Illinois: On the Bubble Again

(Photo: Indiana players celebrate Thursday's upset win over No. 20 Illinois: Darron Cummings, Champaign [IL] News-Gazette)


It's become a familiar refrain here at Drive and Dish, but we gave serious consideration to using this blog to predict an Indiana upset over No. 20 Illinois yesterday. Unfortunately, yesterday's beginning-to-end, tightly-packed schedule didn't permit us the time required to write a coherent, quality blog post. But we thought that last night's game looked to be an obvious "trap game" for the always mercurial Fighting Illini: Illinois was coming off a hard-fought, nail-biting, nationally-televised home loss to to No. 1 Ohio State and was expected to make amends by rolling over an injury-riddled, last-place opponent on the road.

As long as the sun comes up in the east, Bruce Weber's Illini can be expected to follow up a heart-breaking loss in which they "choke" at the end of a nationally-televised "big game" against a highly ranked opponent (Illinois' usual "big game" result), with an unforeseen, almost laughable, quickie loss to a lower-regarded opponent. Such "let down" losses are usually the result of Illinois' players overlooking their supposedly "inferior" opponents, and accordingly, forgetting to "show up."

If you're a smart gambler, you always bet against Illinois.

And once again, it's too bad we didn't get the chance to make our prediction, because, true to form, No. 20 Illinois suffered a humiliating 52-49 road loss to struggling Indiana Thursday night in Bloomington, IN.

With the upset win, the Hoosiers notched their mere seventh Big Ten conference win -- and their first win over an opponent ranked in the AP Top 25 -- since Tom Crean became head coach of the once-great, but recently-moribund program three years ago. Making matters worse for Illinois was the fact that the depleted Hoosiers were without both of their starting guards, Verdell Jones and Maurice Creek.

Illinois' record now drops to 14-7 overall, and to an eye-opening 4-4 in Big Ten play. Indiana improved to a meager 11-10 overall, and 2-6 in the Big Ten. What makes Illinois' most recent letdown loss all the more galling for Illini fans is the fact that, once again, Illinois has failed to live up to lofty preseason expectations. Most analysts had expected the upperclassmen-laden Illini to compete for the 2011 Big Ten conference title and to be a major player in the NCAA Tournament in March. But now with the Big Ten title out of reach, Illinois finds itself in an all-too-familiar place -- sitting directly atop the NCAA Tournament bubble.

College basketball fans may remember that Illinois was widely expected to do big things last year. However, the 2009-2010 team spent the season with a figurative ball and chain affixed to an ankle after it sauntered its way into back-to-back embarrassing upset losses at the hands of Utah and Bradley in the 2009 Las Vegas Invitational Thanksgiving Tournament. Despite high preseason expectations, the 2010 Illini muddled their way through what turned out to be a challenging schedule, and limped into the final week of the season as one of the most high profile teams on the proverbial NCAA Tournament "bubble." Ultimately, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee left Illinois out of the Tournament field, and the Illini ended their disappointing 2010 season with an ugly home loss to Dayton in the N.I.T.

This season was supposed to be different. Heading into the inaugural 2010-2011 tip-off, Illinois looked good on paper. First, they had the distinction of being the tallest team in college basketball. Their roster had two players who stood at least seven feet tall, and they had a returning starting front line that went 7'1", 6'9" and 6'9," respectively. Second, Illinois featured a promising coterie of experienced upperclassman, talented sophomores and highly-touted freshmen from the much-hyped 2010 Illini recruiting class. But perhaps most importantly, Illinois entered the season with the ace-in the-hole of being led by a standout senior point guard, Demetri McCamey. And that seemed to bode extremely well for the Illini, since point guards are the lifeblood of college basketball. Want to look like a genius when filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket? Pick teams that are led by tough, experienced, standout point guards. Your brackets will thank you.

