Bruce Weber’s “International Incident”

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC Chicago Street Team If you’ve ever seen University of Illinois Men’s basketball Head Coach Bruce Weber on television, you might notice what a happy-go-lucky guy he appears to be. In person, he’s just the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. One might even call him “cuddly.” That’s why I was shocked to learn that someone might actually treat him like a potentially dangerous criminal or terrorist.

There were numerous complaints about Detroit being the 2009 Final Four’s host city. Prepare to add another one to the list. During the final weekend of March Madness, the coaches stayed across the border in Windsor, Ontario. This led to international intrigue and authorities singling out Weber, a man who recently signed an extension (with a 50% pay raise) to coach at Illinois until 2015.

“Coach Keady’s wife passed away, and Matt Painter and I were his assistants; so with his wife’s illness, we had to run the practices. We had to go back and forth to Windsor. A couple of times it took two hours to get through the tunnel from Canada back to Detroit. You’re talking just three miles, but it took forever. And one day we got stopped and pulled over, and they had to check out our car. We laughed and it took a while, but then one guy came out and said: ‘Well, I’m a Michigan fan, that’s why we pulled you over, and we can make a commercial out of it,’ and we laughed.” Weber said this during the recent National Association of Basketball Coaches’ “Court of Honor” Gala in Chicago.

So there’s yet another reason (sort of) to hate Michigan Wolverines fans: a real life version of the Jordan brand advertisement that we all saw during March Madness.

However, this was not the only time the authorities decided to mess with Bruce.

“And then the next day we got pulled over, again. This time I was by myself, and I said to the guys, ‘What is going on?’ And they said, ‘Well you got a rental car, and you’re going back and forth.’ Because we have practices and meetings. It was a little bit of a hassle at the time, but I guess it’s good they’re trying to protect our country.”

It’s good to hear Weber maintain his jolly demeanor; even as he encountered some of the most annoying situations possible.

See more of Paul M. Banks’ work at the Washington Times, Walter Football.com and The Sports Bank

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Illini Lose Ludicrously Low Scoring Game

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC Chicago Street Team When you saw the box score of #16 Illinois’ (21-6, 9-5) 38-33 home loss to unranked Penn St. (19-8, 8-6) on Wednesday night, you might have thought you were glancing at a Girls’ high school basketball result. In football, the two schools combined to score 62 points last fall, in roundball just nine more. If you ever wondered why the Big Ten, the 2nd highest rated conference in RPI, doesn’t nationally receive the respect it might deserve, it’s because of ugly games like these. Wednesday night’s affair made the Dick Bennett “stall-ball” era at Wisconsin look like Magic Johnson’s “Showtime” years at the Great Western Forum. This contest was about defense, but it was much more about ludicrously bad offense. The Illini motion attack stood still, and the Nittany Lions (notice how their team name starts with N-I-T) got an offensive boost from the officials.
The home crowd at the “House of Paign” were boisterously critical of the refs, and perhaps rightfully so, given the disparity in free throws: Penn State attempted 11, Illinois zero. “Very flat, not moving, didn’t get good cutting,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said of his team’s non-existent “O.”

Illinois Senior guards Trent Meacham and Chester Frazier “led” (I can’t make air-quotes strong enough to invoke the necessary sarcasm) the Illini with 7 points apiece. The other three starters contributed 6, 5, and 4 points. But at least the scoring was balanced. “They played good defense all night, we missed some shots we usually make, it was a combination of both,” Meacham said. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was in attendance for this game: which was to offensive fundamentals what his predecessor Rod Blagojevich was to ethical governance. In the nearly 50 year history of Assembly Hall, this game broke records for: lowest winning score, fewest combined points, worst combined field-goal accuracy, and fewest point scored by Illinois.

Penn State Coach Ed DeChellis was asked if he had seen anything like this in all his years of college basketball. “It was uncharted water, sometimes I looked up at the score and I didn’t know what half we were in. At the end, we set this back a few years, Naismith must be rolling over in his grave,” the winning headman replied.

See more of Paul M. Banks’ work at the Washington Times and The Sports Bank

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Who is the Illini go-to guy?

