The normal basketball lineup consists of two guards, two forwards and a center. A team usually has one, maybe two stars surrounded by complimentary parts. However, there is nothing normal about this year's version of the University of Illinois basketball team. They use three guards who can all step up on any given night and take over the game. The results thus far have been spectacular. The Illini are off to their best start ever. They broke the team's 1989 record of 17 wins to start the season, are now 19-0 and are ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Two years ago, junior guard Dee Brown burst onto the Illinois scene and teamed up with Brian Cook to make one of the league's top tandems. He ran the floor at a break-neck pace, causing fans to affectionately name him, \the human fastbreak."" The following year, he was named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, but struggled to live up to the hype while adjusting to new head coach Bruce Weber's motion offense.
Dealing with less individual pressure, Brown is playing much better this season. He is second on the team with 13.3 points and 5.1 assists, but he is doing his damage while shooting a remarkable 58 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the 3-point line. Illinois is a fantastic running team and so much of that has to do with Brown's speed and high-energy defense.
After a remarkable sophomore season, everyone began to say big things about junior Deron Williams. He was named Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year this season and scouts have compared his game to New Jersey Nets All-Star Jason Kidd. Amid all the pressure and hype, Williams has struggled a little this season, shooting only 42 percent from the field. However, he still comes into the game averaging 12.9 points and a Big Ten-leading 7.1 assists per game. The Illini are an extremely unselfish bunch of players, and that can be traced directly to Williams' style of play.
With two stars already in the backcourt, the third member of the trio snuck under the radar in past years. Now there will be no hiding for senior guard Luther Head. Head leads the Illini with 16.8 points per game. He is shooting 44 percent from downtown, dishing out 4.1 assists and making countless stops on the defensive end of the floor.
""He worked really hard in the summer and he's starting to become their go-to guy,"" Wisconsin sophomore guard Kammron Taylor said.
Last week, Williams and Brown struggled mightily against Iowa. The two stars combined for just five field goals and turned the ball over eight times. However, Head saved the day, scoring 25 points, pulling down six rebounds and recording six steals while taking on the team's toughest defensive assignment, chasing Iowa guard Pierre Pierce all over the floor. The Illini's rise to the top of the rankings corresponds with Head's emergence as a top player in the Big Ten. He has been the team's MVP to this point.
Even though all three guards are great players, it is the way they work as a team that makes them so remarkable. They share the ball at a ridiculous rate.
Williams leads the Big Ten with 7.1 assists, but Brown and Head are not far behind with 5.1 and 4.1 respectively. They rank second in the nation in assists per game.
The Illini move the ball a lot, drive to the hoop constantly and are extremely aggressive on the fast break, but for such an attacking, aggressive team, they do a remarkable job of taking care of the ball. They turn the ball over only 11.6 times per game (best in the Big Ten) and have a +4.5 turnover margin against their opponents. Because of their passing and sharp shooting, the Illini are extremely efficient and take maximum advantage of every posession. The key to beating them is to get more posessions, but that is difficult to do considering they are so good at taking care of the basketball and have 178 more assists than turnovers.
""I think the best thing about them is they're very unselfish,"" Wisconsin assistant coach Gary Close said. ""They all look for one another really well and they've got a really nice chemistry, it makes them a real good trio.""
The terrific chemistry has led to great basketball thus far for the Illini and on Tuesday, they come to the Kohl Center seeking revenge. Each player remembers last year's Badger 70-53 victory over Illinois which gave them their first Big Ten Tournament title and the emotional game two years ago where the Badgers knocked off the Illini in the final seconds to win the Big Ten regular season crown.
The Illini will be ready, but the real question is--will the Badgers be up to the challenge? If the last 38 games have taught us anything, it is that on any given night at the Kohl Center, just about anything can happen.
