Klee: Bertrand is Superman
CHAMPAIGN — The phone call came way back in October 2007. It was the third one.
Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson had already given oral commitments to the Illinois basketball program. Less than 24 hours later, Joseph Bertrand hit Bruce Weber on his celly with a question.
"He wanted to know if there was still room," Weber said after Illinois slipped past Nebraska 59-54 Saturday at the Assembly Hall.
There's room, all right. And who could've imagined Bertrand, the least celebrated of the three guards in the Class of 2009, would be the breakout star of their third season together?
Bertrand saved the day again Saturday, scoring a career-high 25 points to highlight an otherwise-dreadful offensive performance by the Illini. It is to the point now where Bertrand's scoring outbursts aren't the surprise; the surprise is when he misses a shot.
With a grocery list of scoring moves — that soft, unguardable floater the trademark of them all — Bertrand made 11 of 12 shots. If you include the previous game, Bertrand at one point had made 12 straight field goals.
You'll remember he once made 13 straight shots to bridge the Missouri and Minnesota games in December.
"Kid's a player," as Paul, his classmate, put it.
"Another Superman performance," Weber chimed in.
The rest of the day was like Clark Kent bound in cement boots. If the Illinois offense can get any worse, any harder to watch, BTN might revoke its privileges.
The teams combined for 24 turnovers in a first half that closed with boos from the home crowd. Those boos weren't directed at Nebraska, either. The Huskers haven't been in this neighborhood long enough to earn the vitriol of a league rival. Illini fans booed the Illini for the third time this season — twice at the Assembly Hall, once at the United Center.
For the only Saturday home game on the Big Ten schedule, only 14,909 fans bought tickets. Many of them sent the home team into the halftime locker room with an earful.
"I was looking for a little more action, a little more scoring," Illini and Centennial great Mikel Leshoure said at halftime, the NFL rookie trying to be as diplomatic as possible.
Nebraska (8-7) faces an uphill battle in its inaugural Big Ten season and is in the early conversation as the league's weakest team. Illinois (14-3, 3-1 Big Ten) wasn't far behind Saturday.
"I thought both teams played hard," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. "But what an ugly game."
Blessed be the weekly schedule that includes Northwestern (1-2 Big Ten) and Nebraska (0-4), a pair of teams that look no closer to earning their first NCAA tournament win.
And blessed be Bertrand, who was the only player to make a field goal for Illinois in the first 11:28 of the game. He was 8 for 8 before finally missing a shot with 7:27 left and has been its second-leading scorer in Big Ten play behind Paul.
Yes, Bertrand arrived on the scene late. That, too, might be a blessing.
He has two more seasons after this one and seems to be improving with each game. His freshman season was besieged by injury — first a knee, then a calf muscle — and he wasn't able to crack the rotation last season. His third season has been somewhat of a revelation.
"I learned a lot sitting on the bench and watching Brandon and D.J. do the guard work and getting better," Bertrand said.
"One of the most patient guys I've seen," Paul said. "If I was in that position, I don't know how I would've taken it."
Aggravating as it was to watch, Illinois didn't want to become Nebraska's first Big Ten win. So the Illini avoided that title. Weber explained the offensive struggles were partly a result of Sam Maniscalco's (ankle) absence and Richardson's (wrist) limited minutes. Now the real schedule begins.
"I couldn't be more happy for our guys. It's a beautiful day, a beautiful game. We found a way to win," added Weber, showing an extra-positive outlook despite the offensive struggles. "I thought it might be 20-18 (for a final score). We actually scored more than that. So that was a positive thing. Great defensive effort down the stretch."
Fingers crossed Illini Nation, Bertrand might be the epitome of an Illini recruit playing up to his billing. I thought he would break out last season but I was way off. Couldn't get Klee to comment about him last season.
Of course, Coach Weber gets credit (along with staff) for developing another player like they have developed Meyers Leonard.
Coach Wooden's UCLA teams just found a way to win until they transformed into a brilliant display of skill, teamwork and game smarts - no matter what happened during the game. Practice was tougher than any opponent game.
It will be fun to watch who steps up next against Ohio State: Paul, Leonard, Bertrand or Henry or someone new. This is what has been missing from Illini BB the last 3-5 years: players who step up and make it happen in a world where everybody wants to be the man, and make it happen.
Go Illini!
No, what's been missing is consistent play from the (supposedly) best players on the team. Want to build a winning program? The stars need to play like stars.
I for one am not going to mislabel a squeaker victory at home over a conference doormat as anything more than it is.
The fact that Bertrand penetrates the lane (something this offense needs) with his running floater is a beautiful thing. If what I read earlier about Shaw transfering is true, and Head already leaving, does'nt that hurt Chicago area recruiting, not to mention morale for this team?
