hitlesswonder

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 09:39 PM) Illinois has about a 90 percent chance of getting in if they lose tomorrow and 99 percent if they win. Most years, their resume isn't cutting it. But with 68 teams and a bad bubble, they'll be hard pressed not to be included. Maybe, but I think we all know Illinois is not actually a tournament quality team. And I am not sure they will make it in. Using ESPN's bubble watch as a guide, there's like 10 spots for 14 bubble teams (unless I miscounted). I can easily come up with 10 bubble teams I'd take over Illinois: Utah St, UAB, Georgia, BC, Saint Mary's, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Colorado, Nebraska, Alabama And there's probably more (Michigan...maybe USC....probably some mid-majors with lousy RPIs but who have actually won a bunch of games which Illinois did not). The expansion of the field helps Illinois a lot, but I think until you know if there are any upsets for the automatic bids, it's really hard to say. I don't think Illinois is in now and I don't think beating Michigan moves them to safely in. In fact, unless they beat tOSU they should be sweating.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 04:32 PM) Removing collective bargaining rights isn't pro-worker. Lower corporate taxes that funnel wealth from public sector employees to a small number of wealthy corporate owners isn't pro-worker. Gutting public education in favor of vouchers for overwhelmingly religious private schools that show no better results is not pro-worker. Most workers in Wisconsin are not public employees but are taxpayers. Public employees do not have a monopoly on the term "worker" -- far from it.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 04:20 PM) The dems did do a pretty good job of being able to highlight how these union-busting, anti-worker measures have no financial impact by legal definition. Is "anti-worker" meant to be sarcastic? Public workers will no longer be forced to contribute dues to a union via automatic payroll deduction. And in the bigger picture, you get lower taxes and more private sector jobs across the state...I think this bill is pro-worker.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 08:46 AM) No they don't. They're doing the same thing liberals would be doing if true HCR was passed via "shady" or "underhanded" tactics. Ultimately it's not how a bill was passed but the end results. The Wisconsin dem's were abusing procedural rules here, so there's no room to complain about rep's doing the same. I agree. Walker was forced to do this by the procedural abuses of the Dems. And, more generally, I think the main conservative complaint about HCR is that it is simply unconstitutional...while all Walker may have done is simply not wait the required 24 hours between posting notice and having a meeting...it's a little different.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 11:07 AM) I'm going to go the conventional route and say Illinois under-performs as always. Michigan was one shot away from beating IL in Champaign, I think they will take a neutral court game easily. In fact, if any team outside the top 3 makes a run I think it will be Michigan.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 08:28 PM) He definitely played too much but part of that was Richardson being banged up and not effective when he was in the game. Richmond should have played a little more for sure and while I would say Paul should have played more, he seems to struggle when he is in the game for too long of stretches. He plays so hard pressuring the ball that his production seems to dramatically drop off after he is in the game for about 4 straight minutes. I think a team that plays such intense and physical man defense is a bad match for Paul (4 TOs tonight) who still doesn't seem that comfortable with ball in his hands. In the big picture for Paul, I think it is good he's being challenged to play point because any chance for him to make the next level is going require better ball skills. I'd agree Richmond should have played more over Cole. Did anyone else get the feeling that McCamey and Richmond don't get along well on the floor together? There were two sequences where Richmond wouldn't give the ball up to McCamey when he asked for it....

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 07:56 PM) Also, hitlesswonder it is that type of s*** that makes me hate Davis. Less than a minute left, almost no time on the shot clock and he doesn't even contest a shot by one of the other teams star players. I understand...Davis is prone to spectacularly bad plays like that (or the missed dunks against Iowa). But...if you look at his line of 12-10-3 with one turnover, he really was one of the better Illini on the court tonight. It's just that the things that stick out are the egregiously bad mistakes. I guess I still think the vitriol I see for him from so many fans is undeserved, especially for guy who has managed to stay out of trouble off the court.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 08:22 AM) I think the Big East, Big Ten and possibly ACC will be better. Kansas will lose the Morris twins, Texas will lose all their bigs, K-State is losing most of their scoring and the big 12 is mostly out of the top classes picture (except Texas) The Big Ten will be trash next season. It will be Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan that might be good...other than that I don't see much. Purdue loses Moore and Johnson...Minnesota will lose Tubby...Indiana probably needs another year to become good. MSU obviously has good recruits and a great coach but it will be hard to replace Lucas. Illinois is likely to be very bad...no point guard at all and multiple players trying to look good for NBA scouts...

