<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div>Yeah, I fear that Alex is one of those guys that is a great practice player, but just never can translate it to real game success, but I agree that he could be critical for us as far as generating some scoring. Teams will be keying on Richardson and shut him down if we can't get someone else producing from beyond the arc.<br><br>-- robert<br></div><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> "Hooker, Anthony" <hooker@uillinois.edu><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee@heins.net><br><b><span style="font-weight:
bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thu, December 3, 2009 9:17:33 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Oskee] wow<br></font><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Hats off to the Illini! It
looked to me like the juniors finally decided that they have to be leaders,
even if it’s not really in their nature. Tizzy used all 6000
calories in the second half. I thought his post defense was pretty good
against one of the best bigs we’ll see all season. It
was pretty funny that Jimmy Dykes mentioned Bruce telling the team that if “they’re
going to flunk the walkthrough, they won’t have much chance in the game”,
or something to that effect. JJ, Cole, Keller, even Semrau, gave some
good minutes off the bench and DJ and Paul are FEARLESS! I
hope Alex gets his mojo back. I still think he’ll be important in
future games. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">
oskee-bounces@heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces@heins.net] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Robert
Mingee<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 03, 2009 9:10 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Oskee] wow</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">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.<br>
<br>
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. :-)<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Now let's see if we can keep this momentum rolling!<br>
<br>
I... L... L... !!!!<br>
<br>
-- robert</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"> "Arbuckle, Jeanne"
<jarbuck@ilstu.edu><br>
<b>To:</b> Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee@heins.net><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thu, December 3, 2009 7:45:39 AM<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Oskee] wow</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I guess we had to go through a lousy football season to
properly appreciate last night. I hope no one gave up at halftime.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jeanne</p>
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