2009-10 Illinois Basketball Predicitons
Written November 10, 2009 by Kyle Hunter
The Fighting Illini of Illinois bowed out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, but most people didn’t even expect Bruce Weber’s team to make the tournament in the first place before last season started. The Fighting Illini continued to play their methodical style of basketball and held teams to just 57 points per game a season ago and finished at 24-9. This year the expectations at Illinois are much higher, with some preseason polls showing them in the top 15 or 20 teams in the nation. A great crop of new freshman and some solid experienced players to chip in should make the Illini a tough team to deal with in the 2009-2010 season. Looking that the latest NCAA basketball betting lines, the Illini are listed at +7000 odds to win the championship this season.
The returning players that will be counted on to lead the team are guard Demetri McCamey, forward Mike Davis, and center Mike Tisdale. All three of these players will be juniors this season, and each of them averaged at least 10 points per game last season. Alex Legion is a junior guard who was extremely highly touted and disappointed Illini fans greatly last season, but don’t be surprised if Legion comes back and has a solid year this season. McCamey is the best player at creating his own shot, but he will need to also create shots for others this season. Davis has some great low post moves and should be able to do quite a bit of damage on the glass this season as well. Tisdale has a great jumper for a 7’1 center, and can really provide matchup problems for the opposition. Dominique Keller also provides the team with some depth down low and gives them another big man who can stretch the floor with his impressive outside shot.
Who are the Illini going to miss the most from last season’s team? Chester Frazier wasn’t a huge scorer, but he was undoubtedly the emotional leader of the team and a great defensive player. Trent Meachem and Calvin Brock have also graduated, so the backcourt is definitely the area where the Illini will need some newcomers to step up. Get ready for the college basketball betting season with an amazing $500 match bonus from BetUS!
Who are the newcomers this season? Bruce Weber brought in a great recruiting class and some of them will definitely see action this season. D.J. Richardson is thought to be the leading candidate for a starting spot in the backcourt as a freshman. Richardson brings a great all-around game. Brandon Paul should also see plenty of playing time as a freshman this season. Paul isn’t quite as polished just yet, but he can score the basketball and the Illini will definitely want him on the court some of the time.
The Fighting Illini will be a bit of a different team than last year, but they should be every bit as good, if not better. Illinois has more scorers than it did a year ago, and they should be able to play a faster paced tempo if they wish to. As long as the Fighting Illini newcomers buy into the system of Bruce Weber one would expect this team to finish in the top 25 and make the NCAA Tournament again this season.
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