Rowand44

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 08:53 AM) His shot might be his greatest strength. He's a 90 pct ft shooter right now. From what I've seen from SIU so far this season, he'd be their best offensive guard. FT shooting and jump shooting are different things. I have heard contradicting points on whether Dillard is a good shooter or not from reading everything online, but I need to see him play before I jump to any conclusions. At least between him and Bocot next season, it looks like we'll have two guards who can put the ball in the bucket.

Sweet, Gavin Floyd getting beat up before he throws a pitch this season.

I'd be shocked if at least one of them don't fall flat on their face. Hope I'm wrong but the odds of them both being competent starters this season just aren't very high imo.

Stay safe, man.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 12:02 AM) If you want to know the difference between Ron Zook and Bruce Weber, and more noteably the direction of their programs, look at tonight's showdown between #1 Whitney Young and #5 Homewood-Floosmoor in hoops (and SIU fans, Kevin Dilliard is the truth, but back on target). The best player on the floor tonight, for either team, was none other than Illinois FOOTBALL recruit Supo Sanni (despite the fact Illinois is recruiting 3 different players on Whitney Young), who had 25 points and 15 rebounds as H-F pulled the 66-55 upset. Wish I could have seen the game, from the sounds of it Dillard just has some sick handles, needs to work on his shot though. Still haven't seen him play so that's just from what I've read.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 10:47 PM) Seems as if the Pirates brass are after some good young pitching. Would you offer say Gio, Lucy and Quentin for Bay? No thanks.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 07:16 PM) I understand what you're saying, but "baseball experience" isn't going to help him hit the ball out of the infield. He's developed physically, and because of that and his history he's not likely to ever slug over .375. He'd have to be one really really unique baseball player to ever be anything more than a 4th OFer, or a terrible 'third' OFer. I'm in complete agreement with you about Owens, it's just not his age that bothers me.

QUOTE(max power @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 06:41 PM) I disagree. Cleveland is a more well rounded and better team that I think will win more games. Agreed.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 06:52 PM) They will when they land McFadden Ya, that seems unfair. Unfortunately, that's a real possibility.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 06:45 PM) It took a September BAPIP of .400, IIRC, to raise his OBP, and his OPS was still terrible. He'll also be 27 years old on opening day. His ceiling is terribly limited, it's not even funny. I'm not high on Owens at all but I think the age thing is a little bit overblown in this particular case just because he's still young in terms of baseball experience.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 06:13 PM) new Oreo's packaging. Best product enhancement in years. Couldn't agree more.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 06:35 PM) Almost certainly at least 1 of those 2 teams will either lose another game in the regular season or someone will find a way to beat them in the playoffs. You know, if you're playing the odds game, you're definitely right. I really don't think either NE or Dallas will lose in the playoffs and I finally believe that the Pats will go undefeated. The one thing that I believe could happen is that Dallas loses one of these last 3 regular season games.

Obviously there is a long way to go but it seems like there is a real possibility of having an undefeated team vs. a 1 loss team in the superbowl.

QUOTE(Brian @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 06:07 PM) They can't run the ball for sh*t. Can't wait for Miami to beat them, week 16.

NE is good.

If Uribe starts at 2nd, I'm going to be an angry person.

Inge is the best defensive 3b in baseball imo, but that's one position we're actually set at for a long time. No thanks.

QUOTE(gbuk @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 01:14 AM) Thing with mid-majors is that their recruiting is so much different than high majors I never have any clue what's going on unless one of them lands a big time recruit (hello Anthony Booker!) it's more of a diamond in the rough type thing, and I legitimately don't know about these guys unless I hear it straight from a hardcore mid-major fan (which I don't know many of, and I enjoy hearing about). It's tough for guys like Bone when expecting so much so quickly...they're thrown right in because they have to be, there's no one else. I didn't take what you said about Bone taking over Tatum's role completely as meaning that because that's a whole different thing. Tatum was one of those special guards who did EVERYTHING...a guy anyone on any team needs. Although it's never necessarily entertaining to watch SIU play, watching Tatum was a pleasure, a nice change of pace. But I digress. I totally forgot about Young...him, Tatum, and Mullins made the sickest backcourt defense, oh man. Losing 2 of those 3 and replacing them with guys who don't necessarily understand the system or have to be made into good defenders is very hard to do, and that's certainly what it feels like with you guys. I agree with throwing the freshmen out into the fire, because the problem is, if they want to be a good team right now, you have to find a remedy for your problem, and if those freshmen bring that, there's no reason to ease them in...let them get experience. It might be tough at first, but it's better than leaving a less talented, more experienced player out there. Good stuff, man. You hit a lot of things right on the nose. I'm sure people are tired of seeing me vent my frustrations here so this will be the last post on the matter tonight. I still believe this team has a lot of talent and can make a run some time along the way but right now it's ugly and it might not get better for a while.

