Big man challenge
November 16, 2004
The reoccurring theme around the top five nationally ranked teams is a dominating big man.
Kansas has Wayne Simeon. Wake Forest has Eric Williams. North Carolina has Sean May. Georgia Tech has Luke Schenscher.
Then there is Illinois.
Illinois is searching for one big man – or a combination or several – to take over games in the post.
Through two exhibition games, the big men have made their presence known. Senior forward Roger Powell Jr. dominated the inside, scoring 16 points against SIU Edwardsville.
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“The big guys have to step it up and we’ve been doing that,” Powell Jr. said.
Junior forward James Augustine has showed what a summer practicing against NBA talent at the Clifford Ray big man camp can do. Augustine has scored 24 points in the two games. Augustine has shown that he has learned a few post moves from attending Ray’s camp, but got a boost of confidence as well.
“James went to the big man camp in Florida with a bunch of NBA guys and when he came back I asked him how he thought he did,” Weber said. “He told me that he could play with those guys.”
But the strength of this group is its depth, as Illinois could go five deep. Seniors, center Nick Smith or forward Jack Ingram both started one of the exhibition games. With freshman forward Shaun Pruitt’s six point, two rebound performance in just nine minutes of action Sunday, Weber may be forced to find time for him too.
“We are not one guy,” Weber said. “I wish maybe James (could be) one guy who would really step up. Maybe it will be by committee with those two spots. We got four guys, now add Shaun to that mix and maybe by committee, we got five guys that can play those two spots. And they all give you different looks.”
Smith reportedly spent time voluntarily working out at the Ubben basketball complex this summer – something he was never credited of doing in past years. Through two preseason games Smith has been doing more inside work and grabbing rebounds – 14 in two games.
Ingram is a combination of all his counterparts. He can shoot outside like Smith; play with tenacity inside like Powell while retaining Pruitt’s bruising style and some of Augustine’s athleticism.
“Coach challenged us this whole preseason,” Ingram said. “He really looked to us and said we need a defensive and offensive presence. We are a year older, smarter and stronger and we can take some pressure off the guards.”
