Illinois Basketball: Brad Underwood’s team has same construct as 2005
The worry among Illinois basketball fans is what will the team do without a true center.
This is the million-dollar question right now but should it be that big of a concern? Illinois doesn’t have a stereotypical big man in the middle of the paint. But, is this a case of having no one in the paint or potentially a poor man’s remake of the 2005 national title team?
Let me make this clear before people just rip me a new one. There is no mention of this team being as good as that team or even making the national title. But, what is being said is, this year’s team has the makeup of a poor man’s 2005 squad.
The Illini will likely trot out three point guards to start the season. This is what the 2005 team did as well. Te’Jon Lucas, Mark Smith and Mark Alstork are the modern version of Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head.
Lucas and Smith will both be primary ball handlers, much like Brown and Williams. They also can sprinkle in some scoring as well. Alstork will provide an athletic and electric style of play. He will also be able to score from deep and around the rim, much like Head.
The No. 4 spot on the team will likely be Kipper Nichols. He is today’s version of Roger Powell. Both kind of provide the same role on each team. Nichols can rebound the ball and score when he is called upon, much like Powell. They both are 6-foot-6 and have extraordinary wingspans that help with rebounding.
Finally, the No. 5 spot on the team is where most people will probably jump off the train. But, before you do, listen up. The starting center for Illinois this year, barring a graduate transferring coming in, will be Leron Black.
Many people think Illinois will get dominated with Black as the center because he is too small. Well, let me throw a few facts out at you. Black is listed at 6-foot-7 in many places, but without shoes, he is listed at 6-foot-6.25. With shoes adding about 1.5 inches, he is actually around 6-foot-7.75 when it is all said and done.
The starting center in the 2005 title run was James Augustine. He was a special talent who no one will forget. He stood at 6-foot-9.75 with shoes on. So, he was only roughly two inches taller than Black. That isn’t the surprising part, though.
While Augustine had two inches on Black in the height department, the wingspans were much closer. Augustine had a 7-foot-0.25 wingspan, which is impressive. Black comes in with a 6-foot-11.5 wingspan. If you are counting at home, that is only ¾ of an inch less than Augustine. Those measurements for Black were also done three years ago, so he could have gotten even bigger.
Next: Top center targets for Brad Underwood
The 2017 Illinois basketball team has a lot of work to do to get to the national title, but they do have the same team construct as the 2005 title run team. There will be three guards starting, they have an athletic forward who can do anything and they have an undersized center who has a tremendous wingspan. Now all they have to do is win.