The 1998-99 Illini basketball team was exceedingly brutal to watch. The 2013-14 Illini basketball season is just as unsightly. If not more so. Both teams could defend their tail off. Let’s give them credit for that. Defense was strong in both. But offensively?
Well, watching Illini basketball run their half court offense is so painful that…How painful is it?
I wrote a whole bunch of Illini basketball punchlines for that joke, but I’ll lay off. I’m not going to pile on. I’ve said enough. You’ve said enough. There’s no sugarcoating it, Illinois has severe issues offensively. In both college basketball seasons, and it’s because of the primary reason: no point guard.
In both years, Illini basketball had a true point guard in the program, but he wasn’t eligible. A bigger problem than opposing defenders is the NCAA. Oregon State transfer Ahmad Starks could have been ruled eligible, you know how arbitrary and capricious the NCAA is. He’s not here and neither is floor general for this offense.
Frankie Williams couldn’t his act together academically in 1998, therefore he had to miss the season. That led to a last place Illini basketball team that featured power forward Sergio McClain and shooting guard Cory Bradford bringing the ball up. And believe me it was ugly. Then they settled on a walk-on named Nate Mast running the point. There was minimal, if any improvement.
This season, Starks sits, while Quentin Snider de-committed and flip-flopped back to Louisville at the last minute. (I know he couldn’t help out this year, but at least you’d feel a lot more hopeful about next year at the position than you do today). Tracy Abrams has heart, leadership and effort, but he’s not a point guard and never will be.
Jaylon Tate looked good early versus the low majors in the pre-conference, but Big Ten season has reminded us why he wasn’t considered a four or five star recruit. And like Chester Frazier, he can’t shoot the ball into the ocean.
So what’s the answer? Have Kendrick Nunn bring it up, a “point forward” type deal? I don’t have the answer to this one, but I do know that it’s worth trying anything different. I’m not sure how to fix it, I just know that the status quo has got to go. Having a true point guard wouldn’t fix everything, this team lacks shooters, and points in the paint have been hard to find too. ’98-’99 was the worst Illini team in a generation, but this is even worse. You’ll see higher scoring in high school girls games than you’ll see from this Illini basketball team. Illinois is shooting just 28% from three point distance and 36% overall during Big Ten play. That’s bad for a single game, let alone an aggregate of 13 games. Usually you get a statistical regression to the mean; not with this Illini basketball team.
I’ve been following Illini basketball since 1991, and the only truly terrible seasons were the two were talking about, 2012, and 2008. However, in ’12 the team just looked like they quit on Bruce Weber once they found out Weber was being terminated. 2008 was brutal as well, but it still wasn’t as dark a season as the current one, or the ’99 team.
Ohio State Coach Thad Matta was asked postgame if he’s ever been through anything like what John Groce is growing through now. He mentioned that he was an assistant on a team that started 0-7, and then offered this:
“The hardest part is you guys, I’m not blaming you, but it just makes it challenging, what is being said, kids read that stuff. And today with social media, you’re not the first person in their ear.”
“I just told [Groce] to stay the course. No one works harder than him. Haven’t been able to get any momentum.”
I thought I had already exceeded my quota this year for watching Illini basketball games where they a.) scored less than 47 points b.) lost c.) both. But last night saw a 48-39 loss to Ohio State. Brandon Paul scored 43 all by himself versus Ohio State two years ago.
“The margin for error, you’ve been sitting here I’ve said this all year, is really small”
“We’ve got to be tougher,” Groce said. “We have to finish some of those around the rim. Missed two layups. Can’t do that.”
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also a frequent analyst on news talk radio; with regular segments on ESPN,NBC, CBS and Fox. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)