Illinois State Redbirds Q&A with Jim Benson - The Pantagraph

[MVCfans]

Our second MVC Q&A is for the Illinois State Redbirds. We thank Jim Benson of The Pantagraph for answering our questions. Jim has covered Illinois State since 2006 and covered the University of Illinois for 17 years prior to that. You can read his blog at: Jim Benson - Blogging with the 'Birds

He wrote an article this week on the current state of the MVC:
Jim Benson -Valley's winter futility could hurt in March


Question 1.
Dinma Odiakosa and Osiris Eldridge completed their NCAA eligibility
without a trip to the NCAA tournament. How disappointing was this to
Redbird fans and Coach Tim Jankovich? With whom does blame (if any) fall?

A. ISU fans, coaches and players alike were all extremely disappointed
about not making an NCAA tournament appearance with Dinma Odiakosa and
Osiris Eldridge. The one year that really hurt was 2009 when the
Redbirds had their chances at the end of regulation to put away Northern
Iowa in the Valley Tournament championship game, only to go to overtime
and lose. There is really no one to blame. ISU was struggling big time
for about six years until Jankovich arrived in 2007. He brought in a
couple transfers and juco recruits to boost a good nucleus that was
left, and ISU became a relevant player again in the MVC. This season is
viewed as a transition year after losing Odiakosa, Eldridge and Lloyd
Phillips with one of the least experienced teams in the country. They
have played like that in their first 10 games, up and down.


Question 2.
The Bradley-Illinois State series is widely acknowledged as the best
MVC rivalry. How would you describe the importance of this game to fans
of other teams who might not understand the rivalry?

A. To ISU fans, the importance of the ISU-Bradley series is evident by
the attendance. The game usually sells out at Redbird Arena. No other
game does. New players pretty quickly realize how passionate their fans
are about beating the other team. There is no doubt for ISU's side that
beating Bradley twice last season was important. However, this is not a
Bob Donewald-Dick Versace type of rivalry between the coaches. In fact,
Tim Jankovich and Jim Les like and respect each other very much.


Question 3.
Illinois State has taken a lot of criticism from fans of other MVC
teams due to their scheduling philosophy. How do you think the perceived
"soft" out of conference schedule has helped or hampered the Redbirds? Do
you think the criticsm was valid? If it was, do you think Coach Jankovich
will change the way he schedules in the future?

A. There is some valid criticism to ISU's nonconference schedule,
although whether it has hurt the Redbirds come MVC time is debatable.
Personally, I don't think it has. What it has hurt is ISU's ability to
get serious consideration for the NCAA tourney as an at-large selection.
Jankovich doesn't want to play guarantee games or 2-for-1 deals. Getting
into an exempt tournament each year with the chance to play one or two
BCS teams is what ISU needs and has been lacking the last three seasons
when it hosted a Thanksgiving tourney that, for the most part, was full
of turkeys that did nothing for ISU's NCAA tourney resume. ISU is slated
to play in the Cancun Challenge next year before Thanksgiving with
Illinois and Rutgers. This is a good start. Getting some quality
mid-major opponents to play home and home also is needed.


Question 4.
Sophomore John Wilkins became eligible recently and many Redbird fans
are excited about his future. How does his presence change the team?

A. John Wilkins is going to make a huge impact for ISU this season. He
is a good 3-point shooter who has the ability to spread the court when
opposing power forwards have to come out and guard him. However, Wilkins
has not played a game in the last two years because his transcripts and
eligiblity were in question. It is going to take him some time to gain
consistency. If that happens midway through this season, ISU will be in
much better shape. He has already shown what great potential he has
athletically and has a pretty high basketball IQ.


Question 5.
llinois State has had three consecutive twenty win seasons and Top 3
MVC finishes. This year looks to be a rebuilding year in a lot of ways.
The team is currently 7-3, although there isn't a showcase win and the
82-51 loss to UNLV in Normal sticks out. What are realistic expectations
for this team?

A. Jankovich thought this would be a good outside shooting team and is
perplexed why the Redbirds have struggled so much from the perimeter. If
ISU finds a couple dependable shooters (Wilkins being one of them), that
should open things up inside for Jackie Carmichael who has been double
teamed much of the time. ISU's defense is getting better each and every
game. The Redbirds will need to be strong defensively until the offense
catches up. The Redbirds seem to be like the majority of Valley teams
that aren't sure what will happen when league play begins on Dec. 29. If
a couple of the young ISU players mature by the first week in March, the
Redbirds might be a team no one wants to play in St. Louis. But ISU's
best days in the future.


Thanks again to Jim for participating in our team by team MVC Q&A. Previous Q&A's can be found in the MVC links section of the forum.

