We made the call for an event such as this to be created back in February of 2015. Thank you, Chicago Legends, for complying, and on Saturday night we shall see if the reboot of this franchise gets off to a successful start. It’s the inaugural event at the United Center in Chicago on Dec. 17th.
The opener is Northwestern against Dayton at 6 pm (here’s the link to the game preview and prediction for that one), followed by Illini basketball versus Brigham Young at 8:30 in the nightcap.
Both games are televised on BTN
You can follow the Chicago Legends on Twitter @ChiLegends
Illini Basketball Preview:
If Illinois is going to make any kind of run at the NCAA tournament this season, they have to show the ability to be more consistent on a neutral court. They have only played three games on a neutral court this season, the first result (West Virginia) was a complete disaster. The second effort was better, but pretty awful down the stretch (Florida State).
The third endeavor (VCU) however, was a complete 180. Illini basketball fans will be hoping to see that kind of team, the one dominant in Miami, for this one.
As BYU is the opponent here, we’ll try to keep our references to The Book of Mormon musical from getting too obnoxious. It is a funny coincidence though that the title of the play’s Act I finale, a rousing motivational medley number is the same title as one of Illini basketball coach John Groce’s cliche catch-phrases:
It’s worth noting though how much one of the main characters in that play was so reminiscent of Tim Beckman, and his relationship with his missionary partner was kind of like the Beckman-Bill Cubit dynamic, but I’ll try to stay on task here.
“Grandpa” Tracy Abrams gets to go this game for the final go around, and that’s big because he’s a Chicago guy who went to Mt. Carmel. For my money, he’s been this team’s best player this season, not Malcolm Hill. Sure, Hill has better scoring and rebounding averages, but look at his FG and 3 pt (.441%, .431%) percentages compared to Abrams (.575%, .641%). He’s basically the anti-Jaylon Tate.
Abrams is also superior to Hill in assists and steals.
Against Central Michigan, Abrams was basically a real life version of when you’re playing the ’90s NBA Jam Session arcade game and you’re controlling Glen Rice (or Nick Anderson to make an Illini basketball reference) and then make a bunch of threes in a row and your opponent doesn’t score (when the ball is a flame and smoke trails behind on every shot).
I also really like the starting five Groce went with for that game- Abrams, Hill, Jalen Coleman-Lands, Mike Thorne and Leron Black.
That needs to be the starting five for the rest of the season; it’s the most talented lineup 2016-17 Illini basketball can trot out there.
Chicago Legends All-Time Team:
Be sure to check out my all-time Chicago Legends list story in RedEye, the Chicago Tribune’s sister publication. It’s a first and second team of all guys who are either from, or played their prep ball in Chicagoland, and you can read it online at this link.
Illini Basketball at United Center Primer:
We’ll see on Saturday if the format switch can breathe new life into the annual Illini basketball game at the United Center. Every year since 1994, Illinois has played at least one game a year at the United Center, almost always in December. Unfortunately, the last few UC opponents (UIC, Oregon, UIC, Auburn, UNLV, UIC, Gonzaga and Georgia) are all very bad when it comes to drawing fans. Those are all football schools or mid-majors.
Yes, UNLV was a powerhouse 25 years ago and Gonzaga is pretty superlative during the regular season, the Zags have established themselves, but they, like the football first schools, do nothing when it comes to drawing big crowds. Illini basketball should never schedule UIC at any point, anywhere. Nothing good comes of that, even the wins are masochistic torture. The Flames have been so far off the relevancy map for so long that scheduling them can only hurt the program.
Last year’s contest against UIC had an announced attendance of just 5,151 with an actual attendance very far below that.
Most of the Illini basketball writers covering the game each have more Twitter followers individually than people in the seats. That just cannot happen anymore going forward. The 2014 UC game (loss to Oregon) had an official attendance of 13,000 and that meant the facility was a third empty.
As someone who was there I can tell you that attendance number was highly inflated, but it was downright “buzzing” compared to the ghost town of tumbleweeds that was last year’s win over UIC. Heading into that contest, the Illini basketball contract at the House that Michael Built had already expired, and thus nothing further was scheduled until the Chicago Legends Classic came about.
Northwestern and Illini basketball fans need to show up and show out as Mark Ronson would say for this one, so that the Madhouse on Madison series will continue. Unfortunately, mother nature is not cooperating, as Saturday’s weather forecast sounds treacherous.
Hopefully it changes for the better, and the house is rocking again, like it used to be. Not get too high off the member berries but Illinois used to schedule opponents like Duke, Arizona, California, Kansas, and UCLA here. Hopefully, winning here again can make help make a big difference. Illinois started off 12-1 in non-conference games played at venue, making the United Center the true Illini basketball “home away from home.” However, they are just 4-5 in this series since then, with an overall record 16-6 in this event.
BYU Hoops Preview:
This is not the BYU basketball of former National Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette. It’s not even the BYU hoops of Brandon Davies, the power forward who was kicked off the team for the honor code violation. It did work out for Davies though as he got reinstated, developed into a major college star and played a bit with the Philadelphia 76ers for a couple seasons.
Jimmer is with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association now by the way. Although they haven’t made it to the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend or won a conference championship in a half-decade, BYU is a very proud program, ranking among the NCAA’s top 15 all-time winningest (as does Illinois) with more than 1,700 victories.
That’s not the only thing Brigham Young in common with Illinois.
They both have three losses, including one inexplicable and inexcusable setback at the hands of a really obscure team that few have even heard of (BYU lost to Utah Valley University 114-101, which was like the Illini basketball Winthrop defeat).
Both teams have serious issues playing defense at times, especially in the back court.
Speaking of guards, Nick Emery, the team’s second leading scorer, is a guy to watch out for. You’ll spot him right away, by the shirt underneath the jersey look. You don’t see that too often, outside of Georgetown, these days. Sophomore big man Eric Mika, who goes 6-10, is their leading scorer and he could go off Saturday night.
Despite a really poor shooting night he still put up a 17 and 7 in a nice win for BYU over Colorado (remember them? the last Illini basketball NCAA tourney win came against the C Buffs in 2013) this past Saturday night. It was a very entertaining late night game to watch and it showcased what Groce must do to game plan against Mika this week.
Prediction: Illini basketball 95, BYU 91
Good offense, bad defense, a little from column A and a little from column B. It all comes down to who’s perimeter defense takes on less water.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.