Illinois has the guards to compete this year. But do they have the inside game?

From the outset of Sunday’s exhibition basketball game, Illini center Mike Tisdale was outmatched by Florida Southern’s Rashaad Singleton. Tisdale looked a little slow and out of sync, netting six points in 15 minutes on the floor. Yes, he only played 15 minutes because he fouled out with 9:17 remaining in the game. Foul trouble prevented Tisdale from really breaking a sweat.

If Tisdale is going to have that much trouble with the Moccasins’ seven-footer, then the Illini are in trouble this year.

“I thought Tisdale played a little tentative at the start, and then we just said, ‘Take it to them. Shoot a hook,'” Coach Weber said. “And you know he was better, but he’s learning too. A lot of it’s new for him.”

After picking up his fourth personal foul, Tisdale appeared to sigh in the direction of the Illini bench. Granted, he probably knows he should have performed better. He has time to step it up, but we need to see some confidence from the frontcourt this season.

I’m already suffering from Shaun Pruitt withdrawals, which is a very, very bad thing this early into the basketball season. Despite his atrocious free-throw shooting, Pruitt was the inside presence Bruce Weber could pencil in day-in and day-out. Now I don’t know if it should be Tisdale or Richard Semrau.

I’m hoping it’s just preseason jitters … if those even exist.

Singleton owned Tisdale, blocking the Illini’s new center twice in the first half. Tisdale also committed as many turnovers as he had total rebounds: three.

Weber said it was a good experience for Tisdale to play against Florida Southern’s big man, but he also wants Tisdale to shoot more lefty hooks and work on fighting for good angles.

It might be too early for a controversy, but based off Sunday’s game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Semrau get more playing time. The Illini forward dropped seven points and snagged six boards (three on the offensive side of the glass) in his 18 minutes of play. He also blocked a shot.

Semrau just looked more effectively aggressive and physical than Tisdale on both sides of the ball. Tisdale looked a little lost defensively, which is partially why Weber wants his squad to swarm the basketball this year and play solid team defense.

But Tisdale and Semrau, along with the rest of the Illini’s big men, have to work on limiting turnovers. Of the 17 Illini turnovers Sunday afternoon, nine were committed by forwards or centers. After the game, Weber emphasized his team’s need to cut back on turnovers by the big men, who don’t handle the ball as much as the guards.

On the bright side, Calvin Brock’s play outshined all of the Illini bigs. Brock almost recorded a double-double, grabbing 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in only 19 minutes.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I almost wet my pants when I realized the Illini went 16 for 21 (76 percent) on free throws. Much better than last season’s dismal 60.8 percent. But keep your fingers crossed.

Ryan Dixon is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected].