whitesoxfan99

QUOTE (daa84 @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 05:52 PM) i got tickets for the whole event...illinois got the much easier half of the bracket than MSU IMO How so? Purdue is clearly better than Ohio St. or Wisconsin and there isn't really any major difference between facing Michigan or Minnesota/NW in their first game.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 9, 2009 -> 12:31 AM) That will never happen, but would be fantastic. I'm not sure why Memphis doesn't join a real league in basketball anyways, what they do in C-USA can't be all that beneficial, being basically unchallenged. DePaul made such a mistake joining the Big East, never will get why they did that either. It basically guarantees them a high seed every year and thus longer runs in the NCAA tournament and more exposure. They can play a tough non conference schedule and as long as they do decent in it they get to run the table in Conference USA and get a high seed.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 05:37 PM) If the IHSA doesn't reverse it tomorrow, they are opening themselves up to trouble. Love how kids in the city transfer from school to school and don't miss any time, but this may cost a team their season. The problem is that if they do over turn it then they open themselves up to having to review any taped game where someone receives two technical fouls. This is why it is a stupid rule to begin with. But really, that call is so bad (at least from what can be seen on the video) that it makes you wonder if the ref had an ulterior motive.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 02:52 PM) Been reading about it all day. As of now he is out Wednesday, but Waukegan is hoping to get it over turned. Not looking good. Here is video of the so called hanging on the rim, the video is horrible quality but based on this I have no idea how you can say he hung on the rim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlsB2HFI9Io

And the announcers are idiots for calling that a smart play by Sampay when he kicked the ball up. He had a wide open layup, and when you are only up 1 possession you take the points.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 6, 2009 -> 12:56 AM) PSU straight owns us. Anyway, I'm not that upset about the loss. It always sucks to lose. But those last 5 minutes were pretty much a microcosm of Illinois' weaknesses all season. Great regular season (when you consider how far this team has come since last year's debacle) overall. I don't expect us to do much in either the BTT or the NCAA tournament. Next year is when the fun really begins. It has been, but what really sucks to thinks about is that if Meacham hits the wide open 3 tonight they definitely win, and if he hits either wide open 3 on Sunday against MSU with the game tied there is a decent chance they win that one and they would actually have an outside shot at a Big 10 title right now.

QUOTE (Felix @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 11:15 PM) Or they rush the court because their chances of making the tournament are dramatically higher, assuming they hold their own in the Big Ten Tournament. Plus they hit a game winner with less than a second left, no problem with rushing the court in that situation.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 10:59 PM) Wow, finish reminded me a little of the Northwestern/Illinois game. Illinois fans have to hate it when Weber takes the air out of the ball when winning with about 5 minutes left. So many times over the last few years, they've gone ahead and lost because of it. He's a great coach, and that has to be his biggest weakness. It has been an issue in other games but it wasn't really that huge tonight. If you look at our possessions down the stretch, we got a wide open 3 by Meacham (who sucks), then a good look from Tisdale, then they fouled Frazier on purpose and he missed. The last couple of possessions were bad but before that they weren't really taking the air out ob the ball. Meacham's 3 wasn't late in the clock and Tisdale shot his with some time on the clock. And I actually do agree with you that taking the air out of the ball is a weakness of Weber's I just really didn't see it all that much tonight. It is also a fine line because shooting too quickly gets you into trouble as well. I'm a fan of somewhat stalling but starting the offense around 25 seconds and then run your normal offense and if you get a good look at take it. I think the problem is a lot of times it seems like Illinois waits till 15 seconds to start their offense and doesn't get a great look. But that really wasn't the case tonight. And looking back at it it was really only the last two possessions where they took the air out of the ball and almost every team does the same in those situations, only Illinois doesn't really have a guy who is great at creating his own show unlike most teams. And if Frazier and Davis don't choke at the line or Meacham doesn't completely suck it doesn't matter anyway.

And Illinois loses because they choke at the FT line, felt like last year. Oh, and I am so sick of Meacham, I don't care how bad Legion is, play him.

Ok so before I get called out for "blaming" the officials, Illinois has gotten some generous calls tonight and the officiating hasn't been bad for the most part. But what the officials are doing right now is exactly why I constantly say refs suck at their jobs. The refs went from calling a pretty loose game to literally calling any contact in the last minutes. And it came out of no where. Jones for PSU got called for almost nothing, then Tisdale picked up his third with almost no contact, and then Davis just got called for almost nothing.

