whitesoxfan99

I'm having a really hard time thinking if there has ever been a more overrated college basketball player than Aaron Craft. I realize that isn't his fault but I always just laugh when he is listed as a top 10 player in the country or when Dakich says he would take Craft over every other player in the country.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 04:59 PM) True but they've made some great hires there too. I think it's somewhat like Nebraska football. You have to recruit out of state. You cant even recruit the surrounding states much. So don't hire the wrong guy because the program will struggle to sell itself. luckily for them they haven't done that. They've had good coaches and have been consistently dirty in recruiting. Good combination for maintaining a winning program.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 11:05 PM) The next 5 games will not be fun, but with an upset it could be a signature win. Silver lining? 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 posted this earlier this year but it is still remarkable to me just how bad Illinois' 2011 recruiting class turned out. Djimde, Langford and Shaw weren't anywhere close to being high major players (and at a minimum Djimde should never have even been recruited), Henry was completely unproductive for two years and then transferred and Egwu is a terrible offensive player who is also a bad defensive rebounder. Abrams is a solid player but he can't shoot and isn't a good distributor. This class was supposed to be a foundation type class for Illinois and instead it produced one legitimate Big 10 player. Yikes. As to the game tonight, Groce should have definitely played Hill and Nunn more but this team just has so little scoring punch it is ridiculous (especially with Rice banged up). No shooters except for Ekey and no one who can score in the post. Just a really bad roster. I hope Groce starts giving Hill and Nunn a lot more time because they seem to be coming along and both have a lot of potential. I thought we would be bad coming into the season but then they got my hopes up by playing better than expected in the non-conference. Other than the NW game none of this has been shocking to me.

Nnanna Egwu is horrendous.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 08:15 PM) Depends on how you classify "slam dunk franchise player". I don't see a Lebron/Duncan/Durant level prospect, but I think all of the top-4 are on the John Wall/Blake Griffin level of prospect where they would be an easy #1 in most drafts, and possibly Exum. There may not be a guy that I would bet a significant amount of money on to make an All-NBA team in his career, but there are a lot of guys that look reasonably safe to be capable starters, obviously with the potential for a lot more. I meant the former.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 09:19 AM) If you just watch his highlights, he looks like the best prospect out there. He also makes more mistakes and disappears more often, but that's to be expected at this point in his development. Semi-related because of the draft: Parker is in quite a funk recently. His shot selection leaves a lot to be desired. In general while this draft is deep in potentially really good players and there are multiple guys who could become stars in the league there doesn't appear to be the slam dunk franchise player that people expected there to be a few months ago.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 11:02 AM) They've done that a few times this season. Bizarre. Probably because they stupidly decided to do an entire season that takes place over one weekend. So very dumb.

Completely inexcusable loss tonight. That NW team is absolutely horrendous and it wouldn't surprise me if that is their only Big 10 win this year. They should have been pressing much earlier on to change up the tempo with NW walking it up the court every possession. 9 years of mediocre at best basketball with no signs of that coming to a stop anytime soon. So depressing.

So PSU follows up the Sandusky sex scandal by hiring a coach who may have instructed his players to delete a video of them raping a girl. Brilliant.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 05:04 PM) Warriors interested in Hinrich? If you can get ANYTHING for Hinrich, do it now. Bring back team tank captain Teague! I'd give give him away and I'd also look into trading Dunleavy.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 12:05 AM) Glad SEC lost but not a fan of Winston. I'm not sure how you could be unless you are an FSU fan.

FSU is in huge trouble now. Looks like the SEC domination continues.

I wonder if this loss costs Marvin Lewis his job. He is obviously a solid coach but this will make it 11 years as head coach of the Bengals without a postseason win.

Absurdly conservative play calling by the Chargers in the first half.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 07:38 PM) What's 2015 look like for Illinois as far as schollies? Charles Mathews should be their main target. 2 open scholarships but I would guess they would take 3 more if it is the right 3 (i.e. Charles Matthews). They will want a PG and big with the 2 open ships and would obviously take Matthews as well.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 05:15 PM) Illinois basketball gets a commitment from Aaron Jordan. Fantastic shooter who had offers from Indiana and Wisconsin. Very good get.

Newbill on PSU is a f***ing punk b****.

Nice win by the Spartans. That was some absolutely atrocious play calling by Stanford on that last drive.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 30, 2013 -> 02:27 PM) You guys can argue it all you want, but I just about guarantee McCarthy was thinking the same thing I am. The majority of coaches in the NFL are not going to chase points with that much time left on the clock. There's a reason McCarthy is making $5 million a year as a HC and why we're sitting here arguing on a message board. Meh. Coaches are actually remarkably inept in understanding time and score and clock management.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 23, 2013 -> 06:00 PM) Did anyone see this amazing Grantland article about the proposed "Draft Wheel" the NBA may or may not be considering? This s*** is f***ing dope. The Tanking Solution I think... I think I might be down for this. I need to think about it more, though. There are pros and cons. Praying for an elite class the years you're in the top 6 would be a blast. Watching a team like the Heat land a monster because it's "their turn" would be the opposite of a blast. I'd also have major concerns that a LeBron type player might stay in college a year to avoid going to say the Raptors if he knows that the Lakers or some other big market team have the first pick the next year. Not sure how I would feel about that.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 22, 2013 -> 05:42 PM) Barring major give away trades, the Bulls will make the playoffs. Everyone here is talking about how s***ty they are. Yes, they are going to suck when you don't have Deng/Butler in your lineup. When they are in the lineup (with Booz/Taj/Noah healthy), Bulls are 3rd to 4th best team in the East. They sucked when Deng and Butler weren't any near the court. By the way, Snell looking better each and every game. Seeing him develop is nice because it gives the Bulls a couple guys who potentially can replace Deng if they opt to move away from him (which they should if he's looking for 15M per year). Also nice to see Augustin looking good...bad thing about the fact that he's a one year guy means he'll play good and sign somewhere else for more money (just like Belinelli and Nate did last year). All it would have taken for the Bulls to tank is trading Deng and Hinrich and going with a PG duo of Teague and James. It is too bad they are trying to compete and wouldn't do that though.

I almost want the Eagles to score 60 at this point.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 22, 2013 -> 09:15 PM) Last I checked he wasn't a DB. Or a defensive lineman.

Bears defense is just so bad.