, who had a team-high 18 and Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III who combined for 12.

Johnson, by the way, was a force and the BTN announcers rightly proclaimed all evening he MUST be considered for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He had 5 steals and three tremendous blocks while changing multiple other Illinois shots. He was everywhere Thursday night. He acted the part of the team-leader that we've wanted him to do. But his teammates didn't join him for the ride.

And while the Gophers did their part to lose the game, let's not taking anything away from the Illini. Chester Frazier was great on defense (4 steals). Trent Meacham, Gophers killer that he is, hit the open jumpers the Gophers could not. Mike Davis was impressive inside and Demetri McCamey hit a very important late three to seal Minnesota's fate.

As the game winded down, the BTN color man commented that after seeing the last two Minnesota games he is even more impressed with what the coaching staff has done with the team. He remarked that the Gophers don't have shooters nor guards or even big men that can consistently create their own shot. That's spot on. If the Gophers had one, just one perimeter player who could provide a consistent offensive output this team would beat Illinois more times than not.

The loss drops the Gophers to 8-8 in the conference. Couple that with Michigan's upset win over Purdue last night, and I believe the last two home games are must-wins for the Gophers. They have about one week off before hosting Wisconsin before wrapping the regular season up with a date with Michigan at The Barn. I believe the boys need to go 2-0. I know that they would probably be seen as 'in' by most experts at 9-9 in conference, but the team just hasn't performed well enough down the stretch. And the late season collapse could really haunt them with the selection committee.

Wolverines Look For First Win in Champaign Since 1995: Game #17 Michigan Basketball @ Illinois

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:30:08 -0000

Photo via The Detroit Free Press

After a week of improbable comebacks and delivering beatdowns to undermanned Big Ten competition, the Wolverines will face their first true road test of the 2009 Big Ten Conference season when they travel to Assembly Hall to take on Illinois at 8:30 EST tonight. Tonight's matchup is the second, and final, meeting between the Illini and the Wolverines in the last two weeks, and serves as a prelude to a rough stretch of Big Ten away games and competition that will ultimately decide whether the Wolverines go dancing in March or trudge off to Manhattan for another visit to the NIT.

When the teams last met, Michigan gave up 42 first half points, but still managed to eek out a 74-64 that was a lot closer than the final score indicates. Even so, it was the first conference game that showed Michigan was more than a two man band. Sims and Harris had awful nights offensively against the Illini defense (combining to shoot 10-26 and 3-11 from beyond the arc). Despite this, Michigan clawed its way to the win on the backs of Kelvin Grady (3-6), Zack Gibson (4-5), and Zack Novak (4-5). Those performances off the bench sparked the Wolverines current 3 game win streak that has them currently ranked 25th (AP) and 24th (Coaches).

Assembly Hall in Champaign has been (yet another) House of Horrors for the Wolverines over the years. Since Michigan's last win in Champaign, the Wolverines have dropped 11 straight there, and with the success of Illinois' program over the last few years, wins have been difficult to come by against the Illini regardless of location. Even so, a road victory against an unranked but highly regarded Illini team (Ken Pomeroy has them ranked 18th!) would be another, vital, feather in the Wolverines' cap. A win tonight would be even more impressive because the Illini are fresh, having played a single game since the Wolverines' January 4, 2009 win in Ann Arbor.

That single game may have been against Indiana, but it was an impressive win. Illinois absolutely dismantled an Indiana team that nearly toppled Michigan a week ago. The Illini put 76 on the Hoosiers en route to a 31 point blowout. Perhaps the size of the blowout had something to do with Indiana losing Devan Dumes to injury, but it'd be foolish to suggest that. The closest Indiana got was 10 points with six minutes left in the First half before the Illini lead exploded to 25. In the end, the Illini were led by 21 from Trent Meachum (G), 12 from big man Mike Davis,12 from Demetri McCamey (G), and 15 off the bench from Dominique Keller (F). Combined this group shot an absurd 20-31 on the hapless Hoosiers.

Scouting the Illini

What is most impressive about the Illini this season is they're consistently getting double figures out of four guys. Lost in the scoring frenzy was gigantic white guy Mike Tisdale who is averaging 11 points a game and former Michigan commit Alex Legion who will at some point explode on someone. There's plenty of talent on the team. The shot takers in Illinois lineup are McCamey, Davis, Tisdale and Meachum, in that order. Beyond the arc the Illini aren't particularly deep, but Meachum has been downright unconscious hitting 49.4% of his treys. Guard him tight. After Meachum, only McCamey launches them with any regularity, but he's hit only 33% of his 79 attempts from three. The attempts beyond the arc seem more to keep defenses honest down low. Illinois is an inside dominant team with 60% of its points coming inside the arc. Defensively, the Illini are one of the best in the Big Ten at denying the 3 point shot, and defending in general. They're at or near the top in every defensive category, and kept Michigan on the perimeter for a good chunk of their last game, before allowing the Wolverines to get to the basket or get good looks inside 12 feet.