Illini fans booed the Illini for the third time this season — twice at the Assembly Hall, once at the United Center and still Bruce Weber says "It's a beautiful day, a beautiful game. We found a way to win," just squeaking out a win against the worst team in the league (Nebraska) at home no less. This is what a Bruce Weber team has become. The thirty something final score against Penn State at Assembly Hall in the last couple of years was not an exception. That shows how bad Weber's offense can be when it doesn't fit the players on the roster or they don't fit Weber's offense. Either way, Weber has botched the coaching of this team (which includes recruiting) and they keep sinking to new lows, setting new records for futility while freustrating, infuriating and alienating fans who once again booed the product Weber put on the court.
The players need to realize that most, if not all, booing is directed at Weber, not at them. Fans in my section were vocal about their opinion of the coach throughout the game, far more than usual, and the same was true as I walked to my car. Most have seen enough of this mess, and they know who is responsible.
As a former coach, I always knew that any losses were due to my poor coaching and the wins were due to the player efforts despite my coaching. It is too bad that Coach Weber's coaching knowledge that nearly led to a national championship has been lost over that last few years. Lets see -- The great Big Ten coaches Ryan of Wisc.(1-3) and Smith of Minn.(0-4) have suddenly become brain dead, too.
I think that it is despicable that true ILLINI fans would boo their team. Were there any boos from the Indiana fans over that past few years? Despite some down years, they still supported their team and coach, and now are being rewarded. How do you think any recruits will react when they hear the booing. What a good impression of ILLINI fans. ILLINI fans are some of the most fickle in the US. They think that the team should win every game by at least ten points and never make any mistakes. The discussion about when Weber calls timeouts it just absurd. How many of the so-called fans have ever actually coached a game. Weber has coached long enough to understand when a timeout should or should not be called.
Lets give this relatively inexperienced team which started two juniors,(one who played little last year) a redshirt soph.(who played little last year), a true soph.(who played little last year), and a true freshman last Sat. against a team that started 4 seniors a break. Give this team some time to work out the kinks in a somewhat sophisticated offensive system. If you remember in Weber's first year, the players did not like the new system but eventually realized how to make it work extremely well. They had a very similar record at this time in that season. Ask Deron Williams what he thinks of Weber as a coach.
I just wish the team would make more of their free throws. The last two games would not have been nearly as close had they at least hit their average. I know they are not trying to miss but......
Beating Ohio State will be a monumental task with the experience they will have on the floor compared to the ILLINI. I told one of my teams once that if they thought they were going to lose to a team that was the favorite, we should just forfeit. We won. I think the this Illini team really hates to lose and will give their best effort. GO ILLINI
Hitting Weber on his celly? Is Klee Klub creating some new language to sound hip? Like Bob and his obsession with letting fans know he drives a RAV4? Just because youngsters abandon English doesn't mean you have to, Klee Klub.
Oh, well. At least Klee Klub's hype of Bertrand as Superman is actually appropriate for a change -- unlike the hype of Foul Machine Leonard.
Weber: Leonard was "floating around someplace in Assembly Hall."
This Illinois team has a lot of upside as the players grow into their roles. Bertrand is coming up huge right now. Teams are going to start game planning for him, and we'll have to see how he adjusts. Abrams play is really encouraging. He's managing not to hurt the team offensively, and playing pretty good defense without fouling every 2 minutes. Paul is still growing into his role as "the guy" this year. He tries to do too much, but many of his turnovers are as much about miscommunication as anything else. The team will improve in that area as play continues.
14,000 on the ONLY Sat conference game on a beautiful day. WOW!!! Jimmy Jackson joined the list of analysts wondering why Meyers never sees the ball. Weber and his minions have made no attempt to get him looks and JJ called that out numerous times during the telecast. Hope Weber bought Bertrand dinner last night.
It is true that Shaw is likely transferring, leaving this team with only 2 sophomore big men for next year when Meyers turns pro. And judging by how this coaching staff "excels" at player development, it should be no problem.
And for all you Weber-lovers, please stop with this rationale that somehow this offense is going to start clicking against the top-tier teams in the league. Get ready for some blowouts, starting Tuesday night, where we fail to score 50+ points.
You cannot expect someone who has spent most of his time this season on the bench (Shaw) to come in for a few minutes, make a mistake, then be yanked out to want to play for Weber. Weber may be a very nice man but as a coach he is terrible. Remember our run to final NCAA game years ago, several of those games we were down huge numbers only to see D. Williams lead a comeback. It was not Weber's coaching but extreme efforts by talented players that got us to final game.
Since D. Williams (perhaps the best point guard in NBA) left, Illini big ten conferernce record including yesterday is 58-50, .537%. I think Illini could do much better. I would let Weber go now or after Ohio State embarasses us, then put Howard in charge. He recruited most of this talent, let's see what he can do as I think he has earned the right.
Instead of booing at the games which the players may feel is a reflection on them, crowd should chant "We want Howard"!
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