Boogua

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 11:46 AM) He threw off his back foot twice last night. One of them was on an all-out blitz screen, which is fine. The other one was completely under-thrown and could have gotten picked. Arm or no arm, throwing off his back foot usually brings Bad Jay. I thought it looked like he threw off his back foot on the huge third down conversion to Alshon late in the game too. Also against an all-out blitz

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 12:40 AM) Something big is going to happen this week, just has to. Sounds like something big is going to happen today. I think possibly a Coleman commitment.

Melvin Gordon is pretty solid.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 11:31 AM) Anyone notice who the nickle CB was down the stretch? They had 4 CBs active last night and 2 of em, Peanut and McManis, got hurt.....Vereen? Yes, it was vereen.

So I got banned on illinoisloyalty for saying this in week 1, but I'll say it here again in week 3. Wes Lunt is terrible.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 03:28 PM) Certainly doesn't help things. Who knows how good he'll be in a year off it. Hopefully Starks is pretty good, because Tate can't handle the whole load. Cosby can help at the one too. It isn't ideal, but the Illini did okay two years ago when Paul had to handle PG duties for large portions of games.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 04:52 PM) If for no other reason, landing a big time recruit out of Chicago would be big. Watching Abrams struggle offensively (particularly shooting) has just worn on me. I don't think it's a surprise that all of our guards seem to throw up ill advised 3's a few times a game. But it's a matter of preference, I guess. If Chicago had elite talent in 2016 I might agree with you. The relationship with Simeon and the lack of elite prospects makes me feel like the Chicago thing (even though Stevenson isn't in Chicago) isn't a big deal. Evans looks like much more of a pg than Abrams and is much more highly touted.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 04:42 PM) I think you're crazy to prefer Evans to Brunson, but really nothing has changed today. It's been whichever of Evans or Brunson we could land (with Evans being way more likely), and we'll be fine. Until Evans is no longer in play, there's no real reason to worry. If Groce misses on Evans too, yikes. Although, in that scenario, the Abrams injury becomes a bit more of a blessing in disguise... Why? They're pretty close in the rankings, but Evans is quicker and better at defense than Brunson. Brunson is the better shooter/scorer. Considering the roster construction and the amount of shooters that will be on the team (Nunn, Cosby, and Hill in the lineup) having somebody quick and tenacious at d at the 1 is more important IMO.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 04:39 PM) Well, he better hope that Evans picks Illinois or it's going to be a rough couple of seasons. What's he like 1 for 3 now on 5 star guys, and the 1 became a zero on signing day? It won't be rough, just not ideal. He made the tournament as a 7 seed with a sophomore Tracy Abrams at PG and not such great surrounding parts. Missing a PG will keep the Illini out of that 1-4 seed though most likely.

I've long preferred Evans, but it would have been nice to be able to have the future PG in the mix already. The worries continue...

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 09:20 AM) Again, as would/does the fringe of nearly every fan base. Spurned lover response. I'm not going to freak out if he doesn't come here. I'll freak out he chooses Nova and Evans chooses OK State. That'll set Illinois back, yet again. And I think we lose out on Bragg. Get one of these PG's and Bragg is still a legit possibility. Brunson/Evans, Bragg, Williams and Jordan is a top ten class. Thomas would still be a possibility too. I feel like Thomas is much less of a possibility if Brunson is the PG instead of Evans. Evans and gilder at OK St would be too much to overcome I think. Brunson might help more with Bragg though. Let's just hope one of them comes. Either one is fine.

Are Mizzou fans scared of this Toledo game this week? I understand that Mizzou lost a ton of starters from last year, but the talent discrepancy with Toledo alone should have the line above -3.5. Just wanted to get some insight.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 12:17 AM) Look at the interested recruits, its plain as day to everyone. Its mentioned all the time on our board. They still want to bribe him to come back when Thad's health gets worse although insiders have said Sean Miller would be interested in coming back (I dont get that). Yeah, Ohio State is a great job, but I can't see Miller leaving Zona for anything other than a team like UK, UNC, or Duke. I also can't see Groce leaving Illinois for another B1G school unless something goes wrong.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 03:25 PM) Groce could sell them on being the two starting guards, both with the ball a good portion of the game ala Dee and DWill. The problem is that I'm sure he's trying to sell both of them that they can be the starting PG from day 1 with Tracy graduating and only Tate in front of them. He can't promise them both starting positions because there is no way one of them starts over a JR Nunn or a SR Cosby.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 02:23 PM) Sure does. He sounds like the kind of guy who's going to play "assistant coach" whether the son's head coach likes it or not. I sometimes wonder if that makes Jalen even worth the trouble, but I'm sure Groce (or anyone else) would take it. Jawun Evans is at 100% on that crystal ball thing (not that it means too much) and he's visiting champaign this weekend. If he commits before Brunson, I just can't see Brunson going to Illinois. I wouldn't mind being wrong...

