Illini's Weber all Jazzed up

[RonnieBrewer (Reverse Layup)]

Illini's Weber all Jazzed up 
By Neil Milbert
ChicagoSports.com
May 08, 2007

Illinois coach Bruce Weber was playing the role of an ardent fan Monday night
in Salt Lake City, cheering on former players Deron Williams and Dee Brown as
the Utah Jazz downed Golden State 116-112 in Game 1 of the NBA's Western
Conference semifinals.

Williams led the Jazz with 31 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while
the rookie Brown came off the bench to contribute six points and three
assists in 12 1/2 minutes filling in for Derek Fisher, who had been excused
to attend to a family matter.

'After the game I went to dinner with those guys and Deron's mother and his
wife,' Weber said Tuesday. 'It was fun.'

Weber was speaking from Las Vegas, where he was participating in a promotion
for the new Big Ten Network at a cable and satellite television convention.

'When the Jazz won Game 7 [of its opening-round series with Houston], I
called Deron and told him if he got me a ticket I'd change my flight and
stop in Salt Lake City and go to the game on the way to Vegas,' Weber said.

Fisher's absence enabled Brown to get some playing time after he had appeared
in only fragments of two games in the Houston series.

'Dee didn't expect to play much in the playoffs, but then this situation came
up,' Weber said. 'You have to give him credit. He was ready to play and he
didn't back down. He really helped them.

'Deron got his fifth foul with about six minutes left. Dee came in and got a
key basket and an assist in the gut-check part of the game. As soon as Dee
went in, Golden State isolated Baron Davis in the post. Dee guarded Davis and
held his own.'

The score was tied 20 times before the Jazz took the lead for good on Carlos
Boozer's put-back basket with 17 seconds left.

As impressive as Williams' numbers was his defensive work against Davis, who
dominated Dallas guards Devin Harris and Jason Terry in the Warriors'
first-round upset of the Mavericks.

'Deron was pretty big-time,' Weber said. 'He has continued to get better.
He has a chance to be a star and play for a long time. They sure love him in
Utah - there were a lot of people wearing his No. 8 jersey. I was going to
buy one for my daughter, but they were sold out.'

In the Houston series, Williams and Brown faced Luther Head, the third guard
in the three-guard lineup that took the Illini to the NCAA tournament
championship game in the 2004-05 season.

Weber got a call from Head on Tuesday morning.

'He was disappointed to lose Game 7 at home,' Weber said. 'Luther didn't have
the greatest playoff series but he had a great year. He averaged in double
figures and was one of the best three-point shooters in the league. Now he
has to get hungry and take it to another level.'

All five starters from the 2005 Final Four team that lost the title game to
North Carolina played in the NBA this season. Rookie James Augustine spent
the season with Orlando and Roger Powell started the season with Utah before
being sent to the developmental league.

'Deron can be a star and the other guys can establish themselves as solid NBA
guys,' Weber said. 'We talk about their success and push it when we recruit.'

And the players are loyal to Illinois.

'James was back on campus this week and Luther said he is coming down next
week,' Weber said. 'Dee said he'll be down as soon as he's done with the
playoffs. They're all going to be coming to our basketball camps this summer.'

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