Illinois has the talent to be a top-10 team, quite frankly, and they’ve also got a nice mix of experience as well.  It’s also encouraging that Bruce Weber’s defense is once again operational after last year’s hiatus.  But I haven’t been ready to anoint this team as one that could make some real waves in March mostly because there are concerns on the offensive side of the ball.  If you watch even just a handful of Illini games, you know that this team shoots a lot of mid-range jumpshots.  And that stats support that too--Illinois shows Perimeter Oriented Team (POT) characteristics in that they don’t turn it over, don’t get to the free throw line, and don’t get their shots blocked.  All of that screams “jumpshots,” and the relatively low 3PA/FGA figures from the past couple of seasons indicates that those jumpshots usually count for just two points.  And frankly, that’s why I’m not as enthusiastic about the Illini as I might otherwise be.  That’s because the mid-range shot is not a good one, despite what nearly every color commentator says.  It has roughly the accuracy of a three pointer but with 33% less points associated with it.  And just like a three pointer, a player shooting mid-range jumpers is not likely to draw fouls or grab offensive rebounds.  In short, it’s a flawed offensive strategy.  
 
Whether Illinois can really play to its potential in large part depends on the team’s ability to change its shot selection.  More threes, or more points in the paint--either way, it will be improvement. So far this year, however, it’s been the same old story.  Few free throws, few blocked shots, and low turnovers.  Granted, as mid-range offenses go, Illinois has been the high-end model so far this season.  But, to use the parlance of our times, it’s not sustainable.  So the Illini’s three point barrage against Gonzaga in its 73-61 win on Saturday was a welcome sign.  I dare say it was the best shooting display this team has put on since 2005, going 12 for 23 from behind the arc.  Especially irritating for Gonzaga head coach Mark Few was Mike Tisdale’s 3-5 performance from beyond the arc.  The Bulldogs’ big man Robert Sacre is the classic center who loathes to stray outside the paint on defense.  A couple Tisdale threes later, Few turns to a zone defense to stop the bleeding, which is the basketball equivalent to throwing gas on a fire.  The Illini hit a couple more threes in short order, and suddenly the back-and-forth game now had Illinois sitting pretty with a 20 point lead.  It was cruise control from then on, as Illinois secured an impressive non-conference victory.  It remains to be seen whether this game represents a turning of a corner for the Illini offense, but it’s a sight for sore eyes for fans of the orange and blue.

The other mid-range team in the Big Ten (which similarly shot a lot of threes in their weekend game) also won easily as Purdue beat Alabama 66-47 in what shall henceforth be known as the Purdue Win.  So I’d thought I’d save the Associated Press some time and just go ahead and write some copy that will come in handy this season:

Purdue showed off its defense in a [Score] win over [Opponent].  The Boilermakers were led by [JaJuan Johnson or E’Twaun Moore]’s [Points] points, despite facing constant defensive attention.  But even more important than [JaJuan Johnson or E’Twaun Moore]’s offense was Purdue’s defense.  [Opponent] shot just [FG%] from the field and turned it over [turnovers] times against the Boilers’ pressure defense.  [Insert quote about defense initiating the offense].  At one point, Matt Painter’s team held a [largest lead] lead despite shooting just [FG%] percent.  

You’re welcome.

Tommy Amaker succeeded in scaring Michigan, but ultimately the Crimson fell short against the Wolverines 65-62.  There probably is a stigma to losing to Ivy League opponents, but Harvard figures to be the best of the bunch, so this close win isn’t all that shameful.  What’s a bit odd, however, is the fact that Harvard was the first team to break the 1.0 points per possession mark against UM.  Stu Douglass led the Wolverines with 19 points on 10 shots, though I wish that Jordan Morgan had a bit better game (7 points, 6 rebounds), because it would make a nice segue to discuss his performance so far this season.  Long story short, he’s actually outplaying Trevor Mbakwe (the more hyped transfer at Minnesota) this season.  

Bowling Green walked into the Breslin Center to face a Michigan State team looking for blood after losing to Duke, and, well, what you thought was going to happen happened.  Draymond Green had a rather Draymondian line with 10 points on 8 shots to go with 12 rebounds and 5 assists in the 74-39 win.  

So far this season, Wisconsin’s offense has been feast or famine--only one game so far have the Badgers scored between 0.91 and 1.17 points per possession.  That trend continued on Saturday, as Bo Ryan’s team feasted to the tune of 1.21 points per possession in a 76-61 win over South Dakota.  Jon Leuer continues his fantastic start to his senior campaign, scoring 29 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots for good measure.  The big guy does most of his work inside, but against South Dakota he went 6 of 11 from three point range.  That’s just not fair. I’d like to have a word with all those journalists that voted for Harrison Barnes on the All America team rather than Mr. Leuer.

Last year if Iowa shot 19 percent on three pointers, the team would have been in hot water.  Against Idaho State on Saturday, it was a 17 point win.  The Hawkeyes forced turnovers on 34 percent of their opponents’ possessions, and grabbed over 40 percent of the available offensive rebounds. The former happened once under Todd Lickliter, while Saturday was the third such occasion this season.  Bryce Cartwright led the way with 15 points on 12 shots, while Matt Gatens chipped in with 14 points and collecting 5 steals.  

Indiana continued its tour of the cupcake factory, winning 79-57 over Savannah State.  Hot shooting guided the Hoosiers to a double digit win, but the turnover problems persist.  IU turned it over on over a quarter of their possessions for the fourth time this season.  This comes on the heels of three games in a row where Tom Crean’s squad kept the giveaways in check.  Indiana’s next game is against Kentucky.  The good news is that the Wildcats don’t really force turnovers that well.  The bad news is that they’re still pretty good.  Christian Watford and Verdell Jones combined for 32 points, but unfortunately they also combined for 8 turnovers.

Penn State won a close one over Duquesne, 77-73 in a 71 possession game.  Talor Battle put the team on his back (especially after David Jackson was taken out with a neck injury), scoring 31 points on 18 shots.  This was a strange game in that both teams shot right around 50 percent at the line, which was a bigger issues for the Nittany Lions than the Dukes, as PSU attempted 14 more free throws than its opponent.  Even so, Duquesne is a legitimate tournament contender this season, and figures to challenge for the Atlantic 10 title, so this is a quality win for a shorthanded Penn State.  

Finally, Minnesota overcame some hot outside shooting from Cornell to secure a 71-66 victory over the Big Red.  Here’s how one-sided Cornell’s offense was: on threes, they were 14 of 33 (42 percent).  On twos, they were just 7 for 27 (26 percent).  By contrast, Minnesota was very interior-focused, so much so that they shot a staggering 44 free throws (against 49 field goal attempts--16 of which were threes--that’s a lot).  The bad news is that they shot a mere 59 percent on those free throws.  Trevor Mbakwe in particular feasted at the line, going 12 of 20.  In fact, he missed all 4 of his field goal attempts, and finished with a line of 12 points and 16 rebounds.

No action until Monday, but the biggest draw this week is the matchup between top 10 teams Michigan State and Syracuse on Tuesday.  The Spartans’ offense isn’t generally well-suited for a zone defense, so this could get interesting.