Boogua

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 17, 2014 -> 12:13 PM) A guy like Cliff isn't going to "develop" in his one year. He's a top 5 pick unless he gets injured. And Kansas gets much more exposure than Illinois.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 03:44 PM) Since you brought up SMU they are landing plenty of kids they otherwise wouldn't because of the coach. Kids commit to coaches all the time I'd say Larry brown is kind of different from 2004 bill self. SMU is also a bit different from Loyola.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 03:19 PM) You want to talk about posting crap. He picked Kansas. Groce at Kansas lands Cliff. There is no such thing as players only go to coaches. Must be pure coincidence that top programs always get good talent, regardless of coach. Sorry, you can only sell s***ty Loyola so much. You need more than just a coach. You need something to sell. You never heard that McCants, Felton, and May picked UNC specifically to play for Doherty? If they had more years of eligibility I'm sure they would have considered transferring to FAU or SMU to play for him

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 01:51 PM) I really think expecting Illinois to make it to the Sweet 16 regularly is pushing it. I know a lot of their fans like to exaggerate how great they have been, and they have obviously been a good program, but in the last 50 years they have made the Sweet 16 eight times. The Elite 8 four times and the Final Four twice. It is still pretty good, but not exactly College Basketball Blue Blood Program territory. I never said regularly. I don't think the Illini will make the sweet 16 in two years because they will lose Rice, Abrams, Egwu (as bad as he's been), and Starks. Those guys will all get major minutes next year. They were a stepback 3 and a blown out of bounds call (who knows) from reaching the sweet 16 last year. I fully expect next year's team to be better.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 11:05 PM) This season is over and the non-conference was fool's gold. Our bench is all freshmen and while they are pretty talented none are impact players. Our starting lineup contains an awful center, 3 guards/wings that can't shoot and a PF who is an ok stand still shooter and brings nothing else to the table. The only thing I care about for the rest of the year is the freshmen (and really only Hill and Nunn). If those two show they can be good Big 10 players Illinois will be well positioned to be a solid team going forward with the transfers being eligible next year and hopefully a really good 2015 recruiting class. If Groce doesn't hit that class out of the park I think we probably have the wrong guy unfortunately. I don't think if he misses hitting the 2015 class out of the park will say much. I think it's fairly easy to see right now that it is at the very least going to be solid with Jordan and Williams in the mix. If he keeps getting top 100 players and builds his way up to 5 stars in the future that's fine. I'm more interested to see how the team does next year. If they don't make it to the sweet 16 or at the very least to the round of 32 (where they would have to be beaten by a very good team) I will start doubting Groce's coaching ability. Next year's roster is much, much more balanced than this year's. The Illini are adding two guys in Cosby and Starks that are better shooters than anybody on the current roster. The five freshmen will be sophomores and the only two people lost are Mr. Passive (Bertrand) and Ekey. Ekey should be adequately replaced by Darius Paul or even possibly Leron Black.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 10:04 PM) Groces coaching was a disaster tonight. I really felt like Hill and Nunn should have seen a bit more time in the second half. They didnt look bad early on.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 03:59 PM) Eh, it's at home and I don't think Purdue is that good (not that an Indiana fan is biased in that regard or anything...). -6 or -7 sounds about right. And Vegas does always know, it's scary impressive. If you're ever looking at a line and think Vegas knows something you don't, you're right. Vegas must not know who Nnanna Egwu is. Easy money.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 09:51 PM) Doesnt work when he's made about one three in the last two months Oh, I completely agree. I'd rather them just their chances with him staying inside. Not only does he miss a ton of threes, but it seems like he always misses them at the worst time.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 09:21 PM) I don't get how Egwu has regressed so much. Not that he was great to begin with which makes regression so much worse. And why is the coaching staff still green lighting his 3s? I'm guessing he's one of the better three point shooters in practice and the Illini need people to space the floor. That's how devoid of 3 point shooters the Illini are this year. Egwu is used to try to stretch the floor. Terrible.

