The Sports Bank.net

Zook’s Best Class Ever?!?!

Ron Zook and great recruiting classes go together like Amy Winehouse and crack. The Zooker’s latest class may lack 5-star guys and/or big names, but with 29 signees it is by the far the deepest class he’s assembled…probably the best one too. Zook has reiterated in all his recent media appearances how the third class you recruit is the most important one; if true, then things will REALLY be looking up for the Illini program in the near future. Eight of the Illinois signees are already on campus, with an excellent chance to contribute or even start in the fall.   Everyone wants to talk about replacing star tailback Rashard Mendenhall. #5 endorsed his brother Walter as the heir apparent, but nepotism won’t be the main factor here. He’s like the Mitt Romney in this horserace, his chances are slim. Daniel Dufrene looks to have the John McCain like best shot followed by second stringer Troy Pollard. Also entering the mix will be incoming freshman Jason Ford, a 3 star from Belleville, who came on board once the Illini started winning and the orange bandwagon starting filling up.

As long as the offensive line is properly replenished, there are many who believe that this spread-option system built on effective zone reads can produce “system backs.” Hopefully, you can just swap in and out running backs effectively within a system where everyone stays true to his  blocking assignments, and daylight will surface naturally. The ’08 recruiting class beefed up the offensive line significantly. Graham Pocic, Tyler Sands and Corey Lewis lead the way. However, it’s the other side of the trenches, the “d line” where the real meat of this class is. The biggest stars of a stellar class include Reggie Ellis, a 6’2” 278 lb defensive tackle, and Corey Liguet, a tackle that was sought after by ALL the big boys.

Widely Received.

One of last season’s weaknesses, the wide receiver position, could be a strength in ’08. Jeff Cumberland made huge strides after he moved over from tight end. Arrelious Benn, the Big Ten freshman of the year who headlined last year’s class, will be a year more experienced and much healthier. Chris James and others already in camp will finally be healthy too. Cordale Scott, a 4 star prospect from suburban Cleveland chose Illinois over Ohio State. That’s right, he picked the Illini instead of Brutus the Buckeye and became a jewel of this class. Of course, we’re still waiting to see if he would have missed out on having Terrelle Pryor, the nation’s number one QB throwing to him. Pat Nixon (not to be confused with the former first lady) is listed in the “athlete” category, hopefully he will be converted from “ATH” to “WR” and help shore up depth in the Illini core. By the way, the way I’ve seen this “ATH” distinction used almost exclusively on African-Americans seems quasi-racist to me. Once coaches and scouts start consistently listing white guys as having the team position of “athlete” too…then I will no longer criticize the covert bigotry of this practice.

Overall, Illinois and Minnesota (surprisingly) were considered the big winners in conference after the big two (Ohio State and Michigan) who always headline the list. Illinois is ranked #18 in the nation by Scout and #23 by Rivals. The first publication ranks Illinois third in conference and Minnesota fourth. Could the Golden Gophers, a program now led by former Illini tight end Tim Brewster make a jump this season on par with the ascension Illinois made in 2007?

Ron Zook recruited all 22 starters on Florida’s 2006 National title team. So recruiting is certainly his forte. He did not disappoint on national signing day. 

Illini Football transition from ’07-’08

“This is not the end, nor is it the beginning of the end. It is however, the end of the beginning”

--Sir Winston Churchill

The great thing about optimism is that once your positive expectations have been let down, you still have pleasant memories to return to. You can recall that you once had evidence and reason for expecting good things, which means some good things just happened previously to make you feel optimistic in the first place. And they will again. That’s why people make resolutions on New Years’ Day.

New Years Eve, the previous night was for me exactly like Juice Williams’ 2007 season: many highlights and some excitement, but also problems with plenty of signs of further trouble ahead. Still the 49-17 ending and awful week that followed for me can never take away everything that made 2007 such a great year; in my own life and for Illini football. Despite the horrific blowout, there were many positives in my family New Year’s Day/ Rose Bowl watch party:

-All the nieces and nephews looked cute in their kids’ size Illinois gear and the Illini tree looked lovely. An Illini tree is a Christmas tree with blue and orange garland and a mini Illini football helmet at the top in place of a star. This seems perfectly normal to members of the Banks family. University of Illinois artifacts are displayed everywhere in my sister’s house.

-Red Grange, my 2006 Halloween character, was named the greatest player in college football by ABC during the telecast of this game. When I wear my Chicago Bears Red Grange #77 jersey to Soldier Field next season, I will bring this up again and again.

-Arrelious Benn got a penalty for throwing the ball at a USC trombone player after scoring a meaningless late touchdown.

-And there was actual Orange Crush in cool retro bottles I shared with two of my three older sisters. They were enthralled by the song that plays on my phone whenever I get a text message: an electronica ditty that resembles a hybrid of the Beverly Hills Cop theme and Stevie Wonder’s “I just called to say I love you” (coincidentally, the opening lyrics are “No New Year’s Day”)

Message Sent: a Rose Bowl text war between Paul M. Banks & Bill Port

4:24 BP: easy drive against the softness of the Big Ten.  Going right after the weak linebackers.

4:25 PMB: Will Ferrell vs. Jim Belushi, that’s unfair! I can see another Stanford game coming for SC

4:27 BP: but Ill isn’t as good as Stanford

4:29 PMB: Can Stanford’s QB move like ours? And now your All American DE is hurt too.

4:33 BP: He’ll be back soon. Mendenhall looks really good, why did he go to Ill, get a free car?

4:34 BP: Thanks for the ball Juice

4:36 BP: Early on, this is like Pats vs. pee-wee football.

4:39 PMB: We’re just toying with you at first, like we did with Mizzou

4:40 BP: Your entire offense is a run or short pass to Mendenhall. There’s our d line I talked about in the preview

4:45 PMB: Maualuga is really good. That #58 is dangerous. He makes as many plays as he has tattoos!

5:43 PMB: God how many times is Kirk Herbstreit going to say “needs to step up” I can’t even exaggerate this anymore!

5:45 BP: ha ha true, Fred Davis all day. This is huge!

5:53 PMB: May be time for all of Illination to drink heavily now

5:56 BP: HA Juice has to pass now, not good for ILL

6:10 PMB: Yeah, well how many Nobel Prize winners has your school produced?

6:12 BP: Pete Carroll will be the next winner.

6:27 BP: Mendenhall leaves for a play and they almost turn it over. Now they do, O man!

6:31 PMB: They showed that Rose Girl in the crowd for the third time, she’s going to be the next football related “it girl.”

6:33 BP: You should contact her and see if she can write for us. What a play by McKnight!

6:35 PMB: I’ll find her profile on Facebook tomorrow. Can’t be that many girls dressed as a rose on that website.

6:39 PMB: I’m so sick of hearing your fight song today. Learn another song! I love Vontae Davis closing speed on that play, but your tailbacks are just wicked fast.

6:41 BP: Learn how to stop us!

6:45 PMB: I don’t know what’s more unpredictable and erratic, Juice Williams’ passing or my date’s behavior last night.

6:51 BP: Ha! Use that line in the blog. When is Zook going to learn? Juice should not be allowed to pass.

7:33 PMB: Illinois isn’t even worth making fun of anymore. That’s it. I’m done.

7:35 BP: So true!

7:45 PMB: Herbstreit made my joke about hearing that fight song way too many times today. My 1^st game as a student was #24 USC 55, ILL 3 in ’Champaign 1996. I got really sick of that fight song that day too.