Fallon is absolutely horrible so far.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 1, 2009 -> 06:10 PM) Cole Aldrich is an incredibly improved player, bitterness over an ass kicking from a Mizzou fan be damned. I can't speak for his specific offensive moves, but he's a lot better this year. And, well.....Missouri IS overrated. You may have had an incredible home comeback against Kansas earlier this season because they fell asleep with a huge lead, but they are still the better team and Missouri is still overrated right now. As for Illinois today, it is clear that they lost to a better team. Illinois is incredibly improved this year and well coached, but they just don't have the players to beat a Michigan State right now unless the Spartans are having an off day or dealing with injuries, and neither was the case today. Hopefully they can get a revenge win and a good win at Penn State, and the Spartans do their part and beat Purdue so the Illini will be the #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois had every chance to beat MSU today but McCamey was horrible and Trent missed two wide open threes when the game was tied at 58 that were momentum killers. I actually liked the way the game was officiated (minus Hightowers usual horrendous calls) today because it kept the game from resembling a football game like the games against Minnesota. Amazing how much better Big 10 games look when guys aren't allowed to mug the offensive players on every play.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 1, 2009 -> 05:30 PM) Refs have taken over this Mich St/Illinois game. They're calling a foul on every possession. Would you expect anything else from Ed Hightower? The guy isn't happy unless they are showing his face on TV.

For the good of basketball fans everywhere, Illinois and Minnesota really need to not face each other again this year. Despite the game being really ugly for long stretches it was still a really big win tonight for Illinois because this seals a tourney berth and also gives Illinois an outside chance at a Big 10 title if they win out. Never would have expected we would have an outside shot at a Big 10 title at this point in the season coming into the year.

Just saw on the bottom line that Dominic James is out for the year for Marquette.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 11:43 PM) I didn't turn this only until about quarter to 10, how many awards has this slumdog millionaire movie won anyways? What is the record? Record is 11 by Titanic, Ben Hur and LOTR: Return of the King. I think Slumdog won 8

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 03:21 PM) What happened at the end of the Illini game? I was watching the end of the entertaining Syracuse/'Nova game, and didn't know the Illini game was close. OSU got 4 pts on a possession to cut it to 2. Meacham made 2 fts, OSU didn't score and then McCamey made a ft to put Illinois up 5. Diebler hit a 3 with a little over a second to go to cut it to two. Illinois got the ball in to Meacham, gave over essentially.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 03:22 PM) Really? Who besides Landry is a senior? I think most of their talent is in the freshman and sophmores. Krabbenhoft is a SR and Bohannon and Hughes are JRs.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) Tried to throw it away with some dumb turnovers, but a good win nonetheless. That Penn State loss is going to bite us in the ass if we beat MSU. This was a game I was expecting to lose. I still think those that think the big ten is overrated are wrong. OSU and Wisky are good examples of teams that can beat a lot of really good teams but maybe are too young to be consistent. I dont think the big ten has a championship team, but i can see 2, maybe 3 getting to the sweet 16 or elite eight (obviously depending on the matchups). Wisconsin is not a young team.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 02:50 PM) I thought Duke relied on outside shooting, Illinois has 1 free throw in 2 games?? We don't drive to the basket, but we actually have a ton of pts in the paint today. They just have been wide open 5 foot jumpers by Davis. You aren't going to draw fouls on those.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 05:06 PM) As Boers and Bernstein were saying, watch that 2nd pick acquired today be used on either Hansbrough or Harangody. I'd rather sell the pick then waste it on one of those two.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 11:03 PM) So who's your All American team so far? Mine would be: pg- Ty Lawson sg- Stephen Curry c- Dejuan Blair sf- Jodie Meeks pf- Blake Griffin Harden, Thabeet, Hansbrough, McNeal, Harangody, and Calathes just miss I'm pretty much in agreement with your list. Curry, Meeks and Griffin are obviously locks. Lawson has been just ridiculous lately. Blair is a good choice but obviously Hansbrough and Thabeet have good cases. Harangody is a really good player but he is still awful defensively and he has been scoring his points by basically being a volume shooter at times this year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 11:09 PM) I didn't hear much bad about McBride. Luther Head was just a piece of s*** while on campus. Deron was actually a very nice person..but not really a scholar. Who is a scholar when they know they are going to the league?

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 11:08 PM) I've said it many times, we don't get a chance to play anyone. In conference is always much tougher than it should be. That goes for both teams. However, I still think we are every bit as talented as Illinois and I see no reason that Illinois should be ranked. ISU should not be either. I'm just saying that a game between the teams could go either way. I'm biased so I give ISU the slight edge. By the way, with UNI losing to Drake tonight, ISU now controls its own destiny for the MVC regular season title. If they win that and lose in the MVC final(by preferably under 30) and get snubbed again, it will be a disgrace. Regular season champ from a conference as good as the MVC is should get in the tournament even in a down year. You lost to f'ing Indiana State twice. They are one of the worst teams in the country. The MVC sucks this yeary and is a one big league. Just accept it.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 08:57 PM) Illinois is extremely subpar, a good small conference team could easily beat them in the first round. This is true about almost every team in college basketball this year outside of the top 8 or so. There just aren't very many good basketball teams in college basketball teams this year. It wouldn't surprise me if every SEC and Pac 10 teams lost early. Every Big 10 team could lose early. Every Big 12 team except for Oklahoma could lose early, etc. Even some of the top teams like Clemson, Wake, Louisville, and Duke have looked awful at times.