thedoctor

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) Love the enthusiasm, but Bill Self recruited that team...Bruce Weber would never bring in studs like that team had. well that's not quite correct. people most attribute illinois's recent success to deron williams, dee brown, and james augustine. those guys were awesome and kudos to self for bringing them in. that said, deron was a four-star, dee was a five-star, and augie was a three-star. if (big if) gordon comes this year, then weber will have pulled in a five star (gordon), a four star (mccamey), and two three stars (tisdale and cole). so, provided gordon comes, weber will have brought in exactly the kinds of players ratings-wise that self did to build the base of a final four team. does that portend or guarantee any future success? heck no, but if that class (plus another guy since there still is another schollie available) all ends up at illinois next year, i'm going to have a hard time buying the "weber can't recruit" argument any more. don't get me wrong. i think the criticism of weber's recruiting is valid. any time you lose out on in-state players like julian wright, sherron collins, jon scheyer, and derrick rose in succession, a red flag goes up. no doubt there are some mitigating circumstances in the recruitments of those players, but at the end of the day a coach is judged on results and those results are not good enough.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Sep 29, 2006 -> 07:41 PM) You're crazy, but not for that.

call me crazy but i'm still pretty confident gordon is going to illinois. shoulda done that before the bradley and bucknell games...

what is this "baseball" season people are speaking of? i'm intrigued by the prospect of this unique and interesting "game." also this thing people call the "world series" has me wondering. is this a chance to avenge our losses in the ryder cup and basketball worlds? i'll hang up and wait for my answer.

mac koshwal to depaul

according to scout.com, gordon will visit indiana this weekend, then take another unofficial visit to illinois.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Sep 22, 2006 -> 05:01 PM) the recruiting class looks pretty dry to me. If gordon goes to IU or even KU, that would leave a class with barely anyone making the top 100. I know you can find diamonds in the rough,, but Illiniois is just removed from a national title game. I belive Weber gives up too easilly on the top dogs. with eric gordon illinois's recruiting class is far from dry. without him, it's probably in need of a glass of water.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Sep 22, 2006 -> 04:04 PM) I believe weber's entire recruting is inconsistent what do you mean? his approach? his philosophy? his results? while i'll agree he has had some notable misses, i also think he's had some good gets. if (big if) this class ends up including gordon, it will be among the top-10 classes in the nation, possibly higher if the fifth scholarship goes to someone like stewart or hudson.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Sep 22, 2006 -> 03:55 AM) Now we need Mac Koshwal to finally commit. Although weber made a late push recently even though he stated he wasn't interested since Rose wasn't interested, we're still the favorite to get him. And I don't wanna get ahead of myself, get my hopes up, or jinx it...but should I be letting myself get excited about the possiblity of rose??? yeah, koshwal won't be coming. i liked his ability, but illinois was too inconsistent in it's pursuit of him. probably the same thing that cost them with tucker. not sure why folks are melting down, either. i'm not sure tucker was the top wing target. what i've heard is that is a.j. stewart, although frankly i think he chooses kentucky.

darquavis tucker to depaul. nice pick-up for wainwright.

there are a number of factors that contributed to this team's demise, and i am fairly certain that fatigue/wear-and-tear was one of those factors. now, was it the main factor? no, i don't believe that. but i do think it is something that kept this team from really putting it together in the second half of the season. people forget how good this team was for the great majority of the first half. but as the season wore on, the team just got worse.

good to see ozzie doing his part. class move.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Sep 8, 2006 -> 08:40 PM) ^^^ so says the man with the bud selig av.

i don't mind hawk, but living out of state i only hear him maybe once every two or three weeks. he's probably better in small doses.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Sep 1, 2006 -> 05:04 AM) Well, the headline to the first article stated that illinois was no longer in the running for Rose instead of stating that DePaul, the team in Chicago, was. Just a small slight, but an understandable one since illinois has been more successful of late, as you mentioned. Without sounding like hangar with illinois being my cubs, I'll just say that the DePaul coverage of late has been subpar. Last year when we beat wake forest, for example, there were no Chicago papers there and all that the papers gave was the generic AP story. There have been minor things like that for a while now. The coverage just has been lacking. But, it's not a huge deal and I hate to sound like I'm complaining. The only way they can get better coverage is by playing better basketball and winning more games. Here's hoping they can do just that. Also, it's good to hear that you're a wainwright fan. I'm slowly warming up to him and can't wait to see more and more progress from our program... yeah, i like wainwright. he seems like a straight-shooter. more importantly he seems like someone who covets that job and will stay awhile. they need that type of stability, just as illinois did when weber was hired. and i do remember the wake thing last year. that was horrible. no excuse to not have someone at that game. none.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 06:30 PM) My mistake. The papers tend to lean towards illinois here, though. It would have been nice to have seen a bit more publicity about DePaul being in Rose's top 5 instead of having to hear so much about illinois not being in it. Can't complain since there's probably much more illini support around here anyways... i'm not too sure about that. the article in the sun-times yesterday was definitely more favorable to depaul than it was to illinois. i'm not a big media conspiracy guy, but i think many illinois fans would find the assertion that chicago papers are more weighted to them quite humorous. if anything, illinois may get more coverage because of late they've had much more success than depaul has. that's not a slight to depaul, either, because i've always liked it's basketball program and am a wainwright fan.

the late greats - wilco drunk is better than dead - the push stars freaks of the industry - digital underground mockingbirds - grant lee buffalo ain't no right - jane's addiction ripple - jane's addiction i'm the ocean - neil young wild world - cat stevens welcome to the terrordome - public enemy steady as you go - the raconteurs

that's a pretty silly suggestion.

he's pretty much the man.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 05:41 PM) Brantley also said earlier this year that if he had to choose 1 player to start a team with, it would be Papelbon. yeah, that was a pretty idiotic statement.

well, i guess it's time for my yearly rant about them starting the poll too early. it is nonsensical to have a poll now. why not wait until four weeks into the season when we start hashing out how good these teams really are? ok, now i have that out of my system. go illinois! (please.)

joe cowley from the sun-times was on local radio out here today, and essentially said he didn't believe the trade would happen. his opinion, which was generally stated in the sun-times today, was that this was entirely a ploy to drive up the cost for some other team. he said he could see the sox making a deal of some sort, but that this one just didn't make sense for the sox from many standpoints. he also said he did not expect vaz or freddy to be traded, but said he was certain that vaz, freddy, or garland will be traded in the offseason because each is scheduled to make 10 million next year. this is why mccarthy getting traded made no sense to him, because he most assuredly will be the fifth starter next year. anyhow, that's just what he said.

gordon re-affirms commitment to illinois

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jul 21, 2006 -> 05:40 PM) That's a very risky but great risk to take. If he keeps screwing up, then you let him go, if he gets his act together, he's a dominant DT to fill a huge need. Great pick-up if true. no doubt this dude has some issues. alaeze story this is a risk, but i suspect it's one the team felt they had to make. if he is playing this fall, he's starting.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 21, 2006 -> 05:04 PM) Apparently Zook got another great player. Melvin Alaeze is that player. http://mb30.scout.com/fillinoisinsiderfrm3...cID=13562.topic Also, apparently, his name is now in the U of I directory. that is some seriously crazy spiff if it's true. alaeze was a five-star player and the sixth-ranked defensive tackle in the nation in 2005. getting a stud like this at the team's biggest position of need is impressive. way to go zook. defensive tackle rankings-2005