Arena Adventures: Carver Hawkeye Arena

Arena Adventures: Entry #8

Arena: Carver Hawkeye Arena
City: Iowa City, IA
Date: December 29, 2010
Teams: #25 Illinois vs. Iowa

My second trip of the year to see my Illini play, 2-0 in games I have attended this year. Maybe that is a good sign for the January 22nd game at Assembly Hall? If you haven't been to Carver Hawkeye Arena before it is very funky; the outside looks like a restaurant and inside the concourse is completely above all of the seats. Basically it was built into the side of a hill.

Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Illinois started off slow and was down 4 5:00 into the game at 11-15. Much had to do with the inability of the Illinois guards to contain Iowa City native Matt Gatens early. DJ Richardson and Bill Cole made back to back three's and the Illini never looked back. Illinois stretched it's first half lead to 13 on Freshman Jereme Richmond's tip in to make it 29-16.

Illinois took a 12 point lead (49-37) into the half when Iowa guard Bryce Cartwright hit a buzzer beater, seemingly taking the momentum into the locker room.But it wouldn't last. The Illini came out of halftime and went on a 9-2 run to push the lead to 19 at 58-39. It looked like the Illini were going to cruise, I was thrilled.

I'm following the Bill Simmons way;
I've got five years to teach my daughter
she bleeds Orange and Blue.

Credit the Hawkeyes, they were down and out yet they still continued to battle back. They played within themselves and played good enough defense to get the game back into single digits and make it a game again. Cutting the lead to as little as six, but in the end the Illini proved to be the better team and won by ten, 87-77.

Demetri McCamey lead the Illini with his second 20/10 game scoring 20 points, dishing out 10 dimes and adding in three boards. McCamey has been dynamite for the Illini all year and has positioned himself as a legit NBA prospect and potential first team All American and is clearly the best Point Guard in the Big Ten, not Jordan Taylor (yes I'm talking to you Shon Morris and Dan Dakich, seriously do you guys actually watch games?).

Billy Cole has been great for the Illini as well, he isn't flashy but he plays within himself and has not backed down from taking wide open treys (and nailing them). He has been the perfect glue guy for this team and hustles on each and every play.

Iowa looked pretty good though, not fantastic but I really do like the Fran McCaffery hire. It might be a few years but if he can get some athlete's to Iowa City they could have a very solid team and potentially compete for top half of the Big Ten. I don't see them winning any titles anytime soon but this is a good step for Iowa.

I like the improvement my Illini have made, we aren't clicking on all cylinders quite yet but I still see a talented team who could push for some March wins, especially when Jereme Richmond has continued to improve each and every game.

Frustration of an Illini Fan

Yes I am frustrated. First an inexcusable loss to UIC at the United Center. I wrote that off, took a few days break and thought ya know what? Sometimes teams lose games they shouldn't. We've got a good team, senior leadership. We didn't get up for a small game and it bit us in the ass. Fine I'm moving along - it's time to think about Missouri. Get the Braggin' Rights game and all is good again.

Illinois Freshman Foward, Jereme Richmond

I notice a tweet right before the start of the game and see that Jereme is starting. I'm excited, he deserves it. He comes with energy and passion (something, unfortunately, I am not sure I can say about too many other members of our team). Didn't know who he was starting for, I had hoped to see him take Davis' spot at the 4 to start the game to try and match up with the quickness of Missouri. Davis makes too many poor passes and doesn't understand his role as well as Cole.

He's starting at the 3, moving Cole to the bench. Alright I'm ok with that.

We looked bad early, we missed layups, put backs. Then we got going and had a seven point lead. Cautiously optimistic (as I always am) I'm starting to think we might be able to make a nice push and get a good lead, something I assumed we'd need to have any chance at winning the game, we just can not close games out (more on this later).

Then we fall apart with turnovers, missed shots. Tie game at half.

Well, at least we're not down.

A tight second half, we're up a few late and we do the ONE THING, the ABSOLUTE ONE THING I HATE about this team.

We slow it down and walk the ball around for 25 seconds before we decide we'd better take a shot, usually ending in a bad look or worse, a jacked three. Sometimes they go, but they are still bad shots.

