IU has Weber singing the blues

Bruce Weber babbled the words of a tortured coach after he watched his Illinois team falter down the stretch against the Hoosiers, 62-58 in Bloomington.\n“Balls haven’t bounced our way, calls haven’t gone our way,” Weber said, his left hand supporting his head at the podium. “It’s the difference between having a great season and having a mediocre season.”\nHe mumbled basketball terms into the microphone like “isolation ball screens” and oxymoronic coachspeak like “aggressive patience,” but in the end, “It doesn’t do us any good, we are 0-4. I’d like to be happy, but I’m not. It’s sad, it’s hard, it’s very difficult.”\nIf it was any other Big Ten coach, you might contemplate sending a sympathy card, but it’s Bruce Weber, a guy Hoosier faithful value less than moldy cheese.\nThe Assembly Hall crowd did it’s best to remind Weber that he is disliked around these parts, chanting “Sit down, Weber!” and “Shut up, Weber!” at various points in the game. It’s hard to deny the fact, however, that his team outplayed the Hoosiers for much of regulation.\nWeber’s 8-9 Illinois squad gave IU its toughest home game to date on Sunday, holding the Hoosiers to a season-low 62 points and matching them shot for shot well into the second half.\n“Illinois came in ready for us,” senior forward D.J. White said. “They came in and played harder than us in the first half. I think it was one of the most physical games this season.”\nPhysical is an understatement. The Illini punched IU in the mouth. The Hoosiers, however, responded well in the second half to one of their first gut-check games of the season.\nFor IU, it was a day of clutch plays from veteran players with heavily-taped ankles as guards Armon Bassett and A.J. Ratliff — two players that have sat out games with foot injuries this month — came up big in the second half. Bassett came off the bench to hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the second half and made the game-clinching free throws. Ratliff made a crucial block in the final minute of regulation and stripped the ball on Illinois’ final possession.\n“Our defense the last ten minutes was really good,” IU coach Kelvin Sampson said. “That’s why we won the game. We won the game because we guarded them the last ten minutes.”\nThe IU offense, however, left much to be desired. The Hoosiers appeared stagnant on offense for much of the contest, switching to a four-guard lineup – which Sampson admits they haven’t worked on much in practice - in the second half to help contain Illinois’ Brian Randle. IU resorted to one-on-one isolation plays and kickouts off dribble penetration for most of their shots. They converted just often enough to turn Weber’s hair a shade grayer, but not enough to intimidate the Illini when they meet next month in Champaign, a game that is sure to be hostile for anyone wearing red or nicknamed EJ.\nMaybe Weber and Illinois will have sung their blues away by then.