Rowand44

Another huge game for SIU tomorrow as we go to omaha to face Creighton. If we win this win we put ourselves in great shape to get an at large, if we lose..well then we still got some work to do.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 10, 2006 -> 06:33 PM) Dwight Howard after 1 quarter vs. the Pistons. 7 points and 12 rebounds. That's gotta be a record or something for most boards in a quarter this year. Impressive. On a totally unrelated note, Stephen A. Smith is very, very f***in annoying. I feel bad for Anthony and Legler who are pretty good analysts imo for having to work with this guy.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 10, 2006 -> 05:17 PM) I would STRONGY disagree. Marte was my least favorite White Sox, I mean, Timo>>>>Marte for me at least, but IMO, Munoz, Lopez and Almanza can be MUCH worse. Yes but no at the same time. What I mean by that is ya I'm sure they can be worse but unless they prove themselves they aren't going to be thrown into pressure situations like Damaso was.

Let the joking begin.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 11:30 PM) I really don't like using the who-beat-who argument in college basketball because there are a ton of variables. Georgetown wasn't playing all that well early in the year, so beating them wasn't that big a deal back then. They're a much better team right now than they were when they lost to West Virginia, Illinois, and Vanderbilt. A lot of that can probably be attributed to their offense. A lot of guys didn't mesh early on, and that killed them (what was weird is it was Green and Bowman who were struggling early, the veterans). They just look so efficient now, and a lot of different guys can beat you. They're also a very good defensive team who doesn't turn it over, I love gtown come tourny time. And ya I agree that they are 10 times better now then they were earlier.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 11:18 PM) I just think they'd have to get a really, really good draw in their bracket for them to make it to the Final Four. There are so many teams I can think of that they'd have some trouble with (like 4 just in their conference) that I don't see them doing it. I'm with you here, just playing devils advocate cause there are some scenarios where I could see them getting there. They've beat gtown at home also this season for the record, though I think gtown is the much better team.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:58 PM) The problem is that they were a deeper team last year. Salley and Fisher were solid players that gave them other scoring options and at least some post presence. Gansey and Pittsnoggle also had their coming out parties, which made them a lot better. Right now they only have two real scorers and no size. If you could limit the open 3's they probably aren't going to beat anyone good. Gansey and Pittsnoggle are their only guys that can really be counted on (and are also the only guys that could consistently hit 3's with a hand in their face), which will really hurt them in the tournament. If one of them fails to reach double figures, they're in real trouble against a lot of teams. They've already beaten 3 pretty solid teams on the road(nova, ok, ucla). The thing about nova though is their tiny so what you said makes perfect sense. Herber can score as well if one of those two is having an off night. Look, I don't expect them to get to the final four but it wouldn't surprise me if they do shoot their way there. It all depends on the brackets, obviously.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:32 PM) I hope this shuts up the West Virginia in the Final Four talk for a while. They'll have trouble with athletic teams that can play at least some defense, especially if they have some size to go with it. It would not surprise me at all if they didn't make the Sweet 16. They still have a few very tough games left, so I expect them to drop from the 2-3 seed range that people seem to be suggesting right now to the 5-6 range. I don't see them beating UConn or Georgetown, and although it's at home another game against Pitt doesn't help. It wouldn't really surprise me if they were the first real team that Louisville beats either. WVU is another team that can go down quickly or make it to the final four imo. They did manage to make it to the elite 8 and take louisville to ot(maybe double?) in that game just by shooting the hell out of the ball. If they get hot they just don't miss, and Mike Gansey is just unbelievable imo. Pitt shut them completely down tonight but we'll see the matchups come march.

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:09 PM) You take out the three hitter on all the teams that made the playoffs and replace them with no other player. See how well they would have done over the course of the season. You just don't do things like... just like stats shouldn't be cherry picked from pitchers. If you take these seven starts out or these 12 outings... he would have had a 2.27 era. Give me a break... it happened and there is no going back. Ops is the easiest stat to tell how well a player is doing. Even people that do not like stats should look at it because it is just a basic stat... much like slugging and obp. I don't want my six hitter having a .746 let alone my 3 hitter. You have always seemed to like a certain type of hitter though... I'm not cherry picking any stats. The fact is, his ops sucked, and he was a horrible number 3 hitter but he wasn't a horrible hitter for this team. Like you noted earlier he had plenty of clutch hits and drove in plenty of runs. Whatever though, I'm done. I can argue with you over other things.

Pitt holds off WVU with just unbelievable d. Gansey and Pittsnogle could do nothing at all tonight. Very impressive. EDIT: By the way, Pittsnogle was 0-12 from the field and had 0 points.

UCLA holds Wash St. to 30 tonight.

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 09:38 PM) 84368 different players could have been acquired. He put up a .746 ops this year which is just disgusting from a player that was our three hole hitter the majority of the season. I believe williams just reacquired him because he liked his attitude when we traded for him before and was familar with him. Overall he played s***ty but we ended up with a world series championship so i am not gonna complain much . 23 homers, 87 rbi's. OPS ain't everything. He also was the only hitter in the middle of the order who did anything at the beginning of the season, him, tad and pods kept this o going at hte beginning of the season. Like I said, no Carl=no championship.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 08:38 PM) or play some phenomenal defense. Which they always do. I will say I agree though, OSU is the better team.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 08:37 PM) Ritchie was garbage. Everybody knows that. Everett was a central figure on a World Series championship team. Thome and Vazquez have more than proven themselves over the years. I know Carl wasn't the most popular player on this board but no Carl=No Championship.

QUOTE(OldSox2 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 08:19 PM) On the negative side we got Ritchie, Everett twice, and Thome/vazquez and gobs of payroll. You mentioned Fogg, but he wasn't the best pitcher we gave up in that deal. On the positive side we have Freddy. Cause Carl was absolutely horrible. Thome and Vaz have also been given quite the chance to prove their worth.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 07:52 PM) I'm almost certain Bobby at least has both a changeup and a slider in his arsenal. Until last year he was a starter. The Sox have been trying to make him into a fastball/curveball pitcher IIRC, which if he's only pitching 1 inning and he has that fastball hitting 99-100 is not a bad idea IMO. You're right. He has them he just doesn't use them.

Bucky going to pick up a huge W.

QUOTE(Tannerfan @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 07:38 PM) Because I have no knowledge about how to pitch, which is harder to learn, a wicked curve like you describe, or a change like Buehrle's? Eh, it's going to depend on the guy. I would probably say all things considered a change would be harder to learn. To me, all Bobby needs is his fastball and curve to be absolutely dominate, I don't want him to try and learn another pitch before he harnasses his control with his two dominators. If he can consistantly get that nasty break on that curve and keep that fastball up, he's not going to be touched in this league.

QUOTE(Tannerfan @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 07:30 PM) A 70mph change like Gagne's is exactly what I'd love to see. It seems the hitters with the game on the line in the 9th would be so off balance with a pitch like that after a 100mph fastball. Bobby would own the league. If Bobby can consistantly get that big break on his yacker he'll own the league anyways.

Bobby has a change he just doesn't use it much and he really doesn't need to. He doesn't need to mix that curve in more often to be fully effective. The one other thing he had problem with at the beginnign of his stint was getting the heater up. He did that a bit better in the playoffs but that's still something he has to work on.

Make that 10 of 11 now.

Um..OSU has hit 9 of their last 10 3's.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. The only thing worse then this is when you guys made snb a mod.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 02:37 PM) I definitely do Then maybe I'm just retarded and forgot. Don't comment on that by the way.