Illinois is somehow -6 against Purdue with rayvonte rice a game time decision. This looks like a gift from the heavens, as I would take Purdue even with rice playing here. Somehow the Illini will win by 7 because Vegas always knows...

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) Hey, Teague is an impact player. The -8 part is hilarious.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:15 AM) Not sure if that's good or bad, but they were gashed this year on the ground. The Bears had a historically bad run defense, but the Bills were an open gate too. They also rushed the passer and forced a lot of turnovers too. Still, it was not pretty. They had a ridiculous pass rush and were second in the NFL in sacks. The LBs weren't very good against the run and Jim Leonhard was absolutely awful with 11 missed tackles in 634 snaps. The DL graded out well against the run though. Also, I don't know how to properly respond to all the different quotes like you did, but I was just using the football outsiders thing as an example. Safety deficiencies can easily be covered up by a DL. Using game threads of our crazy fan base seems less credible to me than an objective outsider. We all knew that the Wright and Conte were bad, but they weren't nearly as bad when we had a good DL. Wright actually had a +5 score and Conte was only -2 last year. Objectively they weren't that bad last year. I also think Byrd is a good player regardless of scheme or players, but I just don't know how much he'd help us without a good DL. There's only so much he can do. You say a great safety will make a bad defense mediocre, but when he had those bad guys up front in 2011 the Bills ranked 26th in yardage and 30th in PPG as a defense. Again, I'm not trying to diminish Byrd and I think he's a heck of a player.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:03 AM) This is going to sound hilarious coming from an Illinois fan but.....it's going to depend on the officials. And by that I mean how they call the game. If they call it per the new rules, Illinois has a good shot because they'll get to the line a lot. If they play a physical game, their ability to drive to the hoop is less of an advantage. In Madison, I think it'll be a long night. I think Egwu gets a bunch of cheap fouls early, and Illinois plays from behind the majority of the game. Not a blowout, but something like 67-59 Wisconsin. Quite the limb

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:41 AM) I thought that was obvious. It also depends on how you run the defense too. Then why ask the question? You can't just say who would you rather have on your team without taking money into consideration. The answer should still probably be Bennett, whether you think it's smart or not. I'm also having trouble thinking of a defense where a safety is more important than DL. Maybe Pitt's defense? But even then they've had good guys in the trenches. Not many people thought the Bears safety duo was bad last year when the Bears were generating pressure with Peppers and Melton. Football outsiders even said before the season "Major Wright and Chris Conte form one of the better young safety combos in the game..." I'm sure Byrd benefits a bit from having Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, and Marcell Darius on the DL. E: I just looked at PFF scores for the Bills front 7. Sweet Jesus.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:49 AM) So you would take a good yet unspectacular pass rushing defensive end over the best safety in the game. Smart. I think it really depends on the price. DL are much more valuable than safeties on the field though.

I wonder if soxobama made the trip to watch the game.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Jan 5, 2014 -> 03:43 PM) Haha that guy is a beast. Think he ends up at UK though. Would think Crean will wait it out a bit and wait for some coaching changes and see who becomes available. Also would be ideal to grab a 5th year transfer from somewhere. They'll be another transfer by years end from a SF/G... Of that I'm sure. I can't see Vonleh staying, but if he does, a very, very big year will be expected again for the team. Yeah, UI is in on Bragg too. I also think he ends up UK.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 06:38 PM) What's 2015 look like for Illinois as far as schollies? Charles Mathews should be their main target. They have at least two more open. I would guess Matthews is the main target.

What the Luck?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 05:34 PM) How the hell did we beat Duke without Grant??? I didn't watch the game, but I would guess because Parker played awful in 24 minutes. Good win for ND obviously, but I think that's the reason.

Illinois basketball gets a commitment from Aaron Jordan.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 07:53 AM) Louis Nix, anyone? I really want Tuitt. He looks like a stud that could possibly play DE on running downs and you could line him up inside on passing downs. I'm not sure if 320 is his ideal playing weight, but I really want the bears to draft him. Seems like Idonije on steroids due to versatility and talent.

Huge strip sack!

Another bad call that was clearly a catch. At least they review these.

Josey is really fast