fathom

Not drafting Barry Bonds.

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Jan 12, 2007 -> 04:59 PM) I'm so torn on her, but I think most of that is due to the gap between her front teeth. I guess that must be, like, her 'thing', but she'd be a lot hotter without it. She's got a great voice. I would totally hit that voice. Don't worry, from everything I hear, you're not her type.

I had a class with numerous Illini players, and the only one who ever showed up was Brian Cook. He's a GREAT guy...which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about a certain trio that was popular at U of I. My brother had class with Dee, Deron, Luther, Augustine, etc., and let's just say he only had good things to say about two of them, and the rest were tools.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 10:50 PM) I can agree with that. He is going to be something though, and if Oden stays (which I think he will) they are going to keep making the two man game beneficial for OSU. They showed one flash of that last night, and Conley has shown that even as a frosh he can run the team. I have this analysis on Ohio St.: they need to run and gun, and not set up plays for Oden. He's nowhere close to being polished with his back to the basket. He's much more effective on the offensive boards and receiving lobs. I watched Ohio St. earlier this year, and all of their guys seemed more effective when they were spreading out the court and dishing to the perimeter. Also, by getting in an up-tempo game, it might make it harder for teams to make an effort to go at Oden and get him in foul trouble.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 09:51 PM) And if you take Tucker off of Wisconsin, where are they? They probably don't beat Marquette or Pittsburg, among other games... It would be one thing if Tucker was a ball-hog with typical AI type numbers, ie 20 PPG but shooting 8-for-25 from the field. But he's not. He has an awesome mid-range game and is extremely tough to guard, especially when Bo Ryan posts him up. Calling him overrated is quite silly, IMO. At no time when I'm watching him do I feel "wow, this is the best player in college basketball". I know he's a virtual lock to be a first-team All-American, but he needs more games like he did vs Pitt and Marquette before I'll feel like he deserves it over Durant. His FT shooting is still poor, and you'd like to see him get more rebounds per game than he does. I would say that Durant and Big Baby should be the top two in the running for POY right now. It will be interesting to see if Durant keeps up his performance in Big 12 play. He's been amazingly consistent so far, and has actually impressed me more than Carmelo did at this stage of his freshman year.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 09:36 PM) No Michael Conley? The guy is top 5 in assists in the nation, with a god-like turnover to assist ratio. Him and Augustin have basically the same value in my opinion, but I was incredibly impressed by Augustin's performance vs LSU. As I said above, there are 3 great freshman point guards this year. Conley's in a great system to rack up the assists, as he has a ton of catch-and-shoot players on the perimeter. He's going to be a fantastic 4 year player. I always did love watching his dad in those celebrity dunk contests.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:34 PM) I like Davidson, but he's been awful offensively this year. 39% for a big man with his talents? That's just brutal, though I'm sure his head isn't really in the game. He's a great rebounder and defender though. I thought he was more of a shooting guard, but I guess he does qualify. He'd definitely be third on my list, not sure if I'd put him ahead of Collison or Shakur. My list of top point guards is as follows: Shakur, Collison, Singletary, Crittenton, Law, Conley, James, Augustin QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:40 PM) Give me Mike Conley Jr. or Ty Lawson over Crittenton anyday. Both Conley and Lawson take much better care of the basketball. Crittenton, 13.9 ppg 6 apg, 3.6 topg in 29.1 mpg Lawson, 8.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 1.7 topg in 23.1 mpg Conley, 9 ppg, 6.6 apg, 1.9 topg in 28.6 mpg Crittenton is asked to do so much more than Lawson is. If he had Lawson's supporting cast, he'd be even better. Lawson's the 4th best freshman pg in the country.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:34 PM) I would say Williams is the best defensive player on the list, but he lags behind the others offensively and as a rebounder. 7.1 boards for an athlete like him that plays 32 minutes a game isn't exactly elite. There was a great statistical analysis about how Williams' defense is overrated. He blocks a lot of shots, but BC gives up a ton of points every game. Williams reminds me of Tyrus Thomas from last year, as he's a great weak-side shot blocker, but his man-to-man defense is poor. Speaking of centers, Randolph Morris is actually having quite the quality season. He was such a bust his first two years, but he's very improved now and doesn't look like a robot on offense.