Why? It makes no sense to me. Maybe this is why I'm not coaching on the hardwood but I can not seem to understand how that helps us win games? Every single time. Every single game. No killer mentality. No thought of trying to put a team down and deliver the knockout punch. Never.

And I am not one to rip on players, they're not paid the big bucks. But I'm trying to decide where the problem lies? I'm not sure you can coach toughness and killer instinct. You either have it or you don't, yet at the same time I wonder why we are playing guys that don't seem to care to win when the game is on the line.

"What happened to this is our year and we haven't done nothing yet," Davis?

Box out. Put your butt on a guy. We lose games because we can't hustle, we don't know where to put ourselves on defensive rotations. All to often we make a poor rotation and leave someone else open, closer to the basket.

It's time for the seniors to step up. Actually it's time for everyone to step up. Davis played well yesterday but nobody else came to play. I love that we have five to eight players who could score double digits any given game but we have to have consistency. We have to run our offense. I lost count of the number of plays last night I watched four Illini players stand around while someone dribbled. Pick, Cut, something! Or else tell coach to put someone else in because you don't feel like playing. I'm sure Crendall and Tyler would love more playing time.

If we lose, because we are not as talented. I don't care. But lose with passion, show you care. Don't lose because you were completely outplayed.

Big Ten ball is just around the corner and right now, we're not ready. I'm not ready to put this on the coach, yet; right now it seems like the guys just don't get it and just don't care to get it. And that's scary.

I'm sure I will elaborate on my thoughts more as the day goes on. It wasn't a bad loss, but a game we should have won.

But however things go ILL-INI.

It's time to go kick the crap outta Iowa.

Arena Adventures: Assembly Hall (Part 1)

Arena Adventures: Entry #3

Arena: Assembly Hall
City: Champaign, IL
Date: November 30, 2010
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Teams:North Carolina @ #20 Illinois

Illinois Assembly Hall

This was not my first time at the Assembly Hall, I have actually been there for quite a few games in the past. However this was my first ACC/Big Ten Challenge game and it did not disappoint.

The game started out slow, with Illinois making the first bucket and North Carolina taking an early lead after that. The main turning point of the game was when Illinois senior guard Demetri McCamey took the ball down the lane and picked up the third foul on North Carolina junior forward Tyler Zeller.

The game stayed close to for a while after this point and Illinois took a nine point lead going into half with a buzzer beating three ball by sophomore guard DJ Richardson. The Illini didn't let down to open the start of the 2nd half with Mike Davis scoring two of his 20 points on an ally-op dunk from fellow senior Mike Tisdale.

While the Illini didn't finish the game off strong, they never let it feel like North Carolina was back in the game and as an Illini fan that was great to feel.

So let's talk about both teams Fab Freshmen. We've all heard about Harrison Barnes, both pre-season when he was hyped as an All-American and now in season when he hasn't had nearly the start that many expected. But what about Illini forward Jereme Richmond? He came in with passion and intensity and wanted to show Barnes that he has game and that is exactly what Richmond did. He scored 12 points and did not back down form the pre-season All-American.

Illinois forward Jereme Richmond
Photo by Cary Frye

Barnes finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 27 minutes, shooting 2-9 from the field including 1-4 from beyond the arc, while Richmond scored 12 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out an assist in 26 minutes of play. It's tough to judge two players on one single match-up but I'd have to say that so far this year Richmond has looked a lot better than Barnes has and made a point to take it right at Barnes the moment he entered the game.

The highlight of the night was a great up and under dunk near the start of the second from Jereme that had the Hall rocking.

After the game I am not quite sure what to think of North Carolina. They have talent but they just aren't playing well at all. Barnes has not even come close to living up to all the hype he received. Illinois did not play that well and they controlled the game handily. If Mike Davis can drop his inconsistency of last year and give the Illini 15 and 10 every night they will absolutely compete for the Big Ten title. Although for this to happen I think Tyler Griffy needs to get healthy and give Davis a break. Mike played 38 minutes on Tuesday and that happen each game.

A great atmosphere as always at the Hall!