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 27, 2011 -> 07:01 AM) An upset over Purdue would be so nice to have, but I extremely doubt it will happen. The Illini need to atleast beat Indiana and one game (if not 2) in the B10 tourney to get in IMO. I pretty much agree. If Illinois doesn't beat Indiana and win two in the B10 tourney they should be out. Knight said the Big 10 will have more undeserving teams in the ncaa tournament than any other conference and I think he's right. The B10 should get 4 bids max and that's pushing it.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 11:28 PM) So rumor has it that Houston wouldnt deal Lee unless they got Asik (once again proving that Asik has value) and that Memphis didnt want to deal with the Bulls. Nothing the Bulls can do now but hope for a buyout and signing. Asik shut down the lane against James and Wade tonight. I forget where I read it (Hollinger?) but the Bulls defensive stats when he's in the game are elite. Now, I'm not saying Asik will ever be a starter in the league let alone do something beyond that, but he's clearly valuable. There's a reason that HOU,MEM, and CLE all asked for him (plus Morey is supposed to be a fantastic talent evaluator, so it says something that he held out for Asik). I think I already posted this, but if Cole Aldrich is a lottery pick you know Asik would be if he was in the draft this year. I also don't understand the love for Mayo. I would've traded Gibson and 2 firsts for him, but I don't know if Memphis was willing to take that or not. I wouldn't have traded Asik and picks for him because I think it should be easier to find a 2 guard performing like Mayo is right now than a 7 footer who is not a complete stiff. Mayo may have been a high draft pick but so was Hasheem Thabeet. Right now, stats like PER make Mayo look like a below average guard. And if you don't believe in PER (which is fine, I'm not sure I do), there's still the fact he got benched by the Grizz in his 3rd NBA season for Tony Allen. That's not a good sign. Maybe he'll turn out to be great, but right now I wouldn't fault someone for not being sure about that.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 04:02 PM) We couldn't beat them without Anthony. I don't like our chances when he's there. I certainly do hope they're not our first round matchup. Felton, Chandler, and Gallo all hurt the Bulls in those games and now they're gone. I don't know if the Knicks are that much better this season. After they get Chris Paul or Howard in 2012 they'll be a championship caliber team.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 03:17 PM) I actually wonder how much you have watched Mayo play. Because you seem to think that because he was the 3rd pick overall, that actually means something. Even during his college career there were major concerns about him. He shot to much, didnt play team basketball, to many turnovers. I agree. Mayo averages fewer assists/minute than Bogans. He shoots the 3 around 36% which is not great. Lots of advanced stats say his defense blows. And, forgetting stats, you're talking about a guy who in his 3rd season lost his starting spot on the Grizz to Tony Allen. Why did that happen? There's a good chance that he's the second coming of Larry Hughes. Plus, Mayo is on the edge of needing to be extended and you know he'll want more money than his performance has dictated. He's better than Bogans and I would have fine the Bulls taking a shot with him, but I don't think Mayo gets them to the Finals this season. If the Bulls have plans to make Asik a rotation player, then I think it's not ridiculous to refuse paying Asik and a first for Mayo. Here's an exercise: where would Asik be drafted if he was in the 2011 draft? Cole Aldridge was taken 11th last year...Asik would go pretty high. Maybe Mayo will end up being an all-star, but this isn't like passing on Pau Gasol.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 07:52 PM) I still think Tisdale gets way, way too much crap from Illini fans. You really want Leonard on the court more? Tisdale is what he is...great shooter, weak interior offensively, mediocre defense. Better than Leonard who contributes negatively on the court right now. I think Mike Davis falls into the category of getting too much crap, too. Overall he's had a solid season. He's thoroughly reviled on message boards but if people look over his career he's been a good player for Illinois. I understand that given his height and jumping ability people want more, and he never really added aggression going to the hoop but Illinois was lucky they managed to pick him up late in the recruiting cycle. He and Tisdale are bad fit together, I think. In fact, the whole Illinois team is less than the sum of it's parts. It's funny that until 4 years ago the opposite was usually true.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 15, 2011 -> 09:38 AM) And it guarantees that Griffey and/or Richmond are gone. Much more likely it's Griffey transferring, possibly to Missouri. Weber recently talked about how Mike Shaw as a freshman can play major minutes next season with Mike Davis graduating. Griffey would be a returning junior playing the same position...and Weber has already written him out of next season. It seems pretty likely he's gone. Which is a shame, because he is talented -- if Griffey had gone to Wisconsin he'd be a solid Big Ten player. I take that as commentary on the respective abilities of the two coaching staffs.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 01:20 PM) A long time ago, with 2 coaches that are far far away...... I've read a couple of posts elsewhere recently claiming that Weber's success at SIU was a product of Painter. It's an interesting theory that certainly seems reasonable right now.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 10:01 PM) Illinois is 2nd in the Big 10 in possession per game and I think Weber would actually be fine with running more but this team hasn't been forcing turnovers and isn't great on the glass. When that is the case you aren't really going to be able to push tempo. I don't like the offense at the end of games although I don't think the idea of putting the ball in your best players hands and letting him make a play is a bad one. It is just that McCamey has proven time and time again he isn't that guy. Well, the Big Ten as a whole is a slow tempo conference but I'm still surprised UI is number 2. In any case, thinking about it, I was wrong about the pace Illinois plays and the idea that they should run more. What I would really like to see is not them running more, but instead just not looking awful in the halfcourt. I keyed in on them going uptempo because when they did that I didn't have to watch them run their version of motion offense. Obviously, there have been games where UI looked fine because they shot the lights out, but it's been a while since that happened.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 09:29 PM) Damn, that would have been a hell of a shot by Michigan to win it. Illini fans at least can't blame the seniors tonight. I'm shocked Illinois didn't lose. I hate watching Weber's teams on offense (actually, defense too but they are better there). They need to bring in an offensive coordinator...burning off the shot clock with a bunch of looping slow passes (slow enough to allow constant double-teaming that generated turnovers) to take a worse shot than you could have gotten by just chucking at the beginning of the set is ridiculous. And it's clearly not the players choice...you can tell they would rather run.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) Ugh, I'm so sick of hearing Illini fans (not on this site, but other boards) want to see Leonard play over Tisdale. Leonard is terrible, and whenever he was in today, Johnson schooled him. Illini fans need to realize that this team will do or die based on how McCamey plays. I agree. The clamoring for Head, Bertrand, Griffey, and Leonard to play is bizarre. They simply will not perform better than the guys that are playing. And if Weber had played them a bunch in non-conference (as some people say he should have), people would have ripped him for losing winnable games. There's lot of things Weber could be criticized for, but I don't think he leaves a game on the bench. Even starting Cole over Richmond at the beginning of the season wasn't crazy -- it's not like Richmond is a Carmelo Anthony. As for starting McCamey today, I think it was a legitimate choice based on his effort in Minnesota. But Paul is simply the best player on the team now which makes the choice of starting him or McCamey very interesting. Maybe sitting Tisdale to start Paul would be the way to go, even though that leaves no PG on the bench.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 01:52 PM) lol, great seal by Moore. Literally was grabbing Richardson's shorts. Ridiculous. Purdue is very physical on D...lots of hand-checking and contact. That's not a complaint -- I think it's good coaching and particularly good strategy against Illinois who can't handle the ball. But I do think it's interesting that some teams can play that style without the officials lowering the boom and other teams rack up touch foul after touch foul. I don't really get why that is... And lest anyone think otherwise, I think Illinois lost this game today because Purdue is a much better team, not because of officiating. I'm not complaining the officials being unfair....

