Illini hope Davis improves
CHAMPAIGN – Somewhere in the early morning hours upon Illinois’ return from a Big Ten Conference loss at Northwestern 10 days ago, coach Bruce Weber walked up to freshman forward Tyler Griffey with a message.
“I’m starting you at Penn State,” Griffey said, recalling the abrupt conversation. “Then he went and did something else. I was like, OK. Against Indiana, I didn’t know I was starting until seven minutes before the game when we went in [the locker room] and saw my name up there.”
While Griffey showed promise during his first two starts, the Illini really wanted junior forward Mike Davis to climb out of a midseason slump. Known as Mr. Double-Double by his teammates, Davis didn’t start the last two games, snapping a string of 54 consecutive starts. When Illinois plays at Iowa on Wednesday, getting Davis back on track is nearly as important as getting a win.
“Somewhere we want to see if we can get everybody together playing well at the same time, make a little push into the last stretch in the Big Ten,” said Weber, who gave no indication he settled on a starting lineup. “I just want [Davis] to play hard all the time. That’s the main thing. That’s more than anything frustrates the staff.”
Following the game at Iowa, Illinois finishes the Big Ten season by playing eight games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season. That means the Illini need Davis, a 6-foot-9, 220-pounder who was a second-team all-Big Ten pick last season by the league coaches.
Davis averaged 6.9 points and 6.3 rebounds in the last eight games, a slide that trimmed his averages from 12.9 points and 10.4 rebounds to 10.7 and 8.9. After using the hook before the Penn State game, Weber fretted over the starting lineup until less than an hour before the start against the Hoosiers, then nearly withheld Davis for the entire second half in the 72-70 win.
Davis entered with 8½ minutes to play and blocked a shot that left Indiana with an empty possession in the final two minutes, but finished with just six points and two rebounds in a season-low 19 minutes. Illinois won both games with Davis out of the starting lineup.
He responded “pretty well at Penn State, maybe not as well against Indiana,’’ said Weber, who also used the bench to motivate guard Demetri McCamey.
During a two-game run outside the starting lineup, McCamey showed little anxiety. He called Weber by his first name in media interviews and said he would be ready when called. Unlike McCamey, Davis battles with self-confidence, and Davis avoided the media before Monday’s practice.
“As long as he stays positive, he’ll be OK,’’ McCamey said. “We keep telling Mike to keep playing. We call him Mr. Double-Double. He provides scoring and good rebounding. We need that coming up in this next stretch.’’
Davis benefited last year from Chester Frazier, a pass-first point guard whose penetration set up Davis and center Mike Tisdale for open short jumpers. This year, McCamey has worked a two-man game primarily with Tisdale and the freshman guards are still learning when to pass and when to shoot.
But Davis also lost valuable practice time this summer because of a broken ankle, then didn’t take advantage of preseason time to improve his skills, Weber said.
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