Undefeated Is Overkill
The Illinois players were praising themselves before practice recently when Coach Bruce Weber abruptly changed the subject.
No one is prouder than Weber of the No. 1-ranked, undefeated Illini’s performance, but enough with the congratulatory slaps on the back and “atta-boys.” Save that stuff for when goals are achieved -- and Illinois still had a long to-do list the last time Weber checked.
Just a little perspective for the group, which got the message.
“Everyone is praising us, but Coach Weber wants us to look at who’s in front of us and not get all caught up in it,” standout junior guard Dee Brown said. “We’re not done, and we could easily get derailed, so we have to keep bringing it. We’re just steadily trying to get better.”
Illinois, 24-0 overall and 10-0 in the Big Ten Conference, has been better than the rest in the best start in school history, having been entrenched atop the Associated Press top 25 poll for 10 weeks.
The guard trio of Brown, junior Deron Williams and senior Luther Head has helped Illinois overcome challenges. After an awkward transition when coach Bill Self left for Kansas and was replaced by Weber, the team has united behind its second-year coach.
Not surprisingly, the Illini have stirred talk of an undefeated season, but coaches and players said that was not their focus. Defending last season’s Big Ten regular-season title and qualifying for the Final Four in St. Louis are their main goals, and attaining them would provide reasons to celebrate.
“I expected us to have a good year and be in control of our season, and we’re on target there, so that hasn’t been a surprise,” Williams said. “But being undefeated, yeah, that has been a bit of a surprise.”
The nation’s only undefeated team, which plays host to No. 20 Wisconsin today at Assembly Hall, has the fourth-longest overall winning streak to start a season in Big Ten history. Big Ten-member Indiana (32-0 in 1975-76) was the last team to complete a season undefeated.
St. Joseph’s won its first 27 games last season, advanced to the Elite Eight and finished 30-2. Since Indiana’s 1976 team, only Indiana State in 1978-79, led by Larry Bird, and Nevada Las Vegas in 1990-91 began the NCAA tournament without a loss. Magic Johnson helped Michigan State defeat Indiana State in the national championship game, and Duke ended UNLV’s season in a semifinal.
So that’s why the Illini aren’t driven for perfection.
“I don’t want to put that out in front of them because of how hard it would be to do it, especially in the Big Ten,” Weber said. “I don’t want it to become a factor, but there’s no doubt it should be a motivator.
“Still, winning the Big Ten championship, getting the No. 1 seed [in the NCAA tournament] and all those things should motivate them too.”
The Illini brought this on themselves.
They were ranked fifth in the first three AP polls after a 26-victory 2003-04 season that ended against Duke in the Sweet 16.
Then, on Dec. 1, the Illini shook up the poll.
Illinois dismantled then-No. 1 Wake Forest, 91-73, at Champaign. It vaulted into the top spot after that performance and has remained there longer than any team in school history.
The Illini have been top-ranked three times but were ousted after only one week in 1952 and 1989. The Illini reached the Final Four in those seasons, and the current team is determined to get there too.
“We’re not backing down from anyone,” said Brown, whose speed and energetic personality power the Illini.
“Whether you come to the ‘House of Pain’ [Assembly Hall] in Champaign or we’re on the road, we’re not coming out with a lackluster effort.”
In retaining its No. 1 ranking, Illinois ended then-No. 18 Wisconsin’s home-court winning streak at 38 on Jan. 25 and defeated then-No. 12 Michigan State at East Lansing on Feb. 1. The Illini also have quality nonconference victories over Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Georgetown and Arkansas.
If pushed, the Illini push back.
“People get that extra adrenaline boost when we come to play them because it’s No. 1 coming in,” Weber said. “If they beat No. 1, it’s one for the memory books, so we’re going to get people’s best shots.
“That’s where the mental approach of the game comes in. You watch our guys; they play at another level. Against Wisconsin, Michigan State, Wake Forest, Cincinnati ... they go to another level.”
Brown, Williams and Head make sure the Illini get there.
Head averages a team-high 16.5 points and shoots 50.5% from the field, 43.1% from beyond the three-point arc and 82.8% from the free-throw line.
Brown, among the nation’s fastest players with the ball, is second on the Illini in scoring at 13 points and assists at 4.7. He shoots 51.9% from the field, 78.7% from the free-throw line and makes 43.8% of three-pointers.
