Indiana Krushes Illini Hearts

By Mark Buckets

Eric Gordon was harassed all night, both on and off the court. The Orange Krush, as the Illinois Student Section is affectionately called, voiced their displeasure with Eric Gordon and Indiana all night.

If you don’t know about that situation, you’ve been living without Drive & Dish for a long while.

Eric Gordon had originally committed to Illinois. But he changed his mind right before the November signing day. Bruce Weber and Illinois were left standing at the alter as Eric Gordon showed up at Indiana's Midnight Madness on November 1, 2006 and pledged his commitment to Kelvin Sampson and Indiana.

As for tonight's game, this was a critical loss for Illinois: not so much in the win-loss record category, but for the psyche of an already crumbling Illini team. They gritted for every loose ball. They played with a boatload of heart.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

Demetri McCamey, it must be stated, was the player of the game - for both teams. He outshone Eric Gordon, who had a quiet 19 points. McCamey’s 32 kept this Illinois team in the game.

The kid had ice water in his veins tonight.

If it weren’t for a three-point prayer from Eric Gordon to essentially send the game into OT, along with four Shaun Pruitt missed free throws down the stretch and in overtime - Illinois would have won this game.

This game was an absolute microcosm of the Illinois season.

Aside from the Eric Gordon-Kelvin Sampson saga, this was a game in which Illinois needed to make a statement.

There is no doubt that they did just that.

Not in the way they wanted to, however.


Edit (Friday, 2/8/08):

Trashtalk Superstar adds:

Eric Gordon's reneging on his commitment to Illinois set the Illini basketball program back about four years.

Because he'd secured an early commitment from Gordon, Bruce Weber didn't bother to recruit other shooting guards for the class of '07. When Gordon slithered out of his commitment at the last minute, it left Weber and Illinois without the player they had planned to build their program around.

But it also left the Illini without any options.

Since Illinois hadn't recruited any other shooting guards, the Gordon fiasco left them with a gaping hole in the middle of their lineup. This year's Illinois team can't score to save its life. But that wouldn't be the case if Eric Gordon were suiting up for the Illini.

Having said that, I think that Illinois fans need to get over their hatred for Eric Gordon. Their anger toward Gordon was understandable a year ago. But by making this game a grudge match centered around Eric Gordon, the Illinois basketball program and their fans looked like childish losers.

Furthermore, Bruce Weber needed to state that he and the program are officially "over" being spurned by Eric Gordon.

But the Illini Nation is reveling in their hatred for Eric Gordon. And Bruce Weber -- the leader and public face of the Illinois basketball program -- hasn't done anything to discourage that sentiment.

The truth is, Bruce Weber appears to be every bit as furious at Eric Gordon, the Gordon family and Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson as any of the nutty, orange clad Illini fans who packed Champaign's Assembly Hall last night. And one can hardly blame Weber for being mad at Sampson and the Gordon family.

Eric Gordon is, at least, partially responsible for Illinois' dismal season. Despite their poor wins and losses record, these Illini aren't an abysmal team by any stretch of the imagination. They've been competitive in almost every game they've lost. They have a decent team of roll players. But they don't have a scorer.

Eric Gordon was supposed to be that guy.

This Illinois team was put together with the understanding that Eric Gordon would be its "go to" guy. And with Gordon, Illinois would probably be fighting for third or fourth place in the Big Ten, and for a decent seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

But by leaving Weber and the Illini standing at the alter, Eric Gordon effectively relegated Illinois to the status of Big Ten doormat.

Eric Gordon lied to Bruce Weber up until the last minute. He kept telling Weber that even though Indiana's Sampson was trying to persuade him to back out of his commitment to Illinois, he would remain steadfast in that commitment.

Thus, when he switched to Indiana without giving Weber any indication of his change in plans (which prevented Weber from being able to recruit another player to replace him), Gordon absolutely decimated Illinois' best laid plans.

So Bruce Weber had every right to be upset . . . a year ago.

But Bruce and the Illini Nation need to move on.

Look, there's no doubt that Eric Gordon did Weber and Illinois wrong. Yet by behaving with such a lack of civility toward Gordon and his family, Illinois fans actually make Eric Gordon look like the sympathetic party. Gordon and his family come off as the victims of Illinois' vicious hostility.

Besides, by maintaining their grudge against Eric Gordon, Weber and the Illini Nation have effectively ceded him the power to continue tormenting them.

Let's be honest: almost anyone would agree that any guy who couldn't get over having been dumped by his girlfriend a year and a half after she left him would be a pathetic, self-flagellating, wussy, girlyman.

And that's exactly how Bruce Weber and the Illini Nation must have looked to the national television audience that tuned into last night's game.

Illinois should be better than that.

You'd expect that kind of thing from Iowa.

But now Illini fans are making themselves look like backwater fools.