In 1984, the last time Illinois made the trip to Pasadena, Illinois lost to UCLA 45-9. It’s just like reading George Orwell’s classic novel, because re-living “1984” is a haunting and disturbing experience. After the game, I thought of the words to my favorite “New Year’s Carol.” We all know (aside from Bone Thugs n Harmony’s “First of the Month” and U2’s New Year’s Day) you can’t really categorize any non-“Auld Lang Zyne” tune as a new year’s carol. But I have one, Third-Eye Blind’s “How’s It Going to Be,” the perfect song to articulate my feelings on Illinois in ’08…“I wonder how’s it gonna be…when it goes down.” A couple days later, my disappointment passed and I saw a Rose Bowl edition Juice Williams jersey t-shirt for sale online. It was marked down 45%! I ordered it and remembered how the weakest part of our team, the wide receivers will be one of the team’s strengths in ’08, how the DL will be a major force and how the defensive front seven will be among the conference’s best. Sure, we’ll lose Mendenhall, Leman, Norwell, Millington, Willis and O’Donnell. However, we need to also remember how Jeff Cumberland, Vontae Davis, Will Davis, David Lindquist, Xavier Fulton, Arrelious Benn, Juice Williams, Eddie McGee, Josh Brent, Daniel Dufrene, and Martez Wilson will all be a year older and likely much better! Chase Daniel and Mizzou better be ready on Aug 30^th!

What ever happened to Kurt Kittner?

The Last Quarterback to lead Illinois into the BCS: then and now.

By Paul M. Banks

One day in college, I had an unforgettable walk to the campus recreation center; when the leading passer in school history –a school that produced Jeff George, Tony Eason, Jack Trudeau among others- walked with me and we discussed a few topics. Most of these topics related to the habits of the chronically severe alcoholic; habits the two of us practiced almost every weekend at the time. It was autumn of 1999. I was a senior with a single apartment in an on-campus complex where about a dozen or so University of Illinois football players also lived. Two of them went on to have careers in the NFL. One was Fred Wakefield; the other was the school record holder for career touchdown passes and wins by a quarterback, Kurt Kittner, who lived with punter Steve Fitts about four or five doors down.

I graduated a semester early from college in 1999 and the class load required for me to graduate in that half-year was so light, I had classes just two days a week. Needless to say, I had a lot of free time. One late Saturday night I was hanging out with this girl in my apartment complex’s courtyard. One member of the football team recognized me from the weekly press conferences at Memorial Stadium and called me over. Within five minutes or so, he offered me a joint and said “but you can’t write about this.” So I won’t. The boredom from my non-challenging course load and apathy from senioritis was cured by the promotion at my job. The student daily newspaper called me up from the women’s volleyball beat to help out Larry, the neurotic football beat writer (footnote 1) who drank three whole two-liter bottles of Coke a day, never slept more than fours hours in a night and embraced a lifestyle of abstinence in order to increase his Daily Illini workload. (footnote 2)

That season was the year sophomore quarterback Kurt Kittner developed into a star within Ron Turner’s ‘Midwest Coast Offense.’ Kittner broke Jeff George’s school record for single season touchdown passes. This was a special 8-4 season in which Illinois became the first team since the 1952 National Champion Michigan State Spartans to win at both Ohio State and Michigan in the same year.   The Illini shattered the school record for points in a season; as well as a multitude of bowl records in slaughtering Thomas Jones’ Virginia team 63-21; in a bowl game with a horrendously bad name. A freshman corner named Brandon Lloyd who picked Illinois over Nebraska converted to wide receiver and set school freshman receiving records. A tailback named Rocky Harvey was building his legend. And I was paid to see it all happen live.

In 2001, Harvey, Kittner, Lloyd and company took the accomplishments of the ’99 team to another level. The first BCS bowl in the program’s history, the first outright Big Ten title since 1983, another school record for points scored were some of the many team accomplishments. And Kittner broke his own school record for touchdown passes in a season. This was the first football “Champaign Campaign.” (see end of story for definition)

Kurt Kittner’s Pro Career

Kittner finished his Illini career just three yards shy of Trudeau for the Illinois record in career passing yardage. He was drafted in the 5^th round by the Atlanta Falcons in 2002. Eventually, Mike Vick, and the other QBs ahead of him on the depth chart, were all injured or ineffective enough for him to get four starts. I recall him winning a couple of these games, despite throwing for 74 yards and 3 INTs in one of them. His team finished  

5-11.

According to his wikipedia entry:

“Kittner has not seen any further playing time in the NFL, having been released from 5 different teams (the Falcons, Bengals, Giants, Patriots, and Steelers) in a 7-month span during the 2004 offseason. He did manage to make headlines in 2005, leading the Amsterdam Admirals to an NFL Europe World Bowl title. His 239 passing yards and two touchdowns in World Bowl XIII earned him most valuable player honors for the game. He is the second graduate of Schaumburg High School to earn the honor; Paul Justin won the award 10 years earlier for the Frankfurt Galaxy.”

When Ron Turner came back to the Bears as offensive coordinator in 2005, he showed that even the NFL “is all about who you know,” as he pulled some strings and got Kittner into Bears camp. Kittner was the hero of the third preseason game and landed a roster spot when Rex Grossman went down with a season ending injury in the preseason. Despite rookie starter Kyle Orton finishing dead last in the NFL in passer rating, Kittner never played a down that season and was released when Grossman returned to the Bears.

Kurt Kittner Today 

If you listen to the Rose Bowl on the radio, you’ll hear Kittner as the Illini’s color analyst; much like he has been all season. He replaced Jim Grabowksi in July. I had a lot of friends who went to Schaumburg high school and they love to talk about what Kittner and his family are up to. They like to tell stories (however, unsubstantiated and full of ‘truthiness’ these stories may be) about how he has a phat condo in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood; as he qualified for the (often discussed in the media) NFL pension. Again, I’m not putting that much stock in what any of these people have to say.  Kittner’s day job is, according to the wikipedia entry, with former NFL quarterback Roger Staubach’s real estate firm.

Champaign Campaign, noun:
1. A season in which the Illinois Fighting Illini rise to a level well above the usual losing or mediocrity.
2. An Illini season that must include a #1 seed in basketball or a BCS Bowl bid in football. The first of these in the new millennium both occurred in 2001; therefore, the ’00-’01 b-ball team and ‘01 football teams are designated as Champaign Campaign I. The 2007 football and ’04-’05 basketball teams are referred to as Champaign Campaign II.
3. A National Championship season, should one arise would be the highest form of a Champaign Campaign. It would be the Dom Perignon.
4. Etymology derived from 50 Cent lyrics.

1. He was the only person I’ve met who can quote the movie The Program like I can; a scary sight indeed.

2.  Maybe his abstinent lifestyle wasn’t by choice after all. Once during a weekly media bruncheon, I heard Ron Turner totally zing Larry in the cafeteria when he told coach that he actually had a date coming up. I don’t claim to be a mujeriego or anything, but this guy was one of the most opposite sex inept that I have ever seen. He also assigned everybody on the newspaper staff a college football team whose history reflects their habits with the opposite sex.  He once told me that I was like Michigan State football with the ladies: I still don’t really know why. Do I do well against highly rated opponents, but falter against weaker competition? Peak in October? Who knows?

Champaign Campaign II: 2007 Illinois Season in Review

 By Paul M. Banks

12/14/07

It was just like 2001, a once in a generation season where all of our dreams –well, not  my dreams that involve Jennifer Connelly, Rihanna, and Amanda Bynes all at the same time- came true. Let’s hope this season doesn’t end like 2001 did. Here’s to a “Magical” Disney type ending in Southern California.

See the Illination page for more analysis on each game.

W 41-22 Northwestern-

Just when you thought Jeff Cumberland was a bust, he starts living up to the hype. The offense was just dominant. It was a perfect ending against a bitter rival; in a year that was essentially a revenge tour on everybody. I always remember my brother-in-law and scheduling the first day of our family vacation around this one.

