CHAMPAIGN — Brad Underwood introduced the phrase “booty ball” into the Illinois basketball lexicon last March after Penn State guard Jalen Pickett scored 12 points in a Big Ten tournament win against the Illini.
It wasn’t the first time Pickett used lengthy post-ups against Illinois last season. It was also far from the worst beating the Nittany Lions’ All-American put on the Illini given he had 20 points in their win at State Farm Center last December and 41 in a home win this last February.
Once more in the Big Ten tournament was apparently enough, however, for Underwood to put a name to what Penn State leaned on in three — yes, three — wins against Illinois last season. Hitting it with the “booty-ball” moniker didn’t exactly please Pickett, and then-Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry was quick to point out the Illini had their own version with the way they utilized Dain Dainja in the low post and Coleman Hawkins in the mid-post.
Shrewsberry, now the Notre Dame coach, would probably be equally as quick to point out this season that Illinois has adapted Pickett’s version, too. This Illini roster lends itself to extended guard post-ups that cater to matchup disparities, with Marcus Domask, Ty Rodgers, Quincy Guerrier and — even if he doesn’t really do it — Terrence Shannon Jr.
“I’ve always admired Jay Wright because it was different,” Underwood said, referencing the former Villanova coach who won national championships in 2016 and 2018 with physical guards comfortable in a post-up.
“Then we were zero for the year against Penn State and didn’t have very much luck guarding Pickett,” Underwood continued. “It just suits us. I think you can’t be afraid to change and can’t be afraid to tweak it a little bit. I’ve always been a guy that we love shooting threes, yes, but still the old-school philosophy the closer you are to the rim, the better chance it has of going in.”
Domask put his version of “booty ball” on display in smaller doses in Illinois’ 71-64 home loss to Marquette on Nov. 14, where he was 6 of 13 from the field for 18 points. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Southern Illinois transfer really exploited Florida Atlantic’s smaller guards with 33 points on 15-of-21 shooting in the Illini’s 98-89 Top-25 win against the Owls at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5.
“We just started practicing it and said, ‘Hey, there’s a lot of ways to get the ball to the mouth of the rim,’” Underwood said. “It’s not just through a post entry to Dain. We spent a ton of time before the road trip working on it over the break. It was great for us for 21/2 games.
“You’re doing that with guys who are elite free-throw shooters. You’re doing that with guys who make good decisions 90 percent of the time. You’re not going to turn it over.”
Having shooters around those post-up opportunities is the other factor. Beyond Pickett averaging 24.3 points in three wins against Illinois last season, Penn State got 25 of 53 three-point shooting (47.2 percent) from the trio of Andrew Funk, Myles Dread and Seth Lundy. Funk alone was 14 of 24 (58.3 percent) from deep.
The Illini have the potential to do the same. Luke Goode is shooting a career-best 46 percent from three-point range, and Shannon has seen his three-point shooting jump from 32 percent a year ago to 41 percent now. Guerrier and Hawkins, who had two three-pointers apiece in Sunday’s 74-57 home win against Colgate, can also be a factor around the “booty ball.”
“We’ve got bigger guards just being able to exploit matchups,” Hawkins said. “If (opposing teams) want to keep a big down there, we’ll have shooters on the back side. … Last year, we had a guy like Jalen Pickett who did it to us the whole game and was able to find shooters in space. There’s nothing you could really do about it but live with the result of a tough two.”
Underwood’s biggest complaint about Pickett’s version of “booty ball” was how far out the Penn State guard started his post-ups. That there was no real defensive recourse because of the rule in college basketball preventing an arm bar in the back that far from the basket.
A rule Underwood said he would have to remind officials of now that his team is utilizing its own guard-oriented “booty ball.”
“The rules of the game are such that it’s really hard to guard,” the Illinois coach said. “I didn’t do a very good job of working the officials in the Tennessee game because they arm-barred the hell out of us at the three-point line. That’s a foul. You can’t do that. I’ve got to do a better job of lobbying for fouls and making sure we get those fouls called.”
