Well, this is probably all we’ll hear from Daily Illini writer Jason Grodsky. With the Maui Invite completed, I’m sure Jason will be on the beach sucking down (virgin) pena coladas and getting caught in the sun rays. Here’s a few observations from our corespondent. Aloha!

MAUI, Hawaii – It’s all over here in Maui.

No surprise Duke has won its fourth Maui Invitational title and has still never lost when playing in the tournament. Heck, Duke even won the charity free throw shooting contest and the EA Sports March Madness 2008 video game tournament before the actual tournament began.

With Thanksgiving tomorrow I can gladly be thankful for being able to spend my break on the beach and watching great college basketball at the best in-season tournament.

Here are my final thoughts and observations from the tournament and my stay here in Maui.

Brock earns All-Tournament Team honors

            Junior guard Calvin Brock stepped up big for the Illini during their four game stay in Hawaii and was selected to the 2007 Maui Invitational All-Tournament team, joining former Illini Marcus Griffin and Frank Williams as the only Illini earn the honor. Williams and Griffin were selected for the All-Tournament team in 2000 when the Illini finished second.

            Brock hit the game winning shot with five seconds left to allow Illinois to escape its first game against Hawaii on Friday night, and finished the trip averaging a team high 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

            Weber rewarded the Chicago native by giving him his first start of the season in Illinois’ final game against Oklahoma State. Brock then thanked his coach by scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the Illini’s 65-49 win.

I spoke too soon about Randle’s health

            I may have jinxed Illini senior forward Brian Randle when I talked about him being fully healthy and taking full advantage of it.

Randle entered the Illini’s final game playing the best and most consistent basketball of all the Illinois players, averaging 15 points and 5.7 rebounds per game on the trip.

But Randle left the Illini’s game against the Cowboys with a left leg contusion seven minutes into the first half and did not return. He pulled up lame after fighting for a rebound on the defensive end and had taken to the team’s locker room. Weber said he should be OK.

Defense and rebounding: That’s the Illini way.

            The most impressive stats of the tournament the Illini put up were on the defensive end.

            Illinois held its four opponents to shooting a combined 42 percent from the field and less than 39 percent from the three-point line. The Illini forced an average of 12.75 turnovers per game and had 22 steals in their four games.

            The more impressive stat was Illinois’ rebounding.

            The Illini out rebounded their opponents 159 to 109 and 93-to-30 on the offensive boards.

            Illinois’ best offensive weapon in its four games was a missed shot, which often times created a good scoring opportunity for the Illini with the help of an offensive rebound. In the Illini’s loss to Duke, they outscored the Blue Devils an amazing 31-6 on second chance points.

LSU-ASU best game of the tournament

            Most the games in Maui weren’t very close. Not until the final day was a game really decided in the final minutes.

            The best game came in the morning on Wednesday in front of a sparse crowd at the Lahaina Civic Center in the fifth- and sixth- place game between LSU and Arizona State.

            The Tigers trailed by three points with less than six seconds remaining, but sent the game to overtime when Marcus Thornton hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 2.5 seconds left in the game.

            Arizona State was able to prevail 87-84 in a seesaw overtime and send the Tigers home with a tough luck loss.

Congrats to the Silverswords

Host school Chaminade got its first win in the tournament since 2001 on Wednesday. The Silverswords defeated the Princeton Tigers 74-70 in the seventh- and eighth-place game, ending its 13-game losing streak in the tournament.

Chaminade had come close to pulling off a couple of upsets earlier in the tournament, playing the No. 13 ranked Marquette Golden Eagles tough before falling 74-63 in round one and just coming up short against LSU on Tuesday in a 78-72 loss.

The win over Princeton was only the fifth win in the Maui Inviational in the school’s 24 years of hosting the tournament.

            If you’re wondering what a Silversword is, it’s a plant that is only found on the island of Maui at the Haleakalā National Park at an elevation of 2,100 to 3,000 meters above sea level.

It’s a small world

            When I first sat down at the media table for Illinois’ first game of the tournament I was greeted by an elderly man who worked for a local publication on the island.

            We started talking and after awhile I learned the man was actually a graduate from the U of I. Even more amazing was that he is a former Daily Illini reporter.