W 28-21 @ #1 Ohio St.-

Not many football games have a group on Facebook created in their honor

“I was around when Illinois beat #1.” This was bigger than the three biggest wins in 1999 (the wins at both Michigan and Ohio St, & the 63-21 drubbing of Virginia in the Bowl game I attended, but which whose name is just too lame for me to say again)

And it showed LSU the blueprint for beating Ohio St. The Buckeyes big name D will shut down your key guys. If you have enough playmakers on your squad, (guys like Brian Gamble, Daniel Dufrene, Marquis Wilkins, Jacob Willis that no one other than hard core Illini geeks such as myself have heard of) you’ll beat them. The Bucks can be “Tiger Bait” (meant to be said in a Southern accent) if guys not named Early Doucet and Jacob Hester make a lot of plays. Sloopy won’t be able to hang on again. 

W 44-17 @ MinnesSOOOTAHH-

This was nice, some revenge for all the pain they have inflicted on us lately. Yes, the Gophers defense is pathetically weak, but Illinois could have hung 50 or 60 on Goldy Gopher if the Zooker didn’t call off his dogs. It was nice to see Walter Mendenhall break off a few big runs.

W 28-17 Ball St.-

ILL didn’t pull away until the 4^th in this one. But BSU is a plucky bunch and a bowl bound team. Juice made some strides in this game.

L 17-27 Michigan-

Not really in the mood to discuss this one too much. With the exception of Brian Griese, I’ve yet to have a positive interaction with a Michigan alumnus in this city. All the other UM alumni need to realize something about why their elitism is so laughable: 1.) The state, which I actually like and enjoy visiting by the way, has been in socioeconomic decline since the 1970s 2.) People who don’t get into the Ivy League go to your school 3.) You’re the safety school (like Iowa is for Chicago suburbanites) for every student at elite Eastern prep schools like Exeter or Andover. So, you’ll always be nothing but a safety school degree holder in my eyes. I’m very proud of doing my first semester of graduate study at MICHIGAN STATE. And during my time there, which coincided with the 2000 National Championship season, my favorite basketball memory was senior day at the Breslin Center; final score MSU 114, UM 63.

L 6-10 @ Iowa-

Another Eddie McGee red zone interception did us in during the final minute. Zook had some questionable decisions too though. Let us not forget about PK Jason Reda this season, 15 of 16 on field goals. He’s won a few awards, because he’s truly Neil Rackerseque. I think I’m the first person to describe anyone as “Rackersesque.”

W 31-26 Wisconsin-

Oh was it sweet to be on the field for this one. A big win over a #5 team in which Rashard Mendenhall ran wild and the secondary made big plays. For more on the atmosphere, refer back to one of my site’s most high trafficked pages this fall.

W 27-20 Penn St.-

This was when we all knew that this team was for real. They made plays on both sides of the ball and found a way to win despite being out-gained. This was also Arrelious Benn’s coming out party. 

W 27-14 @ Indiana-

7 sacks! 4 by Will Davis, who is going to develop into a star alongside Josh Brent and Martez Wilson. This is going to be a dope defensive line in the future. More revenge from last season against “that school over East” 258 yards rushing…phat!

W 41-20 @ Syracuse-

Maybe this win doesn’t look that impressive, but the weaker school in blue and orange has produced Donovan McNabb, Jim Brown and Marvin Harrisson.

W 21-0 Western Illinois-

Exhibit A that most teams have a rushing yardage total way below their average when they play against Illinois, and how most teams see the rushing yards against average get much worse after a game vs. the Illini too.

L 34-40 Mizzou-

We’ve all heard of Chase Daniel; his tight ends Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman. The backup QB is also named Chase, so you have three guys named Chase on the same team…eventually the Missouri Tigers will be presented by Chase Bank. And they have another balla named Jeremy Macklin. This was a neutral site game in an NFL stadium with two BCS quality teams. Essentially the Orange Bowl came to the river slum of St. Louis in September. Of course, it was too sloppy to be a real bowl game, but it was loud and there. And fun! And some guy with a really cool name (Pig Brown) made the game’s deciding play, a length of the field fumble return for a touchdown.  

I-L-L is P-H-A-T!

Sloppy can’t hang on as Illini bust Buckeyes BCS Bowl chances.

The larger the event, the smaller your column should be. The smaller the event,

the larger your column should be.” That’s what Woody Paige,  Denver Post  columnist and regular contributor on ESPN’s Around the Horn told me during a sports journalism conference at the Poynter Institute. That’s exactly why this column will be under 400 words and my feature on the frontier league team near my home town was 2,200 words.

You all saw the 15 point upset as the lead story on SportsCenter, College Gamenight etc. Like me, your Illini friends likely called/texted you from New York, Florida, Los Angeles, wherever they were watching the game. Maybe you even got a text reading “thank you” from an LSU alum. It was the biggest win for the program in a half-century; the first ever win over #1 on the road, and an end to Ohio St.’s home, conference, regular season winning streaks. That #1 ranked defense and #3 ranked run defense still doesn’t know what hit ‘em. Little more need be said.   

Win one for the Zooker

We’ve all critiqued Ron Zook’s coaching strategies before, partially because his recruiting skills are so fantastic, but you gotta love his decisions to go for it on 4^th down. Zook has always been able to coach in the big one, beating a top 10 opponent seven times during his three years at Florida. (You know back when he “ran that program into the ground”…never mind the fact he recruited all 22 starters of last year’s national title team.) Check out this exclusive I did of him a couple years ago, I even asked him about watching the Final Four courtside with Bill Murray:

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/ronzookinterview.html

It looks like the Illini are headed to the Citrus bowl to maybe meet Florida in the Zooker Bowl. Like I said in the last mailbag, I will dress up in a UI cheerleading outfit if it will help me obtain tickets. My sophomore year at UI, four male friends and I went as the Spice Girls for Halloween and owned the cantina costume contest. (Yes, I was Baby Spice as you might have guessed) so I’m prepared to use a blonde wig with pigtails and a white skirt to obtain a prize again. 

This game had it all: drama, surprises, a post-game fight and Bonnie Bernstein, the hottest reporter in sports interviewing a jubilant and wet Ron Zook. Time to celebrate the ruining of #1 Ohio State’s season with a couple celebration songs (code embedding was not enabled on Nelly song in youtube clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsfIgLDid5c

Ready to Nip Cats?

Now that we’ve ruined Ohio State’s postseason expectations, let’s beat down our arch-nemesis, the Northwestern Wildcats on rivalry weekend. NU coach Pat Fitzgerald also played at my rival high school, so I would love to especially see his bowl-eligible bunch remain in Evanston for the holidays. You see Wildcats QB C.J. Bacher setting numerous school passing records while piloting the spread-option offense. You’ve seen him make insightful reads off the opposing defensive ends at the line of scrimmage, then make excellent reads by noticing the safeties’ location in opposing coverage schemes. Observing the 10^th ranked nationally passing attack, you might think of the C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS being as ferocious as this….

But look at a 98^th ranked run game, as well as a very suspect defense which is weak against both the run and the pass and you realize the C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS are really about as fierce as this……

Animal Farm

Unexpected Pastoral Uprising brings Illination a Reality Check

10/13/07

Just like the plot of George Orwell’s allegorical novel Animal Farm, the lesser deemed group of beings got the best of the supposed superior bunch in a countryside landscape. Amidst the cornfields of Iowa City, the unranked and struggling Hawkeyes got the best of the favored #18 Illini, by beating them at their own game: containing the opponents rushing attack and establishing a good ground game of their own. The Hawks truly held the nation’s fifth ranked running game in check. You can blame the media hype machine, the ‘Cinderella storyline’ or the ‘trap game’ factor. You can blame Eddie McGee for a ‘who’s he throwing to?’ final offensive play. Or you can blame the Tight End with the last name that I’m too lazy to look up the proper spelling of. The sophomore’s illegal man downfield penalty on Joe Morgan’s potential 83 yard touchdown reception was the play of the game.  McGee’s first pass was the breakout play of the day (in an afternoon when there were very few) that would have established a lead, confidence and momentum. Instead, it ruined everything. It was an appropriate call by the referee.

