whitesoxfan99

If the Bulls lose I take full blame for this one.

I don't want to jinx anything, but Miami Heat=Illinois basketball (albeit obviously way way way more talented even comparatively to the levels they play at). They can't win close games and they don't handle prosperity well at all (see the numerous big blown leads since the all star break including today).

Look at this http://bracketproject.50webs.com/matrix.htm. Look at the resumes of the teams behind Illinois and then get back to me. They are in easily right now unless a lot of crazy things happen in the conference tourneys. If they win on Friday they are an absolute lock.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 5, 2011 -> 01:59 PM) Honestly, I think they need more than winning today and against MSU/UM winner. You are absolutely crazy. Illinois is in easily right now and would need a ton to go wrong to not get in even with a loss on Friday. If they win on Friday they are as big of a lock as you can be.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 5, 2011 -> 01:22 PM) Pretty much what I expected from this frustrating senior class. In their last home game, they come out and absolutely dominate and show what could have been if they always showed this much effort. Illinois gets the MSU/UM winner in the 4/5 game on Friday. Win and they are definitely in the tourney, lose and its gonna be another nervous Selection Sunday. They really aren't even close to the bubble with a win today. If they don't get in it would be an absolute joke.

And I'll also say this about Mike Davis, for as much as he drove me nuts for the first 3 and a half years of his career (and the occasional "Mike Davis" play since then) if I could have one senior back next year it would be without a doubt him.

Illinois playing really well again so far today. Seniors are playing great and if they had played the way they have the last 3 games all year long I don't think you would see anywhere near the hatred of that group of seniors as you do from Illinois fans. The inconsistent effort of that group has driven people nuts for 4 years but if they can continue this play for the next couple of weeks they still have a chance to make a bit of a run in the tourney.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 03:45 PM) I take the afternoon off both of those days every year and everyone is aware of why. I've only been at my firm for a month and half so not sure I feel comfortable doing that yet. My boss is a huge basketball fan just like I am though so if he does it and I don't have a lot of work (like today where I am sitting at the office doing nothing) I might be able to work from home those days.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 03:18 PM) I personally think somewhere in between lies the truth. Oh, and Michael Jordan > All. The thing is I could bring up tons of moments showing that Lebron is "clutch" (game winner against Orlando, 29 out of Cavs final 30 points against the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals) or tons of moments to show Kobe is not clutch (airball in the playoffs last year, 6-24 in Game 7 against Celts last year etc) but those were individual events that don't tell the whole story. People have selective memories and if you don't like Lebron you will remember and point to his failures in the clutch and ignore his many successes. If you buy into Kobe being clutch you will remember his run of game winners a couple of years ago and forget the many times he has failed in the clutch. I've seen Lebron take and make game winners, I have seen him pass out of double teams to hit open teammates in key spots only to see them miss big shots and people have criticized him for that even though Jordan did the same and is praised for it (as he should be), and I have seen Lebron miss big shots. The best indicator of whether a player is clutch is their body of work and people who have way more time on their hands then I do have objectively looked at Kobe, Lebron, and the rest of the NBA's performance in the clutch and that evidence shows Lebron is really no more or less clutch than any other star player and neither is Kobe. The thing is, I actually agree that I don't want Lebron taking the last shot. But only if that shot is a 3 pointer. And I wouldn't want Wade taking that shot either. And I especially don't want Bosh taking that shot. Your best option in that situation is try to get a look for one of the guys on your team who can consistently knock that shot down, in the Heat's case Miller and now Bibby. Just like for the Lakers during their title runs it was Horry and Fisher. And I disagree about Jordan>All. Jordan>>>>>>>>>All.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 01:54 PM) No way we can keep up that defensive intensity in the 2nd half but that was the most fun I've had watching a half of Saluki basketball in forever. Keep it up guys! Ugh, this is the worst part about finally being employed. No more having weekday conference tourney watching marathons and I'm not sure how much of the first two days of the NCAA tourney I'm going to be able to see.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 01:25 PM) I totally agree about it not being a masterpiece. I understand the part about waking up if you die in a dream. It also makes some sense to go to limbo if you die in a dream because you can't wake up out of a sedative. The part that baffles me, though, is waking up from limbo by dying. How does that take you out of the sedative when it didn't in the regular dream? That's about the only real question I had with the movie, but I'm fine with it. I think we actually agree on this, I was just pointing out how inconsistent it was.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 01:03 PM) I won't hold the rules being ridiculous against the movie. The concept of the movie requires it to be absurd, so at least they followed their own rules. It just seemed odd that dying in one dream while under sedation would result in going to limbo, but dying in limbo brings you back. Obviously the entire movie required significant suspension of disbelief (as do most sci-fi movies) so the rules being ridiculous wasn't a huge issue, but it is absurd that if you die in the dream but you aren't sedated you wake up, if you die in the dream and are sedated you go to limbo, and then if you die in limbo while you are sedated or in a coma or whatever you wake up? It was an entertaining action movie with some cool visuals and I give credit to Nolan for at least not creating formulaic movies but I just don't think it was a masterpiece like a lot of people did.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 12:45 PM) I'm not sure if spoilers are necessary, but I did it anyway. I agree with everything in this post. I enjoyed the movie, but the rules for the dreams were frankly ridiculous and I love that even though there were two sets of actors credited for the kids that people still argue that the kids were the same at the end as they were for the other sequences.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 12:30 PM) Yeah I thought it was pretty straightforward. But the top didn't fall...*rolls eyes*

