Big Ten Basketball

[Magnetic Curses]

Has Randle matched up with anyone that plays down low/posts up as much as Tucker? Randle is a fantastic perimeter defender(shutting down Ager and Gardner are two immediate examples, wonder why I thought of them...), but is his lean frame conducive to being able to stop a more experienced, more solidly built player like Tucker?

 

he's put on some serious muscle in the offseason. he might be lean, but he's strong enough to play straight up against tucker. plus he's taller than tucker, which should also account for something.

[badgercub]

 

That said, Tucker isn't that great a scorer, like I pointed out earlier in this thread I believe. I think the difference you'll see tonight is heavily dependent on officiating. If Augustine plays a good portion of the game in foul trouble, then U of I is in a lot of trouble. If not, they have a good shot if Brown can find the net.

 

He is averaging over 20 a game in the Big Ten and gets to the line on a consistent basis why wouldn't you classify him as a scorer? As a John Wooden Player of the year candidate I would say he is a scorer. Just because he doesn't translate well to the NBA doesn't mean he isn't a scorer on the college level.

 

Look back in the thread, Tucker isn't very efficient at all.

 

Until he suffered that nasal injury his numbers were pretty good. Even on nights when he has shot poor he has still "scored" Just cause he isn't a pure shooter doesn't mean he isn't a scorer.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

That said, Tucker isn't that great a scorer, like I pointed out earlier in this thread I believe. I think the difference you'll see tonight is heavily dependent on officiating. If Augustine plays a good portion of the game in foul trouble, then U of I is in a lot of trouble. If not, they have a good shot if Brown can find the net.

 

He is averaging over 20 a game in the Big Ten and gets to the line on a consistent basis why wouldn't you classify him as a scorer? As a John Wooden Player of the year candidate I would say he is a scorer. Just because he doesn't translate well to the NBA doesn't mean he isn't a scorer on the college level.

 

Look back in the thread, Tucker isn't very efficient at all.

 

Until he suffered that nasal injury his numbers were pretty good. Even on nights when he has shot poor he has still "scored" Just cause he isn't a pure shooter doesn't mean he isn't a scorer.

 

check the edit

[Brewhaha]

I can't wait for the game tonight. It's basically a must win for the Badgers at this point. They need to hold serve at home. I really like this rivalry as well.

[illiniguy]

and because Steve Alford is your coach

 

Stop listening to B&B before you form your Alford opinions. If you dislike him, it should be solely for the reason that he is a bad coach.

I dislike him because he defended Pierre Pierce and even went so far as to say he was the victim in his first sexuall assualt charge. The man was the national president of the FCA when he was in college, yet he sided with a rapist over a real victim. The fact that he has destroyed Iowa's program I like hjim for. I realize you guys are good this year, but after this year you guys will be really horrible.

 

Find me where he said Pierre was the vicitim. Not once did that take place. He also never sided with Pierre over the victim. I also doubt that you know what actually took place, but it surely wasn't rape. There are a few reasons why the female and her family were so willing to settle so that the details didn't go public.

 

Also how can you say we're good this year but will be "really horrible" afterward? You were on this board this summer saying that our lack of success the past few years wasn't Alford's fault, it was because we had no talent. So first of all how are we good without any talent this year and why will be worse if we aren't losing any talent?

And who can forget your guarantee after the '03 football season that Iowa football would take a big step backwards because we were losing Gallery and Russell. Of course we improved by 2 games between the two years, but hey who cares.

Yeah I admitted I was wrong about your football. They have however, regressed back to the middle of the Big Ten. Alford is a coach who hasn't had a alot of talent, but guess what everyone of those players he recruited. He has no one to blame but himelf for the lack of talent. After this years seniors leave you guys are really looking rough. Henderson and Haluska are good players, but the other guys don't show much at all. Alford in my opinion didn't learn how to build a program and that is his downfall, well that and he hasn't recruited his own state very well. Korver and Jacobson come to mind, how did he lose them to mid majors? How about me disliking him because last year he said he had the book on how to beat Illinois, even though his team never did. How about the fact he fought to have the tickets to the illinois game this year made unavailable until a week before the game. Way to cost your school a ton of money in lost ticket sales because you are embarrased that more of our fans would rather travel to watch us play than show up at home to cheer on the hawkeyes. How about when he called his team the big ten champions when they won the tournament title. :roll: No Steve you weren't Big Ten champions.

