Dick Allen

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 08:19 AM) It isn't about that... If we trade Chris Sale, it means we are going into a full sell off. You don't add guys with long term contracts and big future salaries in that situation. There are many people who seem far more concerned with the farm system ranking than the actual major league team. Trading Sale for prospects should make them happy. The farm system would be top 10. Obviously, they aren't going into a total rebuild, and hopefully, at least for me, they won't anytime soon. I think the new pricing, as long as the Sox are competitive, will help at the gate, plus some guys coming off the books, plus the additional TV money starting next year. The Sox should be able to throw a little money at their shortcomings and remain competitive for at least the near future. The key will be spending wisely. They just can't have the misses other teams can make.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 17, 2013 -> 12:20 PM) Here's your next five to ten thread ideas, Marty34. 1) Trade Sale before it's too late and he goes all Sergio Santos on the Sox 2) Danks and Dunn are horrible contracts, fire JR/KW 3) Trade Viciedo 4) Trade Ramirez again 5) Gordon Beckham should be moved to SS 6) KW sucks 7) JR and Hahn suck....White Sox will never be competitive in the AL Central again in our lifetimes 8) It was a mistake to not keep AJ because Flowers sucks 9) White Sox wasted money on Peavy and Keppinger when they should have gone younger 10) Everyone is too optimistic about the Sox....conclusively, i am 100% sure they will win 72 games or less and draw less than 1.8 million in attendance, therefore there's no reason not to start rebuilding in full I would say for all the guys Marty wants to get rid of and totally rebuild, the one guy they should trade if they went into a total rebuild is Sale. Wouldn't make sense having him pitch for a bad team for 4 or 5 years minimum, and with his new comtract, he would net several top prospects.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 16, 2013 -> 12:03 PM) How good of a fit would Collins be at NW? Read on his wiki page he was the first ever player at Glenbrook North to play college basketball. Seems unlikely, even if it meant D-1 only. When his dad was coaching the Bulls, Brian Sloan played for Glenbrook North. He palyed at IU.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 17, 2013 -> 02:06 PM) Im pretty confident his first game will be a road game. The CSN Bulls guy said it likely would be a home game since they would want him checked after a previous days' practice to make sure he was good to go. He also said if Rose does't come back during this 3 game homestand, he probably is sitting the rest of the season.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 16, 2013 -> 09:32 PM) Seriously, nothing in that post that says he's not playing on Monday. I know. I think everyone, whether you are a Bulls fan or not, should want Rose to play Monday. Steve scooping Cowley, now the Bulls beat writer, would be beyond awesome.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) So I would have put big money that no one would break 60 in this game after the first half, it now looks like both teams may do it. jinx

Most of the teams in this tournament have struggled shooting. I wonder if it has anything to do with the UC being so huge and the stands not being full. They also have the ribbon boards constantly circling. For those who have played basketball, backgrounds make a huge difference when playing. Its harder to shoot at a basket that seems like its standing in the middle of nowhere. They should do what they do at the Staples Center for the Lakers. Dim the lights in the stands. At least at both ends.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 02:52 PM) Certainly could, that might depend on how the other conferences fall. They'd be close with 1. A bracket guy was on CSN the other night. He said they needed to make it to Sunday.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 01:09 PM) Still waiting for Reggie to sign his permission slip. Maybe they can't find him or he's out of town.

Thibs says DRose "probably" won't play tonight. Stacey King watched practice and said he's coming soon, and that he is "explosive".