Unfortunately for Illinois, all their size, talent (or purported talent) and experience hasn't been enough to turn their fortunes around from last year. First team All Big Ten senior point guard Demetri McCamey, senior power forward Mike Davis, senior center Mike Tisdale and senior forward Bill Cole have loads of experience, but they have yet to exhibit consistent toughness, intensity, competitiveness and determination to win. That amounts to a lack of leadership. And it shows in the results, as the Illini are quickly spiraling their way out of being in legitimate NCAA Tournament contention.

This past Saturday, llinois gave undefeated, No. 1 Ohio State all it could handle in the friendly confines (for the Illini--not so friendly for visiting teams) of Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL. But predictably, Ohio State's much-vaunted inside game, led by super freshman Jared Sullinger, wore the Illini down late in the game. And ultimately, the Illini came up short of pulling off an upset win over the No. 1 team in college basketball. That wouldn't have been a problem for Illinois if the Illini had come out of Bloomington, IN, with a "W" last night (as they were supposed to do). Close losses to good teams don't hurt you in the eyes of the Tournament Selection Committee when you've got a good record, you have plenty of impressive wins over good teams, you have a string of road wins, and you win the games that you're supposed to win. But close losses to good teams won't help you get you into the NCAA Tournament when you're bogged down with multiple embarrassing losses to bad teams, when you don't win games on the road (Illinois is currently 1-3 on the road), and when you fall to teams that you're supposed to beat.

Illinois was supposed to be good this year. But once again, they've failed to live up to expectations. And once again, they're in big trouble with regard to their prospects for making it in to the NCAA Tournament.

Indiana Center Holman Goes Out With a Bang

On Thursday, Indiana freshman center Eli Holman walked into new IU head coach Tom Crean's office to inform the Hoosier staff of his intention to transfer. But Holman didn't just tell the staff that he's leaving: apparently, he felt it necessary to "get a few things off his chest."

Thus, campus police had to intervene and escort Mr. Holman out of Coach Crean's office.

According to Hoosier beat writer Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star, Crean recounted:

"His behavior took me, along with the other people in the office, by surprise,'' Crean said in a university release. "We saw him as a danger to himself and wanted to take precautionary measures to help him.''

IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger confirmed that his department was called to the Assembly Hall lobby at 3:40 p.m. Thursday and told Holman had thrown a potted plant."

Indiana's Eric Gordon to Enter NBA Draft

Two days after Tom Crean's hiring as the new men's head basketball coach at Indiana, IU's star freshman shooting guard Eric Gordon is set to announce his plans to leave school and enter the NBA draft.

The Indianapolis Star's IU beat reporter, Terry Hutchens, has more here.

As Hutchens says, Gordon's decision to leave Indiana was a foregone conclusion:

"It wasn't a surprise. Not even close to it. From long before the day Eric Gordon first stepped on campus in Bloomington, Indiana fans were told to enjoy him while you can because he's only going to be there a very short time. 'One and done,' is everyone's favorite catch-phrase. With all of his potential (and the NBA clearly drafts on potential) there was no way Gordon was going to be in college more than one year. "

It's Official: Tom Crean a Hoosier

Today, Indiana introduced Tom Crean as its new men's basketball coach. Prior to his arrival in Bloomington, Crean was the head coach at Marquette since the 1999/2000 season. Crean guided Marquette to the Final Four in 2003.

What the Hell?

This photo of Indiana's D.J. White and Eric Gordon looks bad:



Talk about taking one for the team.

Kelvin Sampson Joins San Antonio Spurs

Kelvin Sampson has landed on his feet. The disgraced former Indiana basketball coach has been hired by the defending World Champion San Antonio Spurs of the NBA.

Reaction from Spurs fans here.

Mike DeCourcy on Indiana

Today, Mike DeCourcy has a must read article in the Sporting News regarding Indiana University's Kelvin Sampson scandal. DeCourcy says that Indiana faces a difficult road now that Sampson is gone. He thinks that it will be difficult for IU to avoid falling into irrelevance in the coming years. And he predicts low crowd turnouts at Bloomington's assembly Hall in the near future.

