It’s been a frustrating season for the Illinois men’s basketball team. It was a rebuilding year to begin with–Dee Brown and James Augustine, the last major players from the 2004 team that reached the NCAA championship game, are now freshmen in the pros. And then the rebuilding went awry: top guard prospect Eric Gordon of Indianapolis committed to Illinois, then changed his mind and decided to attend Indiana next fall, and coach Bruce Weber didn’t react by making a late run at Simeon guard Derrick Rose (who opted for Memphis), thus cementing his reputation as a fine coach but a poor recruiter. Guards Rich McBride and Jamar Smith were charged with drunk driving in separate incidents, and Smith’s put freshman center Brian Carlwell in the hospital in critical condition. And then the university, under pressure from the NCAA, retired the Fighting Illini’s mascot, Chief Illiniwek. Finally, lllinois lost its home away from home, Chicago’s United Center, for the annual Big Ten tournament–after several years in which the two cities had swapped the event back and forth, the conference assigned the next five tourneys to Indianapolis. So last weekend’s tournament at the UC would be the last one played there until at least 2013.
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The Illini trailed 24-21 at halftime, and their play didn’t pick up much after intermission. When they weren’t turning the ball over, they took bad shots. Weber jammed his hands down his pockets or pinned them under his armpits in frustration as the Illini frittered away possession time and time again. “Look at Bruce,” Boom-Boom said. “It’s like, ‘Why do I spend time at practice?’ And still we’re only down four.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images.