But if there's a glaring weakness, it's an inability to get to the line. While the Illini hit a respectable 73% from the charity stripe, they're having a horrid time getting there. Their free throw to field goal attempt ratio is 23.8% and they're 10th in the conference at getting to the line with only 217 attempts (compared to 277 for UM and 364 for MSU!).

Game Plan (At least my Game Plan)

For Michigan to prevail tonight, they're going to have to be aggressive down the lane. Michigan's hot shooting tends to cool on the road, and if Illinois can turn the Wolverines into a jump shot only team Michigan's chances of leaving Champaign with a win are marginal. Harris and Grady need to take the ball to rack rather than settling for contested threes (Harris especially). The more they drive, the more the defense will have to crash down opening up Novak, Douglass, and everyone else. Down low, Sims and Gibson (yes, Gibson), need to play big against Davis and Tisdale on the offensive side and attempt to rack up some fouls on two of the Illini's best players. (If Gibson can get Tisdale alone on the wing, please let there be more Honky Magic). One last note, Michigan's been great at taking care of the ball, but Harris is still coughing it up with some regularity. Manny's got to take better care of the ball in this game while staying aggressive. Hard thing to ask for, I know, but it's what will separate him from the rest of the pack and help Michigan toward a successful season.

Defensively, the Illini have had two weeks to prep for the 1-3-1, so Michigan's going to have to mix it up. Alternating between man-to-man, a 2-3 and the 1-3-1 should give the Illini enough of a headache to prevent them from getting too comfortable. As Duke proved, if you can find space in the middle of the zone (usually the free throw line) you're in business. After a two weeks of prep and a game under their belt, I've got to think the Illini have a decent game plan on how to attack the 1-3-1.

It's going to be a good game and a great test for Michigan. As the Daily points out in its Mid-season review, Michigan's conference wins have come over teams with a 3-7 conference record. But a win over a tough Illini team on the road will definitely quiet that criticism and get the Michigan faithful even more amped up for the upcoming visit from the Buckeyes on Saturday.

We'll have open threads going for tonight's and Saturday's games. Hope to see you there.

Notes, Media and Oddities

Probable Lineups courtesy of Jeff Arnold, Ann Arbor News

Probable starters
Michigan Wolverines (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten)
P Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Ppg Rpg
F DeShawn Sims Jr. 6-8 235 16.4 8.4
G Zack Novak Fr. 6-5 210 6.9 2.8
G Manny Harris So. 6-5 210 18.6 7.8
G Laval Lucas-Perry R-Fr. 6-3 185 12.0 2.6
G Kelvin Grady So. 5-11 170 5.7 1.9

Illinois Fighting Illini (14-2, 2-1 Big Ten)
P Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Ppg Rpg
C Mike Tisdale So. 7-1 235 11.1 4.5
F Mike Davis So. 6-9 210 11.9 7.6
G Chester Frazier Sr. 6-2 195 5.6 4.3
G Trent Meacham Sr. 6-2 195 12.3 2.2
G Demetri McCamey So. 6-3 205 12.0 2.8

A win tonight would be Coach Beilein's 500th career win. Make it happen boys.
UMHoops.com continues with its usual awesomeness with another outstanding preview of tonight's game.
Apparently the Illini have revenge on their mind. (HT: MGo). That's fine. We have winning on ours.
Also awesome, check out UMHoops.com's comparison of West Virginia's 2005 squad to Michigan's 2009 squad. It's uncanny. Props to Dylan on an outstanding premise and post. This is a must read.
ESPN's Preview
Ann Arbor News Preview says the Wolverines need to stay hungry. Let's hide their sandwiches.
The Daily says Michigan's happy being a nobody. A nobody nobody saw coming. Wait... Wha?
Free Press Preview focuses on Manny. Important buried nugget:

PRACTICE FACILITY: Beilein, asked about the progress of the practice facility, said the public would hear something soon. It's believed the facility plan will be brought formally to the regents at the Jan. 22 meeting. Regents were briefed informally surrounding their December meeting.

