whitesoxfan99

Its actually Jamont Gordon and we do have a shot at him if he waits to spring after Deron has a huge year and goes pro. Shuf I don't understand the embarrasment to the basketball program comment. That is one of the dumbest f***ing things I have ever heard. Whether he is an Illinois caliber player is up for debate but to say a guy who hasn't played a second of college basketball yet and is going to get college level coaching at a great prep school this year (Ryan Gomes is a former alum) is an embarrassment, is ludicrous. The only way I would be embarrased to be an Illini basketball fan is if we start catering to criminals on a consistent basis cough *cough Cinci cough* or the program should get the death penalty for repeated sanctions or paying recruit insane amounts of money to play for us *cough Michigan cough*. Those are the type of programs I could not be a fan of, personally I'll wait and see if he turns out to be a good player or not, but I highly doubt he ever does anything to embarrass the program

True White Sox fans don't throw the ball back. That tradition is from the other side of town.

Beer is an acquired taste. The more often you try it (and I don't mean large quantities in one sitting) the better it will begin to taste.

I meant more in proven ability. The talent is there but will it produce. You could have 5 incredibly talented guys off the bench and not have much depth if they aren't ready. For instance what if Felton gets in early foul trouble. While Thomas certainly has the ability to be a capable backup its not certain at the moment that he will be. I questioned their depth because they have a lot of unproven players and there is a huge dropoff from McCans and Felton to guys like Scott, Manual, and Noel.

