It’s just as I predicted. The difference in the game was the inside play of Trevor Booker.
If you tuned out at halftime, you may not believe the result of Booker’s feat: Illinois won.
They only needed a teensy hand from Booker, and the largest comeback in school history, to squeeze out of South Carolina with a W, leading the conference to its first ever victory in the BigTen/ACC Challenge.
THE FIRST HALF
Illinois had no ball handling. They spent much of Monday and Tuesday’s pre-Clemson practice time on breaking full-court presses. Sometimes they ran five players against seven defenders. Sometimes they ran four against eight.
It didn’t work.
When faced with the genuine Clemson press, our guys crumpled. They looked stupid, and poorly coached.
In the first half, Richard Semrau watched Mike Tisdale watch Trevor Booker score baskets.
As first half turnovers mounted, Demetri McCamey watched from the bench, in foul trouble. His Illini teammates continually abandoned Jeff Jordan to fend off Tiger double teams, try to break the press, etc.
When Jordan was able to get the ball to the wings or bigs, those Illini continually failed to maintain their dribble. Picking up the dribble flipped a switch in the Tiger defenders. Each possession became five on four, with one lonely Illini wondering why he couldn’t find an open man.
It was obvious the Big Ten, and especially the Illini, were simply not competitive with the ACC.
THE OTHER HALF
The run really only took about four minutes. Three-fourths of the way through the game, Illinois was still down 19 points. They’d picked up the pace on offense, but Clemson countered everything. It was a relatively brief spurt of intense defense that closed the gap.
The lads were all forced to re-write their stories. Some minded more than others.
From about the 14:30 mark through Booker’s tip-in of a Demetri McCamey brick at 9:43 — seven Illini players left it all on the floor. Tisdale, Mike Davis and DJ Richardson never left. Bill Cole and Brandon Paul split time at the three spot, and McCamey and Jordan split point guard duties. It’s those seven whose can of whoop ass despoiled the Tigers.
Tisdale was especially effective in the game’s waning moments. In fact, as the game wore on, he seemed more energetic.
Having laid an egg in the first half while watching Booker tack 9 points and 5 rebounds to his formidable career stats, one might think Tisdale would drift into obscurity, possibly watch the rest of the game from the pine as he did last year. Instead, he went nuts.
Tisdale burned at both ends: blocking shots, saving possessions, ducking defenders, moving his feet, driving for buckets, dishing sharp passes for assists.
Übercracker Tanner Smith (named for two of the grimiest of ancient cracker trades) got rattled. Other Tigers forced, and short-armed shots. Bruce Weber said nice things about Tanner afterward, but he added that the Tigers may have run the tank empty.
If you don’t remember last year’s version of this game, it was basically a mirror image. The score was 76–74, the visiting team came back from a big halftime deficit, the home team failed to score the tying/winning basket on the last play of the game, and Demontez Stitt made the decisive last play.
So really, Booker’s basket was the only difference.
Even Tisdale’s ball handling was effective
Mike Davis had a characteristic game. When he shot the ball, it went in. That’s expected.
The unexpected: Davis played with extra fire in that four minute stretch, and that was the difference too. Or maybe the difference was Dietrich, who hit a bunch of threes in the big Illinois run.
Once again Bill Cole was the real difference in the game. Where the fuck did Bill Cole come from? That’s probably what the Clemson scouts are wondering, too. “Who was that spazzy guy with all the rebounds and outlet passes?” they’re likely thinking.
In the end, the Illini needed every single guy who played for them Wednesday night — even Alex Legion — who moved the ball calmly against the Clemson press before spacing out on a Jordan double-team.
They also needed one of Clemson’s guys. And they got him. For one precious basket.
