After this epic week of Illini hoops I decided to do a rewatch of the YouTube condensed version of that game just to kind of get a comparison fresh in mind.
Doesn’t seem that long ago and seems like a lifetime ago all at the same time. The super baggy shorts and floppy T Shirts under the jerseys just cracks me up.
What really stood out to me (other than the great ball movement) was how many threes were being shot. They played pretty basketball. As I think about the evolvement of the NBA game the past 15 years, that team was dominant at a time when murdering big teams from deep was still a bit of a novelty. Ironically, they were doomed by a team that had an enormous big man that we didn’t have an answer for in the manner in which the game was officiated.
With newer rules the way defense is played has a changed a lot. In the 05 game everyone is hunched over and has their arms/hands in front of their bodies and they have less lower body movement. In today’s game, players keep their arms and hands parallel to their core, are more on their toes (except Giorgi) and pressure the ball a lot more.
While the NBA has gone positionless and values 3 pointers and layups, in some ways college still has a lot of hulking behemoths that can flat ass dominate the paint with traditional post moves. In direct contrast to the NBA, moving the three point line back for amateur level players and teams putting an defensive emphasis on running teams off the three point line has created more room for the traditional big man and the mid range jumper. Things that are now a thing of the past in the NBA.
Compared to the January 2021 Illini team, the 2005 team just had way more playmakers. Multiple future pros on that team and it showed. Compared to early March 2021 Illini...well today’s game just has more iso so it’s hard to compare apples to apples. The 2005 Illini beat you as a team. Guys getting open guys open looks. The 2021 Illini can beat you as a team in almost the same way (think DWM’s open threes Saturday) but they can also bring out a cold blooded assassin in Ayo to do a lot of iso shit late in the game.
Ayo reminds me so much of Evan Turner late in his career at Ohio State. They not only share similar stats but their MO being a point forward that you hand the ball to in late game situations and more times than not they make some magic happen. Neither one with elite athleticism but lengthy crafty guys that can use their size to attack the basket and put all the pressure on the defend without fouling.
05 had Deron, a future NBA all star, and Luther, a guy who played in the NBA long enough to be a veteran. Dee and James and Roger got cups of coffee in the NBA. But when it came to crunch time they ran plays to get an open set shot. This team plays to get to the rim in those situations.
This team doesn’t have the sheer NBA caliber talent 05 did, they don’t have the same uncanny ball movement and spacing, but they have a certain grittiness to their games that I hope shows up well in tourney play. They also have an elite true big man. We have known all along the 4 spot was a weakness on this team. We don’t have a Roger Powell but Jacob Grandison is evolving into some kind of amalgam of The Rev and Jack Ingram (minus the Bible verses on the shoes and the whole ginger thing) He can set screens, defend the 4, rebound, hit the three, make hustle plays and unexpected putback dunks, knock down a pick and pop and finish at the rim.
Now here we are in 2021 and the NBA is full of positionless guys who can shoot while the B1G has some of the best true big men in college basketball. I think it would be poetic justice to have a championship game against a team like Gonzaga (a similarly constructed team to 05 Illini) but this time we have the monster inside for which they have no answers.
—When they shook hands afterward and did the interviews I thought for a second WHY ARENT THEY WEARING MASKS
—That team was blue collar af. They just took care of business. They had a little flash but this years team is a lot more emotionally demonstrative.
—Bruce does an interview with Bilas and Bruce comes across as such a fucking dork. He did a wonderful job with that team, but man oh man was he in over his head in every other aspect of program management. I bet even Gunther was thinking “All right this guy is killing it with Bill’s guys, but we are sooo fucked. But after this run I won’t be able to fire him for at least 3-4 years”
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