[Oskee] wow

Thu Dec 3 12:01:30 EST 2009

Well stated, Todd.  

The first half beat down was so thorough that I didn't even get mad...I
told my son that it wasn't worth it getting upset about, and that we
should watch just  to see if the beloved could keep it under 20.  He's
only 11 so he left to play Xbox...poor soul.  J 

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf
Of Todd Sweet
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 10:51 AM
To: 'Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List'
Subject: Re: [Oskee] wow

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? J ).  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

________________________________

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

________________________________

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

________________________________

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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