whitesoxfan99

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Mar 12, 2010 -> 02:12 PM) I hope, on a daily basis, that Richmond will provide more his freshman year than DJ/BP have this year. DJ was damn good this year. He struggled the last few games but he had a really good freshmen year. Was good on offense and became a really good defensive player by the end of the year.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 12, 2010 -> 01:55 PM) I hate you Evan Turner. Seriously, that was cold blooded and awful defensive call by Belein to not guard inbounds. Stay classy, Matta. That was an amazing shot but a really dumb decision not to have someone on him in the backcourt to put pressure on him, would have made it a more difficult play. That had to remind you of Richmond's shot against Warren last year btw.

Absurd ending in the OSU-Michigan game. Turner makes a 30 footer at the buzzer to win it.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 11, 2010 -> 11:02 PM) Arizona State in a lot of trouble right now, could be another bubble team going down in their first game, crazyness. And even though UTEP pretty much has 0 quality wins this season, the individual size and talent on that team is quite impressive. The Pac 10 doesn't deserve a single at large bid. The entire conference basically has no good wins (exaggerating I know, but there are almost no good out of conference wins).

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Mar 11, 2010 -> 04:00 PM) By the way, I still think Greg Monroe is the best player in the nation. Hard to match his scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks, steals, and rugged good looks. Evan Turner and quite frankly I don't think it is close.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 10, 2010 -> 04:24 PM) Leno's 'Tonight Show' now trailing Letterman in the ratings Outstanding

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1227007648038 Link to video of the above dunk.

Unreal pictures of Meyers Leonard's dunk from tonight. Not many 7 footers that can do that.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 11:57 PM) I have finally given in to watching Couples Retreat with my girlfriend. I am officially whipped. Ugh that movie was absolutely terrible.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 05:27 PM) Id vote for Bo Ryan for Big 10 coach of the year. Wisconsin preseason was picked as finishing 9th or worse. There is no way anybody had them 9th or worse. Iowa, PSU, and IU were the consensus last 3 and I doubt people had Wisconsin finishing behind NW. But I agree with Ryan as Big 10 coach of the year.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 04:21 PM) I don't think either were overrated. He was a complete game changer in college and there's no way they get to the title game with out him. He also was a legit NBA prospect, if it hasn't been for injuries I think he'd be quite a NBA player at the moment. His block shots and rebounding rates were phenomenal this year before he got injured again. He was becoming the type of defensive force that would change games and with Portland's other talent could lead them to a championship. And for those who are fans of Hollinger's PER he was 8th in the league. Guy is a game changer and absolute stud when healthy. It is unfortunate we are likely never going to see him at his potential because of injuries.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 12:08 AM) I watched it as a preview for Alice in Wonderland in Imax 3D. You can bet your ass I am seeing this movie in Imax 3D I am looking forward to this movie as much as any other coming out this year along with Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and possibly Inception. And even though I feel like I am the only one my age who has seen Tron most of my friends are really excited about it as well since I have forced the trailer, teasers and the other clips on them.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/03/08/mus.../#ixzz0heG4ajR7 Link to the new Tron Legacy trailer. Everything I've seen so far looks amazing.

Uh oh, Felix is going to be upset. Damian Johnson doesn't even make the Big 10 all defensive team and Kramer won defensive player of the year. I guess flopping all over the place and fouling people on every possession is the key to being defensive player of the year.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 06:41 PM) Quotes from Ozzie via Cowley: That is some good stuff. Does Ozzie actually watch the games?

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 07:42 PM) Fairfield's going to burst someone's bubble if they upset Siena here. Siena's best win is against Northeastern and they got their asses kicked by every good team they played except for Temple.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 02:49 PM) I think that if Minnesota makes the Big Ten final with wins over MSU & Purdue, they could easily snag one of those at-large bids as well. Sure and obviously a lot of the above teams could make a run in their tourneys that would chance things but assuming Illinois loses to Wisconsin and none of those teams add big wins, a case could certainly be made for Illinois making the tourney over the other teams listed.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 01:59 PM) If they lose to Wisconsin, they're out. Their RPI is awful, and with 13/14 losses and losing 5 of their last 6, they'd have no shot. Probably but the bottom of the bubble teams are truly awful. Here is Lunardi's current last 4 in, first four out and next four out. Also, RPI is a truly awful tool that I wish the committee would do away with. There are much better indicators (Kenpom, other statistical rankings) of a teams quality than RPI. Last Four In * Memphis * Arizona State * San Diego State * Illinois First Four Out * Washington * Seton Hall * Rhode Island * Ole Miss Next Four Out * Dayton * UAB * Mississippi State * Minnesota Can you really tell me any of the teams below Illinois are clearly more deserving. This is exactly why I am so against expansion btw. None of the last 4 in should really be in the tourney and none of the 8 teams after them should be either. Washington and Arizona St. are only even being mentioned because of how truly terrible the Pac 10 is and I still think that should be a one or two bid league. Expansion to 96 is so laughable. You can't even fill a field with 65 deserving teams (there is never 34 good at large teams and then you also have the 16 and 15 seeds which basically never have a shot at winning even a game).

If Illinois beats Wisky and OSU they are 100% in. If they beat Wisky they are very likely in the tourney. If they lose, sadly the bubble is so bad they would still have a slim shot although they sure as hell wouldn't deserve it.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 7, 2010 -> 04:34 PM) Well, their two starting big men are absoultely soft, couple of wimps. Then you have McCamey, who is a mental midget (he had quite the meltdown down the stretch today), and additionally you have a somewhat inconsistent freshman in Richardson and a wildly inconsistent one in Paul. It's just a weird team. Tisdale is weak but he isn't really soft. He battles in the post, doesn't shy away from contact and isn't scared to take big shots (maybe the best clutch player on the team). Unfortunately he just isn't strong enough to always hold position and he is also playing too many minutes because the bench has been terrible and he wears down over the course of games. Davis on the other hand plays like a p**** far too often.

