#3 Illinois vs. #1 Wake

[lichoya68]

penn state tough illinois even tougher probably no. 1 when we play em but you never know you never know.. remember seeing houston and elvin hayes beat a ucla team that was unbeatable.. you never know this team will surprise some people ... some time some place go hoyas

[LeRoyHoya]

The only questionable character on Illinois is Luther Head. He had some issues with the law and sriving without a license or insurance.
We're probably in for a rough night against Illinois. If you're looking for the real key, look at Roger Powell. When he goes off, they are damn tough. Augustine is foul trouble just waiting to happen. Lock down on Deron Williams and take your chances with Head. Brown can only beat you in the open court, if it turns into a sprint. Contain Williams and Powell and we can be competitive.
I'm hoping for the best, since I live 30 minutes from Champaign. If it's ugly like predicted, I'm in for a rough Friday.
GO HOYAS!!!

[EasyEd]

Let's worry about Penn State first.

[IceHoya]

HoyaLawya said:

OK ... after thinking the Zags were awful because their youthful players got schooled by the Illini last Saturday, falling behind as much as 38 points before narrowing the final score to within 17, I now realize that they were mere cattle standing on the railroad tracks and got hit by a runaway freight train nicknamed the Champaign Express.

Yeah, the Zags aren't awful. Case in point: The 12 point whooping they stuck on ranked Washington last night. Yeah they were at home, but still that's a big win.

In other news, anybody else wondering what Vegas might set the Over Under at if the Illini wind up playing Georgia Tech? Something like 265? I've seen both these teams play a little bit on TV so far and I think I've seen them miss like a total of 3 shots.

[Boz]

HoyaLawya said:

I now realize that they were mere cattle standing on the railroad tracks and got hit by a runaway freight train nicknamed the Champaign Express.

How DARE anyone refer metaphorically to a runaway train out of Champaign, Illinois, and NOT name that train, "REO Speedwagon."

That being said, Mommy, I'm scared. Sweet Merciful McGillicuddy, Illinois looks good! (self-nominated for understatement of the year).

On the other hand, they've never had to deal with the harsh confines of MCI Center, so there. ;D

No, no John Belushi speeches or anything ( I wouldn't want to steal F.B.'s thunder, I'll be seeing him in concert at GWU next week), but seems as though the Hoyas can't do anything but exceed expectations in this game, no?

Enough about that. There's a tough enough contest three days prior. We don't need to be worrying about Illinois just yet.

Nittany Lions...DEAD! (sorry)

[YB]

A couple points....

#1, the last time we beat a #1 ranked team was the 95-96 season, when we laid a whipping on then-#1 UConn and Ray Allen. AI and his cascading dunk over Allen and Travis Knight was the highlight of the night, with Jerome Williams' opening dunk on a backdoor cut set the tome for the night. USAIR Arena was sold out, national TV audience, and the decibel level was higher than at any point I had seen otherwise. Ahhhh, good times.

#2, We are very dead against Illinois. They put a beating on Wake in a real secere way. But, it was at Illinois- who knows how Ill will do at a raucus MCI Center and our newfound "Sea of Grey".

#3, PSU is not to be misunderestimated either. That said, this is a game we should win. Rutgers is ok but no great shakes. The RAC is a tough place to play- but a week ago PSU lost to a low-major by 20. So, RU likely let their guard down some. I don't think we will. It will actually be a good opportunity to keep developing the Princeton O against a major-conference team (if that's what the Big 10 passes as these days). And our guys should not take the game lightly now- or any game, for that matter, while they still have lots of room for improvement.

PSU has a lot less talent than they did last year when we beat them at their place. This is a game we should really win by 5-10.

We are significantly more talented than PSU.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

We also can't overlook penn state. The illini game going to be extremely difficult but I am excited they dropped Wake and I think it will be good for our guys to see what it takes to get to the top.

[HoyaLawya]

Profuse apologies, oh Boz man. ;D You want REO? You get REO!

Speaking of cattle .... and of making MCI Center "harsh confines" .............. MORE COWBELL! I say.



It's our only hope against those Midwest heartlanders!!

[Gold Hoya]

1. Anyone see the Northwestern vs U-Va game last night? It might have to be like that for GU to be close against Illinois or other good teams. Slow it down, way down. Be sure to get good shots when there are 2 guys back to help stop the break (please note: for Illinois, Dee Brown on the break basically counts as 2 when you talk about 2-on-1). GU will need to hit on 50% threes again to stay in a similar time zone.

2. Bruce Weber is still viewed skeptically by much of the Illinois fanbase. He has a pretty quick rise (Illinois has been through several coaches since Henson), and people are questioning whether he can get the best players from Chicago. However, critics been quieter now that he's using Bill Self's players to blow out the best teams in the country. However, I'd love to see them play Kansas - the players might become spooked with Self around, as they all really like him.

3. This is RDF-esque - but how is it that two conferences with 11 teams have a "challenge," and the ACC somehow manages to have its two worst teams (miami and va tech) sit it out? I'm not claiming that va tech - penn state and miami - iowa would be great games ... but at least let's get over this "the acc is unstoppable unless they go to the homecourt of two of the three best in the big ten" nonsense. the big ten would have won both of those games, saving a bit of face for a 7-4 record.

Of course, they'll keep it up with the big ten, because everyone will be too scared what the new big east would do to them.

[KHoyaNYC]

I think we can hang with Illinois for at least 20 minutes. I woul not be surprised if it was a single digit deficit at halftime. The second half, however, will probably be a different story.....but I still believe in miracles.

[HOYAPLAYA]

Let's concentrate on Penn State first and then we can move on to Illinois. I'll tell you one thing-we will need to play that dull, boring, use all 35-seconds of the shot clock offense that some have been complaining about to even have a chance. If JT III can get the guys to understand that they can't and won't run with Illinois, we can make it a respectable game and see what happens. If certain players try to show off their skills and work outside of the offense, then it will get ugly. I guess I just contradicted my first statement of this post now that I've written a paragraph on how we need to play Illinois. Please ignore this post until after our victory on Monday. Thanks

[YB]

Sorry if I was unclear- I meant to say we have to take every game one game at a time, focus in on getting one win at a time and improving each game.

As such, focus in on PSU (especially as they just scored a good road win last night) and worry about Illinois after.

My observation: each of our next 3 opponents won last night. ORU is now 3-0; PSU is 4-1; Illinois is 3-0.

Good tests for our young Hoyas.

[kchoya]

Yeah but...

Oral Roberts only won 48-44 at home to Loyola-Chicago. Are the Ramblers any good? Or was this just an off game for the Golden Eagles?

[CAHoya07]

YB said:

Sorry if I was unclear- I meant to say we have to take every game one game at a time, focus in on getting one win at a time and improving each game.

As such, focus in on PSU (especially as they just scored a good road win last night) and worry about Illinois after.

My observation: each of our next 3 opponents won last night. ORU is now 3-0; PSU is 4-1; Illinois is 3-0.

Good tests for our young Hoyas.

One game at a time, YB.

Don't forget San Jose State!