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Illini hope to start answering questions in exhibition tonight
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The wrap-up stories about Illinois' 2006-07 basketball season read like soap opera scripts, from the alcohol-related troubles of Jamar Smith and Rich McBride to the two-point NCAA tournament loss that ended it all.
Aside from the minor media circus trailing freshman Jeff Jordan, the son of Michael - yes, that Michael - Illinois doesn't have an off-the-court soap opera so far this year.
But the Illini head into tonight's opening exhibition, against Division II Quincy University, looking for answers to any number of on-court questions that will have a dramatic effect on how they do this season and whether they make the NCAA Tournament.
Who will replace the 13.7 points a game that last season's leading scorer, senior forward Warren Carter, took with him?
Can shooting guard Trent Meacham hit the 40 percent of his three-point shots that coach Bruce Weber says he needs from him?
And after the starters, who fills out the last three or four spots in the eight- to nine-man rotation Weber will rely on?
The last question in particular is important in the first scrimmage, Weber said Tuesday. Younger players, like Jordan and fellow guard Demetri McCamey, will get most of the playing time, he said.
“I think we need to play them to see just who can help us, who can be in that eight- or nine-man rotation,” he said during a news conference. “I can't worry about the score. I've gotta let those guys play.”
Weber said he'll script the playing time for his players in advance.
The other answers Weber is looking for will have to come later.
Meacham, the coach said, is his starting shooting guard. But the junior from Champaign so far this fall hasn't shown the kind of form that suggests he'll do that.
Junior college transfer Rodney Alexander, a forward, should help fill part of the offensive void, Weber said, calling him one of the team's best shooters.
With three-point specialist Smith sitting out the season after his drunken-driving conviction, Weber will need Meacham and Alexander to find the net.
Illini fans won't see starting point guard Chester Frazier at all today, Weber said. The junior injured his thumb in practice, and Weber hopes to have him back for the Nov. 11 opener against Northeastern.
Illinois finished last season 23-12 and 9-7 in the Big Ten. They lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, 54-52 to Virginia Tech. The Illini aren't expected to finish among the top teams in the conference this season, but prognosticators seem to think they'll find a way back into the tournament.
Quincy has made three consecutive trips to the Division II tourney and finished 20-10 last season.
Today's exhibition is unusually early in the year. The Illini played their first exhibition on Nov. 1 last season, and Nov. 7 the season before.
Weber said that conflicts with other events at the Assembly Hall in Champaign led him to schedule the Quincy game on Halloween night.
The 8 p.m. game will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network from the Assembly Hall.
Aside from the minor media circus trailing freshman Jeff Jordan, the son of Michael - yes, that Michael - Illinois doesn't have an off-the-court soap opera so far this year.
But the Illini head into tonight's opening exhibition, against Division II Quincy University, looking for answers to any number of on-court questions that will have a dramatic effect on how they do this season and whether they make the NCAA Tournament.
Who will replace the 13.7 points a game that last season's leading scorer, senior forward Warren Carter, took with him?
Can shooting guard Trent Meacham hit the 40 percent of his three-point shots that coach Bruce Weber says he needs from him?
And after the starters, who fills out the last three or four spots in the eight- to nine-man rotation Weber will rely on?
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“I think we need to play them to see just who can help us, who can be in that eight- or nine-man rotation,” he said during a news conference. “I can't worry about the score. I've gotta let those guys play.”
Weber said he'll script the playing time for his players in advance.
The other answers Weber is looking for will have to come later.
Meacham, the coach said, is his starting shooting guard. But the junior from Champaign so far this fall hasn't shown the kind of form that suggests he'll do that.
Junior college transfer Rodney Alexander, a forward, should help fill part of the offensive void, Weber said, calling him one of the team's best shooters.
With three-point specialist Smith sitting out the season after his drunken-driving conviction, Weber will need Meacham and Alexander to find the net.
Illini fans won't see starting point guard Chester Frazier at all today, Weber said. The junior injured his thumb in practice, and Weber hopes to have him back for the Nov. 11 opener against Northeastern.
Illinois finished last season 23-12 and 9-7 in the Big Ten. They lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, 54-52 to Virginia Tech. The Illini aren't expected to finish among the top teams in the conference this season, but prognosticators seem to think they'll find a way back into the tournament.
Quincy has made three consecutive trips to the Division II tourney and finished 20-10 last season.
Today's exhibition is unusually early in the year. The Illini played their first exhibition on Nov. 1 last season, and Nov. 7 the season before.
Weber said that conflicts with other events at the Assembly Hall in Champaign led him to schedule the Quincy game on Halloween night.
The 8 p.m. game will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network from the Assembly Hall.
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