One non blame-worthy group would be the ‘Children of the Corn.’ The freshmen played as well as could be expected. Arrelious Benn was the Illini’s only playmaker on offense with 6 catches for 87 yards. The other prize recruit, an unusual wide receiver/defensive end hybrid named Martez Wilson had a big sack on Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen. Wilson, like fellow freshman defensive star recruit Josh Brent, is being brought along slowly. The defense should have done a better job containing Lockport, IL (SICA in the house! Footnote 1) native Christensen as he had nearly 200 yards passing despite missing his top three wide receivers and entering the game with grossly anemic stats. They also performed below expectations in the run defense department as Hawkeye tailbacks Albert Young and Damian Sims both averaged over four yards a carry. For the first six games of the season, the Illini pretty much shut down everyone’s running game or at least held them way below their average.

Also, the Illini have been out-gained in every game since the win over Syracuse. You’re not going to win many games where you are out-gained…unless you have a big edge in turnover differential, which did not happen today. We knew this was going to catch up to them eventually. And we all knew this high was going to crash sometime. ‘Mendenhall for Hei$man?’ I love watching him play too, but let’s not go nuts. You don’t usually go from dust bowl to Rose Bowl overnight. You can still go from football poverty bowl to the Capital One Bowl though!

Nuggets and Tidbits

-Eventually, Zook’s limitations as a play-caller could do the Illini in this season. He’s a great recruiter, but some of his coaching decisions are bonehead.  Last season he cost Illinois a win over Indiana by going for two (and not getting it) in extra point situations where almost no coach would.

-On a key 3^rd and 7 inside the Wisconsin 35, he decided to give the ball to some guy I’ve never heard of (which really says something considering what an Illini geek I am)

instead of his three playmakers. This decision got overlooked because they won.

I actually applaud his move to Freshman Eddie McGee in the 4^th quarter; making the same decision late in the PSU game paid off. He called a couple stupid plays inside the red zone though. I don’t see many coaches running those pitch outs inside the 5. Of course, had they worked, like his decision to sneak McGee on 4^th and 1 last week, we wouldn’t be second guessing.  

-I noticed the Iowa marching band, like ours, plays the ‘Imperial March’ from Star Wars whenever the road opponent is forced to punt. I don’t get it. I always thought the Emperor or Darth Vader would be placed on defense, not the punt coverage unit.

-Over the years we’ve seen some interesting backgrounds (funny Homer Simpson cardboard cut-outs, cheerleaders trying to get on TV as much as possible, hilariously mean signs) on ESPN’s college football game day. On Saturday morning I saw one ‘unique’ sign reading “Chase Daniel eats boogers.” I thought it was the University of Oklahoma, not an Oklahoma elementary school that ESPN visited for their pre-game show.

1. Only people in Chicago will get that reference. And only my fellow South Suburbanites will appreciate it. So be it.

10/7/07 Your 2007 Illini: A 2001 ‘Champaign Campaign’ Redux?

By Paul M. Banks

It’s starting to sound and feel a lot like 2001. Actually, the win over #5 Wisconsin was so big, matching it requires going back more than 6 years. The last Illinois victory over a top ten team came in 1989: the Jeff George era when the orange & blue defeated then also #5 USC. Wisconsin had their winning streak, the nation’s longest, stopped at 14 as Bucky the Badger fell to Illinois 31-26 on “Gut Check” Saturday. The Illinois offense was dominant as Rashard Mendhenhall (19 carries 160 yards, 2 TDs, 4 catches, 33 yards and a score) had a breathtaking run where he reversed course and changed fields turning a busted play into a big gain. Quarterback Juice Williams added 92 yards on 14 carries. Arrelious Benn contributed a Walter-Payton-in-Super-Bowl-XX-offensive-decoy type performance. Even the old “have your fullback run a deep sideline route that no one will see coming” play worked, as Russ Weil had a 31 yard reception catching Badgers defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz off guard.

-In the words of SPCB Green Bay Packers (the Badgers’ NFL cousins) expert David K:

“The Badgers have a problem with tackling…which is kind of important for playing defense. Other than tackling, covering, stuffing the run and getting off blocks, they’re pretty good defenders.”

As for the Illini D, a ‘bend but don’t break’ defense (which is a lot better than 2005’s ‘bend and break defense.’ No wait, when you give up 56 points in a half to PSU and at least forty to just about everyone you play, it was more like a ‘bend and break; then break again, then turn gangrenous enough to require amputation’ defense, but those days are long gone!) kept Wisconsin at bay in the first half. Illinois had a commanding 17-6 lead at the break. Although Illinois was out-gained for the third straight week, they still won their fifth game in a row. Wisconsin played from behind the whole game, having to abandon the run and take to the air. Sophomore stud tailback P.J. Hill was held to 81 yards rushing, 52 yards below his average. Tight End Travis Beckum cashed in with 11 catches for 160 yards, helping his NFL Draft stock immensely. Senior quarterback Tyler Donovan had 392 yards passing, but got picked twice on crucial second half drives: once by Vontae Davis, and again by Kevin Mitchell (although it wasn’t a one handed catch like the famous play made by the guy with the same name: the 1989 National League MVP. who was infamous for arrests, suspensions and injuring himself while both vomiting and by a frozen chocolate donut.) It was also nice to see Illinois wide receiver Joe Morgan “take some time off from his ESPN baseball commentating” duties to make some important plays on special teams!

Being at this game, the one that everyone was talking about (Front page story on Espn.com, Google news sports, Yahoo sports, Sportingnews.com pretty much everywhere until Stanford later knocked off USC) was a special experience. ESPN’s Erin Andrews was there. (And she is even hotter in real life!) Mendenhall and Zook got some post-game face time with her, giving the program’s head coach and star player a big boost to their Q ratings. 

Champaign on Ice…

…would have been nice…on a scorching day like this! The Illini got very hot during one of the hottest games in recent memory. Mid October temperatures in the mid 90s, the Illini putting up almost 300 yards rushing on a traditional Big Ten defensive power and Illinois thinking Rose Bowl makes me ask ‘Is the world ending?’ It certainly was a festive atmosphere; like a Greek wedding. A popular wedding drink is a Mimosa: champagne and orange juice. This party in Champaign was covered in orange and starred a quarterback named Juice. Ok, so maybe that last analogy was rather forced. Fortunately, none of Juice’s throws were. And that was why he developed further as a quarterback today. Were there some throws he could have made, but didn’t? Sure, but he didn’t force the ball into situations that weren’t there and didn’t make any big mistakes. As for Mendenhall, his performance in a huge victory elevated him from overlooked, but solid tailback to a national star. This year, ESPN Game Night Final has awarded three weekly ‘helmet stickers’ (in just six games) to Illini players. Mendenhall has two. Next year, it will be Rashard’s jersey replica that will be sold in UI campus bookstores. And they will sell out faster than the iphone.   

Stay tuned to SPCB.com this week as I’ll have much more Illinois related material:

-An interview with Juice Williams

-An interview with an Illinois cheerleader about the post game celebration

-Interviews with Wisconsin coaches and players about how good Illinois is/could be

Two shopworn and trite things you won’t ever see on the SPCB Illini pages:

-the hackneyed and overused phrase ‘the juice is loose’

-clichéd and tired analogies between the renovation of the stadium and the rebuilding of the program 

In the meantime, check out the Illini interview archive

Rashard Mendenhall

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/mendenhall.html

Martin O’Donnell

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/odonnell.html

Ron Zook

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/ronzookinterview.html

Justin Harrison

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/harrisson.html

Ron Turner

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/ronturnerinterview.html

Pierre Thomas/E.B. Halsey

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/pierrethomas.html

Derrick McPherson

http://www.sportsandpopculturebank.com/derrickmacphearson.html

More wins in Sept. than the previous two seasons combined! Actually beating a ranked opponent! Entering October at the top of the conference standings! The Zooker has finally brought some sunshine to a program that has been the joke of the Big Ten during the past five seasons. (Indiana has also been a punch-line.) After beating Penn. St. you got to have a song in your heart and a spring in your step. Can you feel a brand new day?

