This year the championship game was a rebuilding Illinois squad against a new look Butler team? Not what the event coordinators had in mind, but there were many takeaways from the tournament. We will look at the performances of 3 teams who either exceeded expectations or left me with a lot more questions heading into December.
Illinois
The Illini were crowned champions of the event after a convincing 78-61 victory over the Butler Bulldogs. Before the season I had Illinois pegged at 8/9th in the Big 10. They really fell apart at the end of last year under the tutelage of Bruce Weber. In comes John Groce and a fresh system for this unproven roster. Illinois had a relatively easy road to the championship with USC, Chaminade and a tired Butler team. Regardless, their average margin of victory was 23.3 and Groce deserves a lot of the credit.Groce's first step at Illinois was to change the culture. The team had talent last year but played very uninspired basketball. Against Butler, Illinois showed a grit about them on defense that was unforeseen coming into the season. AJ Abrams did his best to chase Rotnei Clarke around the court and DJ Richardson showed young Kellen Dunham what big 10 defense looks like. They held butler 36% shooting from the field and everyone not named Rotnei to 1-15 from behind 3 point land. Illinois' defense on the pick and roll was also impressive. Tyler Griffey and Nnanna Egwu hedged and recovered very effectively and took Butler out of its offensive rhythm. The Illini also add 5th year transfer Sam McLaurin to the big man rotation. McLaurin looked to be more than capable and was also voted team captain. Between the three, Illinois' rotation won't be overly talented but will definitely be able to compete in the big 10.
Guard play will determine how far Illinois will go this season. Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson return as seniors and will be mainstays in the scoring column. Paul needs to be more consistent game to game in order for U of I to be successful and also to improve his lofty NBA aspirations. I believe the x-factor for this team is AJ Abrams. Abrams had a solid freshman campaign but looks to take the next step as the lead guard in this offense. He was very impressive against Butler. Constantly probing the defense and always in control. He made a couple moves in transition that also drew "oohs and ahs" from the crowd as well. If Illinois wants to make the NCAA tournament, Abrams will have to take big steps in forward in a very competitive big 10 conference.
Bulter
Butler once again was a runner up in a tournament format... All kidding aside the bulldogs had two very impressive wins against a well coached Marquette team and made North Carolina look very ordinary in an 11 point victory. They definitely still have all the trademarks of a Brad Stevens coached team. Very tough on the glass, not afraid of any team regardless of ranking and routine offensive execution. I think the biggest difference from year's past will be their on ball pressure defensively. Rotnei Clarke is an amazing shooter and becoming a play maker with the ball in his hands, but him and Dunham really won't be able to get into opposing guards quite like Ronald Nored did on prior teams. They will need to make up for this on the offensive end and they have a player who can do that.
It all starts with Clarke, who at the moment has the ultimate green light from Brad Stevens. If he has space within 27 feet of the rim, the shot is going up and it normally will go in. He seems to be a much improved ball handler from his days at Arkansas as well. He will be ball dominant a lot this season and he's gonna go down shooting. Butler's main problem might be who becomes their second scorer. I like Roosevelt Jones' ability to get to the bucket but have you seen the guy shoot? It looks like he is afraid to fully grip a basketball. Andrew Smith is solid, but has struggled from the filed this year so far. Kellen Dunham can fill it up from outside, though i'm not sure he can be relied on night in, night out. So for me, the burden falls on Khyle Marshall. Marshall is an impressive athlete who does most of his damage near the rim. Listed at 6'6" finishing around the tin will be key. Against North Carolina he did a good job of this. Converting multiple and-1's against a bigger Tar Heel front line. Then against Illinois he could not buy a bucket. His shot was constantly altered and he was making it look difficult which isn't a good sign.
It will be interesting to see how Butler fairs in the A10. This conference could get up to 5 teams in the dance this year and the bulldogs will be tested most nights. They have suspect depth and you won't see the same defensive pressure on the perimeter, but never bet against a Brad Stevens coached team. They will continue to get better.
It all starts with Clarke, who at the moment has the ultimate green light from Brad Stevens. If he has space within 27 feet of the rim, the shot is going up and it normally will go in. He seems to be a much improved ball handler from his days at Arkansas as well. He will be ball dominant a lot this season and he's gonna go down shooting. Butler's main problem might be who becomes their second scorer. I like Roosevelt Jones' ability to get to the bucket but have you seen the guy shoot? It looks like he is afraid to fully grip a basketball. Andrew Smith is solid, but has struggled from the filed this year so far. Kellen Dunham can fill it up from outside, though i'm not sure he can be relied on night in, night out. So for me, the burden falls on Khyle Marshall. Marshall is an impressive athlete who does most of his damage near the rim. Listed at 6'6" finishing around the tin will be key. Against North Carolina he did a good job of this. Converting multiple and-1's against a bigger Tar Heel front line. Then against Illinois he could not buy a bucket. His shot was constantly altered and he was making it look difficult which isn't a good sign.
It will be interesting to see how Butler fairs in the A10. This conference could get up to 5 teams in the dance this year and the bulldogs will be tested most nights. They have suspect depth and you won't see the same defensive pressure on the perimeter, but never bet against a Brad Stevens coached team. They will continue to get better.
North Carolina
I only watched one of Carolina's games, and it just so happens it was the one where they decided not to show up for the first 30 minutes. The Tar Heels got hit in the mouth against Butler and never really recovered. How could a team who is so much more athletic than Butler end up with 0 blocks? Their most talented player James Michael McAdoo had 5 turnovers in the first half. Lastly they settled for jump shots against a team who can not match their athleticism on the perimeter. They made it really easy on Butler to win this game and they didn't show any fight until it was a little too late.
Roy Williams has never been known for his in game strategy adjustments, but to his credit he picked up the pressure in the second half and it started paying dividends with about 12 minutes to go. Rotnei Clarke was out of the game and Carolina proceeded to create 5 turnovers in a 4 minute stretch. PJ Harriston went on an 11-0 run by himself and cut the lead to 62-45 (which is still a lot i know, shows how bad they played in the first half). Brad Stevens called a time out to settle his team down and Chase Stigall responded with back to back trey bombs and the Tar Heels never could make it back.
What troubles me the most about this North Carolina team is they always have had a go to guy since I can remember. This current team is still searching for that. McAdoo was supposed to be that, but in my eyes does know what he is yet offensively in order to carry that burden. Between Bullock, Harriston and Mcdonald, one of them is going to have to step up and be the legitimate three point threat they were claimed to be in high school. A lot of burden will be placed on freshman Marcus Paige as well. We are used to seeing Carolina point guards excel (felton, lawson, marshall), but it's asking a lot of the new comer. Dexter Strickland really needs to lead this team in multiple ways if the want to be successful. I think they will have a better showing in Bloomington tomorrow. Their size could bother the Hoosiers and I'm predicting a close game. The Tar Heels really need to dominate the glass if they want to win.
11:45 left, 44-49, steigal barely catch iron on a 3. illini then go on a 10-0 run and butler had nothing left.
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