'Braggin' Rights' stage set for Illini newcomer Legion

For those who expect Alex Legion to start dominating for Illinois as soon as today's "Braggin' Rights" game in St. Louis, senior guard Trent Meacham has a few words of advice.

Meacham, a lifelong Champaign resident, had to sit out the 2005-06 season after transferring home from Dayton.

He believed it took some time before he readjusted to the speed of the game and felt comfortable on the floor.

Legion, a national top-50 recruit in the Class of 2007, scored 6 points and committed 3 turnovers in his 18-minute Illini debut Saturday against Detroit.

"It can be tough, especially for Alex," Meacham said. "We already played nine or 10 games before he joined us. But I don't think it's going to take too long for him to get adjusted and get into the flow.

"I told him before the (Detroit) game, 'Go in there, be ready to play hard, but be patient. It's a long season.' You want to go in there and make a big impact right away."

Illinois coach Bruce Weber doesn't want to jinx Legion, but he senses the 6-foot-5 Detroit native could provide such an impact today.

When the Tigers (9-1) aren't busy pressing and running and trapping defensively - they force an average of 19.6 turnovers per game - they'll sink back into a zone.

"We have struggled at times in the last couple of years against zones," Weber said. "You add (Alex) into the mix with Trent, (Mike) Tisdale, Mike Davis and Demetri (McCamey), I hope we can be a very effective zone offense team."

In a perfect Illini world, Legion will treat the evenly divided Scottrade Center crowd to one of his shooting displays that, to this point, has been confined to the Ubben practice floor.

"I'll be honest," Weber said. "If he misses when he's going, we're surprised as coaches. I mean, he gets some runs of 5-6 shots in a row. I'm not putting pressure on him ... that's what he does.

"But now, again, you've got to get some game conditioning, you've got to get your legs, you've got to get a feel of it."