Ladies and gentlemen, step right this way! We direct your attention to center court, where the Frank Williams Farewell Tour and Highwire Act is about to begin.
Straight from a flirtation with the NBA, Illinois’ sometimes spectacular junior point guard is ready to give it one more try for the old Orange and Blue before taking his behind-the-back passes and his double-pump, finger-roll layups to the next level.
For his going away party, though, Williams has a more immediate next level in mind: the Final Four in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, which definitely beats the Elite Eight, where the Illini succumbed to Arizona last March.
“I think last year left a bad taste,” said Wayne McClain, who coached Williams at Peoria Manual High before joining coach Bill Self’s Illinois staff this year as an assistant. “Frank is such a competitor. When he said he wanted to come back and grow, he meant it. No, I wasn’t surprised, because he’s such a proud person.”
Nor was Self surprised when Williams told him he was bypassing first-round money to hang around Assembly Hall one more year. A better word would be ecstatic.
“I thought about it on a regular basis,” Self said. “I prayed about it a lot. I think Frank is mature beyond his years. So many guys today think they’re ready [for the NBA] and they’re not. And here’s a guy who’s ready and thinks he’s not.
“If I was in Frank’s shoes, I don’t know if I could have done what he did.”
So the 2000-01 Big Ten Player of the Year is back. Now what?
With Illinois ranked first in the nation by The Sporting News and in the top six in every other poll, Williams knows the heat is on. How he responds to it will determine not only his legacy but also how high he goes in next year’s NBA draft.
Self is looking for only two things from his star: leadership and consistency. McClain likens Williams’ hot-and-cold play his first two years to a faucet. “Our goal,” he said, “is to make sure he has the faucet on all the time.”
Plain and simple, Self wants Williams to be more of a 40-minute man.
“What do I get on Frank’s case about? For being lackadaisical. For playing in spurts,” Self said. “He plays hard, but sometimes he’s just a face in the crowd. He should be dominant on every possession.”
Whatever you say, Coach.
Williams led the Illini in scoring (14.9 points a game), assists (148), steals (67), free-throw shooting (.806) and minutes (32.2) last year. With the departure of longtime running buddy Sergio McClain, he’ll have to be more of a leader this year, while elevating his level of play.
“Definitely, consistency will be the biggest thing,” Williams said. “Is this my team? I’d say so. But I have to be a lot more vocal. I have to talk to each and every one of these guys and get them on the same page. The main focus is playing well night in and night out.”
The Illini schedule includes 16 teams that made the NCAA tournament last season and three that reached the Final Four: Arizona, Maryland and Michigan State. That isn’t the only obstacle they face.
A possible season-ending knee injury to senior forward Lucas Johnson and the departure of McClain and Marcus Griffin have left the Illini without their two take-charge guys and the guy who took a charge with more style than anyone else.
Senior forward Damir Krupalija acknowledged that replacing the team’s three most inspirational players won’t be easy. “Everyone has to contribute,” he said. “It would be too much for one guy to give us everything Lucas gave us.”
OK then, how about nine or 10 guys?
Without Johnson, Self is planning a nine-man rotation that includes returning starters Williams and senior Cory Bradford in the backcourt and junior Brian Cook at power forward, with senior Robert Archibald taking over Griffin’s spot in the middle. Who replaces Johnson as the designated small forward is up in the air, but Self is leaning to a three-guard lineup with junior guard Sean Harrington.
Krupalija and 7-footer Nick Smith are the depth underneath, junior college transfer Blandon Ferguson and freshman Roger Powell are both talented wing types and dunkmeister freshman Luther Head will spell somebody at guard.
“We’ll play two tall guys and three `whoevers,'” Self said. “Hopefully the three whoevers will create havoc. I think we helped ourselves with speed on the perimeter this year. The team should be quicker. Last year we were sound in halfcourt defense but we didn’t generate as much offense from our defense as we could have.”
That’s not to say the offense won’t be generating a lot of offense on its own. Illinois led all Big Ten teams in scoring (77.9), and good news on the health front could raise that number.
Exercise tips Archibald got from three NBA team physicians have done wonders for his chronically sore back. His 25-point, seven-rebound performance in the Midwest Regional final indicated he’s ready to take over Griffin’s rebounding role-and maybe even outscore him (11.3).
Meanwhile, after a summer of total rest prescribed by trainer Rod Cardinal, Bradford said his surgically repaired knee-and confidence-have never been better. His scoring average fell of noticeably last season, from 15.3 to 9.9.
“A lot of my shot comes from the lower body,” Bradford said. “Last year I didn’t feel like I could jump over a piece of paper. I’ve also been feeling great going to the basket.”
Everybody feels great this time of year, but in Illinois’ case the optimism seems justified-to a point. To reach the Final Four for the first time since 1989, the Illini will need more consistency from Williams and a breakout year from Cook, whose six points in 24 minutes at Ohio State were as typical as his 22 points in 27 minutes were at Penn State.
“Last year [Cook] was comfortable just fitting in,” Self said. “This year that fitting in stuff is out the door. He has got to produce in a big way.”
They’ll need to replace Johnson’s passion and McClain’s presence and Griffin’s sunny disposition. They’ll have to cut down on their tendency to foul-a weakness that reared its head in the regional final when six players fouled out.
“Refs read the papers too,” Archibald said. “The bottom line is we fouled too much.”
The bottom line is: Illinois can get to Atlanta-if Frank Williams is ready to do the driving.
“I feel very relaxed and anxious to get started,” Williams said. “This is a special group. We can’t wait to hit the road.”