By the way, here is my preseason top 25, go ahead and criticize it all you want, I can take it. Recently updated 1. Georgia Tech-Last years runner up, returns star PG Jarret Jack, explosive guard Will Bynum, as well as leading scorer BJ Elder. They still have Ismail Muhammed who is one of the best athletes in the country as well as Luke Schenscher who is one of the premier centers in the country. They also brought in a nice class of freshman Question mark: Besides Schenscher do they have the inside presence necessary to win the title? 2. Illinois-Along with Wake Forest has arguably the best backcourt in America with Dee Brown and Deron Williams. Luther Head is as good as any third guard in America and should barring another incident finally find consistency this year. James Augustine is one of the more talented big men in the country and Roger Powell is an effective scorer from the PF position. Also, quality depth with the likes of Nick Smith, Jack Ingram, and Richard McBride returning. Illinois returns everyone except for Jerrance Howard from their Sweet 16 team last year. Question Mark: Can the Illini score and defend the post on a consitent enough basis? 3. Wake Forest-Justin Gray and Chris Paul together are one of the best backcourts in the country. Jamaal Levy provides a very good athlete and versatile defender at the SF position. Eric Williams if he can stay healthy is as good as any big man in the country. If Wake Forest has a healthy Vytas Danelius they may have the best team in the country. December 1st the Deacons had to the Assembly Hall to play Illinois. Question Mark: Can this team stop anyone? Theres no question they can put the ball in the basket but you have to play D to win it all? 4. Kansas- Returns the best big man in the country in Wayne Simien. The backcourt of Aaron Miles and Ray Langford is a good one and these three seniors are going to go out with a bang. JR Giddens is a great shooter and athlete and gives Kansas their deep threat. Just like the previous three teams on this list they are very capable of winning it all. Brought in one of the best recruiting classes in the country Question Mark: Who is going to step into the other big position vacated by transfer David Padgett and graduate Jeff Graves? 5. Syracuse- Hakim Warrick may be the best player in the country this year. He is one of the few players in college basketball capable of taking complete control of the game. Guard Gerry McNamara is as explosive of a scorer as you will find in college basketball. They will get a huge boost if Billy Edelin can make the grades and join the team. Supporting cast is solid but hardly spectacular Question mark? Can the supporting cast do enough to help their Warrick and McNamara get to the promised land? 6. UNC-Perhaps the most talented team in the country. Sean May, Rashad McCants, and Raymond Felton are as good as any trio in the country. Jawad Williams had a great year last year and he and super FR Marvin Williams should give UNC perhaps the best starting lineup in the country this year. Qustion mark: Will chemistry be a problem and will they have enough depth to overcome possible injuries or foul trouble? 7. Oklahoma St.- Final 4 participant last year. Lost star guard Tony Allen but Oklahoma St. still has the horses to make another run. PG John Lucas is a great clutch player who makes this team go. Also returning are Joey Graham, Ivan McFarlin, and Daniel Bobik. The core of this team is very tough nosed and they've been there before, question is can they do it again. Queston Mark? Can troubled freshman Jameson Curry help to makeup for the loss of Tony Allen? 8. UCONN- One of the more intriguing teams in the country. Frontcourt of Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva should be as good as any in the country. Rashad Anderson and Denham Brown are both very good shooters who can get very hot in a hurry. Freshman Rudy Gay could be the key to a final four run. Hes a tremendous talent who UCONN will need to have a big year to make a repeat run to the final four. Question Mark: With the uncertain status of AJ Price, who will run the show for UCONN? 9. Mississippi State- I have them this high for one reason and one reason alone: Lawrence Roberts. The guys is a tremendous inside force and was a first team all american last year. The supporting cast is a bit weak but Lawrence Roberts should be able to carry this team to a great performance in the SEC. Question Marks? If Roberts has an off night do they have enough around him to beat other good teams? 10. Arizona-Returns Mustafa Shakur, Salim Stoudamire, Channing Frye, and Hassan Adams as key contributors from last year. Arizona is extemely athletic and explosive but weren't able to find any consitency last year. Arizona brought in a very talented freshman class led by Jawann McClellan. Question mark? Can they replace Andre Iguodala and finally find some consistency? 11. MSU- Returns nearly everyone from last years team. Paul Davis is one of the best big men in the Big 10 and should keep MSU in nearly every game this year. They have lots of depth on the wings in Chris Hill, Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown, Anderson, and Kelvin Torbert. They have two very good freshman coming in in the form of Marquise Gray and Drew Neitzel. Question Mark? Can Neitzel run the show and can Gray provide the inside toughness missing from MSU last year? 12. Duke- They may have lost Chris Duhon and Luol Deng to the pros (plus signee Shaun Livingston) but Duke as usual still is pretty loaded. Sheldin Williams and Shavlik Randolph give Duke a very solid front line. Sean Dockery will need to step up his role on offense and be able to run the show for Duke. JJ Redick gives Duke one of the streakiest shooters in the country, but when he is on he doesn't miss. Freshman Demarcus Nelson could be the key to this team. Question mark? Will Dockery be able to live up to the hype he had coming out of high school and be the PG Duke needs? 13. Kentucky-The Wildcats lost quite a bit of talent from last years squad. Key returners include Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes. What will determine this teams fate is transfer Patrick Sparks and the incoming freshman class that includes three McDonald's AA in Rajon Rondo, Joe Crawford, and Randolph Morris. Question Mark; Can the freshman live up to the hype? 14. Maryland-Maryland made a tremendous run through the ACC tourney last year earning this rank. The Terrapins are lead by PG John Gilchrist and Nik Cader Medley as well as a strong supporting cast including DJ Strawberry and Chris McCray. Question Mark: Can the Terrapins play consistent ball and show that their ACC tourney run last year was no fluke? 15. Wisconsin- The Badgers lost one of the best players in the country from last year in Devin Harris. However, they may have the best all around front court in the country. With Mike Wilkinson the return of Alando Tucker, Brian Butch, and incoming freshman Greg Stiemsma the Badgers have no shortage of good big men and should compete for the Big 10 title. The backcourt will be this teams weakness as they have no real go to guy. Shariff Chambliss a transfer from Penn St. should be solid for the Badgers come Big 10 season if he can recover from surgery. Question Mark: Can the Badgers backcourt play at a high enough level to replace hide the loss of Devin Harris? 16. Louisville- Led by Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean in the backcourt. Ellis Myles returns from injury in the frontcourt. Garcia is the reason that Louisville has a chance to turn some heads as he is one of the best players in America. Question Mark: Can the find a way to be consistent and can the frontcourt help out Dean and Garcia? 17. Pittsburgh-Key players for Pittsburgh are PG Carl Krauser and forward Chris Taft. Taft is the key guy for this team as he has the potential to be one of the best big men in the country this year. Question Mark: Do they have enough around Krauser and Taft to make some noise come tourney time? 18. Texas- Texas is a very interesting team much like UCONN in that they lost a great deal of talent from last year. Luckily for Texas they brought in a terrific freshman class that will probably produce three starters in Lamarcus Aldridge ©, Daniel Gibson (PG), and Mike Williams (PF). Key returning contributor for Texas will be PJ Tucker. This team is one of the hardest to predict in the country. Question mark: Very simply, how will the freshman develop? 19. Alabama-Made the Elite 8 last year after upsetting Stanford in the second round. Kennedy Winston is their star player and they will need him to produce on a constant basis for them to attempt a repeat performance of last years run. Question mark: Which Alabama will show up, the one that made the elite 8 or the one that struggled all year before that run? 20. Washington- Team that is very exciting to watch play. Nate Robinson the 5-9 guard is one of the most explosive leapers in America and is very fun to watch. Washington returns nearly all key contributors from last years team. Question mark: Can they play any defense? 21. Notre Dame-Chris Thomas and Torin Francis form a very formidable 1-2 punch if healthy. Thomas is one of the more explosive but streaky scorers in America and Francis is one of the most talented big men in the Big East if not America. Surrounded by Dennis Lattimore, Chris Quinn, Colin Falls, and Jordan Cornette. Question marks: Defense as well as health 22. Michigan- A team that is an enigma. With Daniel Horton, Lester Abram, Brent Petway, Courtney Sims, and Dion Harris they have the talent to try to go after the Big 10s big 3 of Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin but have not been able to produce on a consistent basis. Questionable coaching for this team as well. Question mark: Can they be consistent and live up to their ability? 23. Providence- Ryan Gomes is as good as any player in America and Providence showed a great deal of potential at times last year before fading down the stretch. Donnie McGrath is the Friars PG and he is a good one. Quetion mark: Is Gomes alone capable of leading this team to big things? 24. NC State-Two words: Julius Hodge. The best player returning in the ACC. Yes you heard me right, better than Rashad McCants, Sean May, JJ Redick, Chris Paul, and Jarret Jack. The guy is quite possibly the best all around player in the country and is the returning ACC player of the year. Question mark: Do they have the talent to go along with Hodge to make noise in the ACC? 25. Gonzaga-Ronny Turiaf and Adam Morrison give Gonzaga a very good frontline. Expect Morrison with increased playing time to step up and potentially put up 20 PPG. This team lost their star guard and does not appear to have a ready replacement. Question mark: Do they have the backcourt to be "cinderella" again come time for the big dance?