The first 3-1 start since the ‘Champaign Campaign’ of 2001! The first successful Big Ten opener since 1993! People comparing the starting tailback to Rocky Harvey! Huzzah! These are indeed happy times - or at least happier! My 5-7 preseason prediction now looks pessimistic. Watch out for Ball St. though as they almost knocked off Nebraska. That should still be a home win. Unless the Illini have a -7 turnover ratio in each of their games against Minnesota and Northwestern, that’s two more wins on the board, which puts us at 7-5 and very bowl eligible. Remember, our Illini were just a play or two away from beating Wisconsin, Ohio St., Penn St. and Iowa last year. If they have truly turned the corner as much as it appears they have, then they should be able to get one or two wins out of that four game stretch; as long as they get better at completing some more passes soon. Hopefully, if Illinois does make a bowl, it will be much better than the Motor City Bowl.

Because the thought of going to Detroit in late December reminds me of this clip from 1977’s Kentucky Fried Movie:

Plenty of Big Problems ahead for the Basketball program

And Jamar Smith makes the dead to me list.

9/15/07

In 2005 both the Chicago White Sox and Illinois basketball had the season of a lifetime. They reached the highest of heights; giving their fans the most excitement that they will see for an entire generation. In 2006, things naturally declined for both. By 2007, the sight of rock bottom was in point blank range. With less than three weeks remaining my Sox have the worst record in all of baseball. With midnight madness just a month away, I realize that similar despair is in store for the Illini.

If you haven’t followed news surrounding the basketball team lately, that may be a good thing.  With football season in full swing, Illini basketball stories have been pushed to smaller inches on the back pages. Quite a bit has happened, but all the news has been bad. Quite bad. Slashing your wrist bad. (Despite all the crazy women who have passed through my extended social circle, I still find this reference within acceptable comedic bounds.)

So as we near Illini Madness on Oct 12^th, let’s get caught up and let’s get down. And I mean down like Picasso during his ‘Blue’ period.

-Last year, they had no backcourt scoring threats as their perimeter shooting was pathetic. The ‘main weapon’ Rich ‘Area 51’ McBride is gone. His back up, Jamar Smith is suspended. Eric ‘Judas’ Gordon left them at the altar to have a one-year stand with Indiana instead. And the main recruit brought in to replace him, Quinton Watkins is now academically ineligible. For more:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/532590,CST-SPT-illbk29.article

-Major minutes will be required from Trent Meacham, one of the Big Ten’s biggest Bushers. This year will be to the shooting guard position what 1999 was to the point guard position. Remember when Frank Williams couldn’t qualify academically and we had to start walk-on Nate Mast, yes that Nate Mast, at point guard.

-Assistant Tracy Webster, the program’s main link to recruiting in the Chicago public league (the Midwest’ major talent pool) is now gone.   

Then again Weber wasn’t exactly recruiting the public league too well lately anyway. So a fresh start there might be good.

-The Illini recently embarked on a Canadian exhibition tour which included four wins, but they needed double overtime to defeat McGill University. What? McGill?

-They lost to Concordia University 86-82. If the schedule features Cambridge and the Sorbonne, could they handle it? If they can’t win in a nation with a less than stellar reputation for basketball (Steve Nash and Bill Wennington exempt), how will they compete with Michigan St. and Ohio St.?

Did I mention....

…that no one is signed in the class of 2008! That’s right no one at all for '08

The team’s record could get ugly; 1998-99 level ugly in just a couple seasons. The storm clouds have gathered over head and there could be some category 5 losing on the way. But what actually might make me lose interest in the Fighting Illini program is not the potential losing on the court, but the lack of ethics and disgraceful conduct of the program off the court. 

Dear Jamar Smith,

When you return to the Illini in 2008, I may root and cheer for your team, but I will not root and cheer for you. On the night that you left your teammate for dead, you blatantly disobeyed your coach Bruce Weber's basic order to not go outside because of a dangerous blizzard moving in. Everyone deserves second chances but you made so many different mistakes on top of one another that night, that you squandered any leniency and forgiveness. I’d rather watch the team go 0-30 than see you in an Illini uniform again. Regardless of your involvement or non-involvement with the team, future posts about Illinois Fighting Illini basketball will have no mention of your name.

Jamar Smith: You’re the Fredo of the Illini b-ball family and you are officially dead to me now.

The team may not finish last in conference this season or have a dismal record comparable with the 2007 White Sox, but they have already completed a similar first-to-worst journey in my eyes. Their on-court record may not have hit rock bottom, but the conduct of the program certainly has. My exact thoughts on the pathetic double standard exemplified by recent decisions and developments are best expressed by this excellent editorial in the August 29^th edition of The Daily Illini

http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2007/08/29/
Editorials/Smith.Decision.Disgraceful.Yet.Typical-2941186.shtml

The recent decision to let junior guard Jamar Smith redshirt for the 2007-08 basketball season is an insult to true Illini fans and emblematic of a culture in which standards are treated merely as a limbo stick.

Back in February the underage Smith, while heavily intoxicated with tequila, was driving a car carrying fellow Illini player Brian Carlwell. That car crashed into a tree, leaving Carlwell in a perilous medical state. Smith then left the scene of the accident and returned to the apartment complex where they had been without calling police or an ambulance. Only later did witnesses alert authorities.

Smith pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors in the spring to aggravated DUI and served a two-week jail sentence in the summer. Now a felon, he is on probation for two years and required to complete community service and pay a fine.

This incident follows previous criminal behavior by former Illini Rich McBride who not only was implicated with Luther Head and Aaron Spears in a burglary and never charged, but was also arrested in September 2006 for DUI. That followed the April 2006 arrest of now senior center Shaun Pruitt for assaulting an employee of The Clybourne.

The administration and the athletic department's failure to hold high profile students like these accountable for their egregious and illegal behavior is intolerable. To continue to allow figures like Smith the honor of wearing the Illini uniform is a slap in the face to every student and fan who comes to Assembly Hall to support the team.

And of course, it's a fair bet that if one of those student fans was involved in the kind of reckless behavior that some of our most prominent athletes have engaged in, they wouldn't enjoy such lenience from coaches, much less administrators.

While a double standard seems to exist in student discipline, it appears that there is a double standard among athletes as well.

There is little to reconcile between how two football players were kicked off the team last semester by Coach Ron Zook for being charged with residential burglary and how Smith, after being convicted of a felony, will not only remain with the basketball team but also enjoy a de facto paid campus vacation with funds that could be given to more deserving athletes or students.

While our athletic programs continue to endure criminal behavior and academic mediocrity as evidenced by today's news that a new freshman recruit has been declared ineligible, the entire University suffers.

Until administrators and coaches decide to get proactive, we are left to wonder if someone literally has to die before this environment of tolerance ends.

The Offense

Not Well Received

This position was like ‘love handles’ on a typical American male’s physique, or the ‘cottage cheese’ portion of the average female’s physical appearance. Receivers dropped 46 of Juice’s passes while hauling in just 103, an awful ratio. The position’s depth has suffered hits with the potentially season ending knee injury to star recruit Chris James, a very sought after prospect out of Morgan Park, and the release of ‘thugz’ Derrick MacPhearson and Jody Ellis from the program. Last season, this group’s horrendous drop habit partially led to Juice’s sub 40% completion percentage. Thankfully, help is on the way. Arrelious ‘Regis’ Benn stunned everybody by choosing Illinois over any school he wanted. Regis is largely considered to be not just the best receiver recruit in school history, but one of the biggest recruits at any position in the entire history of the program. The former Dunbar high school (Washington D.C.) teammate of Vontae Davis and #1 overall rated receiver will be an opening day starter. He graduated early, joined the team for spring drills and progressed rapidly. Junior Kyle Hudson will headline the group after leading the team in catches with 30 as a sophomore and 31 as a freshman. Tight end Jeff Cumberland supposedly has -as the painful cliché goes- ‘a tremendous upside,’ but only showed glimpses of it last season.