But if what DeCourcy predicts comes to pass, Indiana has no one to blame but themselves. The blame for IU's current predicament lies firmly on Indiana's shoulders for hiring Sampson despite having full knowledge of his prior transgressions.

Sampson was brought to Indiana for the specific purpose of preventing home grown stars from continuing to snub the opportunity to suit up for the crimson and creme .

During the Bob Knight era, the best players from Indiana wouldn't have thought of playing their college basketball anywhere other than IU. But under Mike Davis, the best players from Indiana all chose to play elsewhere. Sean May chose North Carolina. Mike Conley and Greg Oden left for Ohio State. And Eric Gordon committed to Illinois.

Kelvin Sampson was hired to "lock down the borders." And he says that Indiana knew what they were getting with regard to Sampson's baggage. It's just that they didn't care.

Sampson Out at Indiana

The Kelvin Sampson era is over at Indiana.

The Bloomington Herald Times is reporting that the, now former, Indiana University head basketball coach has agreed to a $750,000 buyout of his contract.

Dan Dakich will coach the Hoosiers for the remainder of the season.

Drive and Dish Tidbits

By Trashtalk Superstar

It's mid February, it's 10 degrees in Chicago, the second half of the NBA season has officially begun, college basketball's regular season is heading into its stretch run, and Drive and Dish presents another installation of the ever popular Drive and Dish Tidbits:

1.) North Carolina coach Roy Williams has taken umbrage with remarks made by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, with regard to "certain" college basketball teams' reporting of injuries.

Much has been made by the media -- both local (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) and national -- of the injuries that have plagued several members of the North Carolina basketball team this season. On Sunday, Krzyzewski stated that Duke doesn't discuss injuries, "unlike other schools."

Williams interpreted Krzyzewski's statement to be a backhanded jab at him and at his North Carolina program.

On his Monday radio show, Williams opined that an unnamed coach should "coach (his) own damn team, I'll coach my team."

And in a Tuesday news conference, Williams revisited the topic: "It's not like I'm getting a dadgum plane and flying it around to say, 'Roy fell against a wall and banged his nose' or anything." Williams continued, "We have to do those things (talk about injuries) and everybody's hurt. But there's different stages of being hurt."

"If you're hurt and missing games, that's not exactly like having a hangnail. And so we do have some people that are getting hurt and missing games. I don't think that somebody should say we're putting it in front of the public."

Apparently, Coach K's comments really got under Roy Williams' skin. According to the linked article:

When a reporter attempted to ask a follow-up question, Williams said he didn't want to discuss the comments further and have "battles through the media." But when the news conference ended, Williams came back to the topic once more.

"I said before we played Duke it's impossible to have any more respect than I do for Mike," Williams said, "but I felt like that comment was aimed towards us."


After thoroughly researching the subject matter, and following hours of intense deliberation, the Drive and Dish editorial staff has arrived at the following revelation: Coach K and Roy must really not like each other as much as they say they do.


2.) ESPN's Pat Forde says that a "source close to the unsettled coaching situation at Indiana University" has told him it's likely that Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson will be suspended "for the purpose of future termination."

Drive and Dish has heard this before. Our official position is: we'll believe it when we see it.


3.) Speaking of the Indiana/Sampson scandal, Toki Wartooth at Paint the Town Orange reminds readers that Indiana knew exactly what they were getting when the hired Sampson in 2006.

IU was well aware that Sampson had a history of violating NCAA bylaws at Oklahoma. They simply didn't care.

Last Thursday, Drive and Dish discussed Sampson's history, his hiring at Indiana, and his shady behavior since arriving in Bloomington.

Indiana used to be one of the cleanest programs in major college basketball.

But integrity has been in short supply in the IU Athletic Department as of late.

Hopefully, Indiana will have to pay a price for their indifference toward the following of NCAA bylaws (just to be clear: Drive and Dish likes Indiana University and IU basketball [and we've got several friends and associates who are IU alumni] ... we just don't like Kelvin Sampson, or what Indiana basketball has become under his stewardship).


