Tate: Weber seeks leadership

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URBANA – Basketball coaches, and Bruce Weber is among them, seek veteran leadership by preaching that the team will only be as good as the seniors.

If that's the case for Illinois in the winter of 2009-10, it puts a lot of pressure on Dominique Keller. He is the only upcoming senior projected in the rotation next season after averaging 12.6 minutes and 5.9 points as the alternating backup for Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis this past season.

Like most junior college transfers, the 6-foot-7 Keller had his first-year ups and downs. A remarkably unorthodox shooter, he used unique post moves to attain double figures eight times, matching his personal high with 16 points as Illinois fell to Purdue 66-56 in the Big Ten tournament. Then he finished with a 4-for-5 shooting effort in the 76-72 NCAA tournament loss to Western Kentucky. Final statistics show him shooting 52 percent from the field and 41 percent on treys. And despite minimal minutes at times, he went scoreless just twice in the UI's last 28 games.

With that experience behind him, Keller stacks up as a strong backup for Tisdale and Davis, and stands between redshirt freshman Stan Simpson and incoming power forward Tyler Griffey in their quest for early playing time. That's the way it appears. But the talkative Keller expressed another possibility as he attended the 87th annual Kiwanis basketball banquet at Urbana's Holiday Inn on Tuesday night.

Moving around

"It was Alex Legion's idea," Keller said. "He mentioned that I ought to take a shot at the small forward. I talked to Coach Weber about it.

"I can shoot better than most from the perimeter, so I'm working on my defense and ball handling with the idea of trying it. I've been going one-on-one against Demetri (McCamey) and Alex. I'd like to start. But we'll see. Whatever happens will happen. I expect to move around and probably play all three positions (center and both forwards). I want to be on the court as much as possible."

The problem is that many teams, like the Illini, lean toward three-guard lineups. Putting Keller at the 3 would challenge him to guard a smaller, quicker player.

"He can guard one-on-one," Weber said, "but it's different when a big man has to chase those quicker guys around the floor and through screens, and in learning to switch with the guards. However this turns out, it's good for Dominique to work on his defense and his ball handling."

This reminds of efforts by Bill Self and Weber to utilize Roger Powell at the 3. As it turned out, Powell, though undersized at the 4, was much more effective there in 2004 and '05. The same is likely with the similarly versatile Keller.

A new role

Keller emphasized that, if he must again serve as a backup for the two tall Mikes, it won't affect his determination to serve as a team leader.

"I feel responsibility in that area," he said. "I had a lot of things to get used to this past year, and I got help from Chester (Frazier) and Trent (Meacham). Now it's my turn to take the leadership role. The verbal part comes easy for me.

"The best way to put it is the way Chester did it. He knew his role, worked hard all the time and never complained. I couldn't believe what happened at South Padre Island. He got hurt in practice and when he arose the next morning, he could barely walk. Then he not only played but he dove over the table after a loose ball. That really showed me something. He set a great example for all of us. He kept everybody focused."

Frazier's absence (broken hand) was felt at the end, the Illini defeating Michigan 60-50 (the Wolverines shot 33 percent) but falling far behind Purdue (37-17 at halftime) and Western Kentucky (49-34) in the season-ending losses. Frazier received three awards at Tuesday's banquet: MVP, the Matto Award for hustle and the Kenny Battle inspirational trophy. Keller received no special honors but, whether or not he starts next season, the UI's lone senior will earn recognition next April if he meets his leadership goals.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.

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