Back it up

Starting quarterback Isaiah ‘Juice’ Williams had under 40% completion rate; his TD and INT ratio was even and yet his passer rating was somehow 91.9. How is that possible? The entire rest of the Big Ten was over 110. John Stocco and Bryan Cupito were over 140! A passer rating of over 110 in the NFL would be phenomenal, not mediocre to less than average like it is in the college ranks. I don’t pretend to understand the passer rating system and computation, but I do realize that the college standard is really lax when compared to the pro system. We know Juice can beat you with his feet, but he has to be able to win with his arm too. The source of the Illini’s un-doing last season was their inability to get/maintain possession. They were just atrocious in third down passing situations. If they improve there, and everything else remains essentially stable, then this team can go places. Juice is rated very high by many college football publications. He’s confident that he will make big strides this season. Let’s hope so!  

At the running-back positions, Pierre Thomas is now trying to avoid the Turk at New Orleans Saints training camp, scoring two TDs in the last preseason game versus Kansas City. Also, gone is one of the most disappointing players in school history, E.B. Halsey. After running for over 130 yards in his freshman debut against Missouri, Halsey never topped the century mark again. The program took one chance on him and his checkered past, not receiving much in return as he never truly blossomed. Russ Weil will start at full and Junior Rashard Mendenhall will now be the feature back in a rushing offense that led the Big Ten last season. That’s not a typo! The Illini really were the Big Ten’s number one rushing team, I’m serious. They were 5^th nationally in yards per carry! Yes 5^th!

Of course, they were dead last in the conference in passing offense.

Mendenhall tied for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with 5 (also his jersey number) on a team ranked 10th (189 yards a game) nationally on the ground.  In ‘06 Mendenhall averaged 8.2 yards per carry. Yes, that’s right 8.2 yards PER CARRY! The Doak Walker award candidate broke off a couple runs in the 70s last year with a career longest of 86. Unfortunately, he also has a problem with fumbleitis, which kind of makes the average football fan view him as a sort of better educated, real life Darnell Jefferson, the tailback character played by Omar Epps in The Program.

Line in the Sand

This unit must pass protect as well as they run-blocked last season in order for the offense to take the next step. They were able to clear running holes last fall, but they failed to give Juice much time to throw. They are a big reason for Juice’s miserable completion percentage and the main reason he often had to take off and accumulate some of his nearly 600 rushing yards during 2006. Only one starter, right guard Matt Maddox, is gone from last season. Sophomore Jon Asamaoh is expected to take over.

Left Guard Martin O’Donnell is a four year starter. He was a huge Illinois high school star, deemed one of the best offensive linemen in the nation in high school and one of the most sought after recruits at his position. Although he has played well at times, he certainly hasn’t lived up to the hype. This fall will be his last chance. Akim Millington, the starting left tackle, was supposed to be B.M.O.C. last year after transferring out of Oklahoma but didn’t live up. He’s fighting for his job now, trying to stay ahead of defensive convert Xavier Fulton. Ryan McDonald will start at center with Charles Myles at right tackle. 

Special Mention

The kicking game will be solid against with the familiar and dependable Jason Reda. The punting game is another story. The reason you saw receiver DaJuan Warren and others messing around with trick punting is because regular punter Kyle Yelton was a complete waste of space. Illinois could have used a class 7A high school punter and gotten more return on their investment. There’s an old football adage that the punt is the most important play of any football game because it’s the single play where the most yardage is transferred. That expression would sum up Illinois in 2006. In conference, they were dead last in punting, punt returns, and of course, net punting. Red shirt freshman Anthony Santella is the leading candidate to salvage this shipwreck, demoting returnees Jared Bosch and Yelton.

Overview

How far this team goes depends on 1.) How much production they get from Martez Wilson, Arrelious Benn, and the rest of that highly heralded recruiting class. 2.) How far the right arm of Juice Williams will take them. They likely won’t get past a very good Missouri team in St. Louis, but 3-1 in non-conference looks very doable. Going 3-5 in conference would make the Illini bowl eligible; doing that requires they beat all three (Northwestern, Minnesota, Indiana) ‘re-building’ teams on their schedule; or closing the deal in an upset over a favored opponent like the Lions or Badgers. They could conceivably be favorites in all three of the ‘second division’ games, but then again this is Illinois football. Last year’s 2-10 was an unexpected disappointment, and if that happens again, you will hear everyone saying the usual knock on Ron Zook all over again: great recruiter, terrible coach. In all likelihood, it’s going to take another blue-chip recruiting class and another year for the premier classes to gel/develop before entering the postseason picture again. Maybe we will legitimately expect big things in ’08 or ’09, and bring back memories of the ‘Champaign Campaign’ of 2001? In Zook’s own words, the steps to rebuilding are: lose big, lose small, win small, win big. 2005 and 2006 went according to this plan; a 5-7 campaign or better is mandated to show that this reclamation project is truly on schedule.

Illinois Season Preview: 2007 Part I, the Defense

We could compete for a bowl slot…no really, I’m being serious

8/29/07

Since 2002, Illinois has had the second worst record of ALL BCS SCHOOLS. For the past five years only Duke has been worse. (Duke has a football program? I’m well aware that they have a lacrosse program.) Illinois has a 13-45 mark which is a .224 winning percentage if you’re scoring at home. (On a side note, the Illini basketball team has accrued 112 wins during the last four seasons, more than any team in the nation!)  2006 football was a little different though. They lost with style this time, and their losses showed legitimate promise. They threw a scare into national powers: Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State with just a play or two in each game snatching defeat away from the jaws of victory. They blew big leads at Wisconsin (up 21-3 at half, 24-10 in the 3^rd qtr before losing 30-24) and Penn St. by playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Those losses were part of a streak where they fell by less than seven in four straight games and a fifth where they were just one possession down in the final two minutes. Getting close but not reaching the line matters in bocce ball, not football. Illinois was 10^th nationally and led the Big Ten in rushing, but finished 10^th in scoring. They were fifth in overall defense and third in passing defense, yet ninth in scoring defense. On paper this looks like a 6-6 team, but they were a miserable 2-10.  

So how did this happen? Both Illini b-ball and football failed for the exact same reasons this past year. They both had great defense, horrendously one-dimensional offense, horrible passing fundamentals and a laughable inability to take care of the ball, not to mention a tendency to self-destruct that only Lindsay Lohan could match.

The Defense

The Defense made great strides from ’05 to ’06 and kept them in every single game except the visit to Rutgers. They must force more takeaways and hope Juice and company make huge improvements towards limiting their giveaways. The orange and blue were -15 in turnover margin, finishing dead last in the conference by a wide margin.

Secondary places first  

Following the phrases “lead with strength” and “put your best foot forward,” we start by examining this young and deep unit. Cornerback Vontae Davis is related to San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis and was everybody’s freshman All-American last season. He was rated the number one pro prospect at his position by NFL Draft Blitz and is pretty much a lock to not stay all four years. Travon Bellamy takes over for the departed Alan Ball at the other corner spot.

Justin Harrison enters his senior season as the starting strong safety. Despite playing in just eight games due to injury in 2005, he still finished third on the team in tackles with 63. In 2004, he earned Rivals.com Freshman All-America honors. Kevin Mitchell, (not the late 80s S.F. Giants slugging outfielder) is an experienced starter at free. Highly heralded freshman Bo Flowers is the back up free safety, bringing life experience if not playing experience. His age, 24 will match his jersey number towards the end of the season. Bo ‘knows football’ and is returning to the college game after spending some time in the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs systems. Obviously Bo ‘knows baseball’ too.

Linebacker U.

