For the Fans

Wow!

Posted by: Tom Young

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 9:20 PM

ILLINOIS 71      #11 PURDUE 67  OT

I was at Jupiter's II with a couple of buddies to watch the game tonight, and what a game we saw.  We all know that Illinois has improved, and we know that they are playing better than we thought when the season started, but I still didn't think they could go into #11 Purdue and win it.  I am glad they proved me wrong.

It was a great team effort tonight as five players were in double figures.  Mike Tisdale continues his impressive offensive game with 18 big points in a tough environment.  You can almost see his confidence level rising when he gets the ball.  He has a pretty mid-range jumper, but he is now driving in and trying to get close to the basket.  I thought he also did a great job on the defensive end.  His stats didn't look like anything great, but Purdue had a few shots that were way off because of Tisdale's presence.

I really liked Bruce Weber giving Alex Legion a fair amount of playing time (25 minutes).  He still looks a little raw at times, but you can see that he has the ability to help this team.  It is a big plus if he can continue to provide 10+ points off the bench.  If you can consistently bring in a player like Legion to go against the opponent's second string, I feel he can win a lot of these battles.  He just needs to use his head a bit more, and I feel he will improve his mental game with time.  He put up a three pointer in OT when the Illini were up four with around 45 seconds left.  He got the ball off a missed free throw, and should have backed it out and run as much of the 35 second shot clock as possible.  Instead Purdue got the ball and had a chance to get back in it.  I bet coach Weber talked to Legion about this play.

I could sit here and go through every player and all the things I liked about them tonight.  It was a great effort on both sides of the court and with the coaching.  Weber once again showed us that he is an outstanding X's and O's coach with more brilliant inbounds plays that helped the Illini accomplish this win.  Now it is off to Michigan, who like Purdue is playing pretty darn well.  Another effort like tonight from the Illini will lead us to a big win in Ann Arbor.

I-L-L...

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