 

Regressed to the middle of the Big Ten? LOL, wow you're funny. We finish tied for 3rd one season (after losing 3 defensive lineman to the NFL and losing a couple of games that came down to the last play) and all of a sudden we've regressed to the middle of the Big Ten? So in the last four years we've tied for two championships and the lowest we've finished is tied for 3rd. You lack any objectivity. That would be like me saying Illinois basketball has regressed to the middle of the Big Ten if they finish 3rd in basketball this year, which is very possible. Seriously, put your dislike or hatred aside and look at it objectively. It's not that hard for an adult. I can do it very well when analyzing Illinois basketball. When you don't, you make yourself look ridiculous.

 

Secondly I really don't care if you like Steve Alford. Many Iowa fans don't. But again you look ridiculous for changing your reasons after you were called out on lies in your first post. You had no clue on the facts and were telling blatant lies (Alford said Pierre was the victim, blatant lie) to support your opinion. Now you don't like him for all of these reasons?

Again you failed to get the facts right. The tickets for the Illinois game were available long before the week before the game. And he didn't cost his school any money because the game was a sellout.

But hey why let the facts get in the way of another one of your rants, right?

 

Good Lord.

all I know is what i have heard. I have heard that is exactly what Alford said, if it isn't than I was am wrong. You guys finished whta? 7-5 or 7-6? Yeah thats real elite. I have and will admit I was wrong about your football team and I really respoect your coach. The couple of times I met him he seemed like a real genuine guy. As for the tickets, all I know is every year i got to carver hawkeye with my dad and brother its a nice little tradition we have that we couldn't partake in this year because the iowa athletic department felt the need to withold the tickets. They also said on the espn telecast that there were about 2000 empty seats, but hey i guess that isn't a fact as I can't quote a link to it. Reguardless, if Alford didn't say that about Pierce I guess I dislike him a lot less. I still think he is a little overmatched when it comes to running a successful Big time college program and you would have been better served keeping Tom Davis.

[illiniguy]

Has Randle matched up with anyone that plays down low/posts up as much as Tucker? Randle is a fantastic perimeter defender(shutting down Ager and Gardner are two immediate examples, wonder why I thought of them...), but is his lean frame conducive to being able to stop a more experienced, more solidly built player like Tucker?

 

he's put on some serious muscle in the offseason. he might be lean, but he's strong enough to play straight up against tucker. plus he's taller than tucker, which should also account for something.

Plus he has crazy length, his arms are ridiculous. Should be a good match-up. If Randle can avoid cheap fouls I really like our chances. Hopefully Rich McBride keeps playing like he did against Purdue so Dee doesn't have to try to do everything.

[illiniguy]

Iowa's cupboard indeed will be bare.

 

But what about Illinois'?

 

No Augustine or Brown next season for the Illini.

Uhh? Gordon, Smith, Frazier, McBride, Pruitt, Randle, Semrau, maybe Freemen, Beverly, and Rose. Am I forgetting anyone?

 

I'm sure they'll be ranked at least.

 

Gordon doesn't come in til 2007-2008 class, Beverly has stated that Illinois is out of it now, Rose no one knows about. Hopefully we get Freemen (if he qualifies) or Darquavis Tucker who shortened his list down to I think Mich St. Illinois and Uconn..

 

fwiw, beverley has said that illinois is still in the hunt, it's his coach that has claimed to have removed illinois from the list.

 

i'm sick of coaches trying to dictate where players go.

Sulley I thought that Beverley went ahead and removed us too. I think I read that in the Sun Times. I would rather have any of the other guys though as Beverley has some major issues at this point. He has never played on a team that plays man to man defense. He won't send his transcript to the U of I which basically is like admitting he won't be elligible.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I still think he is a little overmatched when it comes to running a successful Big time college program and you would have been better served keeping Tom Davis.