As has often been the case in recent years, the team MVP is a linebacker. This year, it’s J (that’s J, not Jay or J.)  Leman, the Big Ten leader in tackles was second team all-conference and had the highest single game tackle total in the nation, recording 22 versus Northwestern.  Brit Miller and Antonio Steele fill out the other starting positions with senior Anthony Thornhill providing depth. One of the two 5-star super-recruits, Simeon’s Martez Wilson played wide receiver and defensive end in high school, but will likely see time at weak side linebacker where he’s currently listed second on the depth chart.

Crossing the line

Central Illinois product Josh Brent is another multi-star recruit who could make an impact, likely at the position of defensive tackle. Fellow freshman, End Jerry Brown could make his presence felt too. They will provide depth to a solid unit, with Chris Norwell and David Lindquist starting at the tackle spots, Doug Pilcher and Derek Walker at the ends. 

5/24

Could Deron Williams Become the Best Illini Pro Ever?

A look at who D. Will needs to surpass and have the greatest pro career of an Ex-Illini   

By Paul M. Banks

Head of the Class

Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams, the highest draft pick in Illini history, is possibly developing into the best professional in Illini history. He followed up his stellar performance in rounds one and two by scoring a career high 34 in game one of the Western Conference finals. Then in game two he had 26 points and 10 assists. Williams seems to be getting better as the spotlight grows brighter. In the first round of the playoffs, the entire backcourt of the 2005 Illinois team reunited. The Houston Rockets’ main perimeter weapon is former Illini Luther Head, who finished fourth in the NBA in 3 pt shooting. Head did little during the series, but took major steps forward during his second regular season: averaging 10.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. Head got more playing time when stars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming went down with injuries, and he took advantage of it. He had a 37 game streak of hitting at least one three-pointer and made several game-clinching shots late in games.  

-Dee-al with it: Brown’s NBA career won’t last long

I know this will sound heretical to some of the extreme fringe elements of Illination, but fact is fact. Enjoy Dee Brown’s NBA career while it lasts. Even if Dee moves on to another team and gets more playing time, he’s still the next Mateen Cleaves. Both are photogenic, charismatic players with a blue-collar work ethic. Both hard-working point guards were poster children for a magnificent March Madness run. Brown is undersized, not a true point guard and way too streaky a shooter. Don’t expect him to achieve much more than Cleaves did in the NBA. The Brown/Williams situation evokes my “Brad Johnson/Casey Weldon rule.” A situation where two college teammates find their roles reversed in the professional ranks, Johnson threw less than 30 passes during his entire Florida St. career. The starter was Weldon, a nationally acclaimed and media hyped QB who was relegated to playing flag football just a few years later. In 1999, when the Washington Redskins coincidentally adopted a rip off of the Seminoles logo for their helmet, Weldon was 3^rd string and Johnson the starter. Brown, not Williams, got most of the publicity and hype at Illinois. Now he’s 3^rd string behind Williams. 

Other Illini with notable Pro Careers

-Eddie Johnson’s 19,202 points was the 22nd highest total in NBA history when he retired, but Johnson was never invited to the All-Star game nor a member of an All-NBA team. He did win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as a member of the Suns in 1989. This award typifies his career:  not a star, but a good role player. Current L.A. Laker Brian Cook and Kenny Norman, who once averaged about 19 points a game for the L.A. Clippers, are two more Illini who qualify for this category. Let’s take a look at how the 1989 Final Four ‘Flyin Illini’ fared in the pros. 

-Kendall Gill was the fifth overall pick in the 1990 draft.

Gill averaged over 20 points per game twice in his career. First as a second-year player for the Hornets (joining Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnons as part of a great young nucleus) in 1991-92. (20.5 ppg) and again for the Nets in 1996-97 (21.8 ppg). In the 1997-98 NBA season, Gill led the league in steals. On April 3, 1999, he recorded 11 steals in a game against Miami, tying Larry Kenon's single-game record. Unfortunatley, his skills were just ordinary and never caught up to his extraordinary athleticism. It’s not likely that an NBA team will sign him away from his cruiserweight boxing career nor his Bulls pre-game broadcasting gig. His NBA career will go in the books without an All-Star appearance.

-Nick Anderson was picked 11^th in the 1989 NBA draft. He was the first pick in Orlando Magic history and went on to become arguably the franchise’s greatest three-point shooter. He was the main outside scorer on the Eastern Conference finalist team of 1994-95; the best in organization history. Unfortunately, he missed four crucial free throws in game one of the 1995 NBA Finals, and the Magic lost both the game and the series. Shortly thereafter, he developed both performance anxiety and a phobia of shooting free throws. With his head out of the game, his career was never the same. Many feel the Magic have not recognized the contributions Anderson made to the franchise. As for fellow 1989 team members Kenny Battle, Marcus Liberty and Stephen Bardo, their NBA careers were just mere footnotes.

-Derek Harper, in my opinion, is the greatest of the bunch. He teamed with Rolando Blackman to give the Dallas Mavericks a dominating backcourt in the 1980s, and was an integral part of a New York Knicks team that won the Eastern Conference. According to his wikipedia entry, “Harper played in 1,199 regular season games in his career, ranking him twenty-first in NBA history (as of the 2004-5 NBA season). He retired having the eleventh most steals and the seventeenth most assists in NBA history, and is widely regarded with the dubious distinction as being one of the best players to never make it to the All-Star game.” Fitting that the best player in Illini history is a point guard just like Williams. Could we nickname Illinois ‘point guard U.’ someday?

Kidding around?

In game four versus Golden State, I saw Williams pass up a wide open three, drive in and pass up another wide open jumper before finding teammate Carlos Boozer for an easy basket. A good point guard is like a socialist: prioritizing an ability to effectively distribute the resources, share the wealth and get everyone involved. The best point guards of the future will accentuate and excel in the drive-and-kick game. Deron’s game is most often compared to the legendary Jason Kidd. If we examine both players’ first two years in the league, we see that Kidd made similar statistical jumps from his first to second season. Williams compares favorably in every stat except rebounding. This year, Williams finished ahead of Kidd in a point guard’s most important statistic, assists, but D Will’s assists-to-turnover ratio was worse. Williams is more powerful than Kidd with or without the ball, but Kidd is quicker. Williams needs to augment his defensive skills; but offensively Kidd has never been that phenomenal and D. Will can easily surpass him someday. Kidd’s versatility has earned him the nickname “Mr. Triple-Double,” and he is third all-time in career triple-doubles with 87. Deron Williams’s NBA career is off to a great start. However, he will need to accomplish a lot if he hopes to match Kidd’s impressive professional resume:

1995 NBA co-Rookie of the Year
8-time All-Star
6-time All-NBA Selection
9-time All-Defensive Selection

5-time NBA regular-season leader, assists per game: 1999 (10.8), 2000 (10.1), 2001 (9.8), 2003 (8.9), 2004 (9.2)

Member of the 2000 U.S.A. Dream Team which won gold at the Sydney Olympics.

Deron Williams Disease

There are people who still talk about how Williams looks ‘chubby’ for an NBA player or that ‘he’s just big.’ Around the time of the NBA draft, pundits repeatedly stated how much he needed to 'lose his baby fat.' These people are way off. Perhaps he just has that kind of body; maybe it’s simply his genetics. Given all the conditioning his position in life requires, it's quite obvious that he is in elite physical shape. I’m sure all his measurable numbers would verify that too. Some people are just like that; they are in much better health than the exterior of their body makes them appear to be. These people suffer from Deron Williams disease. -It’s the polar opposite of that guy you know. The one who eats cheeseburgers five nights a week, drinks a case of beer every weekend, never works out and yet still looks really cut- We’ve heard announcers make this same exact knock on Deron a few times during the Western finals, in a more subtle form. Every time an announcer calls him ‘deceptively quick’ or ‘deceptively fast’ he’s making the same exact point. And I know something about this affliction. As a high school defensive back, a football coach often called me the same pejoratives; so much so that one of my best friends still reminds me of it any time we play a sport today. Another thing Deron has and I don’t is a whole cadre of tattoos: ‘Texas Made,’ ‘No Guts’ ‘No Glory’ to distract the game viewer from this.  