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 11:40 AM) well you can always go by the eye test and results of this year... LBJ hasn't been exactly getting it done at the end of the game lately, why not try something different? The eye test is stupid. People have selective memories and are just often flat out wrong. If I need a big 3 I absolutely don't go to James because he is inconsistent from 3 and Miami has guys who are much better from 3. Running a play for Bibby or Miller is the right move in that situation. This same thing goes for the people that go on and on about how clutch Kobe is when there has never at any point in his career been any statistical evidence to support that. Or how about how people's perceptions change over time. Kobe quit on his team against the Suns but now that is never brought up because he is winning again (thanks to Jerry West deciding to give his former team a gift in the form of Pau Gasol). Or like how people act like James completely rolled over and gave up last season in the playoffs against the Celtics (he might have quit at the end of game 5 but they lost that game by 32 anyways) yet he put up 29, 19 and 10 in Game 6. You just can't produce those types of numbers by not trying. He didn't play particularly well but saying he quit is ridiculous. Lebron is a douche but peoples' hatred of him clouds reality.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 3, 2011 -> 11:55 PM) Obviously it shouldn't come to this, but the Heat STILL haven't figured out that Dwyane Wade should get the big shots at the end. LeBron James and Chris Bosh are not clutch, end of game shot makers. Let the one guy on your team who has shown in the past that he is have the ball at the end. If you give Bosh or James those shots, they will not go in. It's that simple. Yawn, you definitely don't want James shooting big 3's because he isn't a great 3 pt shooter to begin with but James not being a clutch is a myth. Just like Kobe being clutch or Wade being clutch is a myth. This hasn't been updated in a while (doesn't include last season or this season) but it still is pretty telling http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 05:56 PM) It doesn't matter if he hits .250 and strikes out a lot when his OBP is .380 and his OPS is .900. If that doesn't make him the "best hitter" on the team, he comes in a very close second. Dunn is basically a younger (and maybe slightly inferior) Jim Thome. I'm not sure that the 3-hole would've been the best place for Thome in his prime, but it's far from unreasonable to bat him there. Dunn is a good player and I am happy he is on the White Sox but he is vastly inferior to Thome in his prime. Dunn's career OPS is .902 and his career high is .956. Thome's career OPS is .963 and between 1995 and 2007 he only twice posted an OPS lower than Dunn's career high of .956 and one of those seasons was his injury plagued 2005.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 2, 2011 -> 11:50 AM) I wasn't around, but I can't even imagine what it would have been like to watch those closing seconds of the miracle on ice live. Agree with this. I wasn't around either but I get goosebumps just watching the last few minutes with Al Michaels call. Watching that live (or on tape delay without knowing the results) had to be surreal.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Mar 2, 2011 -> 08:37 AM) Not a fan of Illinois in the least, but if McCamey come to play in the tournament, they can make a nice run. Should have won that game last night. They were in complete control before McCamey went out in the first half with two fouls. Purdue will always be tough at home because the refs let them rape the opposing team on defense. Which is pretty much the reason they can never make a deep run in March, because that s*** doesn't fly. I will be one happy camper when Moore and Johnson have played their last game and I hope to god that its not in the final four. I have absolutely no confidence in this team sustaining that effort from last night, but IF they can continue to play with that focus and intensity with DMac being back to his old self the last few games they have a chance to make the Sweet 16 depending on their draw. Because it isn't like Illinois needed a great night from 3 to stay in that game. Before DMac picked up his 2nd foul they were executing the offense to perfection and were getting easy shots on every single possession against a great defensive team. They were cutting hard, moving well without the basketball, and were making the right reads based on how Purdue was defending them. Now all that means is that against either IU or their BTT opponent they probably go back to not cutting hard on offense and losing focus on defense, but I guess I can dream.

