CHAMPAIGN — Steve Smith is a Kylan Boswell fan.
The way Boswell led a young Illinois team last year stuck with the former Michigan State guard and 14-year NBA pro turned college basketball analyst. That leadership hasn’t waned. Nor has Boswell’s toughness, but the veteran Illini guard is still showing more early in his senior season.
“This year he’s more offensive minded,” Smith said ahead of Tuesday night’s game against Texas Tech at State Farm Center. He was on the call on Fox Sports 1 with Jeff Levering.
“He looks more comfortable,” Smith continued. “He’s knocking down shots. He’s one of the best on-ball guards in our league then you add, at his size, he can go get you 6, 7, 8, 9 rebounds. He can make it hard on (opposing guards) because of his strength. You watch him during games, guys bump into him, and he’s never knocked off course offensively or defensively.”
Boswell isn’t the only Illinois player who’s caught Smith’s attention early in the season. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week has, too.
“(David) Mirkovic, I love him,” Smith said. “I hear people comparing him to (three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic). He’s more Luka (Doncic) to me. He’s got a high IQ and understands the game.”
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Illinois was again without Tomislav Ivisic (knee), Brandon Lee (ankle) and Ty Rodgers (knee) against the Red Raiders in a Top 25 showdown. It was the second straight missed game for Ivisic and third straight for Lee, who injured his ankle in practice the day before the season started, and Rodgers, who is out indefinitely after offseason knee surgery.
Those injuries are a continuation of what’s been the trend for Illinois. All 14 Illini haven’t been available at the same time at any point since the team first convened for summer workouts. Brad Underwood has maintained the same frame of mind throughout. His focus can only be on the players he has available.
“It’s one of the things I’m not very good at, and that’s having patience,” the Illinois coach said about the continued wait to have his full team. “You’re going to go through stretches and have things for different reasons. For me, it’s all about just controlling what I can literally control, and that’s the guys I have every single day and getting them to do their best. If I sat there and dwelled every night and went to bed thinking about, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re without Tomi,’ I would never get any sleep.
“I think I’ve matured from that side of things. I don’t say, ‘What if?’ and I know that even though there are some hard times and uncomfortable things right now we’re going to be better on the other side of it. We’ve talked to our team that it’s that next man up mentality. They’re all here. They’e good players. There’s a reason they’re here. Now, they’ve got opportunities to step up and handle it.”
That “next man up” message has stuck with the Illinois players available to play.
“Excited for when we get those guys back whenever that happens, but next guy up,” Illinois forward Ben Humrichous said. “We’ve got a really talented team — a team that plays really hard all across the board. It may be something that it’s unfortunate that we don’t have them, but next man up, always.”
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Texas Tech marks the fourth high-major opponent Illinois has scheduled a home-and-home series with in Underwood’s tenure as coach. The Illini also played Marquette, Arizona and Tennessee in similar two-year deals.
Tuesday’s game in Champaign and Illinois’ return trip to Lubbock, Texas, next season came together, Underwood said, because both teams had an opening and were looking for a similar challenge. That he’s got plenty of respect for Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland certainly didn’t hurt.
“I’ve known Grant for a long time,” Underwood said. “He’s come up through the ranks very similar to the way I did it. He’s a junior college coach and been very, very successful at the lower levels. ... He’s just done a phenomenal job wherever he’s been and found ways to win games.”
McCasland is in his third season at Texas Tech — where his post-playing career started as director of operations from 1999-2001. He then moved on to the junior college ranks where he won an NJCAA Division I championship at Midland College (Texas) in 2006-07 before getting back in the NCAA Division I ranks.
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The concept of playing fast has been a priority for Illinois in the Underwood era. There’s some nuance to that idea this season, with the goal to try to play into actions faster. The goal?
“We want to be in space in four and action in six in terms of seconds,” Underwood said. “We’re trying to never let the defense relax. We’re trying to run, even after a make, just to get to space, to keep our spacing and get into actions quicker so we have opportunities to exploit that.”
Helping that minor shift in offensive philosophy is a roster loaded with players that can pull down a defensive rebound and push the ball in transition themselves. That group includes not only the obvious options in Boswell and Keaton Wagler, but also 6-foot-9 forwards Mirkovic and Humrichous, 7-1 center Tomislav Ivisic and 7-2 forward/center Zvonimir Ivisic.
It’s different than what Boswell experienced in his time at Arizona and even last season at Illinois, where the directive was to get the ball to either him or Kasparas Jakucionis.
“All of us can bring it up and facilitate,” Boswell said. “I think that’s why we went and recruited all these guys.”
“I almost think that everybody that’s going to get a defensive rebound can bust out one or two dribbles up the floor, which makes it even more dangerous,” Humrichous added. “Last year, Coach Underwood’s emphasis was all guards getting rebounds, so we could get out and run. Now, with David, with Big Z and even with Tomi, get a defensive rebound, push it one or two dribbles and we’re already on our break. It helps with our turbo and playing faster.”
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Illinois entered Tuesday’s game ranked first in the nation in total rebounding percentage. A plus-42 advantage on the boards in the season opener against Jackson State certainly helped boost that number.
Rebounding has always been a point of emphasis for Underwood, but even he upped the ante after his team was out-rebounded in its scrimmage against Florida. That didn’t sit well with the Illini coach.
“It’s a thing that Coach focuses on the most is rebounding,” Mirkovic said. “He gets in our heads about it. It’s a thing that’s primary for us, and we’re just going to keep getting better at it.”
Underwood has even used rebounding effort as a barometer for playing time. The margin in his team’s first two games made that a viable option, but it’s something Underwood said he wouldn’t shy away from as the season progressed.
“Those are things with our depth that they’re going to have to learn is we’re going to go (to the glass),” Underwood said. “It’s how you win games, in my opinion, when that ball’s not going in as frequently as it did (in the season opener). ... It’s no coincidence Jake Davis is in the starting lineup. He’s got the highest rate of going to the offensive glass of anybody on our team, and that’s through all the practices. We emphasize it. To me, it’s a foundational piece.”