Cult of Personality

During the Jan 20^th Utah Jazz at Chicago Bulls game, the glory days of ’05 returned. Because former Illinois players Dee Brown and Deron Williams are on the Jazz roster, (Roger Powell was released a few weeks beforehand), the United Center was filled with blocks of Illinois students and alumni wearing orange. Members of the Orange Krush showed up; the “De-Fense” chant was changed to “Dee-Brown,” and thousands of fans shouted I-L-L and I-N-I back and forth. In other words, a Jazz-Bulls game was happening on the court, but the fans were trying to watch a 2005 Illinois Big Ten tourney game. This is evidence of how D. Will could become to Illination what Dwayne Wade is to Marquette alumni and Kidd to the Cal-Berkley faithful. He could motivate Illini fans that have forsaken the NBA to become Jazz fans much like MU faithful became Heat fans. May 23^rd was a big day for this trend as both Williams and Kidd were selected for team USA competing to qualify in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

#4 SIU vs. #13 Holy Cross

I can’t picture Southern Illinois, a team with an RPI of seven being bounced in the first round; especially by a team (Holy Cross) that hasn’t won a tournament game in a half century. The Crusaders represent the school with the smallest enrollment of all tourney teams. The Patriot league champs are a plucky bunch who play good defense, but don’t exactly light up scoreboards. Southern is a very athletic team which plays excellent D. Holy Cross will hang around until the ten minute mark or so, then the Egyptian dogs will pull away easily.

The pick: Salukis 85, Crusaders 72

#5 Virginia Tech vs. #12 Illinois

I’m not sold on Virginia Tech. When someone brings up the topic of V.T. Hokies b-ball, what comes to mind? Yeah, that’s a tough question! How about a program that just ended a decade long tournament drought or how they are 300^th in the nation for 3-PT field goals made? Yes, they swept North Carolina and won at Cameron Indoor, but they also lost to Western Michigan and Marshall. That bipolarization of results is mostly due to match-up differences. Against Illinois, I expect their weak frontcourt to get dominated by Illinois.  Yes, Zabian Dowdell is dangerous at 18 points per game and the rest of their backcourt is solid too. However, most of what the Hokies do well, Illinois can beat them at. Also, I think the Illini outside shooters are due. During the last four games, the Illini offense has been God-awful on the perimeter. Shooting slumps have to end sometime, and this will be the place. Expect somebody: Frazier, Calvin Brock, Area 51, Brian Randle, Trent Meacham (well, hopefully not Meacham; if he knocks down a bunch of treys again that could only mean one thing: THE RAPTURE IS UPON US!) to get hot and knock down a few triples.

If you think I am using my heart instead of my head in picking Illinois over Virginia Tech, ESPN's Digger Phelps, voted by the Champaign News Gazette as "one of the top ten enemies of the Illini state," agrees with me; (He's certainly not an over-rater of Illinois, see the 2/24/07 entry on this page for an explanation) so does the New York Times. I've always considered the Times to be to media what ‘that smart kid’ in your class was.  By ‘that smart kid,’ I mean the one who sets the curves on the exams; the one everyone in class should cheat off of.

The Pick: Illini 65, Hokies 62

The under-card fights are over, now let’s get ready for the main event…….

Battle of the Dreadlock Stars: Jamaal Tatum vs. Warren Carter

As Jay Mariotti stated in his Chicago Sun-Times column last Saturday the Illini can’t spell N-C-A-A without Warren Carter. The senior has stepped his game up big time this season and will end his career proudly; unfortunately, he will be ending it during the first weekend of the tournament. Tatum has a much better supporting cast, and SIU’s second leading scorer, Randal Falker will be a much bigger factor than the Illini’s Shaun Pruitt. This game could be uglier than a Mateen Cleaves jump-shot; don’t be surprised to see a score in the 20s during the early second half. It will be a tense, emotional game too as Illinois head coach Bruce Weber recruited four of the five SIU starters. (The exception is sophomore guard Bryan Mullins) Also, expect Illini forward Brian Randle to pick up his fourth foul sometime around the 17 minute mark. That’s just what he is, that’s just what he does. The SIU Salukis are seeded the highest in school history. (The previous record was seven in ’05)  They were the last at-large team to receive a bid in 2002, and responded by upsetting Bobby Knight’s sixth seeded Texas Tech team in the first round. In the second round, they battled back from a 20 point deficit and beat the #3 seeded Georgia Bulldogs 77-75. In the sweet sixteen, they played exceptionally tough, but got bounced by a very good UConn Huskies squad. This year, they will make a similar run and then likely take it a step further.   

The Pick: Salukis 59, Illini 54

This is bizarre: 6 out of the last 12 years, (’95, 97, 98, 00, 03, 06) Illinois has lost in the exact second round. It could happen again this year, which would be especially strange given that last year’s team deserved three seed and this year’s team was the 63^rd or 64^th to get in. They could both end up at exactly the same place. 


A moment of Silence for the 18 game United Center winning streak. The conference tournament now shifts to Indianapolis till 2012. 
 
2001-2007
(Indiana) '01 Big Ten Tournament Semifinal- (Wisconsin) '07 conf. tourney semis


like Satan told Kevin in 'The Devil's Advocate'

"You had a good run kid, it had to close out sometime"

Illinois’s little sister school, SIU is all grown up now!

3/7/07

Still think Bruce Weber can’t recruit? Look at how his players are flourishing in Carbondale!

It all happened on that St. Patrick’s Day in 2002. It was a glorious day for downstate Illinois college basketball. During a NCAA second round doubleheader at Chicago’s United Center, Illinois ousted Creighton followed by the SIU Salukis upsetting the third seeded Georgia Bulldogs. In the former game, Frank Williams actually decided that he wanted to play during the second half and led the Illini past Kyle Korver’s Blue Jay team. In the latter, some guy resembling Ludacris named Dearman and a country boy named Korn led the Salukis conquered Jarvis Hayes and the Bulldogs. Everyone who wore orange at the UC that Sunday might as well have been wearing maroon that evening. My SIU alumni friends, the very same who referred to the Illini as ‘US’ and ‘WE’ during Illinois’ number one seeded years of 2001 and 2005, were ecstatic about the school’s first sweet 16 appearance in decades. SIU is a school notorious for student riots and I heard rumors that rowdy students ‘celebrated’ by toppling a telephone poll and subsuquently disrupting service for half of the campus. Take that Michigan State! Salukis know how to riot too. Since then I have been a Saluki fan and I passionately cheer them on every March Madness. Their run in ’02 elevated their program a notch; and they have been a postseason staple ever since. Bruce Weber is the man mainly responsible for that. The following season, he left SIU to take the head coaching job at Illinois. So who says Weber can’t recruit? His former players are part of a team ranked in the top 15.

Weber’s departure was free of acrimony and built an iconic bridge between the two schools. He is the figurehead of the Illinois-Southern Illinois basketball alliance much like Ron Turner exemplifies the Bears-Illinois synergy. Southern Illinois is the younger, more popular but sluttier sister. Illinois would be the older sister with higher grades and better involvement in extra-curricular activities, but just not as attractive and fun to look at; especially this year. Nevertheless, the Illini and Egyptian dogs are brethren. They rarely play one another so they are not frienemies nor rivals, they are truly friends. The Champaign to Carbondale corridor of I-57 is a peaceful one, the weekend Amtrak between the two campuses rocks! It’s a party locomotive with a bunch of stops in towns you’ve never heard of. In years past, I remember my SIU buddies filling in Illinois deep into their brackets and jumping on the orange colored bandwagon in late March. This year, it appears the roles could be reversed. How does that chant go again, S-I-U S-I-U ??? Did I get that right?     

Although I am certainly on the opposite side of this debate, I enjoyed this joke. So why not be ‘fair and balanced’ and post something on the other side of the Chief debate here. Also, I know this professor and he is a d-bag.