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Pre-Quincy notes

Posted by: Paul Klee

Tuesday, October 30, 2007 7:17 PM

-Bruce Weber said today he will limit the playing time of the team's veterans in Wednesday's exhibition game against Quincy. That will allow the coaches a more extensive look at the freshmen. Minutes are scripted, he said, and coaches are more concerned with getting a better handle on the newcomers' progress than the final score.

"(We will) try to get everyone 15-20 minutes," Weber said.

-Chester Frazier (thumb) shot free throws but did not practice today at Ubben. He probably won't play Wednesday, Weber said.

"That will give Demetri (McCamey) and Jeffrey Jordan a lot of minutes," Weber said.

Current plans -- and you know how those usually go with Frazier, who doesn't like to sit out -- have the incumbent point guard returning to the lineup for the second exhibition game, a week from today.

-Quincy (20-10 last season) was picked in the preseason poll to finish fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Hawks qualified for the Division II national tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Quincy coach Marty Bell said their best player is Andre Muse, a 6-5 senior guard from Thornwood High School.

"He's the most versatile player we have," Bell said today. "He's just got a lot of poise and experience because he's played so much for us. He averaged about 15-16 minutes a game as a freshman. He has played anywhere from the 1 spot to the 4 spot for us."

-You figure Illinois, with a lack of proven shooters on the perimeter, is bound to see plenty of zone this season. Bell said Quincy is "mostly man-to-man" but he plans on tossing in some zone in spots.

"My philosophy has been that a good zone has good man-to-man principles," Bell said. "I'm a little antiquated, I guess, in that respect. I think in a zone kids can hide, and there's less accountability. We want our players to be accountable. We will play some zone just to mix things up."

Here's a twist you won't see during the regular season: Bell said he'll chat with Weber prior to the game, to see if the Illinois coach would like to work the Illini against any specific schemes.

""We'll talk to Bruce just to see what helps him, too," Bell said. "We're going to play the game, of course, but sometimes it's good to see different looks. Most times guys say, Play your game. It is a game, but it's still a scrimmage."

-Quincy features six players from the state of Illinois. Included is senior Excell Hardy, who played alongside Julian Wright (New Orleans Hornets) and Cyrus Tate (Iowa) at Homewood-Flossmoor.

-As for potential redshirt decisions, a pair of freshmen is making it tough.

"There are days when Mike Davis and Bill Cole are better than Rodney (Alexander, a projected starter)," Weber said. "That's the problem we have right now."

Good problem to have, and Illinois doesn't have to figure it out by the season opener. Weber indicated he might hold players out of the first few games -- perhaps through the Maui Invitational -- and see where they stand after that.

"We might say, I'm going to redshirt you right now and we're going to see what happens with these other guys," he said.

-With 11 points in 20 minutes, Cole showed in the Orange-Blue Scrimmage how he's come along in a short time. He's also familiar with the motion offense, having played in a similar scheme at Peoria Richwoods.

"He's smart enough to know that if he screens for somebody and then steps (out), he's going to get an open shot," Weber said. "It's kind of like Jack Ingram. Jack's last year he finally figured out if he just reads Deron and works with James, he's going to get open shots. If you work on your shot, you're going to get wide-open HORSE shots. Then everybody goes, Whoa, he's pretty good."

-Tickets won't be sold for Illinois' scrimmages Saturday at Glenbrook North and Whitney Young. The Glenbrook North scrimmage is tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m., while the Whitney Young episode should start around 3:30. Admission is free.

-Ever wonder what happened to the great Denver Nuggets hope Nikoloz Tskitishvili? (Maybe that's just me.) He's teammates with Roger Powell on the Italian franchise Siviglia Wear Teramo.

-Full page of UI basketball coverage in Wednesday's News-Gazette. See you tomorrow.

Paul
pklee@news-gazette.comc