 

Now there's an accurate basis for an opninion on Alford, but one that I will also disagree with in a way. Alford was not exactly overmatched when he was hired -- in fact his first recruiting class was top 5 at the time. The problem came where some rumblings came out that certain people were unhappy/treated differently/lied to, and long story short, it's really gone downhill from there. I can think of 2 players off the top of my head, and because of the dissent of a couple, now he is overmatched.

 

Haluska grew up a Hawkeye fan, and we couldn't land him. Horner and Brunner didn't need to be recruited, they had committed when they were 6 or something. Nobody saw Hansen ever getting significant playing time. Henderson didn't have too many people knocking on his door, as I recall. Yada, yada. Tom Davis wasn't exactly the best at recruiting in-state either. Heinrich, Collison, and LaFrentz being 3 of the more recent big examples.

 

Back to your point. They were right in not extending Tom Davis. He wasn't going to lead them anywhere, and it was time for him to move on. At the time of Davis's departure, there was a strong link between the program and Rick Majerus (he looked for real estate in the area) as well as some other candidates, but Alford was the big name at the time because of his Big Ten ties. Funny thing is, everyone bemoaned the hiring of Ferentz (vs alum Bobby Stoops) and celebrated the hiring of Alford. Funny how much difference a few short years will make.

[snoodmonger]

Iowa's cupboard indeed will be bare.

 

But what about Illinois'?

 

No Augustine or Brown next season for the Illini.

Uhh? Gordon, Smith, Frazier, McBride, Pruitt, Randle, Semrau, maybe Freemen, Beverly, and Rose. Am I forgetting anyone?

 

I'm sure they'll be ranked at least.

 

Gordon doesn't come in til 2007-2008 class, Beverly has stated that Illinois is out of it now, Rose no one knows about. Hopefully we get Freemen (if he qualifies) or Darquavis Tucker who shortened his list down to I think Mich St. Illinois and Uconn..

 

fwiw, beverley has said that illinois is still in the hunt, it's his coach that has claimed to have removed illinois from the list.

 

i'm sick of coaches trying to dictate where players go.

Sulley I thought that Beverley went ahead and removed us too. I think I read that in the Sun Times. I would rather have any of the other guys though as Beverley has some major issues at this point. He has never played on a team that plays man to man defense. He won't send his transcript to the U of I which basically is like admitting he won't be elligible.

 

I read what Sully read--his coach removed UI from the list. Beverly hasn't.

[Magnetic Curses]

Iowa's cupboard indeed will be bare.

 

But what about Illinois'?

 

No Augustine or Brown next season for the Illini.

Uhh? Gordon, Smith, Frazier, McBride, Pruitt, Randle, Semrau, maybe Freemen, Beverly, and Rose. Am I forgetting anyone?

 

I'm sure they'll be ranked at least.

 

Gordon doesn't come in til 2007-2008 class, Beverly has stated that Illinois is out of it now, Rose no one knows about. Hopefully we get Freemen (if he qualifies) or Darquavis Tucker who shortened his list down to I think Mich St. Illinois and Uconn..

 

fwiw, beverley has said that illinois is still in the hunt, it's his coach that has claimed to have removed illinois from the list.

 

i'm sick of coaches trying to dictate where players go.

Sulley I thought that Beverley went ahead and removed us too. I think I read that in the Sun Times. I would rather have any of the other guys though as Beverley has some major issues at this point. He has never played on a team that plays man to man defense. He won't send his transcript to the U of I which basically is like admitting he won't be elligible.

 

I read what Sully read--his coach removed UI from the list. Beverly hasn't.

 

i haven't heard anything about beverley removing us.

 

i have also heard that he's said that he's already qualified.

[dalgreen]

Has Randle matched up with anyone that plays down low/posts up as much as Tucker? Randle is a fantastic perimeter defender(shutting down Ager and Gardner are two immediate examples, wonder why I thought of them...), but is his lean frame conducive to being able to stop a more experienced, more solidly built player like Tucker?