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC Chicago Street Team

Remember the Bulls glory years, when Michael Jordan was the finest late game finisher? When somebody had to be the team’s go-to guy and knock down the big shot, MJ was the Bulls’ assassin. The 21st ranked Illini lack this quality- a true ‘balla” to close games out, a star carrying this team on their back when necessary. I asked Head Coach Bruce Weber if the team’s current leading scorer and most athletic player, Demetri McCamey can be the guy- “Our team doctor mentioned to me before the Michigan State game, the one thing we don’t have is someone who can just take it over and make a play when we need it, Alex {Legion, Weber’s highest rated recruit} jumped up and made some shots against Michigan St. but if one guy would made a couple plays in gut check time, we could have found a way to win that thing. I think he {McCamey} has the potential. He’s got to learn the game: how to use screens, how to play without the ball, and if he could do that he could be the guy. He passes well, shoots the three, he’s got a big body and can pull-up,” Weber responded.

Another reporter followed up my question by asking “if not McCamey, then who?” Weber reiterated that it could be Legion, the transfer from Kentucky or forward Mike Davis. “I’m not sure right now, I think Alex has the potential to make big shots because he can just jump up and shoot it over people and maybe Mike Davis can continue to develop a triple-threat game so he can beat somebody by doing his little half-hooks and turnarounds, but Demetri has the most potential no doubt,” Weber answered.

Currently, Illinois (18-5, 6-4) is nationally ranked: 17th in RPI, 16th in Sagarin, 23rd in the AP and 21 in the Coaches poll. They appear to be a #5 or #6 seed come tournament time. Illinois has great balance -four different players: McCamey, Davis, Mike Tisdale, and Trent Meacham are or within a point-per game of being the team’s leading scorer- and resembles the 1998 team, who used balanced offense to go 13-3 and win the Big Ten, but imagine what they could be with a true closer? Their struggles on offense the past three games accentuate the urgency.

See more of Paul M. Banks’ work at the NBC Street Team, the Washington Times and The Sports Bank

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Illini vs. Badgers Media Exchange

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC5 Street Team & David Kmiecik, NBC 15 Madison

When the University of Illinois visited the University of Wisconsin, I sat press row next to NBC 15 Madison’s David Kmiecik, who covers the Badgers regularly. And also happens to be the man who helped co-found my website, The Sports Bank.net. Since our days growing up together in Palos Township, we’ve had numerous college hoops conversations like the one we typed out below, but now we share our observations with NBC’s online audience.

(PMB) Is it me or does Illinois coach Bruce Weber sound like the squeaky voice teen from The Simpsons?

(DK) If I break-out into laughter during Weber’s post-game, it will be because of the Paul M. Banks impression of Weber, complete with the dead-on squeaky voice.

(PMB) Thanks man, I only lampoon those I love. The Badgers’ style of play is the reason people around the country think Big Ten basketball is slow-paced with final scores in the 50s for every game. To their credit, they do use “stallball” to reach the conference tourney finals pretty much every year.

(DK) Well, Jason Bohannon just hit his fifth three of the first half, partially because Demetri McCamey is excelling at his typical half-hearted defensive effort (or lack thereof). If Cames tried as hard on defense as he does at chucking up threes, he could actually be a good player. I hope you get to hear Bo refer to someone as playing “like a man” tonight.

(PMB) Who are Bo’s “men,” the big slow white outside shooters (Mike Wilkinson, Andy Kowske, Brian Butch, Joe Krabbenhoft et al) that he LOVES to recruit?

(DK) Don’t forget about Greg Stiemsma. Looks like the Badgers are going to get one in the “left hand column.” (That’s another Bo-ism.)

(PMB) If Illinois’ defense continues to be this awful, then the media covering Illinois might have to start talking about Michael Jordan’s kid playing at UI again- even though he never plays more than 10 minutes a game. Anybody here with NBA Draft potential? Could any underclassmen show up in a mock draft down the line?

(DK) I think Leuer has the most pro potential. He’s 6-10, can shoot from the outside, put the ball on the floor, and has a nice set of moves on the block. He will need to get stronger- which he definitely already has over his year and a half at Wisconsin.

McCamey and Davis are potential second round picks if they continue to develop. But if McCamey isn’t on fire, the Illini are very beatable. Mike Tisdale just fouled out and was a complete non-factor tonight. That doesn’t help Illinois either.

(PMB) Like you might have heard once or twice or three-thousand times, Tisdale is on a 6,000 calorie a day diet. Sometimes when I look around in a room full of sports writers, I think they share his dining habits. Speaking of unsightly, that’s how I feel about the Illini deficit. Given that the team you cover is dominating tonight, I’ll let you have the last word.

