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Monday Maui notes

Posted by: Paul Klee

Monday, November 19, 2007 10:30 PM

Hope you've enjoyed the News-Gazette's coverage from Hawaii so far. We'll have plenty more the rest of the week. Couple quick notes before tipoff:

-Jeff Jordan's dad just walked into the Lahaina Civic Center. He's wearing an orange Illinois shirt.

A Maui Invitational spokesperson said earlier today the event is accustomed to hosting celebrities who draw a crowd, so they were prepared for such an arrival. Officials had a spot reserved for Michael Jordan under one basket. The spokesperson said it's not unusual for celebrities and "various political dignitaries" to attend Maui games, the spokesperson said.

Hopefully you had a chance to read about Jeff Jordan in Sunday's N-G. He talked about how he wants to earn a scholarship at Illinois ("That's the goal"), how he handles the constant attention and how the Illinois staff handles the pressure of having a Jordan on the roster. (Yes, there is some.) Jeff's birthday was yesterday. He turned 19.

- Watching Duke manhandle Princeton right now in the Lahaina Civic Center. If Duke plays like this all three days, not sure there's a team in the field that can prevent Maui title No. 4.

- If the Illini lose to Arizona State, they'll face Princeton. Lincoln Gunn is a sophomore guard with Princeton. His father said at halftime that Lincoln was a ballboy at the Maui Invitational for eight years as a youth. The family owns a condo near Lahaina.

"He knows this gym pretty well," Don Gunn said.

- Bruce Weber said he hasn't settled on a starting lineup, and doesn't plan to in the immediate future. If you remember he did not start Demetri McCamey and Calvin Brock against Hawaii but them in the lineup to begin the second half.

"We're searching for who's going to be there every game, who's going to be consistent, who's going to get (playing) time," Weber said. "But I may not have that kind of a team. I may have to experiment every game and just kind of rotate people. I hope not. I hope we get to the point where you know what you're going to get each day, each possession."

- We profiled Demetri McCamey in today's paper. He played well Friday at Hawaii, though coaches want to see the same type of effort in practice they see in games.

"We've been very tough on him. We've told him we are not going to let up on him," Weber said. "I hope we don't have to go four years doing this. I would like for him to become responsible and driven and get rid of some of his easygoing tendencies. Until that happens and he proves it on a consistent basis over a course of time, we're just not going to let up.

"His mom (Sabrina Daniels) has joked with us, 'Don't give him an inch.' She's been great. She says, 'Stay on him.' It's just his natural temperament to take it easy sometimes."

- LSU coach John Brady's had a bad day. After a loss to Oklahoma State this afternoon, Brady revealed standout forward Tasmin Mitchell won't play the rest of the tournament due to an ankle injury. Brady followed that up by describing his disappointment in how the tournament chooses its officials for a neutral court game. He was upset at a controversial timeout call that benefited Oklahoma State in the final minute of a wild game.

"Don't give me an official or two that are Big 12 officials," Brady said. "I feel like I'm walking into (Oklahoma State's) Iba Arena."

Officials Ed Hightower, Terry Wymer and John Hughes worked the Oklahoma State-LSU game. Wymer and Hughes don't work SEC (LSU) or Big 12 (Oklahoma State) games. It was Hightower, however, that Brady must have been referring to. Hightower does Big 12 games but not SEC games, according to a tournament reference guide.

More in Tuesday's paper. Illinois-Arizona State coming up shortly.

Paul
pklee@news-gazette.com