 

he's put on some serious muscle in the offseason. he might be lean, but he's strong enough to play straight up against tucker. plus he's taller than tucker, which should also account for something.

Plus he has crazy length, his arms are ridiculous. Should be a good match-up. If Randle can avoid cheap fouls I really like our chances. Hopefully Rich McBride keeps playing like he did against Purdue so Dee doesn't have to try to do everything.

 

I've pretty much given up on Rich McBride. I think we've seen pretty much what we're going to get this year and next from him. As I've mentioned before, he looks great in Champaign vs. bad teams, and tonight he'll likely once again put on his disappearing act.

 

We've got to play well, particularly Pruitt and Randle. We have to hope we just wear down the thinned out Badgers. These two teams might combine for about 45 first half points. I like our chances in this game vs. the games in Columbus, Ann Arbor and East Lansing.

[illiniguy]

I still think he is a little overmatched when it comes to running a successful Big time college program and you would have been better served keeping Tom Davis.

 

Now there's an accurate basis for an opninion on Alford, but one that I will also disagree with in a way. Alford was not exactly overmatched when he was hired -- in fact his first recruiting class was top 5 at the time. The problem came where some rumblings came out that certain people were unhappy/treated differently/lied to, and long story short, it's really gone downhill from there. I can think of 2 players off the top of my head, and because of the dissent of a couple, now he is overmatched.

 

Haluska grew up a Hawkeye fan, and we couldn't land him. Horner and Brunner didn't need to be recruited, they had committed when they were 6 or something. Nobody saw Hansen ever getting significant playing time. Henderson didn't have too many people knocking on his door, as I recall. Yada, yada. Tom Davis wasn't exactly the best at recruiting in-state either. Heinrich, Collison, and LaFrentz being 3 of the more recent big examples.

 

Back to your point. They were right in not extending Tom Davis. He wasn't going to lead them anywhere, and it was time for him to move on. At the time of Davis's departure, there was a strong link between the program and Rick Majerus (he looked for real estate in the area) as well as some other candidates, but Alford was the big name at the time because of his Big Ten ties. Funny thing is, everyone bemoaned the hiring of Ferentz (vs alum Bobby Stoops) and celebrated the hiring of Alford. Funny how much difference a few short years will make.

Yeah I had a good friend who was a die hard Iowa fan, not to hard to imagine as I lived in Iowa City for about 5 years, but he just cried about Ferentz for the first 2 years. I told him he was nuts at least they are playing hard and you have to let him get his feet wet. Going into OU and Iowa were not equal starting points at that time. Now he doesn't even remember ever doubting Ferentz. It is kinda funny. DId you know a little fact about Iowa bball under Davis, you guys weren't even really recruiting Ryan Bowen because Davis though he had Lafrentz, at least according to Bowen. Bowen had visited Arizona, but then Raef left and Bowen was given the scholly and signed with Iowa.

[illiniguy]

Iowa's cupboard indeed will be bare.

 

But what about Illinois'?

 

No Augustine or Brown next season for the Illini.

Uhh? Gordon, Smith, Frazier, McBride, Pruitt, Randle, Semrau, maybe Freemen, Beverly, and Rose. Am I forgetting anyone?

 

I'm sure they'll be ranked at least.

 

Gordon doesn't come in til 2007-2008 class, Beverly has stated that Illinois is out of it now, Rose no one knows about. Hopefully we get Freemen (if he qualifies) or Darquavis Tucker who shortened his list down to I think Mich St. Illinois and Uconn..

 

fwiw, beverley has said that illinois is still in the hunt, it's his coach that has claimed to have removed illinois from the list.

 

i'm sick of coaches trying to dictate where players go.

Sulley I thought that Beverley went ahead and removed us too. I think I read that in the Sun Times. I would rather have any of the other guys though as Beverley has some major issues at this point. He has never played on a team that plays man to man defense. He won't send his transcript to the U of I which basically is like admitting he won't be elligible.

