2011-2012 Illinois Basketball Preview

2010-11 Results

Overall: 20-14(Home 13-2 Road 4-7 Neutral 3-5 Postseason 1-2)
Big Ten: 9-9
Conference Tournament: Lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
Postseason: Lost in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Illinois was lucky that it earned a spot in the NCAA tournament after finishing just 9-9 in the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini boosted its record by going 10-2 against weak non-conference teams before reality hit that they were just an average Big Ten team. Illinois won their first game of the NCAA tournament before falling to Kansas which ended the careers of several talented players that couldn’t seem to learn to play together.

Bruce Weber’s team featured a potent offense last year averaging 71 points per game as well as an above average defense that surrendered 65.4 points per game. The Fighting Illini were excellent from the field shooting 46.8%. and hit 38.7 percent from three point range.

Roster

Returning Starters
D.J. Richardson

Other Returning Players
Brandon Paul
Tyler Griffey
Meyers Leonard
Jean Selus
Crandall Head
Joseph Bertrand

Newcomers
Myke Henry
Nnanna Egwu
Tracy Abrams
Mike Shaw
Sam Maniscalco
Devin Langford
Ibby Djimde

Coach
Bruce Weber

Schedule

http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/ill-m-baskbl-sched.html

Key Losses

Last year’s seniors were a talented group but could not seem to play together. Demtri McCamey and Mike Davis were the team’s top two scorers. McCarmey averaged 14 points a game along with 6.1 assist. Davis average 12.5 points per game and 7.1 rebounds. Mike Tisdale is also gone after averaging 10.0 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per contest as well as 2010 McDonald’s All-American Jereme Richmond 7.6 points per game and 5.0 rebounds.

2011-12 Preview

The Fighting Illini will feature a new lineup this year that should be interesting to watch. Last year’s starting five is gone and coach Bruce Weber may actually be grateful since they never seemed to learn to play as a team. Last year’s team never reached its full potential.

Don’t worry since this year’s team doesn’t lack talent. DJ Richardson returns as the most experienced player and he will get help from Brandon Paul who average 9 points a game last year off the bench. Richardson should be ready for a breakout season and could lead the Illini in scoring this year.

Backcourt

Paul and Richardson will grow into bigger rules this year. Paul at 6-foot-4 is a big guard who started 24 games during his first two years in the Illini program. He is the team’s leading returning scorer. There is a good chance that he will be the team’s number one scoring option. Paul shot under 40 percent last year and needs to improve his shooting. If he can shoot better from the field he can become a big time scorer. His foul shooting was good last year making 76.7 percent of his shots.

One key to this season will be whether the team’s backcourt can mesh better than the one a year ago. D.J. Richardson was Big Ten freshman of the year in 2009-2010. He will serve as a captain on this year’s team. Richardson didn’t shot well during the middle of last year but seems to have gotten over that this fall. A year ago he hit 38.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arch.

Paul and Richardson will be joined by senior Sam Maniscalco a point guard who is from Illinois. He transferred from Bradley but can play immediately. As a junior Maniscalco averaged 13.1 points per game along with 3.4 assist and can score from anywhere on the floor.

Frontcourt

Illinois will count on inexperienced Tyler Griffey in the backcourt after he only played 6.5 minutes a game last season and 1.6 points. He will be joined by center Myers Leonard who also saw limited playing time a year ago averaging 8.2 minutes a game.
Freshman Nnanna Egwu will see time immediately off the bench and will immediately contribute as a shot blocker. Egwu is an excellent talent who should earn a spot in the starting lineup by his sophomore season. Parts of his game still need work due to the fact that he has only played a couple of years of organized basketball.

Mike Shaw is another top recruit that will see significant time off the bench this year. Don’t be surprised if he and Egwu push Griffey and Leonard for their starting jobs.

More Big Ten Basketball Predictions

Ohio State Buckeyes	Michigan State Spartans	Michigan Wolverines
Wisconsin Badgers	Indiana Hoosiers	Purdue Boilermakers
Northwestern Wildcats	Iowa Hawkeyes	Minnesota Golden Gophers
Illinois Fighting Illini	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Penn State Nittany Lions

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