Similarities Are Easy to See Here

The boys on the bus finally rolled into St. Louis this week, arriving at their destination as scheduled.

“I think the first moment you kind of recognize that you’re here was when we crossed the bridge,” Illinois Coach Bruce Weber said. “All year, we’ve seen the posters, ‘March to the Arch.’ Then, all of a sudden, it’s a beautiful night, we’re coming across the bridge, the city is lit up, the arch.”

The top-ranked and once-beaten Illini (36-1) never had to board a plane during their NCAA tournament run, busing from Champaign, Ill., to Indianapolis, Chicago and now the Final Four, even pulling over during the trip to St. Louis to go bowling.

Louisville (33-4) would like nothing more than to make the Illini driver warm up the engine to go home tonight, two days shy of a national championship game some Illinois players -- Dee Brown among them -- increasingly consider their destiny.

“With four minutes left against Arizona, Dee was saying, ‘It’s meant to be! It’s meant to be!’ ” guard Luther Head said.

That’s little surprise to Louisville guard Francisco Garcia.

“I’m pretty sure they’re confident,” Garcia said. “You come back against a team like Arizona, down 15 with four minutes to go, it doesn’t get better than that.

“They’ve been like that the whole year. They expect to win every game.... Everybody’s picking us to lose. We’re used to that too.”

Illinois is the preordained favorite, a team that is only an Ohio State three-point basket in the final seconds from being undefeated.

But Louisville is a strikingly similar team. Both play three-guard lineups, and both love to shoot the three.

Illinois made 16 in its overtime victory over Arizona in the regional final, and Louisville made as many as 17 in a game this season.

“I used to watch them on TV and say, ‘Wow, they can shoot it, just like us,’ ” said Garcia, a 6-foot-7 guard who starts alongside Taquan Dean and Larry O’Bannon.

One difference is that none of the Illinois guards are nearly as tall as Garcia.

“I’m 6-7, but Luther Head and Deron Williams, they are great defensive players,” Garcia said. “I don’t think it’s an advantage.”

Head, Williams and Brown also have to be prepared to shoot over a tall Louisville zone at times, though the Cardinals might be forced to abandon it, as they were against West Virginia, which made 18 three-pointers before the Cardinals came from 20 points behind in their regional final overtime victory.

“They’re long across the board -- the shortest guy out there is 6-3. That presents a little bit of a problem,” said Williams, who is 6-3, as is Head. Brown is 6-0.

With two trios of reasonably well-matched guards, some of the players expect the game to be won with defense, or rebounding, or by the comparatively unsung inside players.

“Everybody’s talking about the three guards, but [Louisville’s] Ellis Myles and [Illinois’] James Augustine are going to go out and clash,” Garcia said.

Myles might be the wild card, a 6-7, 245-pounder from Compton Centennial High and a fifth-year senior who sat out last season after a knee injury in 2003.

“He’s tough,” Dean said. “That’s his makeup when he’s on the court. It’s not a game I’d like to go into without him. He came off potentially career-ending knee surgery. He definitely shows the heart he has on the court.”

Augustine, who is three inches taller but 15 pounds lighter than Myles, shrugged.

“He is bigger,” Augustine said. “We’ve been playing against bigger players all year.”

That year is down to no more than two games -- one if Louisville can somehow stop Illinois today.

“You know, I’ve talked to the kids about the miraculous comeback against Arizona,” Weber said. “In a way, we grabbed the victory, but at the same time we got a break. Now let’s take advantage of it.

“Louisville, they made the great comeback also. So they’re probably saying the same thing.”