Think about what a blowout this would be if Indiana actually had a decent coach.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 11:57 AM) That's basically what they do. Sometimes it works out and they get Michael Thompson, John Shurna or Drew Crawford. Much more often, they end up with Sterling Williams, Nick Fruendt, Jeff Ryan or Mike Cappocci. It's really hard to compete in the Big Ten when you typically only have 3 or 4 guys that belong in the league. And Michigan definitely runs a variation of the Princeton, they play with their center up high and rely on driving/cuts. They allow a lot more improvisation because their players are actually good. One thing I couldn't understand about NU yesterday was that zone defense they were in. I know they had some foul trouble, but if Woodbury or McCabe could make a 5 foot shot, Iowa would have won by 30. The middle of the lane was wide open every time down the floor. You would think if these guys were so smart, they would have made some sort of adjustment.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 11:51 AM) Chris Collins has to be able to get a better offer than Northwestern, right? Even a midmajor would offer a better road to the big time than NW. It's like the Cubs manager job. You know you will fail, but if it does work out, you'll be able to live off that the rest of your career, and it's not like he would need a national title. Make one Final Four or even Elite Eight, he probably has his choice of any open position for huge money. Collins supposedly wants the NU job. He's supposedly a great recruiter. If he could get NU to at least slighly relax their entrance requirements for some players, you can get decent quickly. The other thing to consider, the only Big 10 coach who makes less than Carmody is the Penn State coach. They probably will have to up the ante there.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 11:40 AM) I think this is a big part of the issue. Any proven coach is probably going to laugh at them when they call. A couple of stories related to this... 1) Jim Calhoun was considering taking the job before he went to UConn. Unfortunately, he talked to Bob Knight first, who basically told him he'd be crazy to consider it. I believe the money quote was "coaching graveyard". Obviously the rest is history. 2) At one point, they were talking to Tommy Amaker, back when everyone wanted Duke assistants. He gave the administration two transcripts and asked if they would be able to get in. Administration told him no, and Amaker moved on. Those two transcripts were Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley. They've had some coaches with pretty decent resumes in the past and the typical winning percentage is like .300. Carmody has been the most successful they've had since one stretch in like the 50's. Amaker is supposed to be a real phony of a guy. It seems the media favorite if Carmody doesn't return is Chris Collins. That would be a tough gig as your first head coaching job, but if he made it work, he'd be like Gary Barnett was many years ago. Wanted everywhere and able to name your price.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 11:36 AM) Take the Orange sunglasses off there for a minute. Been some bad/missed calls both ways. Let the game play out. It wouldn't be an Illinois basketball game without several posts about unfair officiating. That's been going on since Lou Henson was practicing his traveling call every opposition possession.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 15, 2013 -> 01:21 AM) They should really go in a different direction. I like Bill Carmody, seems like a great guy, but it hasn't worked out. It will be weird to see Northwestern run a different system, though. There's no reason they can't be competitive. The injuries are not his fault, but I really doubt that is a tournament team if everyone stays healthy and passes their classes. Their new facilities which are either being built or about to begin construction will help them. Carmody seems like a good guy and probably is a good coach, but it isn't working at NU. Of course you can say that for every NU basketball coach, so the problem is probably not with the coaches. Chances are the next guy is going to fail. I wonder if Carmody even wants to come back. He must be sick of the beatings and all the job speculation the last couple of years, but I would imagine he's gone either way.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) Again, why even have a regular season then? Because those upset chances between the #120 teams vs the #10 teams should be during the season. The Big Ten will have 2 8-10 conference record teams in a tournament to win a National Championship. The "why even have a regular season" because the tournament has too many teams ship has already sailed.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 02:29 PM) Because we know that the current system is fun and exciting and not over drawn out nor too short. It works perfectly after the long NCAAB season. One more game wouldn't make it any less interesting. In fact, the first round could be played on the higher seed's homecourt.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) Again, why even have a regular season then? Because those upset chances between the #120 teams vs the #10 teams should be during the season. Then why have 65 teams in the tournament? Why not make it 16? Let's really make it interesting, and screw these conference tournaments.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 02:09 PM) Why even have a regular season? That sounds terrible. How many of the 65 teams in the tournament have a legitimate chance of winning it? Adding another round brings in more revenue and takes every slight off the table. And if one of the top 10 teams lose to a team ranked #120 or lower, they would have probably not won the tournament anyway.