Time for Illini to get identity back, play ‘D’

This is head coach Bruce Weber’s seventh year at the University of Illinois.

When you think of his teams, what common trait do they all possess? What common trait has always been there, a staple of his coaching and, in turn, Illinois basketball? What common trait has led to his winning more games than any Big Ten coach in his first six years? Here’s a hint — it can be summed up in one letter and is severely lacking this season.

‘D.’

That’s right, defense. Here’s the number of points the Illini have surrendered in their past four games (keep in mind, the best competition is to come): 60, 72, 74 and 77. The Illini are going in the wrong direction. Strangely enough, the two lowest totals of those games resulted in the only two Illinois losses on the season, against unranked Utah and Bradley.

Need more evidence? Last season, opponents scored more than 65 points on Illinois only seven times in 34 games. This year, through eight games, it’s happened four times. Last season, Illinois led the Big Ten and ranked third in the nation in scoring defense (57.2 points per game). This year? Not even sniffing elite status at 65.6 points per game.

Bruce Weber teams aren’t teams that outscore their opponents — they out-think and outplay them. Such has not been the case this season. You could even argue that Illinois was outplayed by Boise State on Saturday (evidenced by the leading juniors sulking into the media room and Mike Davis saying the game “didn’t feel like a win”), yet came away with a victory based purely on a talent advantage.

While the Boise game itself was a tad discouraging, I saw the juniors’ bad moods as a silver lining. Davis, Mike Tisdale and Demetri McCamey’s body language in the press conference was as if they were just forced to watch the Bronco players fool around with their significant others. Guys, you just won. But it wasn’t enough for them.

“We keep saying, ‘Once the Big Ten (conference play) gets here, we’re going to be all right,’” Tisdale said. “We’re not going to be all right if we keep taking it easy. We have to step it up.”

In the live blog of the Boise State game, I wrote the following in my halftime observations: “Illinois will not win many big games playing defense like this. 38 points in a half? To Boise State? No offense to the Broncos, but that can’t happen. Bruce Weber knows that more than anyone, and I’m sure he’s harping on the D in the locker room. I expect Boise to finish this game in the 65-70 point range.”

The Broncos finished the game with 77 points. At the Assembly Hall. I could see Boise State’s football team throwing up 77 against our borderline non-existent football defense, but I didn’t expect hoops to concede that number. Something has to change.

“It’s habits,” Weber said when asked what the defensive issues were. “You get habits over the course of time and in practice. That’s why older teams are usually better defensively. They understand concepts, they recognize things, they’ve been through it.”

That’s the key. Experience. Last season, to the average observer, watching the Illini could sometimes be compared to watching paint dry. Senior guards Chester Frazier, Trent Meacham and Calvin Brock had almost zero ability to create their own shots, yet they played intelligent defense and shut teams down, forcing them to play at the snail pace the Illini were most comfortable at.

This team is almost the polar opposite. Frazier, Meacham and Brock are long gone and with them went the defensive prowess and identity. They’ve been replaced by offensively proficient freshmen in D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul, who play hard on the defensive end but aren’t in the same league as the departed seniors.

It’s interesting to observe the Illini defensively. They’re far more talented and athletic than last year’s edition, yet the defenses aren’t even comparable. It’s like night and day. Granted, this year’s team plays at a much faster pace, but will that be an excuse come Big Ten season? Come March?

“We have to use the crowd at home, and you do it with defense,” Weber said. “You get shutouts, you get transitions, you get (the crowd) louder. We never became intimidating (at Assembly Hall). That’s got to change. I think (the players) think they’re playing at home and they’re going to just win. That’s not the case all the time.”

The Illini take on one of their best early-season opponents in Vanderbilt (unranked in the AP Poll, No. 24 in ESPN/USA Today Poll) tonight at home. The game figures to be evenly matched and will likely come down to who can get defensive stops in the final few minutes.

Illini nation takes pride in Weber’s coaching abilities and blue-collar approach.

Last season, in a column asking Orange and Blue faithful to let go of all hatred for former Illinois coach (and current Kansas coach) Bill Self, I wrote: “(Weber) managed to slip a jewel of a class, our current sophomores, past pretty much everybody. The primary reason that class has become a jewel is because nobody can coach ‘em up like Weber. Nobody. Not Self... not anybody.”

In the week that followed, the Jayhawk message boards torched me worse than Mrs. O’Leary’s cow torched Chicago. Did I care? Not really. I believed it, and I still do.

It’s time for Weber and his boys to prove me right.

‘D’ up.

Rich Mayor is a senior in Media. Contact him at rmayor2@illinimedia.com.