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 12:54 PM) Richmond continues to be just about the most unlikeable college basketball player I can remember. Brandon Paul looking great...he really needs to be the go-to guy for Illinois. Richmond, like a lot of players and coaches at Illinois, does seem unlikable. But, you know, there's lots of players in recent memory with the same level of obnoxiousness. DeMarcus Cousins comes to mind, although at least he had a dominant game to along with the arrogance. Paul should start. McCamey should be on the bench. It's mind-boggling how McCamey's game has disappeared. He doesn't seem injured but the difference between the non-conference season and now is enough to make you wonder if there isn't an underlying physical reason behind the decline. Right now, Paul is a better point guard which is shocking.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 10, 2011 -> 09:00 PM) Sounded like Bardo threw D-Will under the bus for the Sloan firing. Typical Illini finish, take a 9 point lead, let Minny cut it to 1 in the last two minutes. Awesome. D-Mac benching seems to have waken him up, still making some bad decisions though. So that's something else that Illinois does with regularity that I don't understand. Do they change the offense they run once they get a lead? Like running more clock and taking lousy shots as time expires? Or is it that when other teams bring defensive pressure they can't handle it (they are an overall poor ball-handling team)? It seems to happen a lot, and like the road shooting, I don't understand why. On the plus side, the rebounding margin is closer tonight so far than I thought it would be.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 10, 2011 -> 08:51 PM) Ok troll. Move along now. Sigh. Seriously, I don't understand the Illinois home/road splits for shooting pct and the Illini guards are a big part of that. I don't actually blame Weber for it. It's mystifying.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 10, 2011 -> 08:36 PM) The reffing in the Minnesota/Illinois game is an absolute atrocity. My god. That matches the shooting by Paul and Richardson. Streaky doesn't do justice to them. I blame Weber.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 03:25 PM) He guards the likes of Kobe, Melo, Dirk, ect., 4 times a piece every year. I don't think he's scared of Rose. Derrick is a below average defender. This is fact. I don't think it's certain that Rose is a below average defender this year...I think he's at least average and some people think he's even better than that. It's true that Rose bit on a lot of shot fakes against Miller, but his overall work this season is not bad. Moreover, people should watch other pgs play D against each other in the NBA. Almost all of them look bad on D (with hand-checking and touch fouls called on the perimeter it's hard for anyone to be a lockdown defender at that position).

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jan 29, 2011 -> 11:15 PM) No, Northwestern is that bad inside. He played soft for a guy his size. NU had 8 offensive rebounds in a slowdown game. He's not the best player in the country, that's for sure. No he's definitely not the best player in the country, he's just the best player in the big ten which is not a good conference. I'm not sure what "has a long way to go" means...so depending on the destination you could be right. But he's very good, and IMO you shouldn't decide his game has huge holes based on a single game. A lot of his performance offensively depends on the refs -- he gets fouled in the post constantly so if the refs get tired of calling that he obviously won't put up as many points. I would agree though that were he in the big 12 or big east or even the sec that he wouldn't have the hype he does -- he's very good player who can look great because he plays in a lousy conference.