 

I read what Sully read--his coach removed UI from the list. Beverly hasn't.

 

i haven't heard anything about beverley removing us.

 

i have also heard that he's said that he's already qualified.

Huh, either way I don't see that happening now as there coach is taking shots at the national coach of the year and since he is a recruit Weber cannot comment back.

[hawkeyecub]

all I know is what i have heard. I have heard that is exactly what Alford said, if it isn't than I was am wrong. You guys finished whta? 7-5 or 7-6? Yeah thats real elite. I have and will admit I was wrong about your football team and I really respoect your coach. The couple of times I met him he seemed like a real genuine guy. As for the tickets, all I know is every year i got to carver hawkeye with my dad and brother its a nice little tradition we have that we couldn't partake in this year because the iowa athletic department felt the need to withold the tickets. They also said on the espn telecast that there were about 2000 empty seats, but hey i guess that isn't a fact as I can't quote a link to it. Reguardless, if Alford didn't say that about Pierce I guess I dislike him a lot less. I still think he is a little overmatched when it comes to running a successful Big time college program and you would have been better served keeping Tom Davis.

 

No 7-5 isn't elite and I never said it was. But your claim that we've regressed back to the middle of the Big Ten is ridiculous and I'm sure any fan of Big Ten football would tell you so. Would you say Michigan has regressed to the middle of the Big Ten? Then again you also are the guy who said that if you don't play in the national championship your team "sucks".

I was at the Illinois game and it was completely full. The box score lists that 15,500 tickets were sold, and there were no empties that I could spot. They may have said that at the beginning because it was a bit of a late arriving crowd due to traffic being severely backed up with everyone arriving at the same time. Regardless he didn't cost his school any money. The atmosphere was also great for that game although it probably wasn't as good as Indiana or OSU.

 

Like I said before I really don't care if you like Alford or not. He's a very polarizing figure within the Iowa fan base. I'm just trying to set the truth straight on a few issues.

[illiniguy]

all I know is what i have heard. I have heard that is exactly what Alford said, if it isn't than I was am wrong. You guys finished whta? 7-5 or 7-6? Yeah thats real elite. I have and will admit I was wrong about your football team and I really respoect your coach. The couple of times I met him he seemed like a real genuine guy. As for the tickets, all I know is every year i got to carver hawkeye with my dad and brother its a nice little tradition we have that we couldn't partake in this year because the iowa athletic department felt the need to withold the tickets. They also said on the espn telecast that there were about 2000 empty seats, but hey i guess that isn't a fact as I can't quote a link to it. Reguardless, if Alford didn't say that about Pierce I guess I dislike him a lot less. I still think he is a little overmatched when it comes to running a successful Big time college program and you would have been better served keeping Tom Davis.

 

No 7-5 isn't elite and I never said it was. But your claim that we've regressed back to the middle of the Big Ten is ridiculous and I'm sure any fan of Big Ten football would tell you so. Would you say Michigan has regressed to the middle of the Big Ten? Then again you also are the guy who said that if you don't play in the national championship your team "sucks".

I was at the Illinois game and it was completely full. The box score lists that 15,500 tickets were sold, and there were no empties that I could spot. They may have said that at the beginning because it was a bit of a late arriving crowd due to traffic being severely backed up with everyone arriving at the same time. Regardless he didn't cost his school any money. The atmosphere was also great for that game although it probably wasn't as good as Indiana or OSU.

 

Like I said before I really don't care if you like Alford or not. He's a very polarizing figure within the Iowa fan base. I'm just trying to set the truth straight on a few issues.

Fair enough I just am going by what Marjerus and the other guy said at the time, I am not a big Alford guy. I liked your team quite a bit when Davis was there. He seemed like a very stand up guy and I loved his full court press. I also thought his shot pass thing that they threw was very innovative and hard to guard against. I really thought he should have been alowwed to leave on his own terms. Oh well. Yeah you aren't middle of the pack I shouldn't have used that phrase. That said you aren't the class of the conference and I question if you will ever really be. I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

[goonys evil twin]

I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

 

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten.

