Know Thy Opponent: Illinois
by Ryan Corazza in Opponents | January 27th, 2011
Perhaps the best way to describe this year’s incarnation of the Illini is Ohio State-lite.
They’re athletic. They have playmakers. They boast senior leadership in Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale, while Jereme Richmond and Brandon Paul are youngsters that can’t be ignored.
Of course, they don’t quite come with the undefeated, top-team-in-the-country accolades. Though currently No. 20 in the AP poll, Illinois had a slip-up against UIC during the non-conference slate. And after back-to-back losses to Penn State and Wisconsin on the road and Saturday’s hard-fought loss against the Buckeyes inside the other Assembly Hall, they sit at 4-3 in Big Ten play.
This is a stout offensive team, one that pours in 1.14 point per possession (fourth in the conference). Thanks, in part, to a historic shooting night against Northwestern early in their Big Ten slate, the Illini have the top effective field-goal mark (58 percent) in the conference. It should come as no surprise, then, that this team can shoot the three, as they sit atop the conference with a strong 46.4 percent mark. If the Hoosiers are playing their pateneted “leave the peremiter shooters wide open” defense we’ve seen at times this season and the Illini are hitting, this one could get ugly early.
Illinois is also strong at the free-throw line, hitting 77.2 percent of its attempts (fourth) right behind of the Hoosiers at 77.3 percent (third).
Defensively, the Illini are solid relative to their Big Ten counterparts, ranking fourth in the conference at 1.06 points per posession. The Hoosiers and Illini are pretty even in the rebounding department, as their offensive rebounding percentage (Indiana: 32.2 percent, Illinois: 31.9 percent) and defensive rebounding percentage (Indiana: 67.8 pecent, Illinois: 68.1 percent) are near identical.
If there’s been one glaring weakness of this team in conference play so far, it’s that they’ve had trouble controlling the ball. With a turnover rate of 20.7 percent, only Iowa (23 percent) has fared worse.
Yet, this is certainly a game the Illini are looking to steal on the road, especially if they want to remain amongst the conference elite. I suppose how easy such a win will be for them depends on what version of the Hoosiers show up this evening — and whether or not Verdell Jones, who’s status is uncertain for tonight, is able to play.
All stats via statsheet.com.
Pick to Click: Illinois
by Staff in Pick to Click | January 26th, 2011
Rules are here, for those unfamiliar.
Pool for Iowa: All players eligible to be picked.
Picks are due by 8:45 PM ET on Thursday evening.
A few reminders:
+ State the name of the player (not a nickname) that you’re picking. If you use a nickname for a player, your pick will not be counted. Also, please state who you are picking as the first thing in your comment. We’re tracking a couple of hundred picks per game. It’s more difficult to keep track of everyone’s pick if it’s not the first thing in your comment.
+ Please make sure you are using a valid e-mail address if you are not registered.
+ Please make sure you are using the same name each time to pick if you are not registered. We are tracking wins by the name you use to submit your pick. If your name changes on a game-to-game basis, credit for your pick will be given to the name used to submit the pick.
(Photo credit: Jamie Owens)
Video: Tom Crean talks about Illinois
by Alex Bozich in Video | January 26th, 2011
Eric Gordon sidelined with right wrist injury
by Alex Bozich in Former Hoosiers | January 26th, 2011
The chances of an Eric Gordon NBA All-Star game appearance have just become slimmer.
The third-year LA Clipper and former IU guard, who is currently eighth in the NBA in scoring at just over 24 points per game, will miss the next three or four weeks with a wrist injury, reports ESPNLosAngeles.com:
The team said Tuesday night that Gordon has a sprained right wrist and a small bone chip fracture. After exams by multiple doctors, it was determined he would miss three to four weeks.
Gordon was probably a long shot to be selected to the Western Conference team, but this injury could keep him out past the All-Star break (Feb. 18-21).
The loss of Gordon is a significant blow to the Clippers, who sit seven games out of the playoff race, but are 7-3 over their last ten games.
ClipsNation weighs-in on how the loss of Gordon could affect the Clippers chances of reaching the postseason:
When Eric Gordon went crashing to the floor of Staples Center on Saturday night, the Clippers’ hopes of making a playoff push, however dim, probably crashed as well. The Clippers are now 0-3 without their leading scorer this season. Then again, they faced some pretty good teams in those games, the Spurs, Hornets and Mavericks. They were 6-14 in the 20 games he missed last year.
Dan Dakich and Don Fischer talk toughness, fragility
by Alex Bozich in Media | January 25th, 2011
If you’re not following us on Twitter, you might have missed the link I tossed out last night to a podcast of Don Fischer’s weekly appearance on The Dan Dakich Show.
This segment is a must-listen each week for IU fans as Fischer and Dakich offer candid analysis. A lot of interesting stuff, but nothing more so than the following:
Dakich: This is the wrong thing to say, OK, but this is what real coaching is. When the season’s over, there’s gonna have to be a couple of these guys make a decision on whether or not they want to stay here. And there might actually be a couple of them that the decision’s going to be made for ‘em. There’s too much fragility, mentally, among some of these guys and you know what? Some of them aren’t freshmen. There’s not freshmen and at some point, you know what, hey, we’re paying about about 30 grand a year to come here and do this and if everything’s so fragile, maybe the MAC’s for you, not the big time.
Fischer: (Laughs)
Dakich: I mean, truthfully.
Fischer: (Laughs) No, the reason I’m laughing Dak is because now I don’t have to say it.
Dakich: Well, it’s true. (Laughs) Hey, every game, big life, big stage, Big Ten, right?
Fischer: That’s right. (Laughs)
Dakich: It’s a big stage, Indiana basketball.
Fischer: That’s exactly right and the frustration level is at probably an all-time high in the sense of how this coach and his staff are looking at it right now, I can tell you that.
Dakich: The problem is, nowadays, then the guy goes to the paper: “well, Crean kicked me off.” Yeah, well, tough.