Detroit News Preview says Grady is like a quarterback. Really? The football team could really use one right now.... Mas on the Practice facility from Beilein:

"I think you will be getting updates on that real soon," Beilein said.

Chicago Tribune has some fluff on Laval Lucas-Perry and Alex Legion and provides their own (very brief) Preview of tonight's game.
One of the bigger oddities in the Ken Pomeroy rankings is that he has Illinois 32 places higher than Michigan and the second highest ranked team in the Big ten behind Purdue. There's simple answer. Illinois' non-conference schedule didn't include the number of RPI tanking patsies Michigan's did. Illinois worst opponents were five teams ranked between 219 and 252, and one team ranked 303. Michigan, in contrast, feasted on four teams ranked 303 or worse. So big wins over Duke/UCLA get ruffled by the ungodly horridness of those opponents, at least in the computers. Is there much of a difference between a 300 and a 200 team? Not much. But everyone gets ranked, and it's one of the systems we've got that people look to for some guidance. Take it FWIW.
Rivals says Michigan is finding its identity as it adapts to Beilein's system.
In case you missed it, Kentucky star Jodie Meeks went for 54 points in a Conference game against Tennessee last night. Wow. Congrats Mr. Meeks. Our buddies at A Sea of Blue are understandably excited.

Mizzou-Illinois: A wonk's preview

Bill C. — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:30:06 -0000

Quick programming note: I was supposed to be driving to Oklahoma tonight (and therefore listening to the dulcet tones of Mike Kelly filling me in on the action), but we are now not leaving until tomorrow morning. Which means I get to watch the game tonight after all. Which means...LIVEBLOG!!!

Anyway...

Since it's the biggest game of the season thus far, I figured I could throw together my fun, wonky numbers for a preview...

	Illinois	Opp.	Mizzou	Opp.
Points Per Minute	1.78	1.38	2.16	1.61
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.10	0.85	1.18	0.88
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.26	1.03	1.31	1.14
2-PT FG%	52.2%	43.9%	53.5%	42.3%
3-PT FG%	39.1%	28.7%	36.4%	30.0%
FT%	71.5%	56.2%	63.1%	63.6%

	Illinois	Opp.	Mizzou	Opp.
Assists/Gm	19.7	11.4	20.4	10.5
Steals/Gm	6.5	5.7	11.3	6.9
Turnovers/Gm	13.6	16.7	12.1	19.6
(Assists + Steals) / TO	1.92	0.96	2.62	0.89

	Illinois	Opp.	Mizzou	Opp.
Exp. Offensive Rebounds	122	141	136	138
Offensive Rebounds	123	141	153	141
Eq. Rebound Margin	+1	0	+17	+3

You probably didn't need these numbers to tell you that Mizzou is the more up-tempo, offensive team, while Illinois is the slug-it-out, defensive team. If Mizzou has an advantage here, it's because their margins are better. They are +1.73 on the (Ast+Stl)/TO ratio, while UI is +0.96. They are +0.30 on Points Per Possession, while UI is +0.25.
Illinois' rebounding is not quite what I thought it would be. Again, the Expected Offensive Rebounds figure is based on the fact that there are different offensive rebound %'s for 2-pointers, 3-pointers and FT's...plus, both UI's and MU's opponents have missed more shots than they have, so they expected number is higher. From the Expected Rebounds standpoint, Illinois is...only average. They have both grabbed and given up pretty much the exact number of expected offensive rebounds.
Missouri, on the other hand, has been slightly below average in defensive rebounds...but great in offensive rebounds. Strangely, Mizzou might actually have the rebounding edge here.
Projected score based on Points Per Minute: Mizzou 71, Illinois 68
Projected score based on Points Per Possession (and average possessions per game): Mizzou 70, Illinois 69

Missouri Season to Date

Player	EqPts/Gm	EqPts/Min	Line
DeMarre Carroll	17.83	0.69	17.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.8 SPG
Leo Lyons	14.50	0.62	16.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.5 SPG
Marcus Denmon	7.96	0.46	7.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.4 SPG
Zaire Taylor	7.44	0.30	4.2 PPG, 3.5 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG
J.T. Tiller	7.21	0.34	6.4 PPG, 3.3 APG, 2.8 RPG, 2.2 SPG
Matt Lawrence	7.17	0.38	9.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.8 APG
Miguel Paul	4.99	0.31	4.8 PPG, 2.4 APG, 1.2 RPG
Keith Ramsey	4.39	0.36	4.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.7 BPG
Kim English	4.00	0.32	6.9 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.0 APG
Laurence Bowers	3.78	0.41	3.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.7 BPG
Justin Safford	3.77	0.30	4.1 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.5 APG
Jarrett Sutton	2.04	0.58	3.0 PPG
Steve Moore	1.45	0.26	1.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Michael Anderson Jr.	1.10	0.16	1.5 PPG, 1.0 RPG