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 01:58 PM) From 1985-1994, 15 teams made the tourney with a losing conference record. From 2001-2012, 10 teams have. How many of them won their conference tournament? And your numbers still suggest on average about 1 a year. Personally, I think they should get rid of the stupid play in game and just add another round and make it a 128 team field. Let just about everyone in. You can take RPI and all that crap, the bottom line is the top 65 teams aren't in the tournament. Just make it 128. They will make more money.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 01:37 PM) Basabe looked like a monster his freshman year and regressed. Marble was injured for a key game they really needed him. All those early painful losses by razor thin margins and the horrible January conference start. White and Oglesby have been up and down all year, and then you have two freshman in Gesell and Clemmons, and they've battled some injuries as well. All things considered, things are still looking so much better than the end of the Lickliter years...but it is quite annoying to see how well Alford is doing in New Mexico after he just up and abandoned the program and left it in horrible shape and perhaps the legacy of the most unpopular coach in school history after replacing the most popular in Dr. Tom. Losing Ben Brust, Cody Larson and Aaron Fuller was another crushing blow. So the one year Lickliter was successful recruiting and they lose those kids to Wisconsin and Florida. They definitely have to make the tournament next year...those are fair expectations, it will be Year 4 for McCaffrey and seven years removed from an NCAA appearance if they miss again with a loss to MSU. Basabe has been pretty good this year. Brust hurt, Larson was a bust anyway and Fuller wasn't a difference maker. Marble stayed on board and Basabe decommitted from Sienna to come with Fran, so the Hawks did OK there. White is really good. I think Woodbury will be a beast when he gets a little stronger. He was pretty much a stiff this season, but is aggressive. I think he just wasn't used to playing against anyone his size. He could make a big leap next year. Gessell and Clemmons had their moments but as Al McGwire used to say, the best thing about freshman is they become sophomores. Oglesby had one of the worst shooting percentages in the nation, and supposedly doesn't miss in practice. It's all in his head. If he can get that straighten out, you're looking at a team that can do a lot of damage in the future.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 01:35 PM) I was just watching Jalen Rose and Digger Phelps on ESPN talking about U of I/Minnesota/Iowa and they're fairly clueless. Their main point was that you shouldn't be in the tournament if you are under .500 in conference and Iowa could/should be in with a win over NU. THEY DIDN'T BEAT ANYONE THIS YEAR!!! Well, okay, that's a slight exaggeration: they beat Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota at home (and I guess Iowa State), but you just spent the last couple minutes s***ting all over the last two teams. The 4 teams that they only played once were MSU, Michigan, OSU and Illinois, so why should we care that they had one more conference win than Illinois and Minnesota? Truth be told, lack of big wins or not, Iowa right now is just as good of a basketball team as Illinois or Minnesota and they are in. Iowa has to beat NU, beat MSU and win another to get in. If Iowa is 9-9 in the Big 10 without beating anybody, the 8-10 teams who have beaten good teams have some brutal losses. But that is how it is. Its not like any of them are going to win. Many years ago, back when Jalen was playing and Digger was coaching, that was a general rule. If you weren't at least .500 in your conference, you were NIT bound at best.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 01:09 PM) I wonder if an Iowa win against NW gets them in, with Minnesota now out? Seems the Gophers are usually in the Top 20 at some point in a season and completely fade out. Probably, Iowa would need to be MSU to seal it, a huge task. If they would have only beaten Nebraska on the road or not had a ball that was halfway down rim out against WI and then go on to lose in double OT, it would already be a done deal unless they somehow managed to lose to the Wildcats. It would be the first time in the NCAA's since 2006, when we lost to one of those direction Lousiana schools with an almost 20 point lead in the 2nd half and a 3 seed (Horner, Brunner, Haluska team, can't remember if Tyler Smith was also on it). I saw one of those "bracketologists" on TV the other day. He claimed not only would Iowa have to beat MSU, they would have to get to Sunday to get in. They were so close to being a really good team this season. I think they lost 5 conference games where they had the lead the last 2 minutes. Its one of the pitfalls of having a young team. They should be really good next year. Only losing May, and supposedly Uthoff has been their best player in practice, although that usually is the standard line for guys who aren't playing, and Jok seems to be a pretty good recruit. He was really highly thought of as an 8th grader. Supposedly Weber offered him a scholarship. Injured his knee, had surgery and really struggled. Apparently the surgery was botched up. Had another surgery and was really good this year. He lives in Des Moines but I think he's from the Sudan. Maybe he can be Loul Deng II.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 12:11 PM) Isn't Phil Rogers the Baseball Perspective guru for minor league evaluations for the Chicago teams and the current reason why the Sox minor league system is lambasted as much as it is? I thought I heardthis a couple of years ago. The man loves his cubs and is a f***ing moron. Baseball America