Feb. 05--After Illinois throttled then-No. 20 Purdue 84-70 on Jan. 10 in Champaign, coach John Groce hoped it would be a turning point for his team.
"We wanted to come out and play the Illinois way," Groce said after the game. "Moving forward, that effort we played with, that energy, that has to be the bar. ... I'm not interested in doing that just one day or a couple practices. We have to do that every day. That's the standard. That's the expectation moving forward."
Most would agree that expectation hasn't been met.
With fifth-ranked Iowa (18-4, 9-1 Big Ten) coming to the State Farm Center on Sunday, the Illini (11-12, 3-7) have won only two of six games since beating Purdue. Both came against teams with winless conference records (Minnesota and Rutgers), and they needed overtime to win both of those -- or in the case of Wednesday at Rutgers, three overtimes before winning 110-101.
Illinois is only 31/2 games from the bottom of the Big Ten standings and -- barring an unlikely run to the Big Ten tournament title -- will miss its third straight NCAA tournament, a stretch of absences that hasn't occurred since 1978 to '80.
That leaves many wondering where the Illini have gone wrong and what lies ahead.
A succession of injuries has certainly taken Illinois off track. Four of the projected starters in the preseason have been on the bench with injuries, and Groce has used 13 starting lineups.
"The injuries kill you," said ESPN analyst Dan Dakich, a former college coach. "Mentally it beats you down. As a program, it beats you down. Players and coaches all know when we have all our guys, we can compete for the NCAA championship. But you also know when you're swimming upstream."
Should the current remain against the Illini, questions will arise about Groce's future, especially with the impending hiring of a new athletic director.
"The bottom line is winning, and for Big Ten coaches, getting in the (NCAA) tournament and making noise in the tournament," Dakich said. "I would say if they don't make it this year, John and his staff are going to be pretty nervous.
"John is a really good coach, a really good recruiter. He has all the energy you could want. But sometimes circumstances -- in this case injuries -- are beyond your control and it sets you back. Sometimes momentum is so important in your program."
Partly because of the injuries, inconsistency has plagued the Illini. One game they are dreadful at free-throw shooting. At the start of the season, their defense -- now much improved -- was porous. Some games Groce has questioned their effort and energy.
Most often, their offense leaves plenty to be desired; they rank 10th in the Big Ten in shooting at 42.3 percent. Dakich said when he called the Indiana-Illinois game, it looked like the Illini were "playing shirts and skins."
On-court leadership has been deficient, especially with point guard Tracy Abrams confined to the bench with an injury for the second straight season. Dakich said he would like to see junior swingman Malcolm Hill, a team captain who leads the conference with 19.1 points per game, become more vocal.
Illinois would need an instant turnaround and some impressive victories to salvage the season. Upsetting Iowa would be a start, however unlikely that sounds.
sryan@tribpub.com