4. ) Also at Paint the Town Orange: despite being a few days old, Mr./Ms. Wartooth's post game account of the Penn State / Illinois game provides a great synopsis of Illinois' 2007/08 season.


5.) Tuesday's upset victory over #16 Drake marked Bradley's sixth game of the season against the four Division I basketball programs from the state of Iowa. Bradley has now defeated all four of Iowa's Division I teams.

Bradley beat Iowa State (65-56) Nov. 14 at Carver Arena in Peoria, beat Iowa (67-56) Nov. 23 at the South Padre Island Thanksgiving Tournament and beat Northern Iowa (75-73) Jan. 12 in Cedar Falls, IA.

According to the official website of the Bradley Athletic Department:

"Of the states that boast multiple NCAA Division I institutions, Bradley has not swept every Division I team a state has to offer since beating both Arizona (67-59) and Arizona State (92-85) during the 1963-64 season (Northern Arizona was not yet playing Division I men’s basketball at the time)."


6.) Drive and Dish doesn't like to discuss recruiting, but since we've been so Duke/North Carolina-centric lately (and since hardcore Duke fans account for a significant portion of the Drive and Dish community), we'll pass along the following recruiting buzz: Duke appears to be the likely destination for 6'11" power forward Mason Plumlee, of the Christ School in Arden, NC.


7.) More Duke stuff: DeMarcus Nelson takes viewers on a tour of Duke's practice facilities at Dukeblueplanet.com.


8.) As the NBA trade deadline approaches, two league sources have indicated that Denver is in "full pursuit" of troubled Sacramento forward Ron Artest.

Indiana, Purdue, and the Rest of the Big Ten

In today's Chicago Tribune, Skip Myslenski previews tonight's showdown between the Big Ten's first place team, Purdue, and its third place in state rival, Indiana.

Myslenski also gives an overview of the Big Ten race, and provides a brief analysis of each conference member's season to date.

Indiana, Sampson Finally Taking Some Heat

By Trashtalk Superstar

It's no secret that Indiana head basketball coach Kelvin Sampson has had trouble following NCAA rules.

Sampson committed recruiting violations when he was the head basketball coach at Oklahoma. And Indiana was well aware of Sampson's checkered past when they hired him to replace Mike Davis.

When it became obvious that Sampson was continuing to skirt NCAA rules at Indiana, IU conducted an internal investigation which resulted in their "self reporting" some of Sampson's "minor" violations -- relating to improper phone calls that had been placed to recruits -- to the NCAA.

The results of that investigation were released in November.

But Wednesday, the NCAA accused Sampson of committing five major infractions while at Indiana.

IU is now in an unenviable position.

Indiana has been one of college basketball's traditionally elite programs. But they endured some trying times during Mike Davis' tenure as head coach. Davis' Hoosiers missed the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Indiana did get back to the Tournament in '06, but they made an unexpected early exit -- despite the fact that they'd been expected to be one of the top teams in college basketball that year.

And recruiting had fallen off significantly under Davis' watch.

Although he's considered a player's coach, Mike Davis struggled to recruit top talent to Indiana. To make matters worse, Davis was unable to "lock down the borders" of the talent rich Hoosier state. That is, Davis couldn't convince the state's best high school players that it would be in their best interest to continue their basketball careers in Bloomington (donning the Crimson and Creme Indiana uniform).

Bloomington's Sean May chose North Carolina. Indianapolis' Mike Conley and Greg Oden left for Ohio State. And Eric Gordon (also of Indianapolis) originally committed to Illinois (before Davis was let go, Sampson was hired and Gordon reneged on that commitment).

In just two seasons at Indiana, Kelvin Sampson has guided the Hoosiers back to national prominence.

Sampson has one of the most talented teams in college basketball. Eric Gordon is one of the most electrifying freshman in the game. The Hoosiers have either been atop, or near the top of the Big Ten standings since the start of the season. And, this year, Indiana has been a fixture in top 15 of the AP Top 25.

