Re: College Basketball 2008-2009

[SouthSideRyan]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

Iowa lost its best player in Freeman. They lost 3 seniors of consequence in Johnson(played 89% of all minutes), Gorney, and Looby. The incoming class is mediocre at best and the 2 sophomores who had serious time last year were horrendous shooters from inside the arc.(Peterson sucked from outside too)

 

They're basically Indiana with Cyrus Tate.(which admittedly is a huge difference, but it still ain't pretty)

[manbearcub]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

If you say so.

As someone who attended every home game last season and watched basically every road game, as well as attended several practices and the exhibition this year, I feel confident in saying this years team is better. Lickliter is more of a system coach than anyone in the BT other than Carmody, and he has 6 new players coming in that will all fit in and contribute. Last year they basically won games without any offense at all. This year the offense should improve a bit, with the same defensive intensity. I have Iowa winning 8 Big Ten games this season, good enough for 7th place (finished 8th last year). Ahead of NU, Michigan, Indiana, and one of Ill and PSU.

[manbearcub]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

Iowa lost its best player in Freeman. They lost 3 seniors of consequence in Johnson(played 89% of all minutes), Gorney, and Looby. The incoming class is mediocre at best and the 2 sophomores who had serious time last year were horrendous shooters from inside the arc.(Peterson sucked from outside too)

 

They're basically Indiana with Cyrus Tate.(which admittedly is a huge difference, but it still ain't pretty)

Freeman was not our best player at the end of the season. Jake Kelly and Cyrus Tate took over the team midway through the Big Ten season. Justin Johnson was a solid player but his presence (basically spotting up for threes all game) will be replaced by Matt Gatens who is a much more versatile offensive threat as well as a better defender.

 

Jarryd Cole, who missed the entire Big Ten season last year with a knee injury after dominating late in the non conference portion, will also return. Tate and Cole inside is something no other not-top-tier Big Ten team can claim. Looby and Gorney were both terrible basketball players. Tate and Cole eat them alive.

[Magnetic Curses]

i don't think there's a chance that iowa finishes above illinois. legion will be playing once big ten season starts, and i think 3 guard rotation of mccamey/brock/legion is one of the more potent offensive combinations in the conference. granted they have no interior players to speak of, but they never really have under weber. pruitt often did more harm than good at the end of ballgames and randle was a guy you didn't have to guard anywhere outside of 10 feet. not returning smith hurts bad, but they're still good enough to finish 5th or 6th.

 

everyone likes mike tisdale to start at center, but as you all know, i don't think he can play his way out of wet paper bag. however, there are some interesting options at the forward positions. richard semrau has apparently worked his way back to full strength from a life-threatening illness and other injuries that have dogged his first couple of years in champaign, he was at one point a top 30 recruit and has shown flashes in practice. bill cole is a wild card, he was recruited ahead of robbie hummel to ui and has a nice all-around game for a guy his size. however, bruce will have to show some faith in these guys and just let them play through whatever they need to play through--hopefully they'll be key contributers. dominique keller was the second-leading scorer in the juco ranks last season and can put the ball in the hole, i'd be happy if he can average 10 and 6, and it would bode well for our chances in conference. mike davis is an athlete, and well, that's about it at this point, if he can hit the boards, defend, and occasionally knock down the ten-footer, he'll be serviceable starter and fulfill my expectations. stan simpson, unfortunately, cannot redshirt, and will probably waste away his freshman season on the bench. there will be a lot of rotating at the post positions and it would be nice if the coach can find a nice mix instead of going with just a couple of guys logging a lion share of ineffective minutes.

 

i'd also like to see bruce start out with frazier and meacham on the bench when big ten season starts. they're role players and valuable ones at that, but they aren't starters on a tourney team and i hope he realizes it. they have their strengths and they need to be utilized toward those strengths, but the ball cannot be in frazier's hands at the end of games if we want to win more than 8 games in conference.

