Jake

I like Black and actually think he's been underutilized today but that was just stupid. He's the sole front court player who might turn into a good player, but right now he's not there mentally. He's trying really hard and is making efforts to be a tough guy, which he is - but at the same time he's not ready for this speed either

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 3, 2015 -> 05:20 PM) Who else do you play? Nunn hasn't been good either. I would much rather play Nunn at this point.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jan 3, 2015 -> 05:20 PM) It is stunning how bad Cosby has been. It is to the point I'm shocked when he makes a shot. His outside shot looks like Derrick Rose's...but worse

Please tell me what Cosby has done to get all this playing time other than making a 30-foot turnaround three in the first half

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jan 3, 2015 -> 05:14 PM) That is a coaching issue at this point. Definitely, and he gives himself the problem of not being able to bench the guy because there's no depth. You might want to get through to him by benching him, but Maverick's going to kill you just as much by being a non-athlete

Never thought I'd be yearning for the days of Chester Frazier at PG

Also, Egwu may be the worst pick and roll defender I've ever seen. He doesn't understand how to do it whatsoever. He's just going to defend the guard no matter what.

Well, Illini will miss the tourney again. Groce is in a position where just making the tourney next season might not save his job. Groce isn't getting the Xs and Os perfect, but this team just doesn't have enough good players on it. You have no decent true guard - both point guards are terrible and Cosby is worse. Nunn is okay but has reduced his offensive game to spot-up jump shooting. Egwu is still marginal, LeRon Black isn't mentally ready for this pace of play, and Maverick Morgan is awful. Hill looks like he's going to be great but he doesn't know how to assert himself in the offense. He's probably suffering from the PG play as well.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 2, 2015 -> 11:58 PM) He is still quite young. In fact, he could repeat A+ yet again and STILL be on the young side for the level. Keep that in mind. Also, the key to me is, he fixed a LOT of things in 2014. Not all of them, but the fact that he made that many adjustments at that age is impressive, and makes it more likely in my view that he can continue improvements. I also disagree to a certain degree about a complete inability to recognize pitches. In the article I wrote in a similar vein in April for FutureSox, I found multiple videos (including one I took) where you could see him hitch to respond to offspeed and still mash. I think that particular part of Nathaniel's analysis was too strident towards the negative. He's still a T10 guy for me, though no longer T5, in this system. I've known several guys throughout my time in baseball who learned to ID offspeed pitches, but for whatever reason still had little ability to be disciplined on them. They'd be tickled s***less that they recognized the curveball, so they would swing without even realizing it was an unhittable location. I do wonder what level he'll start at in 2015. A+ would still seem appropriate, but it's hard to imagine any team having a player of his caliber repeat that level a third time. That's especially true when considering how small the SAL is.

My main point regarding the speed issue is that I'm not fully convinced that he's been reduced to a one-tool player who will live and die solely with his bat. I don't see why he can't be a solid or better defensive player who doesn't have to be a well-rounded hitter to make it as a MLB regular.

What's so great about Doug Marrone?

It is worth wondering whether there is any good reason for her to know any of her students' political affiliation in the first place, since she works in communication. Even so, educators have all kinds of reasons to be potentially biased. There's no way to be perfectly neutral. With that said, chances are that she rarely teaches/grades undergraduate students. She's a full professor and department chair at a top research university in a scientific discipline. She probably only works with grad students.

It's weird to be an Illini fan in Columbus, Ohio. I'll root for OSU on the side so long as they pay my salary, though

That was some abhorrent clock management by both teams down the stretch

I think both of those calls are correct Rock. Definitely the running into the kicker call. The PI was more borderline.

OSU looks like they'd be obviously superior with one of their first two QBs.

He's healthy so I don't give a s***

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 1, 2015 -> 04:46 AM) He was commenting on the player's mindset, not the article. And I'm saying the article's comment about batting practice wasn't meant to indicate that CH wastes his BP slugging bombs, just that he has been seen hitting longballs in some batting practices.

Maybe he intended it as a comment on how much we should care about missing out on Chris Denorfia

QUOTE (oldsox @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 09:05 PM) "Puts on impressive shows at batting practice..." IOW, he would rather show off his power in BP than improving his swing, hitting to opposite field, etc. Reminds me of Ian Stewart, a former first rounder obsessed with hitting bombs in BP, now out of The Show. Or it was just a compliment that he sometimes hits it very far in batting practice

I think the stuff about him lacking speed is just a product of general pessimism. Few people thought he was a longterm CF from the start, despite him being a strong athlete.

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 30, 2014 -> 04:41 PM) Voice Actress Christine Cavanaugh, 51 - Leukemia Best known to me as the voice behind Chucky Finster of Rugrats

It seems like he could be talking about anything there. Going out on the town, picking up some girls at the club, playing for Team USA, etc.

I don't like being the way people who are fans of SEC teams are, where they cheerlead their whole conference, but the B1G could really use a win by OSU to maintain some relevance. It doesn't hurt that Alabama/Saban are supremely unlikable.

Yeah, only having four teams in still makes the entire process a complete farce. It needs a huge expansion.