A Good Night to Watch Basketball

That Illini game last night vs. Indiana was a killer. Double overtime in Assembly Hall, where the crowd boo'd every time Eric Gordon touched the ball. My favorite part was Chester's "chest bump" when he and Gordon shook hands before the game started.

I am definitely OK with the way most of the Illini played at the end and hung on to keep the game going. When I say "most," I exclude Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randall. But as Evan said: "It's overtime... I'd be surprised if Randall wasn't fouled out."

And Shaun. Seriously. That is the worst form I've ever seen for a free throw; the ball basically launches out of his hands to rocket off of the rim - a sight that makes everyone cringe. Every time. I don't know how someone could practice even 10 free throws a day and be that bad. Let alone the dozens I'm sure, or more like I hope, that Bruce is requiring him to shoot during practice.

We only caught the end of the game though, the two overtimes, because we had just arrived home from an evening trip to Clinton to watch Evan's cousin Adam in the 7th grade Pleasant Plains state championship...where they won!

I was SO impressed with this team of 12- and 13-year-olds. Come to think of it, they could probably take the Illini.

They played together so well, passed the ball around great, ran the offense effectively and didn't get caught up with fast-paced plays; they were able to take control and slow the ball down coming up the court so they could play their game. And for boys, that says a lot about their discipline.

Plains played Washington Middle School, not the one from Springfield, but somewhere else, I forget where. The teams were neck and neck the whole game. Within the last minute, Plains was up by one, then Washington scored and went up by one, and finally Plains intercepted a pass to make a layup to win the game with a few seconds left. Very exciting.

It's too bad the Illini can't finish games like that.