MSU has basically everyone coming back Paul Davis, Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager, Chris Hill, Alan (How does he spell his first name?) Anderson, Kelvin Torbert, and then they have Marquise Gray and Drew Neitzel as incoming freshman. However a position by position analysis PG Deron Williams>>>>>>>Neitzel or whoever starts SG Dee Brown>Chris Hill and Dee Brown>Shannon Brown SF Luther Head>>>Anderson PF Roger Powell>Kelvin Torbert I assume Gray won't start to begin the year, these two are very different players but both are pretty effective, slight edge to Powell because he can be an explosive scorer, Torbert the better defender C Paul Davis>James Augustine I'll give a slight edge to Davis even though Augustine has outplayed him in their matchups Bench MSU Gray, Ager, Hill or Brown, Delco Rawley and Namick vs. Illinois Nick Smith, Brian Randle, Jack Ingram, Rich McBride, Shaun Pruitt, and Warren Carter. To hard to tell, Illinois has more depth inside but Ager and Brown or hill might give MSU a little more explosive scoring off the bench unless McBride can be consistent this year. Very very slight edge to MSU

I would agree that right now the ACC is the best conference in the country. Historically there are a few conferences who are pretty close. I looked up the top 4 finishers since 1939 and added up their totals for the Big 6 conferences: Pac 10, Big 10, ACC, Big East, Big 12, and SEC and for titles I added Conference USA. I know conferences is change so I added them up based on current conference affiliation (There may be some error as I almost lost my spot a couple times and in fact may have.) Total "Final 4s" Big 10 39 ACC 38 Big 12 33 Pac 10 28 Big East 23 SEC 21 National Championships Pac 10 15 (11 coming from UCLA) ACC 9 Big 10 9 SEC 8 Big East 5 Conference USA 5 Big 12 4

You say MSU returns the bulk of their team, well Illinois returns everyone except for Howard from a team that was by much better than MSU last year. Not to mention adding the guys who were 2nd and 3rd in Mr. Basketball voting from Illinois behind only Shaun Livingston who of course was a top 5 pick. Why do you bring up being ranked top 3 to begin last year anyway? Where MSU finished in the rankings is what should count right now. Its not like they lost key players to injury.

Well considering most people on here are from the state of Illinois its not surprising that there are a lot of fans of the home state school. Bias aside, there is not one reason for MSU to be ranked higher than Illinois to start this season and that goes for Kentucky as well.

Do you ever have anything else to say?

Dick Vitale is a tool. Hes a worthless piece of crap. I would love to hear him rationalize MSU being higher than Illinois. Also, my post isn't due to UI not being in the Top 5 because I've seen other rankings without them in there but rather Vitale's history of biased bulls***.

:headshake At least get his name right. Its Weber with one B not Webber.

Yes

Raise money for charity.

If we're going to get a stop gap I would prefer Vizquel.

Yeah, but except for one year Pedro has made at least 29 starts in every season since 1994. Its not like the guy is constantly missing a lot of starts every year. But I do agree its a pretty big risk especially for a team on a limited budget. For the Yankees on the other hand.....

Oh crap, the Sox are doomed for eternity. But seriously good luck and congratulations.

Yes

To bad Palehosefan is a UNC fan not an Illini fan.

Yeah, but the student section chanting f*** Duke was one of the funnier things I've seen while watching a college basketball game.

Ummm... Syracuse plays in the Carrier Dome, I don't think they ever played in the Palestra. I believe the Palestra was Penn's home court and the location of the the Big 5 basketball tourney (La Salle, Penn, Temple, St. Joes, and Villanova).

I guess, but I'm not a big fan of the old "well they tried hard" saying when it comes to professional sports. In little league playing with intensity is admirable, in the pros it should be expected.

Not bad, I assume OSU is Oklahoma St..

Apparently I'm the only one who is going to give a top 10 list.