            After spending my time in Maui I’ve decided that he made the right choice. Who wouldn’t want to spend their time getting paid to watch sports and scribble a few words down while being in paradise?

            The only set back I can see is having to wake up at the crack of dawn to watch the Illini play football for those 11 a.m. CT kickoffs which would be almost before sunrise on the islands.

The Daily Illini’s Jason Grodsky continues his tiring work of walking around in perfect weather, hitting the beach and watching great college basketball. Keep it up, Jason. There’s only a few days left.

MAUI, Hawaii — It’s the third and final day of the Maui Invitational and Illinois is in the third- and fourth-place game of the tournament after losing to No. 10-ranked Duke on Tuesday night.

But despite the loss the Illini learned a lot about themselves in their first big test of the season, while I learned that Maui has a lot more to offer away from the court.

Fouls plaguing the Illini

            Illinois opponents are spending more time at the free throw line than David Hasselhoff spends in the sand. The Illini have committed a combined 43 fouls in the first two games of the tournament.

            While the fouls are mostly a result of the tough, physical defense the Illini play, they recognize that it’s getting them in trouble and keeping some of their key players off the floor in big situations.

            Senior forward Brian Randle said the team is just going to have to adjust and realize it can’t be sending its opponents to the charity stripe as often as they have.

Healthy Randle is trouble for opponents

            For the first time in his college career Randle looks to be 100 percent healthy and he is taking full advantage of it.

            After being limited by injuries throughout his time at Illinois, Randle is starting to reach his potential that everyone has been talking about, earning the praise of ESPN television college basketball analysis Jay Bilas.

            In his blog, Bilas took notice of Randle’s ability to defend and get to the basket, and calls him an “All-Big Ten caliber leader.”

            Through two games Randle has scored a career high 17 and 16 points, leading the Illini in both games. If he keeps up his play in Illinois’ final game, he could find himself on the All-Tournament team.

Smallest big time gym

The Lahaina Civic Center isn’t much to look at. It sits in between the local post office and police station and has a unique set up, with a lot of concourse section outside in the open.

The gym only seats 2,400, which isn’t bigger than most high school gyms. But despite its size the little gym on the Maui coast can definitely get loud and the laid back atmosphere of the tournament is reflective of the island’s culture.

Another reason to hate Duke

            I admit I haven’t seen a lot of opposing fans, but right now Duke’s fans are some of the nations most obnoxious and annoying fans.

            Heaven forbid a call doesn’t go the Blue Devils way because if it doesn’t the fans won’t let it go. And what’s with the little arm and hand shaking behind opposing players backs while they are in bounding the ball. Do they really think the players have eyes in the back of their heads?

            Either way, Illini fans can take remorse in watching a great video on You Tube made by a few Maryland and North Carolina fans. Just click here and enjoy.

There is night life in Maui, but it’s hard to find

            It took me awhile but I finally found out where people go at night.

            For the first few evenings it seemed like everyone pretty much went home and the night life in Lahaina was dull.

            But I finally made my way to Old Lahaina and discovered people up past 10 p.m.

            It’s tucked away off the main highway in Maui, and while it’s no Green Street, Old Lahaina has a great mixture of shops, restaurants and bars that bring a classic feel of the Hawaiian Islands to life. Many of the restaurants and places overlook the ocean and the streets are flooded with locals.

Driving can be dangerous

            Maui has plenty of scenery to look at — you just can’t look at it while you are driving.

            I’m staying about 15 miles away from the Lahaina Civic Center and the only way to get there is by taking one of the island’s many two-lane highways that zigzag along the coast.

            There is literally about 50 feet or less between the road and the ocean, and for the most part all that stands between you and the beach is a few bushes and maybe an orange cone along the side of the road.

            Let’s just say if you take you eyes of the road to watch a sunset — splash!

I still haven’t been leid …

            This is my first trip to the Hawaiian Islands and I was under the impression that I would be welcomed by a Hawaiian native who would place a traditional Hawaiian Lei around my neck.

            Unfortunately I was wrong.

            It’s been four days and my neck is still bare. The closest I’ve been to getting leid was the coach’s press conference, but there weren’t enough to go around, and apparently they didn’t get the memo about the Daily Illini being the nation’s premier college newspaper for sports.

