whitesoxfan99

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 09:33 AM) That ANYTHING can happen, and probably will. The Kentucky kids (especially Randle) will continue to get their showcase. Early's stock definitely is on the rise. Ennis, not so much. It might hurt Wiggins a BIT, because he has the reputation for disappearing already...but that won't discourage someone from taking him. He's not nearly as consistent as Parker, who reminds me of Carmelo Anthony a bit. McDermott will be another of those controversial selections like Fredette who will polarize a fanbase...unless he's marketed correctly. And everyone will get to see a lot more of the talent on Arizona and UCLA on a national basis. UVA too. It's easy to keep forgetting they were a number one seed. It depends on where McDermott gets selected. I can't imagine any fanbase being upset by getting him if he is taken in the teens. Higher than that I could see people being upset though.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 10:42 AM) I'm a Michigan fan and I'm still not totally sold on Bielien. Not a fan of some of his rotations. If he takes this team to the F4, than I fully be on board. I have trouble forgiving him for the Zack Novak playing despite being awful. Thad's done so much with so little sometimes and is great but still should've won national title with Conley and Oden. Meh, they lost to the Florida team with Noah, Horford, and Brewer. Just a bad year to have a truly great team.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 20, 2014 -> 01:52 PM) He's gone. Russell, KBD, and Kam Williams will be counted on to score a lot next season. Russell is super legit. Next two classes are a welcome reset. I'd be shocked if Bates-Diop is an impact player next year. He didn't dominate mediocre at best competition this season. Really talented kid but he isn't going to impact games scoring as a freshman.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 20, 2014 -> 01:31 PM) That's why i said fitting end. Happy and sad to see him go. Ready to turn the page on these classes. If Ross leaves OSU will have a ton of trouble scoring again next year but then they should be back to being really good the following year when the 2014 kids become sophomores if Matta brings in a solid 2015 class.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 20, 2014 -> 01:24 PM) Craft mugged. No call. Fitting end for this team. Happy to never watch them again. He drove directly into 3 guys while completely out of control. You are never getting that call.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 19, 2014 -> 11:50 AM) He's not a bad guy. He made a stupid mistake. People that are incapable of telling the truth are almost always bad people in my experience.

Julian Green officially picks the USA over Germany. This could be huge in a few years.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) So that to me looks like wishful thinking and I wouldnt call anything a lock. But hey, good to be positive. Lol. It is called using predictive models and there is no wishful thinking with respect to Cosby. If he isn't really good that would be stunning considering he was really good in a comparable conference. You want to bet on Illinois being better than OSU if Ross goes pro? Cause Illinois will be.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 01:56 PM) So that to you points to tournament LOCK? We have two of the best 6 or 7 freshmen in the conference and the best freshman in the conference will be going pro. Hill and Nunn are clearly going to be very good players. Aaron Cosby was a damn good player in the Big East and becomes eligible next year. We have two other transfers becoming eligible that are proven solid college players and Paul will also likely benefit from essentially undergoing a freshman to sophomore jump. We lose very few senior minutes. Not that hard to predict.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 01:52 PM) LOL. What about the team says they are a lock for the tournament? The Big Ten was way down this year and they didnt make it. Other teams in the conference are bringing in and have brought in more talent. Connect the dots for me here How about a basic understanding about indicators of what a team will do the next season? Illinois has a bunch of guys making freshman to sophomore jumps which is a huge predictor of improvement. They are losing very few senior minutes. They have 3 guys who have proven to be good college players becoming eligible next year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 01:47 PM) Yes, nothing to show for it. No challenge at the conference title or tournament and an NIT berth. Last year they were 23-12 8-10 in conference. This year they are 19-14 7-10. What have they shown? The f***? They were always going to be worse this year. You lost 2 starters that played a ton of minutes along with 2 other seniors that played a good amount, had no freshmen to sophomore jumps to expect, and no instant impact freshmen. Nunn and Hill are going to be all conference type players eventually and they have 3 proven college talents eligible next year with a potential very good freshman in Black coming in.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 01:33 PM) Bingo. Look, I want Illinois to be dominate again as much as the next fan, but this expectation for next year is akin to the NC talk back when Richmond committed. It's great to think so positively, but being a realist isn't a bad thing either. The reality is next year's team is still going to rely on a PG that isn't a true PG and doesn't have a great offensive game (Abrams), a SG that can go off for 30 but also be held to 2 (Rice), and a center that is basically a non factor on one end of the court (Egwu). Nunn and Hill hopefully take a leap, and hopefully Crosby and Starks can be immediate impact guys. But we'll have to wait and see. Who said anything about being dominant? How about this, if Illinois isn't at least a 7 (roughly a top 25 type team) seed next year I won't ever post on this board again.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 01:06 PM) Well that sucks. Bad season. Oh well hopefully get better in the NIT and do better next year. We will be good next year and a lock tourney team. How good depends on the transfers and how big of jumps Hill and Nunn make.

Could not have asked for a better look than that. Well at least we got meaningful basketball which is more than I expected 3 weeks ago.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 12:42 PM) Illinois in bonus since 10 min mark and still complain about refs. LeVert should've just had and And1 and didn't get it. Makes up for the 3 that Stauskas got the he shouldn't and the couple Illinois didn't get.

No continuation for Tracy? Shouldn't have been but would have for Stauskas.

So Nick Stauskas clearly doesn't have to be shooting to get FTs. Must be nice.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) Is this the same crew as yesterday? Jeez. Mike Kitts is brutal. That guy never gets a call right.

And that's not continuation for Hill? GTFO. Michigan doesn't need the refs help.

That's twice now Stauskas has been given NBA continuation and he wasn't even fouled on that last play although he did walk his ass off.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 09:49 AM) Lunardi is an idiot. We'd have a better resume than "locks" like SMU with a win today. He has Green Bay ahead of us. What? Green Bay with the similar RPI, same amount of sub 100 losses with 3 or 4 (depending where Iowa finishes) less top 50 wins. Yahoo has us 3rd our right now. Add a Michigan win and yeah they'd be in there assuming other bubble teams don't pull off something similar. Agreed. I still think we probably need to win tomorrow to be safely in but anyone who says a win today doesn't put Illinois in the conversation is an idiot. Lundardi is consistently awful at this until he puts out his final brackets 1 minute before the selections are announced where literally anyone who pays attention will get almost everything right.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:24 PM) I'll stick with Iowa. Illinois will be better than Iowa again starting next year for the foreseeable future.

Indiana and Illinois are now 86-86 all time against each other. That is pretty astonishing with that many games played.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 01:11 PM) #firetomcrean He badly needs Vonleh to stay in school.

Great performance by the starting 5 and Ekey. Bertrand...shudder.