But Kelvin Sampson has infected the once proud (and clean) Indiana basketball program with his slimy, shady ways.

And it's finally catching up to him

After ignoring Sampson's legacy of sleaze for years, members of the national media are beginning to call Sampson out.

And there are even voices in the local Indiana media that are starting to cry foul.

In today's Indianapolis Star, Bob Kravitz labels Sampson "slime" and calls for his ouster at Indiana.

The NCAA won't rule on Indiana's fate for several months. So IU has time to decide what to do with coach Sampson and its basketball program.

But the university is already deliberating in order to consider its options with regard to Sampson.

It's a shame to see what Kelvin Sampson has done to the image and reputation of Indiana basketball. The Indiana basketball brand used to be synonymous with hard work, teamwork and old school values. Bob Knight may not have always been the nicest guy in the world, but he ran a clean program and focused on teaching/motivating his student athletes to be the best basketball players that they could be -- both as individuals and as a team. Over the years, many of Knight's players left the program early, but among most of those who remained in the program (especially the guys who played before the mid 90's), there exists a deep, profound loyalty to coach Knight and to what his Indiana basketball program represented.

Kelvin Sampson has taken one of the most storied institutions in college basketball and turned it into a renegade program.

Indiana should be better than that.

Illinois Apologizes for Fans' Behavior

One day after Illinois fans put on a spectacle of poor sportsmanship during Illinois' home contest with Eric Gordon and Indiana, the University of Illinois has formally condemned the behavior of their unruly fans.

Illinois called their fans' behavior "disappointing and intolerable."

The Big Ten said that they don't plan to take any action against Illinois for their fan's behavior.

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.

Bob Knight Steps Down at Texas Tech

Texas Tech head basketball coach has resigned, effective immediately. Knight's son, Pat Knight, will take over as head coach.

Just two weeks ago, Knight achieved his 900th career coaching win.

Drive and Dish congratulated Knight at the time.

I have a lot of respect for Bob Knight, but I didn't always feel that way. I grew up hating coach Knight when he was at Indiana. I despised his style. I hated the motion offense. I couldn't stand yelling, in your face coaches.

When I was in high school, I had coaches who yelled and were in my face. I didn't respond to that coaching style at the time and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to play for a coach like that in college.

But when I got to college and was trying to survive an existence as a walk on guard for a small college basketball team (I had played the wing in high school and was struggling to adjust to playing on the perimeter), I started to view Bob Knight in a new light. I was learning to play the guard position and started taping Indiana games in order to watch -- and learn from -- the Hoosiers' guards (they were notorious for playing fundamentally sound, smart basketball).

After watching hours upon hours of Indiana basketball, I gained an appreciation for Bob Knight's system and his coaching style.

And I even began to wish that I could have played for him.

Bob Knight was a great game coach, but his real genius was as an innovator and as a teacher of the game.

And Bob Knight's motion offense and tight man to man defense have been borrowed, copied, modified and emulated by scores of college and high school coaches across America. The system that he pioneered at West Point, and won three championships with at Indiana has become, more or less, the foundation of the modern college game.

American organized basketball owes coach Knight a tremendous debt.

Drive and Dish salutes coach Knight.

IU's Cellvin Sampson Profiled in Lexington Herald-Leader

This Saturday, Kentucky plays at Indiana. IU vs. UK has always been one of my favorite non conference rivalries in college basketball. Those two flagship state universities carry the torch for the basketball obsessed residents of their respective states. I can't think of two better states for basketball than Indiana and Kentucky. Basketball is so deeply rooted in the cultures of these two border states that the game is practically in the natives' DNA.

So in preparation for Saturday's upcoming IU v. Kentucky game, the Lexington Herald-Leader has what may be the definitive profile of Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson and the ethical maze that the Hoosier basketball program now finds itself in (including, but not limited to, Sampson's apparent disregard of the NCAA's recruiting bylaws regarding phone calls to recruits).