QUOTE(gbuk @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 12:55 AM) Well if a guy like Bone, (who I know nothing about and won't pretend to) who played sparingly last year is supposed to take over a lot of Tatum's role, it's going to be tough...I don't know what kind of talent this guy possesses, but putting a guy in a spot to take over for one of the best (the best maybe?) point guards in school history is rough. Transitions like this are never smooth, but I expect Lowery to figure it out, he's proven he knows what he's doing and he'll figure out a way to adjust to it. I've only seen this game play almost 2 games (MSU, USC), and the main thing that stuck out to me was their defensive breakdowns against USC, which aren't like them. And for a team who makes their living off of grinding it out and uglying their way to victory, it's clear they can't afford that to happen. They need more offensive weapons obviously, but that's seemingly always been a need. Falker can't do it all. Bone has a crap load of talent, that's why people expected him to be the scorer. I shouldn't have said that I expected Bone to take over the Tatum role but I expected him to be the scoring guard on this team and right now absolutely nothing is falling for him. He took it to the basket more today than he has been so that's a plus but he still can't get anything to go. And yes, I've been worried about the defense since the first exhibition game, it's not the same and it's not going to be as good as last year. Tatum and Young were just insanely good defensively and they were both in the system for a long time(Tatum for 4 and Young for 5 years). The defense is so freaking far off from last season. Oddly enough, the offense isn't too far off from last season at this point and I actually believe it's running smoother, nobody is making shots at the moment though, NOBODY. And the best catch and shoot shooter that we have imo can't find minutes right now. I know Lowery wants to ease the freshman in but they need to be thrown into the fire right now cause they're two of our better shooters.

QUOTE(gbuk @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 12:35 AM) People figured Mullins could step in for Tatum and it would be a seamless transition...clearly not though as Mullins was always known more for his defensive presence than his ball handling ability or his ability to lead a team...worst part about this team is that they're getting beat at their own game this year - slowing it down and a rough grind-it-out defensive style (ie USC game). People expected Mullins to pick up some of the slack but a lot of people were expecting Bone to kind of take over the Tatum role(I certainly did) and at the moment he can't hit a shot. The scoring role was supposed to be picked up by a bunch of people and nobody has settled into anything yet. You're right about Mullins, he's a true point guard, he's not a scorer. And for some reason Brandon Wood still can't find the court, I just don't get it.

QUOTE(MurcieOne @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 12:34 AM) Floyd made 30 million for this fight, and he's gonna take two years off... maybe by then someone will be able to challenge him? We can train Heads, I hear he has a six pack now.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2007 -> 09:49 PM) Wait, are you telling me that a pitcher is rated by wins? ALL HAIL JON GARLAND!!!! Garland is a much better pitcher than Willis imo. I wouldn't even have to think twice on who I'd rather have.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Dec 8, 2007 -> 11:29 PM) KU sweet revenge on Depaul...i laugh at SIU Good to know that asshat Jimbo is back.

QUOTE(heirdog @ Dec 8, 2007 -> 09:25 PM) I think 72 wins for last years team was an aberration. Were they a 90 win team? No they were not. But expect a bounce back year from at least half of the players (Buehrle, Konerko, Thome) Buehrle was really good, Konerko was pretty much around his career averages and Thome did what you can pretty much expect out of him now a days(if he's healthy he's great, but he's going to have nagging injuries). I agree that this isn't a 72 win team but they aren't very good either.