MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Knightstalker]

I go away for about ten days and chaos erupts everywhere.  I always miss the fun.

[Warren Thompson]

... their water-pistols, that is.

[Titan Q]

It's on to Boston up 2-0.

Saw Scott Trost today.  IWU and the Illini have agreed to swap scrimmage tapes, which is pretty standard.  I got a chuckle out of the fact that IWU gets a tape of the Orange/Blue game while Illinois gets the Titan/Blackburn scrimmage.  I'd like to be in the classroom at Assembly Hall as Bruce Weber and the boys break down that Battlin' Beavers tilt.  I'm sure they'll be intimidated.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Maybe Trost should consider 'throwing' the Blackburn scrimmage - let's get the Illini WILDLY overconfident! 

I realize our chances of winning are essentially zero (if Dee Brown had not returned, they might rise to 3%!), but does anyone else share my gut hunch that we may stay surprisingly close for 25-30 minutes?

[Titan Q]

I set the line at 27 1/2 the day I learned of the game and I'm sticking with it.

What the Titans do have going for them is that Illinois will be piecing together an entirely new rotation around Dee Brown and James Augustine while IWU is obviously playing with the same exact team as last year.  It wouldn't surprise me if the Illini struggled a bit in the early going.  If the Titans can put a little heat on them by scoring, it would at least be entertaining for a while.   

I am also positive that the IWU kids are not in the least bit intimidated by the Illinois players...they know they are bigger, stronger, and quicker, and they respect the heck out of them, but they are not in awe of them.  Most of the Titan players faced the Illini guys during high school, whether in regular season play (like Chris/Cory Jones vs James Augustine in the SICA East) or in All-Star games.

The IWU/Illinois game will be one of the coolest things I have witnessed in my years of following Titan basketball.  It's something the IWU players and fans will not forget, regardless of the outcome. 

[True Basketball Fan]

Ypsi,

Your hunch may be an accurate one, I too believe that IWU will stay closer for longer than most people think.  None of the Titans will be the least bit intimidated because of their experience and confidence.  However, they must not get rattled at an early Illini run which is very likely.  How they deal with that first explosion of points will dictate how close and how long they will hang around.  As we all know, a matchup of this calibur can get real ugly, real fast, especially if IWU starts scrambling and not playing together.

Whatever the outcome may be (a big loss - 40 points or so, or a close loss - 20 points or so) it will be a great experience for everybody wearing green.

[dansand]

I don't think it's out of the question that IWU could stick with the Fighting Illini, at least for a while. Illinois will obviously not be the same team as last year. As Q pointed out, I'm sure they'll be working on new rotations of players and I imagine the newcomers will see a lot of court time as well. Combine that with the fact that Wesleyan's rotation will be, essentially, the same for the third year in a row, and I think the Titans can definitely make a respectable showing. Last year a very green Augie team opened the season at Southern Illinois and, aside from an awful start in the game (they fell behind 22-4 in the first ten minutes), played pretty well, losing 83-59 to a very good Saluki team that won the MVC at 15-3, went 27-8 overall and lost by eight in the second round of the NCAA's to Oklahoma State. I know it's a little dangerous to compare scores or games, but that Augie team, particularly at the start of the year, was no where near as talented or seasoned as the Titan team that will be playing the Illini.

[matblake]

Wow, my first post on posting-up.  I have been a lurker for a couple of years but I finally got it going over on Post Patterns this year so I thought I might as well chime in over here this year as well.  Personally, I don't think it will be the first explosion of points by the Illini that tests the Titans.  With the 3 point shot, even a 20 point lead is not what it once was back in the day.  I think Illinois will jump out to a lead as the starters are all hyped up.  The Titans will then get themselves back into the game as Illinois tries some player combinations on the floor.  The second explosion of points by the Illini will be what makes or breaks a blow out or some respect for IWU.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

This is still just a preseason game right?  I'm not sure how seriously Illinois will be taking this, especially with all the new faces getting big minutes for the Illini.  I hope Bruce and the boys know what they are getting into and don't underestimate the abilities of IWU.

[Knightstalker]

Judging by how D-III teams have done against Princeton and Seton Hall in NJ I would have to agree that IWU will stick close to UI for the first half but the Illini' depth and talent will pull away and the 27.5 spread is probably pretty close, I would take the Titans and the points.

[True Basketball Fan]

I don't think Bruce will underestimate the abilities of IWU.  He's been in the Ilinois/Indiana region for quite some time, and I'm sure he's well aware of the tradition and talent at IWU.  On the other hand, his players probably will look past IWU no matter what Bruce tells them (They are thinking DI vs. DIII, no sweat!). 

I hope IWU blitzes them at some point, enough to at least make the Illini crowd erupt in a quiet murmur.  That's as fun to listen to as a screaming, energized crowd in my opinion, especially if it's the little guy (underdog) making it happen.  Speaking for all DIII hoops fans........GO TITANS!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I was thinking more along the lines of "well its just preseason, so we can play around with line-ups and get the freshmen some minutes early, they're only D-III we can catch up at the end."  I know Bruce is smart and familiar, but I would love to see an Illini team pressing to increase the lead at the end and IWU hanging around.

[hopefan]

Amusingly enough, I can focus on the other angle brought up briefly earlier.  While it is difficult for CCIW fans to take SLIAC teams too seriously, don't take Blackburn as a 20 point per half margin automatic scrimmage win.  Having seen them three or four times last year, I was impressed (for a lower level D3 conference team).  They are well coached , they have a couple of guys who can score, and 3 or 4 bangers on the boards.  They lost no crucial players to graduation. Most important - they play very hard.  The gap between SLIAC and CCIW should/could be a lot tighter than the gap between CCIW and cream of the crop D1.   Lets hope for competitive contests in both meetings!!!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'm just not so sure Illinois will be "cream of the crop" this season.

[emeritusprof]

Once upon a time, Ralph Sampson, leading his No. 1 ranked U of VA team, took a trip to Hawaii where they played a little school called Chaminade, or some such thing, and...