Final Four: How the Illini basketball defense evolved into a strength in March Madness
Why the Illini shouldn't be scared of UCONN and Dan Hurley | Chicago Sports Tonight
The Score's Matt Spiegel joins Tina Nguyen in studio in a jam-packed edition of CST. They preview the Illini-UCONN Final 4 matchup, and Spiegs explains why he believes the Illini matchup well and why they shouldn't be scared of UCONN and Dan Hurley. Also, is Spiegs concerned about the Cubs hot & cold start to the season, and should Sox fans be worried about their 1-5 stumble out of the gate? Plus, does Spiegs believe Kevin Warren's late spring/summer timeline for more clarity on the Bears Stadium?
INDIANAPOLIS - It was clear on March 13 what needed to happen.
Illinois basketball blew two separate 15-point leads to Wisconsin. Giving up over 90 points to the Badgers, 69 of which came from just two players, was a significant sign.
The Illini needed defense. They needed it quick, too.
Coach Brad Underwood preached it. The players held players-only meetings. But, it was all going to be for naught if the Illini didn’t translate that to the NCAA Tournament.
What’s resulted in the weeks since has been nothing short of a defensive renaissance.
"We've been very blessed on the offensive side most of the year and just finding that level of consistency," Underwood said. "It's all about the margins.:
The margins speak clearly: in their last three games, the Illini have allowed 55, 55 and 59 points. The most impressive outing was allowing just 55 points against No. 2-seeded Houston.
Illinois has arrived in its first Final Four in 21 years. The offense drives the vehicle, but defense has proven to be the oil that makes the engine work.
The process of developing a well-oiled defensive machine has been one of trial and error, but one the team takes pride in.
"Our buy-in from our players, the way our coaching staff has relayed that message and emphasized its importance, I think, has been a big part of why we've been so successful defensively," forward Ben Humrichous said.
The backstory:
The Illini have linchpin moments that left indelible marks this season.
November losses to Alabama and UConn were a sign the team wasn’t where it needed to be yet. A buzzer-beater loss to UCLA and a spanking at the hands of Michigan created more wounds. The loss to Wisconsin rang alarm bells.
Yet, there was no panic on the Illini. Just urgency. That urgency gave way to an individual style of defense the Illini have been using and teams haven’t cracked yet.
"Our biggest advantage is how we're mentally dialed in and connected on defensive end," guard Kylan Boswell said. "At the end of day, that's not a big factor for us. If we can get stops and the way we've been guarding this tournament, we can definitely get the job done."
Building a defense that’s guarding individually at a high level means there needs to be a high basketball IQ and dependable talent. Illinois has both.
Assistant coaches and the players have talked about how it was easy to buy into the defensive scheme once the rotations and assignments became clearer in March. It started by answering a few questions.
"Who am I? Who am I guarding? Who are my teammates?" Assistant coach and defensive coordinator Camryn Crocker said. "We're at a point and have gotten to a point in the season where we understand there are things that might be scout specific. That is the plan."
Crocker noted that plan deviates a bit when defensive-minded players, specifically Boswell, who might shift to guard a different player depending on the team.
This requires awareness of when shifts happen and trust in another player to fill in when necessary.
"The guys have just done a really good job of buying in and to one another too," Crocker said. "That takes trust and that takes security."
That trust has manifested into stellar defense from Andrej Stojakovic.
Stojakovic is known for his offensive game. His ability to create offense with his left hand and score the ball no matter who is bearing down on him has lifted Illinois against Houston in the Sweet Sixteen and against Iowa in the Elite Eight.
What’s helped Illinois win games is how Stojakovic has made defensive plays late in games to preserve leads. Now that he’s recovered from a high-ankle sprain, his defense has taken a massive leap in an NCAA Tournament where that needed to happen for Illinois to reach the Final Four. Crocker expressed how proud he was in Stojakovic for that defensive improvement.
"We've been talking about it at length with him, just the details, the margins, one possession here, one possession there," Crocker said. "To his credit, he's embraced it the whole way."
Big picture view:
The Illini defense is clicking at the right time because of how the team trusts each other.
That trust stems from the makeup of the roster, which includes the Balkan Boys, the tested veterans of Jake Davis, Boswell and Humrichous, as well as the emerged star that is Keaton Wagler.
The coaching staff then had to trust the roster in building its own chemistry.
"I think that energy bounces off of one another," assistant coach Orlando Antigua said. "They get a chance to be themselves. We allow them to be themselves. So that helps them to have that family feel, I think it's special."
That constant, the personalities, is what the team has learned to trust because it hasn’t changed.
Even though those linchpin moments against Alabama, UConn, Michigan and Wisconsin have tested the team, there was never any cracks in the foundation of the team.
"We had a lot of ups and downs, but the one thing that didn't change is people," center Zvonimir Ivisic said. "We are still the same people, playing maybe a little bit differently, but a lot of same personalities, a lot of same mentality."
That same trust in those people will carry the most weight in the Final Four against a UConn team that has snatched victory from certain defeat.
"Very proud of this group. It's so much work, so much effort that takes to get to this point," Boswell said. "Now, you gotta get two more games."