Illini hold reunion in Utah BY MIKE NADEL Published Sunday, December 10, 2006 MINNEAPOLIS - Dee Brown shook his head and said: "That's terrible." The subject was prep phenom Eric Gordon backing out of an oral commitment to Illinois. "There's absolutely no good reason to choose Indiana over Illinois," Brown said. "None." Sitting next to him in the visitor's locker room at Minnesota's Target Center, Deron Williams said: "Oh, there could be a reason." This was getting good. Were Dee and Deron - the golden boys of Fighting Illini basketball - about to accuse a Big Ten archrival of recruiting improprieties? Brown: "I'm not going there. I'm not saying anything." Williams, goading his buddy: "Aw, go ahead. You're not in college any more. You can say anything you want." Brown: "Naw. Better not." Williams: "Yeah, I guess you never know what's going on somewhere unless you're there." Unable to resist jumping back into the conversation, I asked: "OK then, what was 'going on' at Illinois?" Brown smiled and rolled his eyes. Said Williams: "Nothing! Absolutely nothing! C'mon, you saw how we lived, man." Yes, the heroes of Illinois' run to the 2005 title game are together again, this time in the NBA. They are joined on the Utah Jazz by Roger Powell Jr., meaning Illini make up 20 percent of the roster of the league's best team. (Williams was Utah's top draft pick in '05, Brown was a second-rounder this year and Powell was signed as a free agent.) Throw in Jerry Sloan, the 64-year-old McLeansboro farmer who is one victory away from being only the fifth 1,000-win coach ever, and it's almost as though the state of Illinois has annexed Salt Lake City. OK, that might be a stretch. Powell has played in only three games as he tries to make the difficult transition from college forward to NBA guard. Brown, still trying to prove that his speed and energy can make him a valuable part of Sloan's rotation, has played in only 11 games and didn't make his first pro basket until a few days ago. In other words, most of the Illinois "representing" in Utah involves the odd couple of Sloan and Williams. At one point last season, Sloan was so dissatisfied with his rookie point guard that he demoted the third-overall draft choice to third string. While Chris Paul, drafted one spot later by New Orleans, was getting accolades, Williams was getting steamed. "I didn't think he was playing hard enough. He felt otherwise," Sloan said Friday. "At the time, we butted heads over it." Given that the intense Sloan has one of the hardest heads basketball ever has encountered, this was a battle Williams couldn't win. "When you feel you're the best option at point guard and you're not playing, it's difficult," Williams said. "Coach felt I wasn't working hard, so I just tried to work harder. I've always been a hard-working guy, but he's the boss. So I just tried to go above and beyond. I did everything I could to show him I wanted to be on the court." These days, Sloan hates taking Williams off of the court. The coach said Deron's commitment to improving his conditioning was obvious during the team's summer-league play. "He played one game for us and we told him to go home because he was ready to go," Sloan said. "To be good every day, you have to work at it. I think he learned." Like Williams' coaches at Illinois, Bruce Weber and Bill Self, the 64-year-old Sloan has learned about Deron's sky-high basketball IQ. "He picks stuff up very easily," Sloan said. "You don't have to scream at him and tell him a dozen times. He knows what's going on." The Jazz hope Williams can be their next John Stockton. And he's doing a passable job, ranking fifth in the league with 9.1 assists per game while also averaging 16.7 points. These Jazz have no Karl Malone - Stockton's All-Everything running mate - but they do have one of the NBA's best frontcourts with Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. Several times in Friday's 110-103 loss to the Timberwolves, Williams and Okur successfully ran Sloan's famously simple but seemingly unstoppable pick-and-roll play. Williams finished with 21 points and 11 assists but was upset about losing and about mediocre Minnesota guard Mike James scoring 28 points. "James beat me off the dribble a number of times," Williams said. "I wish we could have that game over again." So does Sloan, who hates talking about himself but now must wait until Monday to get the hoopla over Hoops Win No. 1,000 behind him. "Either that or maybe I should retire real quick," he said, "and it'll be behind me that way." Incredibly, Sloan never has won NBA Coach of the Year honors, something that could change in this, his 22nd season (including his three-year stint as Chicago's young coach). Despite Friday's loss, Utah is 15-5 and the surprise team so far this season. After all of his success at Illinois, Brown is thrilled to be with a winning organization - even if Sloan's rules prohibit him from wrapping his cornrows with a headband. And Williams was thrilled the Jazz drafted his friend. Still, Dee knows he must make his own way - no easy task for a little guard who isn't a great shooter. "People make a big deal out of me and Deron being back together," Brown said. "But it's not like Deron can put in a good word for me so coach Sloan will put me in the starting lineup." Mike Nadel ([email protected]) is the Chicago sports columnist for Copley News Service. http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/Sports/Stories/102639.asp --

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