3 games lost due to an infielder playing in the outfield. I love Pablo's energy......but I'd rather see him on the infield instead of butchering fly balls.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:57 PM) I'll throw Acie Law's name into the mix. Yep, he's been playing much better recently. It's amazing how poor the point guard position is this season. T. Green has been playing better recently as well. Here's a question I've been pondering: In 5 years, who will be the better pro player: Tyrus Thomas or Josh McRoberts? Personally, I think McRoberts brings more intangibles to the game than Thomas. QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 08:01 PM) McRoberts has been ok. He's a good player at this point but he certainly isn't special and he doesn't belong on an all american team. His scoring and rebounding numbers are similar to Noah's and Horford's and then when you realize they're both shooting nearly 20 percent better than him from the field, it's not much of an argument there. McRoberts also doesn't get single coverage every time down the court like Noah and Horford do, and teams don't have to worry about Duke lighting it up from the perimeter like they do with Humphrey, Green, etc. It was amazing last night to see how many short shots Horford and Noah get. I never thought I'd say this, but Donovan actually was designing magnificient plays to get those guys layups. Might I also add that I hate Duke, so please don't think I'm a Duke/Coach K/McRoberts homer. I hope they lose by 30 tonight.

BTW, my freshman All-American team so far is: PG- Crittenton/Augustin SG- Budinger/Beverly C- Hawes/Oden SF- Durant/Thad Young PF- B. Wright/Taj Gibson

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:52 PM) Hold on, I missed this before. McRoberts as the 2nd team center? Talk about overrated, he has been disappointing. He's very inconsistent, if he were playing to his potential Duke would be a lot better. I'd much rather have either Florida post player, or the one-handed Greg Oden, or Aaron Gray just off the top of my head. McRoberts has been fantastic in every aspect besides scoring this year. Anyone that was expecting him to replace Redick's scoring is going to be disappointing, but he's far and away the best player on Duke. Noah and Horford offset each other, and neither has been as good as they were last year. No one is a bigger fan of Aaron Gray than I am, but he's struggled recently. He'll be better when he gets more consistent playing time, even though teams are taking away his touches and making Pitt burn them from the perimeter. Sean Williams of BC had a great stretch of games, but he's fallen off the table now. Davidson is a solid center, even though he's trying way too hard to impress scouts with his outside game. He's gone through so much though, and I only wish he can be a first round pick. Ronald Steele has been bad this year, but that's due to injury. If Drew Neitzel qualifies as a point guard, he belongs in the top 3. He's really impressed me this season, and Mich St. would have been so much better the past few years if he played with this much assertiveness.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:23 PM) Alando had 17 points last night and missed 10 shots. Alando is having a great year and before this game he's shined even brighter in Wiscy's biggest games(Pitt and Marquette). He's averaging close to 20 and 5 and shooting close to 50 percent, like I said, he's having a great year and he will definitely be in the player of the year talk at the end of the year. As far as Rush, he had a lot of preseason hype but that has cooled down big time. He is not having that good of a year at all but I certainly don't think he's severely overrated at this point either. Dominic James on the other hand is completely overrated right now. First, I explained the missed shot totals above, with the 5 FT added in. As for Rush, it's still crazy to see how some people list him as their best SF in the country. So far this year, he's not even one of the top 5 SF. I don't understand the way Self is using him. Rush just stands on the side out on the perimeter, and never moves. All the team has to do is face guard him, and he's taken out of the game. Other underrated players in the country include the Providence duo of McDermott/Hill, Levance Fields (stats aren't great, but he's a hell of a leader), D.J. Strawberry, and Rich McBride (I joke!).

