Well here it is Hoosier Nation. The date that has been circled on our calendars since, oh...the summer of 2006. It's Indiana @ Illinois, in what promises to be one of the most emotionally-charged, hostile, hyped games of the decade in NCAA basketball. And it's all thanks to Rivals 150's #1 Ranked shooting guard from Indianapolis, IN, and current Big Ten scoring leader: Eric Gordon, Jr.
This game is much more critical than the football meeting between these two rivals. A random fan's quote to the IU Live news broadcast summed that Illini victory up best: "We don't really care if we lose to them in football. We were never really that good at it anyway...However, we still have Eric Gordon. Boo Yah. (Long pause)." -Anonymous IU tailgater, woken up in the Woodlawn Fields.EJ and the Indiana Hoosiers (#13) march into Champaign/Urbana with a 7-1 Big Ten record, and the top-two active scorers in the leauge (not to mention top rebounder). After dropping two of their last three, the Hoosiers need a win here against a very weak, vulnerable Illinois team. But as is often the case when marquee teams with All-American talent come to town, Illinois will be giving it a little something extra tomorrow night. Actually they will be giving a lot extra something, as Young Gordon has been the subject of the most fierce and bitter recruiting battle of the decade in college sports. The bad feelings resulting from Gordon breaching his original agreement with U of I to play for IU place this new rivalry right up there with any other in terms of raw hostility.
Illinois' campus paper has posted this article about how the vaunted "Orange Krush" are preparing to give Gordon a special welcome. He probably won't really give a shit. Have you ever heard the guy talk? Probably not. When he gives a quote, his comments make Bill Belichick sound like Shakespeare.
ILLINOIS WILL WIN IF:
Gordon gets fazed on the road.
The crowd throws the Hoosiers out of balance.
The Illini can figure out a solution to D.J. White.
Jessica Simpson starts dating Gordon, and sits in the front row.
INDIANA WILL WIN IF:
They play within themselves.
Gordon drives to the basket with authority, regularly.
They can take the crowd out of the game, either with an early lead or dictating the pace of play.
A disgruntled UofI fan runs onto the floor & assaults Gordon or Sampson for a disqualification.
There is any sense of justice or fairness in this world.
As an added bonus watch this semi-motivational IU video. Be sure to note Young Knuckleballer at the 1:32 mark, where he is (not suprisingly) posing with a flock of fattys. I'll bet he had NO CLUE he was in this.
7 comments:
Good post BC.. you know I'm going to be there ready to go. You're right about the football game. I was there and all IU fans could talk about was Gordon since Illinois pretty much dominated.
I'm not sure what to expect tonight with the crowd or the game.
As for the game, it will probably be an ugly, grind it out game. I am a little scared of an easy IU win though. I'm just a little afraid Gordon will have one of his best games in a while. DJ is a load, but Pruitt has been pretty solid against him the last couple times they have played. I think Illinois may win a close one, but I really have no confidence in this team.
The crowds and Orange Krush have been pretty quiet recently since we suck and are not exciting at all, but tomorrow should be pretty loud. Sampson got booed constantly last year so I'm sure it will be more of the same.. and he deserves it.
It should be a pretty entertaining night. And just to let you know, I am fully prepared for some 20 year old IU fan to say something about banners even though he wasn't alive the last time they won one.. haha.
Plain and simply: IU will win if we run our offense through DJ White and not turn into the Mike Davis Hoosiers of old (i.e. playing individual basketball and putting up 3's like it is going out of style). We need to run everything through the heart and soul of our team and the Illini will not stand a chance.
yawn
Sorry Swole, IU basketball players are too busy doin work on the court to get arrested for underage drinking like some UGA bball players I know of.
Your 2nd leading scorer is in the klink now, so you can subtract about 8 points a game off your already dismal PPG as a team. Keep on enjoying your CFB wet dreams until August.
Wow, I really had no idea I was in that. I try to keep my past under wraps but it seems to follow me wherever I go. By the way, the 2 front fatties take up most of the picture but there are 2 moderately attractive girls that are snuggling up much closer to me. Notice that my pimp hand is always mad strong.
Porque's old fallback. Bringing up the UGA basketball team that I have never said was any good. If thats how you defend yourself then its pretty embarrasing.
This game is highly wack mostly because of how shitty Illinois is now. The recruiting angle will be done by tip-off, after that it becomes another boring Big 10 game.
Victory. Clutch Play. Turnover-free-bball. Amazing. What a hard-fought game by both sides. I knew the Illini would play balls-out @ home and with Chester Frazier in their lineup. But in the end, even in the "other" Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers out-pace the Illini to come away with a hard-nosed W...just like Young Illiniwek predicted.
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