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College Basketball Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview (12-13-2007) |
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Written by JimmyBoyd
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Thursday, 13 December 2007 |
Gain an advanatge on your bookmaker with Jimmy Boyd’s 2007 Illinois Fighting Illini college basketball betting preview.
Head coach Bruce Weber is an astounding 112-28 at Illinois, but last season’s 23 wins was Illinois’ lowest total since the 1999-2000 season. With forward Warren Carter and shooting guard Rich McBride no longer on the team, Illinois may drop a few more wins this season.
The backcourt has been Illinois’ strength the past few seasons producing NBA talents like Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and Luther Head which helped the Illini reach the NCAA Championship Game. Now it will turn to the frontcourt for its production behind seniors Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle. Pruitt put his name in for the NBA Draft and followed an NBA workout regimen in the offseason. He will be playing to up his status this season. Randle is a beast, pound for pound the toughest player in the Big Ten. His health problems, two groin surgeries in the past year, are still an issue for this team which desperately needs him in the lineup. Look for 6’9’’ forward Rich Semrau, 6’11’’ Center Brian Carwell, and 7’0’’ center Mike Tisdale to get minutes in the frontcourt as well.
Illinois’ backcourt is going to be its downfall this season. Defensively, it will be scrappy and perhaps even more talented than last year, but I don’t see any potential scoring threat coming out of this unit. Junior Chester Frazier will take the point. He has a slew of injuriy bugs he could catch at any moment (hand, foot, leg, ankle to name a few). He is going to have to prove that he can hit the three this season as team’s often sagged off of him and helped inside last year. Junior Trent Meacham can play both guard spots, so he will likely give Frazier an occasional breather. Calvin Brock is an athletic talent, but he shies away from physical defenders.
Illinois’ season could be greatly affected by Jamar Smith red shirting after an aggravated DUI charge. Without him, Illinois does not have another athlete on the roster who has the same kind of scoring burst. Illinois has some solid experience and one of the best coaches in the nation, but there is no doubt that there is more questions surrounding this team than Weber has had in recent memory. With all that said, Illinois should still be good enough to challenge for an NCAA tournament berth.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 December 2007 )
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