Memory Lane: Banner day for 2004-05 Illini

Remembering 2004-05: UI 78, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 58

Remembering 2004-05: N-G front pages

Remembering 2004-05: Midnight Madness

Remembering 2004-05: Orange & Blue Scrimmage

EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF THE NEWS-GAZETTE

This week: In our continuing series on the five-year anniversary of the 2004-05 Final Four Illini, a look at the team's final exhibition game, where a banner ceremony took the spotlight away from a rout of Lewis University.

Date: Nov. 14, 2004

Headline: A banner day for Illini, who raise more than hopes

By BRETT DAWSON

CHAMPAIGN – Illinois raised its 2004 championship banner Sunday.

And in their exhibition finale, the Illini didn't do anything to lower lofty expectations.

Illinois pounded Lewis 92-61, the final tuneup in what's expected to be a symphonic season. The Illini did it playing beneath a crisp 'Big Ten Champions 2004' banner.

Bruce Weber told his players to enjoy the pregame moment as that banner was raised to the rafters.

Then he told them to stop.

"I told them after, 'Now it's over. Now (we're) starting over to get a new banner,' " Weber said. "Banners, rings, all that stuff - that's for when you're 28, 29 and you want to brag about something. Now you have that opportunity.

"It's right in front of you again; now let's see if you can get another banner up there that you can brag about."

The Illini have been waiting for a chance to earn those braggin' rights for a long time.

First, there was a long offseason wait in the wake of a Sweet 16 loss to Duke.

Since Oct. 15, there's been waiting of another sort, plodding through practices that wear on the body and exhibition games that don't do much for the soul.

"We're just ready to go play a game that counts for something," guard Deron Williams said after finishing with 11 points and a game-high 10 assists.

The win against Lewis didn't count for much, but it taught the Illini a few things about themselves.

For starters, they're still perfecting an antidote to the zone, which gave Weber's motion offense motion sickness last season, particularly in a loss to Providence.

The Flyers threw a zone at the Illini early and threw Illinois for a loop. Weber's team started 0 for 7 from three-point range, then made 8 of 11 in the last nine minutes of the first half, outscoring Lewis 30-9 during that stretch.

"(Other teams) better zone us," said guard Dee Brown, who finished with 12 points and seven assists. "Whenever you look at a team and scout 'em, you look at their weaknesses and strengths. If you look back at our past, we haven't been a good zone team, so why not try to attack our weaknesses?"

That's what Lewis tried to do.

But when the Illini finished with 13 three-pointers in 31 attempts - despite the longer three-point line employed as part of the experimental rules package used for Sunday's game - the strategy didn't look as wise.

"I think they took 18 threes against Edwardsville," Flyers coach Kyle Green said. "We wanted them to take 25-35. Now, if they make them, more power to them. That's why they're one of the top teams in the country."

They're No. 5, to be precise, in The Associated Press' preseason poll, which is why the anticipation for Friday's regular season opener against Delaware State is off the charts.

Despite that anticipation, though, the Illini were mostly on task Sunday, a sign Weber took as a positive.

After a game-opening funk - Lewis led three times in the opening nine minutes, though never by more than two points - Illinois brought the noise.

"We talked before the game about living up to potential, and you've got to do that every day," Weber said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing. And we played pretty good basketball today."

Or, in Williams' more succinct analysis, "We won by a lot."

They got a little out of it.

Besides the deeper three-point line ("Guys practice from behind it anyway," Brown said, dismissing its impact), the Illini got a look at the wider, trapezoidal lane that will be in place for the Las Vegas Invitational.

"The last couple minutes I had the ball, I didn't make a post move just because it was so weird being so far out there," said forward James Augustine, who had 11 rebounds to go with his 14 points, tying Luther Head for game-high scoring honors.

That underscored the one problem Weber keeps coming back to on offense: his team's dependence on its perimeter game.

Lewis packed in its zone to prevent the ball from going inside, but Weber said his team still missed opportunities to flash to the basket.

That was a small complaint, though.

For the most part, Weber had high praise for his highly-regarded team.

His players, meanwhile, already are focused on that future banner.

"I've been ready," Williams said. "There's been a lot of buzz about us, a lot of hype. Now we're ready to play. We've done all this work, the whole offseason for this moment, and now it's here."

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