Illinois Season to Date

Player	EqPts/Gm	EqPts/Min	Line
Chester Frazier	13.40	0.44	7.2 PPG, 6.6 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG
Mike Davis	12.34	0.43	13.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.8 SPG
Demetri McCamey	11.16	0.37	12.4 PPG, 4.8 APG, 3.3 RPG
Trent Meachem	8.09	0.27	10.9 PPG, 2.5 APG, 1.9 RPG
Mike Tisdale	5.56	0.25	10.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.1 BPG
Dominique Keller	5.12	0.46	6.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Calvin Brock	3.44	0.20	5.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.3 APG
Jeff Jordan	2.19	0.20	1.4 PPG, 1.5 APG
Richard Semrau	1.21	0.09	2.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Bubba Chisholm	0.92	0.55	0.7 PPG, 1 Walk-on, 1 great name
Bill Cole	0.79	0.13	1.9 PPG, 1.3 RPG
C.J. Jackson	0.25	0.11	1.2 PPG, 0.7 RPG
Alex Legion	-0.54	-0.03	6 pts, 2 reb, 3 TO, 2 PF in 18 minutes

Two things to note immediately: 1) Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll are the two (statistically) best players on the court, and 2) While UI has four guys averaging in double-digits, it's Chester Frazier (7.2 PPG) who makes this team tick.
Foul trouble could come into play here. UI's Mike Tisdale averages 0.13 fouls per minute, as does Richard Semrau, while MU's Leo Lyons (0.10) and DeMarre Carrolle (0.08) have both improved in their body control from last year...but they still have lots of foul potential. And in the backcourt, JT Tiller is averaging 0.13 fouls per minute (0.16 against 'real teams'--USC, Cal, Xavier), and none of UI's major guards average higher than 0.08.
Another potential issue: depth. Illinois has three guys averaging 30 minutes per game and has another at 28.7. Meanwhile, Missouri only has four guys averaging as much as 20 minutes per game, with another six averaging 12 minutes or more. Plus, Laurence Bowers is starting to work his way into the rotation, meaning Mizzou has 11 guys who could play regularly. Illinois just got deeper with the addition of Alex Legion, meaning their rotation just went from 10 guys at 11 minutes per game or more, to 11, but Mizzou's "line change" could be pretty effective, as their bench has contributed much more.

Strength of Schedule

According to KenPom.com, Mizzou's SOS is #251 (it's gone down in a hurry), UI's is #237. According to CollegeRPI.com, Mizzou's is #145, UI's is #80.

Strength of...Team

According to KenPom.com, Mizzou is currently the #8 team in the country. Illinois: #16. According to CollegeRPI.com, Mizzou is #39, Illinois #26. Lucky for Mizzou, Ken Pomeroy says the RPI is dead. So there!

Jordans

Illinois 1, Missouri 0. A clear Illini advantage here.

Conference Superiority

The Big Ten has recently asserted itself in a major way, especially against the Big 12 in particular. The Big 11 is 4-0 versus the Big 12 this year and 13-4 over the past two seasons. Granted, this year's results have been from just two teams--Michigan State (who beat OSU and Texas) and Iowa (who beat ISU and KSU)--but still...looks bad. CONFERENCE PRIDE!!!

What does StatSheet.com have to say?

God bless StatSheet...a site that is virtually guaranteed to become my favorite website over the next three months. For Braggin' Rights, they have both a written and stat-heavy preview. Plus, all the StatSheety goodies. Point spread history? Yup. DeMarre Carroll vs Mike Davis comparison? Got it. Jarrett Sutton vs Bubba Chisholm? Bingo. (Sutton kicks Bubba's butt.) Fun (and slightly blinding) player impact charts? Hell yeah...

Stats by StatSheet.com

Prediction

This is just about as evenly-matched a Braggin' Rights game has been since at least about 2002 or 2003. This one should be fun, tense, annoying, exciting, etc. I don't know why I'm even making a prediction--in the current 8-game losing streak to Illinois, I'd have probably picked MU to win in at least 5-6 of those games, because I'm me--but the numbers give the slightest of edges to Missouri. Take strength of scheulde into account, and it basically becomes a coin toss. After landing on Heads for eight straight years, surely the coin will land on Tails this time, right? Missouri 70, Illinois 69.