Illinois–the basketball team, like the state–looks a little flat.
Oh, nothing serious. These guys are 31-1, so your skull would have to be as hollow as a basketball to accuse them of being in a slump.
They simply don’t look quite as extraordinary as the Exciting Illini we had come to know.
Like 39 turnovers in two days?
Like averaging 79 points per game for the season, but scoring 64-68-64 in the last three?
Like deadly Deron Williams getting just eight shots to fall in his last three games?
Like I said, nothing serious.
Sunday will be a day of discovery. In these next few hours, the Illini are going to find out a couple of very interesting things about themselves.
First they will know if they are going to go into the NCAA tournament with a single loss. (No once-beaten team has won a national championship since 1974.)
A blink of an eye later, Illinois will learn the identity of its first-round opponent.
Bucknell? Niagara? Central Florida? Chattanooga?
I can tell you this much:
If it is true the Illini are bound for a subregional in handy Indianapolis, then they will not draw the “worst” team in the tournament.
Why? Because the teams earmarked as No. 64 and No. 65 will meet Tuesday to see which one makes the 64-school field. And the winner usually is sent to a Friday-Sunday regional for an extra day of rest. Indy is a Thursday-Saturday site.
So we shall see what we shall see.
Is Illinois in prime form? Was this last week a blip? Did a defeat at Ohio State, a so-so showing against Northwestern and a scare from Minnesota indicate in any way the Illini are: (a) tired? (b) nervous? (c) vulnerable? or (d) human?
Minnesota came within 53-51 late in a Big Ten conference tournament semifinal Saturday, a 43-turnover dud of a game that belonged in a YMCA.
It was impossible to tell if the Illini felt the impact of the sudden death Friday of their coach’s mother.
“If they win, it’s because they were inspired. If they lose, it’s because they were distracted,” said Minnesota coach Dan Monson, who was keenly aware of that going into the game.
A little listless, a little reckless, Illinois had a mere four points with the game 6 1/2 minutes old.
“They were trying to do too much,” coach Bruce Weber said. “Maybe because of me.”
Illinois faintly resembled the team that beat Minnesota by 23 points a few weeks back. Or the spectacular Exciting Illini who whacked Wake Forest by 18, Gonzaga by 17, Cincinnati by 22.
It could be this team is emotionally spent. It could be Sunday’s opponent, Wisconsin, is just the opposite, still tingling from a last-second knockout of Iowa.
“Emotions were running high,” Illini forward James Augustine said.
“Probably a little too emotional,” teammate Luther Head agreed.
Perfectly understandable.
For as Minnesota’s Monson expressed sensitively, “I’m sure coach Weber would trade 30 wins for one more chance to talk with his mother.”
A life-affirming way to look at this is: Illinois still has the time and the team to win a few more.