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 05:13 PM) Unfortunately, people pick and choose which teams they base the season outlook on from preseason results. People assume the Browns, Bills and Giants will struggle because of the preseason showing, but ignore how poorly the first team offense and defense of the 49ers played in preseason. Forgot the green?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 12:06 PM) I don't even think most 49ers fans are that optimistic. Their secondary is a joke and their first team offense looks like hell. Their first team offense looks like hell? Don't they return nearly everyone from last year while having a full year of Crabtree and adding Johnson?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 03:51 PM) If PAC 10 / SEC have multiple one loss teams, those teams are getting in over a 1 loss big team. I presume you will have 3 0 to 1 loss teams within the SEC / PAC at a minimum and then I expect FSU to be in that same scenario and would then have all of those teams going over a 1 loss MSU team. I technically think you could have scenarios where BIG school would have the stronger schedule over FSU, but being defending champs would give them a nudge over the Big team. Oh, I completely agree. I just didn't think there would be that many undefeated teams. It gets interesting if MSU beats Oregon early on and then loses in heartbreak fashion to Wisconsin or OSU as their one loss. Would a one loss Oregon team get over a one loss MSU team in that case? I doubt it happens, obviously.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 03:29 PM) I've got the undefeated ACC team, the undefeated Pac 12 team and the 1 loss and undefeated SEC teams in way before a one loss Big Ten team. If MSU beats Oregon early on it is very likely that there will be no undefeated Pac 12 team. Even if Oregon wins that game they could still easily lose a regular season game. I would actually bet that there is no undefeated pac 12 team this year.

Flags on every play

QUOTE (kev211 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 10:36 AM) 5th'ed If Rose had been healthy the last two seasons I wouldn't want him involved though. Of course. We would have all wanted him to rest after those championship runs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 10:01 AM) I totally disagree and want Rose to play every single game he can before the season. If he's going to get hurt he's going to get hurt, limiting his minutes or time on the court just isn't going to prevent it. We've already seen that, a year and a half off and he lasted 10 games. When the regular season rolls around you can't bench him until the playoffs to protect his health. Best we can do is have him get himself 100% ready to go and be ready for game speed by the first game of the season. If he gets hurt, he gets hurt. Completely agree.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) Ha, well people on Soxtalk were saying the same stuff. That's pretty surprising. I guess people thought the Celtics could still beat them?

QUOTE (TRU @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 03:12 PM) Everyone said the same stuff when the Heat got together, and yet they went to 4 straight Finals and won two rings. I see no reason this will be any different, especially since this Cavs team is better than those Heat teams even when you consider the east is a little better. Said the same stuff? I recall people like Jeff Van Gundy predicting them to break the wins records and everyone pretty much thinking they were a lock to win the finals until the season actually started and they started to look vulnerable. You had two superstars joining another superstar on a team that had made the playoffs the year before. This wasn't a normal thing. People are only reacting the way they are to the cavs because we have the Lebron, Wade, and Bosh experience to have a baseline to work with.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 12:45 PM) We will be against rest of the league, but in a 7 game series against the Cavs, if we can't win the rebounding battle against a more talented team, we are in trouble. The only point I can agree on is Varejao's health. I think what he does on the court is being severely under appreciated here. On top of his rebounding, he is a grinder and energy player like Noah, and does a lot of little things for his team. He can do a lot more for the Cavs than Halsem. And if you are talking about floor spacing, Love has just as much range if not more than Bosh. Thompson while limited in terms of range, won't do worse than Birdman in this department. They brought in Miller and Jones, Allen could be on the way. Irving is a can shoot lights out, and Waiters isn't too bad himself. They have ENOUGH floor spacing for Lebron to operate on paper. Besides shoot a jump shot. Also, Birdman brings much more energy to the table than Thompson does. Thompson is way more talented, but Birdman fit that energy/defense role better than Thompson (Birdman is closer to Varejao than Thompson). The Heat didn't really have anybody like Thompson. Maybe Haslem, but Haslem had much better range. The cavs also have no rim protector, which is a similar problem that the Heat had. The heat had a much better defense though.