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On Women's Basketball

Ohio State review

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:01 AM

You got the sense from Jolette Law on Monday that she didn't want to come right out and say it. But the Illinois coach, in a way, hinted strongly that she was very disappointed in her team's guard play in the lopsided loss to Ohio State.

That Illinois' backcourt had a rough night isn't much of a revelation, of course. I realize that. Lydia McCully was 0 for 9 with zero assists in 35 minutes. Macie Blinn had four points and no assists in 24 minutes. Fabiola Josil had two points and no assists in 10 minutes.

But Law seemed to imply that her youngsters didn't give a full effort.

"I think once they got a lead and we couldn’t make any shots, we sort of shut it down," Law said. "But I have to give a lot of credit to my three. Lacey, Chelsea Gordon and Jenna Smith played the entire (time) they were out there. They didn’t let up. So I’m not making any excuses for anyone else, but those three played until the buzzer went off."

It was a night of historically bad offense for Illinois, which scored the second-fewest points (35) in school history. (The record is 16, achieved in the first game in school history, in 1974. Let's hope we never see that one broken.)

The guard play has been alarmingly inconsistent this season, even considering that we're talking about an all-freshman crew. Illinois had four assists against Ohio State, none from the backcourt, and it is starting to look more and more like the Illini will go into next season with its biggest question mark at point guard. Again.

I asked Law afterward if there was a point this season where she might turn her attention to next season. In other words, would the freshmen become a bigger part of the rotation if she deemed this season as a lost cause. Law said she wasn't giving up on this season, and her intentions seemed clear. She's not worried about next season. She wants to win now. And if that means the freshmen don't play much, they don't play.

Let's read between the lines a little (because this is a blog, after all, and we can do that in this forum, interjecting a little opinion of our own). To me, Law's reluctance to use her freshmen to a greater degree in the coming weeks might be another sign that she's putting the Super Six recruits on alert. The message: Be ready to play next season ... because you'll be playing. The more you don't see of this year's freshmen, the more you'll see of next year's freshmen. That's just my interpreation; could be totally wrong. Certainly, there's no question that the talent level of the Super Six far exceeds this season's group.

One nagging question remains, however: What about point guard? There's no true point in the Super Six. Marshall's Adrienne GodBold might come the closest to falling into that category. That means the current batch of candidates, headed by McCully and Josil, are squarely in the spotlight. So far, neither has shown the consistency needed at that spot to get Illinois to the next level. And when the surrounding talent increases dramatically next season, McCully and Josil will face increased pressure to keep up with the Joneses. If they can't get the ball to Jenna Smith or Destiny Williams or anyone else, the trouble will be even more stark than it is right now.

Based strictly on talent, Illinois is set next season at four spots. Whether that talent turns into production on the court remains to be seen, of course. But that fifth spot is terribly important, and it has the potential to undermine all of the good things we could potentially see at the other four spots. Look at Ohio State; the addition of freshman point guard Sammy Prahalis has completely transformed the offense. If Illinois added a player like her to its mix, the future would be incredibly bright.

Other observations from Monday's disaster:

--Funniest moment (in a demented way) of Monday's game came during a timeout, when the Assembly Hall video board played a clip from a famous movie and asked the crowd to guess which Illinois player chose that scene's famous line as her most favorite. The clip was from "Rudy," and Notre Dame coach Dan Devine said in a pregame speech to his team, "No one -- and I mean no one -- comes into our house and pushes us around."

The answer is Macie Blinn. Seconds later, Blinn popped up on the video screen and repeated Devine's line. "No one, and I mean no one, comes in our house and pushes us around," Blinn said.

Well, except Ohio State.

And Temple.

And Virginia.

And Wisconsin.

Twisted humor, I know. Probably not the best timing to play that clip.

--Was doing a little historical research Monday to find the last time an Illinois team struggled this badly, and you have to go back to the 1987-88 team. That squad finished 9-19, 3-15 in the Big Ten. But the interesting part is that the Illini reached the NCAA tournament the previous season, winning its first-round game. And the '87-88 squad would have three 1,000-point scorers (Angie McClellan, Lisa Bradley, Jenny Johnson). But I'm guessing the key to the trouble was this: After the '86-87 season, the Illini lost Jonelle Polk -- arguably the greatest player in the program's history -- to graduation.

--Prahalis didn't have her best game Monday (1 for 8 shooting) but she had nine assists and showed why she's a great distributor. One play she made in the first half was breathtaking: She threw a halfcourt, on-the-run pass during a fastbreak to a sprinting Jantel Lavender right under the OSU basket for an easy layup. Peyton Manning couldn't have thrown it better himself.

--I mentioned this in my in-game report, but I'll repeat it here. OSU's Brittany Johnson, an Olney product, was an Illinois fan growing up but wasn't highly recruited out of high school by the Illini. Then-coach Theresa Grentz said Johnson benefitted from playing against small-school opponents and scored a lot of her points inside against smaller players. The decision drew skepticism and curious questions from some folks in this part of the state, so there was no question that Johnson's college career would be watched closely to see if the Illini staff made the right decision.

Did they? I can't say, but Johnson did have one of her best games Monday at the Illini's expense, hitting four three-pointers, all of them wide open shots. This much is clear: If Johnson were wearing orange and blue, she'd be starting here. And playing 35 minutes a game. And likely be one of the team's top scoring options.

--Next up is a winnable home game against Iowa on Thursday. To me, the question is, does Illinois have anything in the tank from a mental standpoint to get the win? After losing 13 of 14, you have to wonder about the team's mindset. When it's right, Illinois can win this game. If it isn't, you might see another blood-letting like Monday's. Has anyone given up? Does this team have the will to stick it out in a close game? Impossible questions to answer. But that's why we watch the games, even in a terrible season.