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 07:17 PM) That really only leaves Hansbrough, Davis, and Boggan IMO (feel free to speak up if I'm missing somebody), and since LSU has already lost several games he could drop. Since Hansbrough plays on the #1 team and is an ACC guy I would expect him to get it. If you take Hansbrough off of UNC, they're still a top 10 team. However, if you take Davis and Boggan off of their team, those teams don't even make the tournament. My All-American team (not including Fazekas) at this point of the season is: PG- Shakur/Collison SG- Dudley/Lofton C- Boggan/McRoberts SF- Durant/Tucker PF- Big Baby/Hansbrough

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 06:55 PM) Your math is off, he had 17 points and was 8-18 from the field. While that's not a great shooting night it's not awful either. He's shooting .496% from the field on the year, which is pretty good. Most of the POY hype so far comes from his big performance against Pitt, that'll vary a bit as the season goes on as more guys get major opportunities. I would probably lean more towards Davis or Hansbrough for POY, or maybe Mario Boggan if Oklahoma State keeps doing well, but I wouldn't really have a problem with Tucker if Wisconsin does well. He must have had 2 late points then, because you're forgetting that he missed 5 free throws also. Great call on Boggan, as he's been great this season. As much as I hate to say it, Durant's probably been the best overall player in college basketball so far. Hansbrough definitely doesn't deserve it either, as his numbers haven't been anything special so far. With all the talent around him this year, he doesn't get as many touches/playing time.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 09:44 AM) Wasn't she on 24 as well? Yep

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Jan 10, 2007 -> 05:37 AM) great game tonight. taylor and tucker played really well. as much as i'm not a huge wisconsin basketball fan i have to say that after a few years tucker has grown into one of my favorite all-time hoops players. he just gets it done. i'm not sure how his game translates to the pro's, but time and time again he gets it done. i'm also becoming more and more convinced that ohio state has a final four team on its hands. i'm not sure they're going to win it all, but i truly believe they'll be right there when it's all said and done. Tucker missed just as many shots as he had points. He's a good player, but he's severely overrated right now. I can't believe some people are claiming he's the Player of the Year in college basketball this year. Other players who are massively overrated are Dominic James and Brandon Rush. The most underrated players in the country are Mustafa Shakur and Richard Hendrix.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Jan 9, 2007 -> 09:40 PM) Connie Britton...I don't know what it is, but wowee-wow-wow. She looks great on FNL. Did she have some work done?

QUOTE(IowaSoxFan @ Jan 9, 2007 -> 10:18 PM) Next season we will have the best rotation in the Central and at least a top five staff in the majors. Couple that with all of our offense returning we are in great shape. Our bullpen is a lot deeper and has a chance to be very good. We traded a middle relieved and a starter for 4 potential starters so in my estimation we have had a really good offseason I'd take the Tigers starting rotation over the Sox, and I'd put our rotation on par with that of the Indians.

This guy has been making the rounds on the radio this morning, and he's coming across as a massive tool. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but he also refuses to vote for people on their first try. It was comical to hear him say he can't remember if he ever voted for Gaylord Perry, who was notorious for doctoring the ball. When Cal Ripken Jr. makes the Hall of Fame, can Kevin Costner give the induction speech?

QUOTE(T R U @ Jan 6, 2007 -> 08:18 PM) K fed is the man He's one of the most natural heels I've seen in a long time. The sad thing is he has better mic skills than 90 pct of the wrestlers.

I can't believe that the Red Sox are possibly relying on Joel Pineiro to close out games for them. For such a talented team with a huge payroll, that statement is pretty insane. Of course, to be fair, I can't believe that we're relying on either Floyd or Haeger to be the 5th starter.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 04:10 AM) I think he can be around 5, but I agree with you that he will not get 30 starts. At least this time around, we have 3-5 more options we can go to. I have my doubts about him being around 5 when guys like Buehrle and Garcia struggle to stay below that point. I'll be the first to make a Cooper Congratulatory Thread if Floyd has an ERA below 5.50.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 03:51 AM) What kind of year do you see Floyd having, should the White Sox give him 30 starts ? I'll make the pessimistic (shocking, I know) prediction that he'd never last 30 starts. From everything I've seen and heard, I'd be stunned if he had an ERA less than 5.50 starting in the AL.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 03:35 AM) I'm assuming you feel that this is a bad thing, correct ? Oh yes QUOTE(SEALgep @ Jan 7, 2007 -> 03:34 AM) He's a young Garland, and I have no problems with him in the rotation. Give him a chance with Coop. The only thing he has in common with Garland is that they're were drafted out of high school and got traded. His numbers don't even compare to those of Garland in the minors.