[hawkeyecub]

I still think he is a little overmatched when it comes to running a successful Big time college program and you would have been better served keeping Tom Davis.

 

Haluska grew up a Hawkeye fan, and we couldn't land him. Horner and Brunner didn't need to be recruited, they had committed when they were 6 or something. Nobody saw Hansen ever getting significant playing time. Henderson didn't have too many people knocking on his door, as I recall. Yada, yada. Tom Davis wasn't exactly the best at recruiting in-state either. Heinrich, Collison, and LaFrentz being 3 of the more recent big examples.

 

Back to your point. They were right in not extending Tom Davis. He wasn't going to lead them anywhere, and it was time for him to move on. At the time of Davis's departure, there was a strong link between the program and Rick Majerus (he looked for real estate in the area) as well as some other candidates, but Alford was the big name at the time because of his Big Ten ties. Funny thing is, everyone bemoaned the hiring of Ferentz (vs alum Bobby Stoops) and celebrated the hiring of Alford. Funny how much difference a few short years will make.

 

I agree with most of your post, except a couple of the recruiting parts.

Haluska committed to ISU before he was a sophomore if I remember correctly. There was still some doubt as to how good he would be at that point, but Eustachy was big on him and he really liked Eustachy.

Brunner didn't commit until the summer after his junior year.

Henderson committed to Iowa State around his sophomore year I believe. Then I think it was around the end of his junior year where he changed his mind and decided on Iowa.

 

But yeah I was anti-Ferentz and very pro-Alford early on. I wasn't opposed to Ferentz so much in the first couple of years, it was the 2001 season where we lost a lot of close games and he stuck with McCann rather than letting Banks take over at QB. I was really down on he and O'Keefe at times during that year. And even though everyone knew the talent base at OU was different than Iowa, it still didn't help when people like me wanted Bobby in the first place and then had to watch him win a national championship while we went 3-8.

I'm still a fan of Alford, although I thought it was time for him to go heading into last March. I do think that he's grown into the job and become a much better coach over the last two years. You don't want to have to pay a guy $1M for on the job training, but that's another argument. I also think the addition of Craig Neal to the staff has made a big impact and has brought a new philosophy to our recruiting that appears much better at this point.

[illiniguy]

I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

 

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten.

Yes but right or wrong they still have the perception. Hell Illinois is better over the last ten years record wise than Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky. Does that mean we are more of a powerhouse nationally than these teams? I think not.

[goonys evil twin]

I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

 

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten.

Yes but right or wrong they still have the perception. Hell Illinois is better over the last ten years record wise than Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky. Does that mean we are more of a powerhouse nationally than these teams? I think not.

 

I thought you were talking about football and the conference with PSU. PSU will not "always be among the programs in the Big Ten" because they've never been in the class of OSU and MU. They are just another second tier team that can contend from time to time.

[illiniguy]

I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

 

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten.

Yes but right or wrong they still have the perception. Hell Illinois is better over the last ten years record wise than Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky. Does that mean we are more of a powerhouse nationally than these teams? I think not.

 

I thought you were talking about football and the conference with PSU. PSU will not "always be among the programs in the Big Ten" because they've never been in the class of OSU and MU. They are just another second tier team that can contend from time to time.

I am, but I still think that the example I used is valid. PSu has been very good historically. Enough so to put themselves ahead of the other Big Ten teams not located in Ann Arbor and Columbus.

[hawkeyecub]

I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

 

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten.

 

Especially recently. From 2000-2004 PSU was 16-24 in the Big Ten, including 3-13 in '03 and '04. During that 5-year span Iowa was 27-13 in the Big Ten. Last year they had an incredibly veteran team and need to show me they can keep it up.

[SouthSideRyan]

I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but can anybody please tell me why Warren Carter plays Division 1 basketball?

[wekse]

i wish i had the answer to that ssr

[Brewhaha]

Good call for whoever said Tucker wouldn't score more than 10 points :lol:

[Flames24Rulz]

an 8-0 Illini run has them only down by 3 now.

 

Go Illini!