“It has to become about us. It’s one of the issues with new guys and young guys, it becomes about “Me”. It’s got to become about “Us”. When its “Us”, well win.” – Brad Underwood in his post game presser following last night’s gut wrenching loss to Northwestern, to drop the Illini to 0-3 during conference play.
The quote that quite seems to nail it all on the head. As stated in the pregame preview, leadership and whether or not someone on this team was going to step up and have it, was key to avoiding the snap of an 8 game win streak vs rival Northwestern, and dropping to 9-5 on the season. Unfortunately, finding a consistent leader has still evaded the Fighting Illini, and with all of the talent that resides on this roster, it is quickly becoming a point of frustration to many in the world of Illini sports. None more i’m sure than to Head Coach Brad Underwood, who has pleaded with his roster for weeks now for the selfish play to stop, and for the stars of this team step up and put the team on their back. Thus far, with the acception of the Illini’s best two wins against UCLA, and Texas, the team has not quite lived up to the motto of Underwoods “Everyday Guy’s”.
So, what’s wrong?
Well, to fix something, you have to source of the issue first right? Of course leadership has been a major issue, but what on the court issues that have been affected? Defense has not been a problem for a very tall, lengthy, and athletic Illini roster, that has the ability to really bother teams on defense. They have had some really stellar defensive performances, and for most games, including Northwestern, they have looked tough on defense. But, that’s only half the game unfortunately, and typically great defense will soften over time if the scoring does not follow. Scoring has been the thorn in the Illini’s side that frankly, many just did not see coming. With a roster of experienced and talented shooters, and even young shooters who have been highly recruited for their scoring, it’s a bit hard to register how this team is missing the offense. Underwood has now switched to a zone offense following the Bethune-Cookman win, and you could tell the plays looked fresh on the court. Tons of missed open looks, bad/selfish shots, turnovers, and lack of spark during opponent runs has been a killer to this teams mojo, and this was no different vs the Wildcats. Much of this, as well as the other issues the Illini are struggling with currently, are sourced from lack of mesh. This roster is unique, and as Underwood said during his presser when asked about his unit, he is dealing with new guys (Transfers such as Mayer, Shannon, Dainja), and young guys (Epps, Skyy), which both have he same issue. They are new, confused, and have not truly grasped on to the culture yet. Which, can quickly change, but it’s about who steps up.
Can the Illini get back on track?
Of course. I think the Illini are one very big piece of the puzzle away from putting themselves back in good position to win a lot of basketball games. Underwood is a really good coach, and with last night’s showing of a new zone offense, you can assure Brad, of course, is doing everything in his power to make an offense click with this team. In my opinion, this team is far too talented and capable to not eventually start to become more comfortable with the offense, mesh, and start to get the ball in the hoop. If you can become even a decent 3-point shooting team, paired with the ability to once again consistently create scoring in the paint with Dainja, Hawkins, Shannon, Melendez, ect, the Illini can again become one of the tougher teams to beat in basketball.
Remember, during the Illini’s “Covid Shutdown season”, the Illini had a roster Ayo, Kofi, Fraizer, Monte, ect and was really struggling at times during the first half of the season to not look sloppy. Kofi couldn’t catch passes, Ayo struggled to find his shot, along with Trent, and the leadership was lackluster. Once the mesh happened for that team, they took off like wildfire and would have been a very dangerous team going into a later covid cancelled tournament. It can happen for this team too, but the leaders have to step up, look in the mirror, correct themselves and score.
Whos the Guy?
I can’t say for certain that a specific player needs to step up for all the change to happen, but to bring out culture, the Illini’s roots have to be tapped into. Coleman Hawkins, and RJ Melendez are Illini who have been apart of this team under some fantastic leaders, such as Trent, Damonte, and Kofi. They have been apart of Underwoods culture at its peak, and the room needs to be brought back in by those who understand the culture. Coleman in particular has had a lot of pressure put on him, as he was placed highly on a lot of draft boards preseason, and is the oldest of the remaining individuals from prior seasons success. If Coleman can step up and be the leader on and off the court that we all know he can be, it will really help bring talented individuals such as Shannon Jr and Mayer better mesh into the culture, and hopefully more efficiently run Brads offense. When he stepped up VS the Cats in flashes, the team played better as a unit and rallied around Coleman, but it must continue to become consistent.
As Underwood said “We have a lot to figure out internally between the players and coaches.” It happens to even the best coaches, even with extremely talented rosters, and it will happen again. It’s just a matter of how well the Illini correct these things Internally. A big opportunity to prove themselves lies ahead vs the #14 ranked wisconsin Badgers, who are currently 11-2 on the season. The Illini will try to avoid 0-4 in conference play.
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