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Weber on the Badgers

Posted by: Paul Klee

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 1:28 PM

A few items on the Illini today....

- Wisconsin's lost six in a row, its longest losing streak since the 1997-98 season. The most alarming stat, if you're a Badger: the last three opponents shot 50.0 (Illinois), 59.4 (Purdue) and 57.1 (Northwestern) percent from the field. Even so, Bruce Weber said he doesn't anticipate a system overhaul when Illinois plays at the Kohl Center Thursday.

"Bo is Bo. Their style remains very constant," Weber said today. "Up until this point, since I've been back in the league, that's the one thing he's been able to do - keep his system constant."

- Bo Ryan's approach to this rough patch: "I got into the profession first as a teacher. (He was) a social studies teacher, then I started to coach," he said Monday. "For me, I go back to teaching. You go to the next game plan, the next practice plan. ... For me, being a teacher first, then a coach, you still have to teach."

- With the Illinois shooters in a shooting slump - Trent Meacham, Alex Legion and Demetri McCamey are shooting 28.6 percent on threes in Big Ten play - Weber said it's on them to improve. He said they're not cutting hard enough and not being aggressive enough, and he wants them to look for the easy baskets (in the lane) but not necessarily the easy shots (quick 3s).

"I think we're very predictable on our cuts," Weber said.

- The Illini's defense can carry them against a team like Iowa, but I questioned whether to keep them on our Top 25 ballot after the Minnesota debacle.

- With guards Talor Battle, Kalin Lucas and E'Twaun Moore on the short list, an All-Big Ten selection for Demetri McCamey might seem like a stretch. But he belongs in the conversation. McCamey leads the Big Ten in assists and assists/turnover ratio in league games, and he's becoming a steady defender. In practice, I often hear Weber tell McCamey, "Be hard to guard," and the coach said that's been his message for the UI backcourt.

"He has a tendency, by nature, to give in to the easier thing, (and) that's the quick 3," Weber said, adding, "If he makes it, you know a couple more are coming."

This Wisconsin game (ESPN) is one of those where McCamey can catch the voters' eyes for an All-Big Ten mention. (Illinois finishing in the top 3 would help, too.) He's played well against Wisconsin (14.3 ppg in four matchups) and played his best all-around game in one-plus seasons against the Badgers about 10 days ago (25 points, four rebounds, seven assists). He also shot a career-high 13 free throws in that game, part of the reason he was successful. He's getting it done in practice, too, which bodes well for the remainder of his sophomore season.

- Weber watched Brandon Paul when Warren was on Comcast a few days ago.

"He had some points in the game where he just can dominate," Weber said of the UI recruit, adding, "If he can keep taking that intensity and keep it more constant, he's a very good player because of his physical abilities."

- The coach said he'd like to see Mike Davis get between 8-12 rebounds a game, and the sophomore's 10-rebound effort against Iowa was a good start. He'd also like to see Chester Frazier return to his rebounding ways and get 5-7 boards a game.

- The Big Ten's top three scorers are sophomores. As for Illinois, its top three scorers in Big Ten games also are products of the 2007 recruiting class (McCamey, 11.8 ppg; Tisdale, 11.6; Davis 7.8).

"I think we felt good about it. I'm not sure it got as much publicity as we thought it should. We had a good feeling about it," Weber said. "Mike Tisdale was still pretty skinny and came from a Class A school. Mike Davis was kind of an unknown. Demetri had the most publicity, but he still had his tendency to be up and down and all over the place."

"I think the biggest thing is they've all improved. You add Alex (Legion) to the mix, Jeffrey Jordan. You have a pretty effective group."

- There was a lot of talk about seven - even eight - Big Ten teams playing in the NCAA tournament. Hopefully that talk has died down. I don't see more than five, and those five appear solid, but that's it. Ohio State needs a win tonight against Purdue, and perhaps we can include them in the conversation. But for now, it's Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota and Penn State. The Big Ten has averaged 4.8 tournament teams this decade, and five looks about right, at least for now.

- Loren Tate hands out his midway-point Big Ten awards in a column on HQ tonight. Just asked Coach Tate what he'll do if Bob Knight goes to Georgia (and Illinois is scheduled to face Georgia next season). Tate laughed and said, "I won't go."

- Why was Talor "Bubby" Battle shooting free throws in an empty gym - after beating Michigan State? Click here.

pklee@news-gazette.com