Basketblog

Stallings, Weber meet as friends and foes

Posted by: Paul Klee

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:23 PM

With the setup at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gymnasium, Kevin Stallings and Bruce Weber will be on opposite ends of the court Thursday. The team benches there are on the baseline, instead of on the sideline, one of the many quirks you'll find in Vanderbilt's arena.

But the two coaches are close, really close. They speak as often as Weber talks to Matt Painter and Chris Lowery, and that's often. The Weber-Stallings relationship goes back to Stallings' three seasons as a player at Purdue when Weber was an assistant. Then they coached together at Purdue, coached against each other in the MVC, their families vacation together, so on and so on.

"I don't think I have a better friend in coaching than Bruce," Stallings said today.

We got some insight into their friendship when the two exchanged an amusing conversation on a media teleconference today. Weber's address to the media ended around 12:30, and Stallings was scheduled to call in when Weber was done. He called in just as Weber finished, and Weber was still in the room.

"I was just going to ask coach Weber a question, if everybody else is finished asking their questions," Stallings said. "I didn't get on in time to hear what the game-plan was for Thursday night.

"Coach, I was hoping you could kind of allude to what your strategy is for Thursday night."

Weber responded: "I think we're going to sit in a zone... Then every time we touch it we're going to jack up quick shots."

Weber got in one more jab.

"I want to introduce Kevin Stallings. He's a good friend. And there's a rumor out there that I am his only friend."

Stallings played along: "He caught me off guard. I didn't want anybody to know I don't have any friends."

- Chester Frazier sustained a slight knee injury Sunday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, but he returned to practice today.

- Illinois' defensive focus will be Vanderbilt's A.J. Ogilvy, a 6-11 center who led SEC freshmen in scoring last season (17 ppg). Weber said there has been "talk (of) maybe leaving early" for the NBA for Ogilvy, and the UI might not face a more versatile big man this season.

"We're going to have to run a lot of people at him and keep people fresh," Weber said.

Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis and Richard Semrau figure to see time defending Ogilvy, and Dominique Keller said this afternoon he expects to spend some time on Oglivy. Keller enjoys playing alongside Mike Davis, too, so that's a frontcourt pairing to look for.

- If Ogilvy goes off, he adds to a relatively short list of opposing centers to thump Illinois with Weber as coach. At least I think it's relatively short, unless we're missing somebody. UI sports info wizard Derrick Burson and Klee couldn't think of many.

Terence Dials did it (19 points, 16 boards). Greg Brunner did it (27 points). Sean May definitely did it (26 and 10). Jordan Hill did it (23 and 14).

- Believe it or not, Stallings is in his 10th season at Vanderbilt. Time flies when you're winning.

"Quite frankly, I didn't think I'd be here 10 years," he said.

The Collinsville native said he's been approached about other jobs but has found a home in Nashville. The program is successful (two Sweet 16s in the last five seasons) and he's recruiting at a high level (freshmen Jeff Taylor and Brad Tinsley are two to watch).

Stallings recruits nationally, even internationally (Ogilvy is from Australia), and doesn't have to deal with the influences of, say, a Chicago.

"Bruce and I have very, very different jobs and we talk about this frequently," Stallings said. "Some of the things he has to put up with in recruiting, I don't have to put up with."

- On Wednesday, the NCAA will announce the host sites for the 2012 through 2016 Final Fours. The areas that submitted host bids: Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, North Texas, Phoenix, San Antonio and St. Louis.

- A Southern Indiana official said yesterday that Jamar Smith's debut will take place on this date.

- More on the Vandy game upcoming on IlliniHQ on Wednesday and Thursday. Dominique Keller dropped some insight today and we'll write about the junior college transfer on Thursday.

pklee@news-gazette.com

Comments

Be the first to share your opinion!