DMac is the rare player who played Illinois into being in great position to make the dance and then almost single handedly blow it (not that he didn't have help). His play the last week has been embarrassing. 4-18 against Minny with the terrible turnover late where if they go ahead they very likely win the game. Deciding to not even attempt to guard Diebler on Tuesday leading to his barrage of wide open 3s when Illinois was playing well and had a chance to pull ahead in the 1st half. And then again today getting abused on defense, having a terrible turnover at a key time, and shooting the ball horribly. Also, Mike Davis still sucks and Richardson has completely disappeared. Cole has actually been playing well lately and Tisdale had a good game today, but just terrible play this last week. As for the comment that Weber has gotten less out of this team than any coach in America has gotten out of theirs that is just downright laughable. Roy Williams and Paul Hewitt have way more talent and have actually done less than Weber. Rick Barnes has taken a team that has as much talent as really anyone in America out of the Top 25 rankings and a 9-7 record in the Big 12. Billy Donovan has a talented team squarely on the bubble. Jim Calhoun at UConn has been horrible this year and I probably can name a few others if I tried hard enough. Also, Mike Davis still sucks. I thought the reffing was fair and sitting on the court pretty much every foul was legit. Wisconsin hacks a lot, just like Purdue (Illinois has been guilty of this in the past as well) so when they get refs that call it tight they are going to get called for a lot of fouls. With that said, I hate Jim Burr with a passion and he needs to go ahead and just die already. He is absolutely clueless out there and is on a ridiculous power trip every time he is on the court.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) As a guy who has seen Bertrand play probably two dozen times, I don't think he can play point at the Big 10 level. You are probably right about Richmond though because he's so good. As for the tournament, 2 more wins and they are a lock. No more wins and it's NIT team. If they just beat Wisconsin at home and then lose their 1st game in Indy (or lose to them and then win 1 in Indy) it'll be just like '06-'07 where they are like the last team in or first team out. Hopefully if that happens, the result is the same as that year and they sneak in. Bertrand may not be able to play PG full time but he can certainly handle the ball well enough to give you 5-10 minutes at that position off the bench and that is all they need if McCamey stays (which he clearly should since I don't think he has anywhere near a first round pick).

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 12:48 PM) Not making the tournament in '07-'08 was not surprising (although just how bad they were was), but it would be pretty impressive for a team with a reasonable amount of talent like this years Illini have to not make the tournament. And if they don't win their next 2 games, I think they're out. The problem is that as talented as the class this year was in recruiting, and as talented as the class next year will be, they still really only have one point guard in McCamey. Unless I'm really missing something, Head and Richmond can't play point either, so this isn't a problem that's going away (although they will be better next year. I think.) If they beat Wisconsin they should be in. 4 top 25 wins and an 11-7 conference record in a good Big 10 should definitely be enough. I don't think a 2nd PG is a huge deal as long as you have other guys who can handle the ball. Bertrand is solid in that regard, and Richmond is a very good ball handler who could definitely bring the ball up for stretches next year, especially since he won't be pressured by the other teams PG. Richardson and Paul need to improve their ball handling going forward and Head is injured so I can't really speak to his current status as a ball handler but he wasn't a bad ball handler (definitely not a PG though). The 07-08 team sucked, but interestingly they were the 40th ranked team in the Kenpom ratings that year which are usually a very good indication of how good a team is. That team just had an amazing ability to not win close games which was directly related to their struggles to score in general and the fact that their best offensive player was a liability in key situations because he was terrible at the line which directly cost them the IU game, and indirectly cost them several other games.

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Mar 3, 2010 -> 12:26 AM) They generate a lot of long 2s, not necessarily 3s, in my estimation. Maybe I'm mistaken about that as well, but it seems like a very jump shot heavy offense to me. The last two years have been very heavy on jump shots which is based heavily on the personnel. Meacham was a spot up shooter, Davis and Tisdale both love the midrange jump shot. Richardson has been primarily a shooter but has shown the ability to hit the pull up J and get to the rim at times, Cole can only shoot jump shots. DMac has been the only player the last 2 years that can really get to the rim but he still doesn't finish that well consistently and prefers the jump pull up jump shot to taking it all the way to the rim. The 04-05 team was heavily dependent on 3's but also generated wide open 3's for great shooters on a consistent basis and that offense worked perfectly for that team. The 05-06 team was somewhat dependent on the 3 but was a very good offensive team in large part due to Augustine's offense and being a very good offensive rebounding team. The 06-07 and 07-08 teams with Pruitt at C took less jump shots but still took quite a few because the guards were very one dimensional (with McBride and Meacham being the 2Gs and also that Warren Carter was just an absolute stud his SR year and scored mostly on jump shots). I'd say Weber's offense is more geared towards jump shots than some but also leaves a lot of room for guys to take the ball to the rim. He also has shown a willingness to pound it inside when he has the personnel to do so.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 11:57 PM) If you guys think your refs are bad. Try playing in the valley. I'm sure some of the SIU fans can tell you they protect the slow, white kids from the cornfields. Refs throughout college basketball are just absolutely horrible. I'm actually surprised when I watch a game these days where I don't notice the officiating.