Coach Mike Krzyzewski's homecoming to Chicago tonight will not be a particularly festive affair for the celebrated Blue Devil coach.
In fact, he must tackle the 16th-ranked Fighting Illini (2-0)-a team that has hoop analysts across the country salivating at their talent-as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Tonight at 9 p.m., the United Center plays host to two teams whose potential is seemingly limitless, but whose youth can be troublesome. Illinois starts no seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman point guard, but tonight it may actually be the more experienced team.
"[The Illini] seem to be extremely deep," Krzyzewski said. "The talent base is there to become a really good basketball team.... I think they're probably a little deeper and further along than us because they have more returning starters than we do."
To achieve a fuller understanding of the danger Illinois possesses, one must first flash back to last year's Big Ten conference tournament. With seven seniors having graduated the preceding spring, the Illini looked hopeless heading into the 1998-99 season. On the whole, they played the part, finishing the regular season with a dismal 11-17 record, last in the conference.
Despite their regular-season frustrations, the Illini surged in the Big Ten conference tournament, held at the United Center. As head coach Lon Kruger's young but talented players gelled together, the team notched three upset victories, all against nationally ranked opponents, before finally falling in the tournament final to Michigan State.
The stunning run raised eyebrows across the nation and certainly caught the attention of Krzyzewski,
"I hope I can teach my team the way Lon did last year," he said. "He did a remarkable job with his squad.... [However], we would like to be good a little bit sooner."
With their impressive, if unexpected, finish last year, the Illini now face high expectations to continue their success into this season. Helping their cause is the insertion of two new players into the starting lineup: Frank Williams, a highly touted redshirt freshman point guard who has averaged a healthy 12 points per game in his first two starts, and junior center Marcus Griffin, who, despite standing a mere 6-foot-9, should fill the middle well for the Illini this year.
Accompanying Williams in one of the nation's most explosive backcourts is junior Cory Bradford, whose excellent combination of range and quickness makes him the Illini's standout performer. Averaging 17.5 points per game, Bradford has made a three-pointer in 34 straight games.
Bradford must not only keep his numbers up, however, but he will be called upon for team leadership in tonight's challenging matchup. The young Illini have not yet seen competition from the likes of Duke, having only notched cakewalk victories over hapless Western Illinois and Bradley.
And while Bradford will be looking for a break-out performance, his teammate Williams will go head-to-head with another freshman point guard named Williams in what could be the game's most exciting matchup. Both point guards have been both brilliant and inconsistent thus far and could determine the outcome of the contest.
"He's got the skills of a point guard," Kruger told The
"That's good as a starting point, but now we're trying to get him to be more conscious of the flow of the game, the time and score and making sure that his teammates are involved as they need to be."
Inside the perimeter, Carlos Boozer and Duke's post players will face their toughest test since being dominated in New York. And while no one will mistake Griffin for a Jake Voskhul or Mark Madsen, he can provide a measuring stick to gauge the Blue Devils' progress in the paint.
While Duke is undefeated in the United Center, the Illini have the overall series lead, having taken two out of three from the Blue Devils. In the last matchup between the two teams in 1995, Illinois thwarted Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a defeat that marked the first non-ACC home loss for the Blue Devils over a span of 12 years and 95 games.
This year's young Blue Devil squad will not rely upon history to motivate them. Instead, their inspiration will stem from the fact that they have yet to snatch a victory from a top-25 team.
Tonight's game kicks off another difficult stretch for Duke, which in a 12-day stretch faces Illinois, No. 22 DePaul at home and Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"I think overall it's good," Krzyzewski said of the tough early-season schedule. "We want to be really good, and the only way to do that is to play a really good schedule.... If we're going to fail, I'd rather fail going after it than being conservative."
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