[Oskee] wow

Thu Dec 3 11:50:54 EST 2009

Even I, ever the guzzler of orange koolaid that I am, pretty much wrote this
one off.  That's about as bad a half of basketball as I remember watching in
a long, long, time.  But I did watch the whole thing and nearly hurt myself
when we pulled out the win.

To answer your question Robert.yes, McCamey IS that important to this team.
We did get a big assist from Clemson when they took their foot off the gas
(didn't I just post something about teams coming back from 20 down? :-) ).
I think Clemson would have pressed more in the second half but they had some
foul trouble to watch out for.  But clearly McCamey is the only point guard
we have who was poised enough to handle that pressure.  Even though he only
scored 2 points, I think him just being back on the floor settled down
everyone else.  Finally, Richardson and Paul just played and stopped
thinking so much.

So what changed in the second half?  

Well, they should write a Christmas story about How the Illini stole a win,
because our teams heart grew three sizes last night.  Yes, heart.   It made
us play with pride, hustle for the loose balls, rebound harder, defend
harder, focus better.  We played in the second half with heart.and big ones.

How remarkable is that not only did we come back, but did it only 10
minutes?!  It was amazing to watch, and a game I'll remember for a long,
long time.

Todd S

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From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of
John Livengood
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 9:27 AM
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
Subject: Re: [Oskee] wow

The announcers were making a huge deal about McCamey because...well, IT WAS
A HUGE DEAL. ;-)

As soon as he went out with his 3rd foul, they went on a 26-4 run. If you
look at the +/- for the game (i.e. the point differential when a player is
in the game or out), McCamey was +26! Clemson didn't seem to want to press
us when he was in the game, but when he was out, it was pretty ugly trying
to get the ball up the court.

The problem is, we really don't have a decent backup PG. Jordan has been
playing, but he really should be playing 5-10 minutes a game, not the 20
he's been playing so far. I think eventually DJ Richardson might be the guy,
but he's not quite ready yet.

Hopefully this is a season changing win, things were looking pretty grim at
halftime, amazing how 20 minutes of great play can change the outlook.

JL

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From: Robert Mingee <mingee at swbell.net>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Thu, December 3, 2009 10:10:11 AM
Subject: Re: [Oskee] wow

I don't think I'd ever truly give up and not watch/finish a basketball game,
but I freely admit I was tempted to start fast-forwarding at the beginning
of the second half, since I took a break for dinner at halftime.  We just
looked awful in the first half.  We seemed clueless about handling the press
(WAY too much dribbling, not enough movement and passing), or even the tight
half-court D, and just had no emotion or energy, so we were getting our
butts kicked on the glass as well.  Sounds like from what the announcers
said the pre-game walkthrough was the same way, and Bruce was really on them
about it.  The announcers were making such a huge deal about how McCamey was
on the bench, but honestly, I just don't think that was nearly the factor
they were trumping it up to be.

Clearly something happened at halftime.  Whether Bruce finally got through
to them, or one of the players finally stepped up and spoke out, who knows.
But you could just see it in their eyes at the start of the second half --
they were sick and tired of getting kicked around.  I never thought of Davis
as the leader type, and he still wasn't vocal at all, but the intensity on
his face and body language spoke volumes.  Shoot, even Tisdale looked fired
up, and I honestly wonder at times if he's even fully awake out there. :-)

I have to wonder if the press and high-intensity D didn't ultimately
backfire on them.  I was a little surprised they were still running it at
the start of the second half with the lead over 20, not because we couldn't
come back (clearly, though there's no way I'd have bet money we would), but
because it takes a lot of energy.  They are deep, and were subbing a lot,
but at some point you just run out of gas if you never allow yourself time
to catch your breath.  They did back off on it occasionally once the run
started, but it seemed too late.  I was a little disappointed that we never
seemed to make them pay for it with fast-break points or wide-open looks
underneath, but hopefully that'll come with time -- again, I thought we were
dribbling way too much, and you'll never make a team pay for pressing that
way.  It was really our D finally stepping up and just the overall intensity
and energy level (and hitting shots, obviously) that sparked the comeback.

I'm sure we will still struggle often this season -- that's just the nature
of a young team that still doesn't have a clear leader.  But last night
showed that the talent is there, and when the guys turn up the intensity and
play together, they can swing a game in the right direction very quickly.
And even though we didn't make as many FTs as I'd like to see down the
stretch, we didn't panic, and we didn't give up.  I'm really glad we pulled
it out, because I still feel that the damage done to team morale with a 3rd
loss in a row, especially after clawing back from so far down, would have
been extremely difficult for even Bruce to deal with, and he's one of the
best in the business.  And man, it is really fitting that we helped win the
first Challenge ever for the Big Ten after (IMHO) we lost it for the
conference last year by losing to Clemson at home.

Now let's see if we can keep this momentum rolling!

I...   L...   L...   !!!!

-- robert

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From: "Arbuckle, Jeanne" <jarbuck at ilstu.edu>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Thu, December 3, 2009 7:45:39 AM
Subject: [Oskee] wow

I guess we had to go through a lousy football season to properly appreciate
last night. I hope no one gave up at halftime.

Jeanne

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