Pondering the Illini basketball starting 5

\With the losses of starters Trent Meacham and Chester Frazier to graduation, and the influx of several your freshmen,. the starting lineup for Bruce Weber's Illini is anything but set in stone.  3 starters return in DMAC, Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis, leaving two open spots, supposedly at guard.

Between the three freshmen guards, Alex Legion, Dominique Keller, and the possible return of Jeff Jordan, there certainly are alot of options to be explored.

Anyone who has watched a Bruce Weber coached team over the last decade knows that the way to get onto the court is to play defense, which is why if Jeff were still on the team he would seemingly be a natural replacement for the equally gritty Chester Frazier. As of today, Jeff is still not on the team, and were he to rejoin, it would be in the form of a walk on. The second would be obvious choice is Alex Legion, once assumed to be the best scoring threat on the Illini, who struggled with his shot and never broke the starting line up last year. He could take the step needed to become a scoring force this year, but it is far from a foregone conclusion.

The freshmen, with as much talent they are presumed to have, could make the case for starting right out of the gate, with two guards (I assume Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson) joining Demetri McCamey in the back court. This, at least early in the season, seems to be the least likely of all the options. Bruce has never been one to start freshman over upperclassmen unless there is a clear advantage in doing so. Bruce values defense, and ball control, and starting DMAC, who has had problems running the offense in the past, along with two freshmen who may or may not be ready to defend and run the offense. Bruce is not afraid to depend on his defense at the cost of offense. ( See Minnesota or Penn State I from last year.)

I have spoken to a few people and one idea that was suggested seems like it could be fairly plausible.  Dominique  Keller has proven that he can both defend and get rebounds, two aspects that Bruce always wants. In addition he has shown his ability to be a true shooting threat, and might make an interesting choice to play as a 3/guard. Keller shared the floor with both Davis and Tisdale at times last year, in addition to spelling them. This formation along with DMAC and Legion sounds to me a starting lineup that Bruce could be comfortable with, especially early on.

I get the feeling that we will see a radically different starting lineup later in the season than we do for the first game. The freshmen are probably going to have  to work their way into a starting role and we will see a lot of shuffling throughout the season. I think though that there are a few things we can rely on.

1.)Demetri McCamey will be starting at guard

2.) Mikes Tisdale and Davis will be the big men

3.) If Jeff Jordan returns he would also be  a starter, at least early on.

I for one have a lot of expectations for the freshmen, Brandol Paul and D.J. Richardson could very well establish themselves as the best two guards on the team and push for starting jobs very early on. It  all probably all depends on how committed these kids are to playing the intense defense that Bruce always rewards.