            Oh well, I’m going to a Luau for Thanksgiving, that’ll probably be my best and last shot. (Editor’s note: We hope you get lucky, Jason.)

Jason Grodsky is a senior writer for The Daily Illini.

The Daily Illini’s very own Jason Grodsky sacrificed his Thanksgiving week and has spent the fall break slaving away in the Hawaiian Islands. Thank you, Jason. We know it’s been difficult. Here’s some of his observations of what’s happening in Maui on and off the court.

MAUI, Hawaii – Day two of the Maui Invitational got under way Tuesday, but Illinois players, coaches, fans and members of the media have been on the island paradise since Thursday. Since then it’s been a lot of fun, sun and little bit of basketball in between.

With the opportunity to make my way across the Pacific Ocean and cover the Illini in their quest to become the 2007 Maui Invitational champs, I’ll provide you with some of the sights and sounds around the nation’s premier in season college basketball tournament so far.

Time Change

            The first thing the players and coaches did when they arrived in Hawaii on Thursday was try to adapt to the four hour time change. With the University of Hawaii scheduled to play the Illini on Friday night, Illinois was able to get the kinks out of their system, but not before getting a scare from the Warriors.

Though the team seems to be adjusted, I, however, struggled. The first few days I was asleep around 9 p.m. and up by 6:30 a.m. I’m slightly better now, but when I get back to Champaign it’ll be a whole new story.

M.J. makes his appearance in Orange and Blue

            While Illinois was running Arizona State out of the gym in its opening round game on Monday, most of the attention in the Lahaina Civic Center was directed on Michael Jordan.

            Jordan, there to watch his son Jeff Jordan, was sitting sideline with his daughter wearing an orange polo cheering on the Illini. He met the team the night before at the team dinner for his son’s birthday on Sunday

            Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said some of his players were like “giggly, little school girls,” when the NBA great entered the room to surprise his son. At least the Illini didn’t play like school girls when he watched them in person for the first time.

            Jordan will have another reason to root for Illinois on Tuesday as his son and teammates go up against his alma mater’s arch rival Duke in the semi finals.

#23 shines with the great #23 in the stands

            Maybe it was just coincidence, but with the greatest basketball player to ever wear number 23 in the stands, Illinois best player in game one of the tournament was its own number 23, junior college transfer Rodney Alexander.

            Alexander tied senior forward Brian Randle for a team high 17 points in the Illini’s win over the Sun Devils, but said it had nothing to do with Jeff’s dad being in the stands. In fact Alexander said after the game he wanted number 5, but had to settle for 23.

Alley Oops

            The best play of Illinois opening round win wasn’t Randle’s dunk with a little poise in the air, nor was it Randle’s acrobatic lay-up while being fouled, it was a botched alley oop from junior point guard Chester Frazier.

            With the Illini up big in the second half, Frazier sent an alley oop pass to a streaking Randle, but at the last second Randle pulled his hands down and the ball swished through the net for three points, making even Weber put his head down and laugh a little.

Illini faithful invading Maui

            The loudest crowd of the day belonged to everyone wearing orange and blue.

            Illinois fans greatly outnumbered Arizona State’s fans and were the most vocal of all eight schools in the tournament.

            After the Illini left the floor for its warm-up Randle told the coaching staff it felt as if the Illini were playing a home game and was shocked by the number of orange clad fans in attendance.

            But the Illinois fans did more than invade the Lahaina Civic Center, they took over a local bar and grill. The Rusty Harpoon, a bar and grill known for its delicious tasting daiquiris, was bathed in orange following the game and its walls were covered by Illinois basketball posters and a few flags.

Players loving the beach

            While the Illini aren’t on the court, they’ve spent plenty of time on the beach enjoying what can only be described as weather out of a movie.

            It’s been between 75-to-85 degrees everyday with bright sunshine along the Lahaina beach coast and the Illini players have found it to be a nice break from gym.

            However, Weber said that fans won’t be seeing the Illini “diving off cliffs or sun bathing,” until the tournament is over.

Jason Grodsky is a senior writer for The Daily Illini.