The News-Gazette.com Weblog

On Women's Basketball

Indiana review (and bonus Bone)

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Monday, January 26, 2009 12:52 AM

Lots of smiling, happy faces at the Assembly Hall today. Some observations from Sunday's UI victory against Indiana, the biggest upset of the Big Ten season:

--By now, it has become abundantly clear that for Illinois to win, Jenna Smith has to be sensational. She was, carrying Illinois' offense early in the second half. Smith willed her team through some rough stretches, then got some help from her friends.

We also know that Lacey Simpson must be sensational, and she was. Simpson has defined herself as the UI's best all-around player of the decade. She's probably the closest thing we've seen to Tauja Catchings -- a player who can affect the game in so many ways. Simpson is an outstanding rebounder, defender, shot blocker and playmaker. The only thing she doesn't do consistently is score, which probably was the weakest part of Catchings' game as well, although Tauja always seemed to find a way to score, especially when her team needed her the most.

Simpson has many of the same qualities. Allison Curtin was a fantastic all-around player, but she had a more natural scoring ability than Simpson, who prefers to play defense more than offense. This is how good she is: Simpson is likely to finish her career among the top five all-time in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. She'll likely finish No. 1 in steals.

As I've mentioned before, Simpson is the ideal role player. When not relied upon to score -- as was the case Sunday, when she had only six points -- Simpson is even better because she'll focus her game on those other areas -- the stats that too often get overlooked.

She was simply sensational against Indiana, particularly during the key portions of the game. She had beautiful assist to Fabiola Josil for a 37-33 lead. Then she finished off a fast break for a 39-33 lead. One possession later, she hauled in a defensive rebound, and on Indiana's next possession she sprinted from behind to block Jamie Braun's layup attempt. Two minutes later, she stole a pass and raced for a layup. So it went. Vintage Simpson.

It was reminiscent of Simpson's inspired play in last year's Big Ten tournament.

--Not to be overlooked were the contributions of the freshmen backcourters. Lydia McCully, coming off a no-assist, eight-turnover game at Ohio State, had no assists and five turnovers in the first half against Indiana. But she rebounded in the second half with two assists and no turnovers. Macie Blinn was a factor on offense, and Josil added some key jumpers.

Illinois -- whose offense is ranked 318th out of 328 Division I teams -- shot 57 percent in the second half, by far its best stretch of offensive basketball in two months.

--The first half featured some dreadful basketball. Both teams were awful. At the second media timeout, the score was 6-5. At the third media timeout, it was 12-6. In the first half, Illinois shot 33 percent and made 14 turnovers. Indiana had 10 turnovers and shot 27 percent.

Unfortunately, this is life in the Big Ten, where the lack of talent is showing on the offensive end. It's not just a style of play issue. Yes, most of the teams are halfcourt-type teams. But there are few players who can be difficult to guard on a consistent basis. Look at Sunday's action. Minnesota beat Northwestern 43-40. Michigan State beat Wisconsin 59-50 which, in the Big Ten, should be considered an offensive shootout. Purdue and Ohio State combined for 28 points through the first 14 minutes.

It makes you wonder: Do people in the Big 12 laugh when they watch Big Ten basketball? How do you take this stuff seriously? Watch Oklahoma or Baylor or Iowa State sometime. They'll score 28 points in five minutes. It's like a different world. For the Big Ten to get back on the map in women's basketball, its teams will have to start scoring a few more points. It's that simple.

--So what do we make of Indiana? Is this really the best team in the Big Ten, as the standings suggested heading into Sunday's games?

Indiana coach Felisha Legette-Jack said her team was a victim of it's own poor shooting. The shots just didn't fall, she said. And that's partially true. Indiana had open looks that it didn't make. If those shots fall, as they normally do, Indiana might have won the game. But the Hoosiers clearly began to press in the second half, particularly after they fell behind, and that's not uncommon in situations like these. When a last-place team gets the lead against a team that has plenty to lose, it not only gives the weaker team a boost in confidence that can carry it to victory. It also gets the highly regarded team thinking, "Oh, no, we can't lose to these guys." And they begin to tighten up. In Indiana's case, I thought some players tried to do too much, going one-on-one on the offensive end instead of using the teamwork that has become Indiana's trademark.

I think Illinois will see a different team when it visits Bloomington on Feb. 8.

--Some tidbits left over from Sunday's feature on Kelsey Bone:

-Bone has an astounding number of friends on her Facebook page -- 598 at last count, including most of the UI team. One of those is men's player Dominique Keller, a Port Arthur, Texas, product. Bone didn't know Keller until she went on her official visit, and now Keller routinely sends her text messages. It must be considered a positive for Illinois; for Bone to see another Texas product at Illinois could show that, yes, it's not so bad to leave the state of Texas.

And that remains my biggest question in Bone's recruitment: Will she leave the state? When I asked her mother that question, I got an interesting response. Reading between the lines, it's clear that Bone's mother, Kim Williams, would prefer that she stay within the state. She said she couldn't imagine not seeing her daughter playing in person. And Bone has a lot of family near her hometown. That's an awful lot of pressure to ignore when you're picking a college. Saying no to Gail Goestenkors is one thing; saying no to your family is another thing entirely.

-Bone's relationship with her mother is particularly important. Williams has taken the lead in handling her daughter's recruitment. Asked about how Kelsey handles it so well, Williams said: "I will tell you very honestly that I think a lot of it comes from the close relationship that I have with my daughter. One of the things I have had to do was maintain some sense of normalcy and stay grounded. Because i've been able to not be star struck -- it's very easy to do that when you get to talk to the likes of Gary Blair, and Gail and Geno and Pat -- to become caught up in the whole rapture of that. I've worked really hard to help Kelsey maintain her normalcy. If not, this could really become a three-ring circus. We've both grown through this process, and we've stuck close together."

Williams also has established some ground rules.

"There's been a couple times I have had all of the communication off-limits. During the signing period, I contacted all of the coaches and said, 'I'd really like you all not to contact her. She's not going to contact you.' I knew there was going to be a lot of pressure, and she just wasn't ready to sign in November."

Williams said she really wanted Kelsey to sign in November, but Bone resisted.