(DK) First of all, the Badgers aren’t “my” team. Since I graduated from Marquette, they will always have my heart. I have grown to appreciate and respect the Badgers, but will NEVER refer to them as “my” team. Badgers win 63-50. That’s three straight lackluster performances from YOUR boys. Time to get a little worried…

See more of Paul M. Banks’ work at the Washington Times and The Sports Bank.net

For David Kmiecik’s NBC 15 Blog, click here

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Derrick Rose Inspires Illinois’ Leading Scorer

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC5 Street Team Before budding Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose came to the NBA, he owned Chicago prep courts during his career at Simeon. Along the way, he befriended St. Joseph product and current Illinois sophomore Demetri McCamey,  who leads the #19 Illini in scoring. McCamey a.k.a. “Cames” is also fifth in the Big Ten in assists at 5.0 apg. In Big Ten games only, McCamey leads the Big Ten in assists (6.0 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (4.0). Earlier this season, Illini Head Coach Bruce Weber gave McCamey a Sports Illustrated article about the work habits and development of Rose, the 2008 #1 overall NBA Draft pick.

“It talked about how he matured and some of the things he does before games and I took it to heart. It helped,” McCamey said. Cames mentioned how happy he was to see his friend Rose and how hard he wants to work being a “student of the game” to try and reach the league just like the Bulls’ point guard.

“That’s what all the great ones do, that’s how you get better- what Derrick said in the interview. The coaches gave him cards of what defense they play. They’re doing it in the pros and you gotta do it in college {in order} to get to the pros, so you just gotta keep working,” McCamey said.

Cames still has a LONG way to go to reach the NBA “Rose” garden: his shot selection is sometimes suspect, his work ethic needs improvement and his defense can often be non-existent. However, he’s also the Illini player with the most athleticism and star potential.

“If you study him over the course of time, he has very good games and a tendency not to be real consistent, this goes back way to high school and AAU and that’s where he’s got to mature. He has the big one and then average, average. He needs to be more consistent if we’re going to be a very good team because he can do things that other people can’t do,” Coach Weber said.

If Demetri matures into a consistent player, the Illini could make a deep tournament run in March and Derrick Rose could possibly see another Windy City friend in the NBA.

See more of Paul M. Banks’ work at the NBC Street Team, the Washington Times and The Sports Bank

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Derrick Rose protégé leads Illini to huge United Center Win

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank Chicago’s United Center hosted three basketball games on Saturday: University of Illinois men’s defeating Georgia 76-42, UI women losing 71-53 to Bradley and the Bulls beating the Washington Wizards 117-110. Before budding Bulls bulwark Derrick Rose starred in the venue’s main event, sophomore Illini point guard Demetri McCamey, a friend of Rose, led Illinois to a blow out victory over a terrible Georgia Bulldogs team. It was the second time this season UGA got routed by a local team: they also lost to Loyola by 21. McCamey scored 9 of Illinois’s first 11 points including a dribble-drive to the hoop set up by a sick move.

“That was just something Deron (Williams, former Illini and current Utah Jazz point guard) taught me this summer, to get them on your help and when you feel them try to reach, spin right off. Tisdale did a good job of selling and I came right in for a lay-up,” McCamey said in explaining the move to me. He led all scorers with 19, and the Illini got 29 points off 27 Georgia turnovers. Illinois went on a 22-0 run in the final seven minutes to turn a comfortable lead into utter demolishing. “Our kids always enjoy coming up here because it’s a special atmosphere and a chance to make a mark in Chicago and get a little bit of extra publicity, maybe more than usual,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said post-game. The Illini took advantage of Georgia’s weak defense to obtain and drain plenty of open looks; especially in the second half when Illinois shot 69% from the filed, 60% from behind the arc.

Illini players were honored to be in the house that Michael Jordan built. -His Airness attended and saw his son Jeff play 7 minutes- However, it’s a current Bull, Derrick Rose that McCamey talked about modeling his game on. “He’s a wonderful player. I played against him all the way since 7th grade, he knows me, I know him and I know I’ll be in the same boat and playing with passion if I just listen to everybody, because they’re only trying to help,” McCamey said.

For more Chicago Sports Analysis and discussion.

For my Washington Times.com blog “Chicago Blue State.”

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