Williams averages 12.4 points and leads the Big Ten in assists at 6.9. Brown and Williams are equally comfortable running the offense, and having two point guards on the floor has helped the Illini stay in rhythm. Head completes a close-knit trio that thrives on making big plays.
“We’re close off the court,” Brown said. “That makes us better on the court because we know each other.
“We discuss basketball all the time. We know how the other player plays, we know what he thinks and we know what he can do.”
Williams often makes what appear to be wild passes, but then Brown and Head suddenly catch the ball in good scoring position.
“We’ve been playing with each other so long that we know each other’s tendencies,” Williams said. “You know where they’re going to be. We just play so well together.”
Head is among Williams’ biggest fans.
“The way he controls the tempo of the game with his point guard skills shows a lot,” Head said. “I try to learn as much as I can from watching him.”
Senior forward Roger Powell (12.4-point average) is a consistent force and junior forward James Augustine (10.5 points, 7.3 rebounds) does the tough work inside. The team averages almost 80 points and can win games from the perimeter or inside.
“I talked to Luther about becoming one of the best three-point shooters not only in the league but in the country, so I wanted that to happen, and Dee has made huge strides since the end of last [season],” Weber said. “But one of the best things about our team is that they adapt and take what they give us.”
The Illini had trouble adapting to Weber last season.
There were hard feelings in Champaign when Self bolted to succeed Roy Williams, who left Kansas for North Carolina.
The coaching carousel ended with Weber’s moving up from Southern Illinois.
An assistant at Purdue for 18 years, Weber had hoped to succeed his mentor, Gene Keady, who plans to retire after the season. When it became clear he wasn’t the Purdue administration’s top choice, Weber took the Southern Illinois job in 1998.
In five seasons, Weber led the Salukis to two Missouri Valley Conference championships, two NCAA tournament appearances and the Sweet 16 in 2001-02. Weber was selected the conference’s coach of the year for the 2002-03 season.
Weber inherited a strong team thanks to Self’s recruiting, and he became only the third coach in Big Ten history to win an outright title in his first season -- the Illini’s first since 1952.
The success, however, helped to mask tension in the program.
Players were accustomed to Self’s style and some resisted change, but everyone eventually followed Weber’s way.
“He brought in his system, we’re buying into it and it’s showing,” Powell said. “We listen to him. He’s a great coach.”
Self, whose Jayhawks are ranked third, did his part to cut the cord, having drawn a line between himself and his former team.
“I recruited all of them and it’s fun to watch from the outside, but I told all the guys that it wasn’t fair for me to stay in contact with them and they hear two messages,” Self said. “They just need to hear one message from the new staff.”
And the message is clear.
“March is the time to shine, so that’s when we want to go undefeated,” Williams said. “Then that would give us something to talk about.”
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
A PERFECT SETUP
Seventeen teams have entered the NCAA Division I tournament undefeated, but only seven of those have gone on to win the national title. Since Indiana in 1975-76, only the 1978-79 Indiana State team and 1990-91 Nevada Las Vegas team have entered the tournament without a loss.
1955-56
SAN FRANCISCO
Record: 29-0
Coach: Phil Woolpert
1956-57
NORTH CAROLINA
Record: 32-0
Coach: Frank McGuire
1963-64
UCLA
Record: 30-0
Coach: John Wooden
1966-67
UCLA
Record: 30-0
Coach: John Wooden
1971-72
UCLA
Record: 30-0
Coach: John Wooden
1972-73
UCLA
Record: 30-0
Coach: John Wooden
1975-76
INDIANA
Record: 32-0
Coach: Bob Knight
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Three on Three
Before this season, the last time an Illinois team was ranked No. 1 was in the 1988-89 season when the Illini featured future NBA players Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson and Kenny Battle. That team finished 31-5, earned a top seeding in the NCAA tournament but lost to Michigan in the national semifinals. A look at the three best players from the 1988-89 squad and the three leaders from this season’s 24-0 team.
*--* 2004-05 ILLINI PLAYER POSITION HT WT FG PCT. PPG (GMS) LUTHER HEAD Guard 6-3 185 505 16.5 (24) DEE BROWN Guard 6-0 185 519 13.0 (24) DERON WILLIAMS Guard 6-3 210 416 12.4 (24) 1988-89 ILLINI PLAYER POSITION HT WT FG PCT. PPG (GMS) NICK ANDERSON Swingman 6-6 205 537 18.0 (36) KENNY BATTLE Forward 6-6 210 603 16.6 (36) KENDALL GILL Guard 6-5 195 541 15.4 (24)
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