Final four is here Louisville Vs Illinois PROBABLE STARTERS: Louisville - F Juan Palacios (10.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg), F Garcia (16.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg), F Ellis Myles (10.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg), G Dean (14.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G O'Bannon (15.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg). Illinois - F Roger Powell Jr. (11.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), F James Augustine (10.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg), G Head (15.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg), G Williams (12.6 ppg, 6.7 apg), G Brown (13.5 ppg, 4.5 apg). HOW THEY GOT TO THE FINAL FOUR: Louisville - Automatic bid, Conference USA tournament champion; beat No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette 68-62, first round; beat No. 5 Georgia Tech 76-54, second round; beat No. 1 Washington 93-79, regional semifinals; beat No. 7 West Virginia 93-85, OT, regional final. Illinois - Automatic bid, Big Ten tournament champion; beat No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson 67-55, first round; beat No. 9 Nevada 71-59, second round; beat No. 12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 77-63, regional semifinals; beat No. 3 Arizona 90-89, OT, regional final. Game Preview
Definitely going to depend on the guards play. Williams, Brown, and Head are as good as the get, but Louisville's are just as good with Garcia, O'Bannon, and Dean. I like the experience of Powell and Augustine down low over Palacous and Myles. So Illinois is definitely my pick, but it's not going to be a blowout.
I am going with Louisville on this one, Illinois will be the best defensive team they faced all tournament but the Louisville offence will be too much for them. I am going to pick the trio of Garcia, O'Bannon, and Dean over the trio of Head, Brown, and Williams. O'Bannon is going to have a big and I will predict that Coach Pitino out coaches Coach Webber. Prediction: Louisville - 74 // Illinois ? 68
I think Illinois will triumph. I want Louisville to win, but I feel Augustine and Powell have the edge over Myles and Palacios. I also think Louisville lack a true point, which could hinder their chances against Illinois, who are very good defensively. Arizona nearly beat Illinois thanks to great production from post man Channing Frye. Louisville don't have a big man in his league and will therefore struggle. I would love to be proved wrong as I enjoy watching Dean and Garcia and Louisville are my favourite team.
And Illinois is your winner! Head and Powell were amazing in the second half and both ended up with 20 points each. Louisville pretty much shutdown the rest of the team, but Powell has to be the player of the game with how he played tonight. Garcia finished with only 4 points, so that was the major reason Louisville stuggled tonight. Illinois will take on your winner of Michigan State-UNC!
I wanted to see more of Dee Brown . Illinois played so well, Powell's missed 3 and then following with a dunk was great.
Ah, damnit, it sucks... Garcia was nowhere to be found, and I was pretty upset. He had Deron Williams in foul trouble and could have easily took advantage and drove to the hoop, but it seems like everytime after that, he looked to pass. The shots he took weren't bad, he just missed them, but I was looking for him to be a bit more aggressive. Of of the bench, I feel as though George and Jenkins were a huge spark at times, and I was more impressed with Jenkins of the two, knocking down some big threes and making some steals. The guards were just too much. It seemed like everytime we had a fastbreak, there was speedy Dee Brown to break it up. Head hit some huge three's. And Powell, surprisingly, kicked our butt tonight hitting some threes and putting back some huge baskets. Congrats to Illinois, and I will be rooting for them in the finals against either MSU or UNC. I'm actually looking forward to next season, though, it's still very early.
garcia I really thought that Garcia was gonna have a huge game. Going against much smaller guards should have meant a huge game but he was never really a dominating factor which he should have been. it was very dissapointing. But the last two games the iilini have been shooting threes like theres no tommorow. gotta catch up with them soon.
I have to say the Final Four games stunk. They weren't that great. I hope the championship game won't be that bad Monday night. Louisville/Illinois was alright. It was interesting in the first half and in the first ten minutes of the second half, but once Illinois figured out how to beat Lousivllle's press, it got ugly in a hurry. I tip my hat to Illinois. I have gone on saying how I was not impressed with them this season. After the way they came back against Arizona and how they have responded when the game got tight whether it's FDU, UW-Mil, and now Louisville, I came away impressed. Just when I think Illini is about to fade, they come right back at you and make some shots. They have attributes that represent the heart of a champion. I am sold on them. I am doing an about face on Illini. I picked UNC to win it all and I thought UNC would beat Illinois two weeks ago, but after tonight, I changed my mind. I am not trying to jinx Illinois by predicting them to win Monday night, but I don't see UNC beating Illinois at all. I really don't. This has a making of a blowout I think. I hope I am wrong. I like to see a close game at best. UNC got a tough task ahead of Monday night for sure. I am guessing the Vegas line will favor Illinois and rightfully so.
I can't say I liked Illinois's attuide in the past but Luther Head has got to be my favourite college player, he is going to be a very good pro. He gets his shot off so quickly and is always hitting it seems 50% from deep everytime I see him play. Very good defender as well Deron Williams really controlled Garcia like he did with Salim.
