Illinois vs Penn State preview, No time for a let down.
by Joe Kutsunis on Feb 18, 2009 1:31 PM CST
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PrintAs mentioned before, if the Illini want to make a serious push for the conference championship this season, they cannot afford to drop any games the rest of the season. The first obstacle is tonight against the always dangerous Talor Battle and the Nittany Lions. A team which last year handed the Illini a loss at home that was highlighted by Shaun Pruit and Brian Randle being laughed off of the boards as the two seniors combined for 7 rebounds. The team overall was out rebounded 49 to 24. But that was last year
This year, hopefully, the outcome will be different. Different if for no other reason than this team shoots much better than last years team, and the offense is much more balanced and not reliant on just one offensive weapon.
The match up I am most fascinated with this year is how Talor Battle handles the defense of Chester (once goat, now god) Frazier. Battle is by far the most dangerous player on Penn State, which automatically makes him the target of Chester's defense. This team is, in my opinion much better than their 18-8 record indicates. While they have lost 3 of their last 4, they have beaten both MSU and Purdue this season, and were one questionable call away from a sweep of the Spartans.
With so much within reach of this team, I do not believe they will be taking much for granted in the competition tonight, and they had better not. I am hoping that the sting of last years losses have not worn off for the coaches or the players. Because putting up a first half like they did against NU, or a second half like they did against IU will result in a loss against this team.
The Illini will once again enjoy a height advantage over their opponents, which will hopefully be translated in an advantage in points in the paint. I also hope that DMAC has overcome what ever illness he was suffering against IU, we could really use a repeat of the 18 point output from last years Assembly Hall match up. The result however, would preferably be different.
I envision a game similar to this
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Battle hasn’t seen anyone on D remotely of Chet’s intensity. Regarding your previous post on our improved title fortunes… yes; we haven’t won in Columbus in years. Five years. We clinched the regular season title there in 2004. In the interim they had that ridiculous fluke victory in 2005 and then we played them in only two of the three seasons 2006-08. Last year, of course, we sucked as much as we ever will.
Times have changed. Still, we have yet to play forty minutes of intense, focused ball on the road since Purdue on Dec. 30th. When will that change, if ever, this season?
I like our chances to run the table at home. Am less optimistic about wins in Columbus or State College. The guys lose their poise on the road in conference. Relentless focus and ball movement elude them. That’s why, although I am thrilled at what Bruce & Co have accomplished this season, I see us as merely a good team with a chance to win two in the NCAAs if we step up (i.e., Davis is a monster on the boards; DMac penetrates and gets to the line; Chet plays within himself; Meacham keeps his cool and finds his shot; Tis floats like a butterfly and doesn’t get into foul trouble.)
Remember… the best is yet to come; the next month or so is merely a scrumptious appetizer. At some point even Legion will find himself.
Battle
He’s still steamed that he let Frazier lay in the game winning bucket last year in the BTT, and he is way better this year than he was last year so that should make for a pretty good matchup. You’ll probably win the battle down low but PSU is a good O-Rebounding and that’s one of the few things I can see keeping PSU in this one.
According to Pomeroy the Illini are No. 6 in 3-pt defense and No. 7 in total defense in Div One. PSU has fine perimeter shooting, esp. from beyond the arc. We never clean the boards against anyone, yet only complete sleepwalking against Iowa has enabled any team to get close to us at home. You can’t overcome our D in The Hall unless we are very lazy. However, if we don’t learn to play a full 40 and get to the line on the road you’ve got the upper hand in State College.
Yeah
PSU is gonna need some serious magic no doubt. We’ll see how it goes. BTW Welcome to SBN Illini.
Line
The line for the game is Illinois -9.5
What do you guys think about that? Too much? I think it’s pretty accurate but I can see how Penn State fans would feel a little disrespect about that
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