Dec 13 - Drake Bulldogs - Mark Emmert
Dec 16 - Jim Benson - Illinois State
Dec 18 - Paul Suellentrop - Wichita State

[45otseoj]

Dissenting opinion:

Some ISU news -- and a little rebuttal....
In an online Q&A the main writer for Illinois State from the Pantagraph speaks to some of the issues of this year's Redbirds...but some of this answers are kinda debatable..so I will bite and debate them...
Overall -- the piece is just fine, but I wanted to add a few thoughts......

From MVCfans...

"Question 1.
Dinma Odiakosa and Osiris Eldridge completed their NCAA eligibility
without a trip to the NCAA tournament. How disappointing was this to
Redbird fans and Coach Tim Jankovich? With whom does blame (if any) fall?

A. ISU fans, coaches and players alike were all extremely disappointed...
(but)......There is really no one to blame."

..but I disagree...clearly they missed trips to the NCAA and failed to get their team prepared for tough competition by scheduling so incredibly poorly -- and blame falls squarely on the head coach, Tim Jankovich, and the AD Zenger.

That's assuming that the past few year's ISU teams have been good enough to beat good competition. I'm not so sure they were. I'm not advocating the schedule, but the team has not been spectacular the last 3 seasons.

Question 2.
The Bradley-Illinois State series is widely acknowledged as the best
MVC rivalry. How would you describe the importance of this game to fans
of other teams who might not understand the rivalry?

A. To ISU fans, the importance of the ISU-Bradley series is evident by
the attendance. The game usually sells out at Redbird Arena. No other
game does."

..so finally an admission that the following of ISU basketball is abysmal -- unable to sell any tickets for any game at all, except when Bradley comes, the place sells out...so just WHO is it responsible for that sellout?? It's obviousl that they just admitted that Bradley is a bigger draw than their team and all their other opponents put together!!

This is true. Another thing that is also true: ISU was the best draw in Peoria by 1,045 people.

"Question 3.
Illinois State has taken a lot of criticism from fans of other MVC
teams due to their scheduling philosophy. How do you think the perceived
"soft" out of conference schedule has helped or hampered the Redbirds? Do
you think the criticism was valid?

A. There is some valid criticism to ISU's nonconference schedule,
although whether it has hurt the Redbirds come MVC time is debatable.
Personally, I don't think it has."

...wow this is total BULLPUCKY...the schedule is the thing that has killed them plain and simple...
Sure, they play lousy once in a while and draw poorly -- but that's really not what the NCAA sees when placing ISU well beyond even the "bubble"....trust, me - if ISU had two NCAA bids out of the last 3 years -- they'd be hootin' and a-hollerin' about their prowess...nope -- the schedule that we told them about years ago -- has now come back to haunt them and they still haven't figured it out.

See my first point.

"Question 4.
Sophomore John Wilkins became eligible recently and many Redbird fans
are excited about his future. How does his presence change the team?

A. John Wilkins is going to make a huge impact for ISU this season. He
is a good 3-point shooter who has the ability to spread the court when
opposing power forwards have to come out and guard him. However, Wilkins
has not played a game in the last two years because his transcripts and
eligiblity were in question."

...The jury is still out...and I like John Wilkins and believe he has the potential to be a really good player...
but here are some facts...
--first -- his transcripts had NOTHING to do with not playing last year....
Newsflash, Mr. Benson --- it was because he was deemed a professional and got caught in some shady and corrupt NJCAA decision on his pro-team play, not because of transcripts -- even kids with NO transcripts or kid who flunk out of high school can enroll in junior college and be eligible to play there -- remember kids with grades issues like Edgerson and kids with no transcripts like Shang Ping??

Also -- thus far -- against woefuly weak opponents - his 3-pt FG% is... 33.3% and his overall shooting pct. is under 38% -- he is clearly taking way too many 3-pt and long attempts and would be better to play as a big guy -- but apparently that was not what JW got in his "promises".

JW does play in the post a lot. JW does play defense. JW does rebound. JW plays within the offense. JW's fiance does not attend ISU. JW has done everything different BU fans have said he doesn't.

Here are his stats in his first 5 college games: http://espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=51742

"Question 5.
llinois State has had three consecutive twenty win seasons and Top 3
MVC finishes. This year looks to be a rebuilding year in a lot of ways. ...

A. Jankovich .. is perplexed why the Redbirds have struggled so much ....If a couple of the young ISU players mature by the first week in March..."

...so they're using the young and inexperienced excuse...??
..but note that four of their top 7 players are seniors...and even all their other guys are juniors, sophomores, and SIX of their guys have benefited from at least one redshirt year!

I know they lost three good players, but what they have left is still a team with a lot of experience...and if they face BU with the lineup they're using, they'll average at least 1-2 years older across the board than the Braves, and a good year or two more experience per player than Bradley!!!.....so again, I don't buy it.....

First, we don't have single junior on the team. Second, our 4 seniors have played a combined 6 years at ISU. Third, we have 6 new players still figuring out their way on the team.

Cheers Dr. t