Illinois is a perfect 10 on paper, but coach Bruce Weber goes by what he has seen on the basketball court, and he is very aware of his team’s imperfections.
After compiling a 10-0 record and advancing from 17th to ninth in the Associated Press national rankings during the whirlwind first segment of the season, the Illini took a weeklong break for semester exams.
Starting Sunday, when they play winless Coppin State at the Assembly Hall, they will begin the second segment, consisting of the four non-conference games that will get them ready for the Big Ten season.
They will travel to the neutral Savvis Center in St. Louis for a Wednesday night game with Missouri, take a brief Christmas break and conclude non-conference play at home next week against Southeast Missouri State and Tennessee-Martin.
Seeing this relatively easy schedule is believing that the defending champion Illini should be 14-0 when they open the third segment, the Big Ten season, that will begin when they play preseason favorite Michigan State at the Assembly Hall on Jan. 5.
The fourth segment will be the Big Ten Tournament and, if the present trend continues, it will be followed by a fifth segment in the NCAA tournament.
By the time Michigan State comes to town, Weber hopes to have reduced substantially the imperfections he has seen at the free-throw line, where the Illini are shooting a worrisome 61.0 percent, and in the team’s motion offense.
“When you play motion, everybody has to be on the same page–your passer, your screener and your cutter,” Weber said. “And for an action to work, the two other guys have to be out the way and have great spacing so they don’t bring their men into the action. It’s repetition, it’s habit, it’s reading situations. You need practice time, and we didn’t have two practices in a row for three weeks.
“I’ve had to keep in mind . . . that when teams play motion it usually doesn’t click in till after Christmas.”
Specifically, Weber wants the Illini to find ways and means of “getting the ball inside to our big guys and getting [point guard Dee Brown] open shots.”
Brown broke out of his shooting slump and went on a 26-point scoring spree to lead the Illini to their last victory, a 30-point blowout of Oregon in Portland. While he’s shooting only 37 percent, he has found ways to score and leads the team with a 15.3 per-game average.
With an average of five assists per game, Brown also has put to rest the notion that he would have a hard time adjusting to playing point guard full time. Moreover, an average of 3.5 rebounds suggests the new role hasn’t cramped his effervescent playing style.
But with only one other incumbent in the starting lineup, 6-foot-10-inch senior center James Augustine (14.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg), Illinois has an identity different from last year’s 37-2 team. The Illini are more powerful on the inside and seem to have a stronger defense and a deeper bench.
Freshman sub Jamar Smith has been a three-point-shooting star (.565 percentage), and another reserve, Illinois State transfer Marcus Arnold, is starting to throw his weight around when he relieves fellow hulk Shaun Pruitt at center.
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nmilbert@tribune.com