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 10:08 PM) I think a team that plays such intense and physical man defense is a bad match for Paul (4 TOs tonight) who still doesn't seem that comfortable with ball in his hands. In the big picture for Paul, I think it is good he's being challenged to play point because any chance for him to make the next level is going require better ball skills. I'd agree Richmond should have played more over Cole. Did anyone else get the feeling that McCamey and Richmond don't get along well on the floor together? There were two sequences where Richmond wouldn't give the ball up to McCamey when he asked for it.... Paul had one legitimate turnover tonight. The other 3 were charges, 2 of which (Rock and Badger will also attest to this) were not even close to charges and were clear blocks and the other one was a block but at least was somewhat close.

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 09:34 PM) I understand...Davis is prone to spectacularly bad plays like that (or the missed dunks against Iowa). But...if you look at his line of 12-10-3 with one turnover, he really was one of the better Illini on the court tonight. It's just that the things that stick out are the egregiously bad mistakes. I guess I still think the vitriol I see for him from so many fans is undeserved, especially for guy who has managed to stay out of trouble off the court. He is a good kid, as are all the seniors really but my hatred of Davis is completely due to unfulfilled potential. And he has been much more consistent in the last 2 months then at any point in his career. But he has made a career out of making spectacularly bad plays at the worst possible times and unfortunately unless Illinois makes a run in the tourney will be my memories of Mike Davis's career at Illinois. Just like my memories of Tisdale are getting pushed around by 6'3 guys and my memories of DMac are him not being able to guard my 7 year old cousin. I don't include Cole because I have no expectations for him at all.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 09:24 PM) Playing Cole that much is crazy to me as well. I think Richmond needs to have some post plays developed for him. He definitely played too much but part of that was Richardson being banged up and not effective when he was in the game. Richmond should have played a little more for sure and while I would say Paul should have played more, he seems to struggle when he is in the game for too long of stretches. He plays so hard pressuring the ball that his production seems to dramatically drop off after he is in the game for about 4 straight minutes.

Also, I thought Weber coached a very good game tonight but he made one huge mistake that probably cost Illinois the game and that was leaving McCamey on the bench for the rest of the half with 2 fouls. If you are at home I am ok with that, but on the road against a top 10 team you have to take chances, particularly against a team where you can hide McCamey on defense by having guard a guy like Smith who won't put the ball on the floor.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 08:59 PM) Theyll have Hummel next year, but Id say they are a fringe tourney team at best. Even this year Im not overly impressed with them. I actually think Wisconsin is better than them, just @ Purdue they get away with so many fouls Wisconsin couldnt beat them. And right now Id rather be the 3 seed and face MSU/Indiana, instead of potentially having to face Michigan. Michigan is a team on the way up, MSU is seemingly defeated. Who knows what type of player he will be and the chances of him staying healthy frankly aren't very high when you are coming off of two knee surgeries like that.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 08:59 PM) Theyll have Hummel next year, but Id say they are a fringe tourney team at best. Even this year Im not overly impressed with them. I actually think Wisconsin is better than them, just @ Purdue they get away with so many fouls Wisconsin couldnt beat them. And right now Id rather be the 3 seed and face MSU/Indiana, instead of potentially having to face Michigan. Michigan is a team on the way up, MSU is seemingly defeated. Illinois was the better team tonight. If the officiating was even they would have won this game. Completely different officiating on both sides of the court and those 3 horrible charge alone cost Illinois at least 4 or 5 points.