 

everybody better get their last licks in on illinois this season if they can, but i still don't think it will be all that bad. like i said, mccamey, legion, and brock can all get their own shot and need to be given the green light on every possession.

[Guest]

Five days until UCD's first game against Iowa State.

 

I'm actually excited about the team this year and only a small bit of it is because I'll be covering them.

 

Iowa State is capable of losing that one since our three best players from last year are gone, but I'm hoping superior size and talent can win out over experience. Either way it probably won't be a blowout, ISU only won by 20 in their tune up yesterday with Nebraska-Omaha. I'm still excited for the season though, a decent recruiting class is coming in and anything is better than watching the football team either getting blown out or choking double digits leads.

 

I'd think Iowa State should be fine, though I wouldn't put it past UCD to pull it out. UCD's working in two new players into the starting lineup who transferred and a couple other redshirts into their rotation so I'm thinking it will take them a little time to start to play together.

 

You going to the game?

[ISUCubsFan]

Five days until UCD's first game against Iowa State.

 

I'm actually excited about the team this year and only a small bit of it is because I'll be covering them.

 

Iowa State is capable of losing that one since our three best players from last year are gone, but I'm hoping superior size and talent can win out over experience. Either way it probably won't be a blowout, ISU only won by 20 in their tune up yesterday with Nebraska-Omaha. I'm still excited for the season though, a decent recruiting class is coming in and anything is better than watching the football team either getting blown out or choking double digits leads.

 

I'd think Iowa State should be fine, though I wouldn't put it past UCD to pull it out. UCD's working in two new players into the starting lineup who transferred and a couple other redshirts into their rotation so I'm thinking it will take them a little time to start to play together.

 

You going to the game?

 

Yeah, next weekend will be interesting. 3 basketball games and a football game to go to.

 

ISU won't have one of their starting(?) guards for the first few weeks either, so I'm just hoping they hold serve in November.

[Guest]

Look out for Joe Harden and Mark Payne. They're both sophomores. Harden is a transfer from Notre Dame and even though he hasn't played a real game with UCD yet (sat out last year as a redshirt because he transferred), he's probably their best player and Payne is one of their best all-around players. I really like watching Payne play.

[hawkeyecub]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

Iowa lost its best player in Freeman. They lost 3 seniors of consequence in Johnson(played 89% of all minutes), Gorney, and Looby. The incoming class is mediocre at best and the 2 sophomores who had serious time last year were horrendous shooters from inside the arc.(Peterson sucked from outside too)

 

They're basically Indiana with Cyrus Tate.(which admittedly is a huge difference, but it still ain't pretty)

 

As manbear said Freeman was not our best player. Highest usage rate, but played out of the system, was not efficient and was by many sources (even before he left) a negative presence.

Johnson did nothing after the Indiana game. He was a spot-up shooter who didn't shoot well but his numbers looked good because of what he did in the non-conference and against IU.

 

Looby was almost out of the rotation and when he was getting minutes he contributed NOTHING on offense. Gorney had about 3 decent games.

 

Kelly and Tate were the best players and before injury Cole would have been third.

 

I will make any internet bet with you guys that Iowa has a better record this year both overall and in the Big Ten. Maybe we'll even be as good as Lewis College and can take you to the wire in Champaign.

 

But then again in about the 3rd week you guys both said Iowa football was "awful" "lousy" would be fighting for the bottom of the league. Your disdain for the school clouds your judgment.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

I was at the Illinois exhibition against Lewis yesterday, and the team looks improved from last year. It was nice to see that the motion was alive and well again. It's amazing how bad Pruitt and Randle clogged up the offense the last two seasons. I came away very impressed by Mike Davis, he was all over the floor making plays, had three or four huge blocks, and was hit a few jumpers.

 

Tisdale still looks very weak in the post, and he is really starting to remind me of another Nick Smith. Hopefully he can continue to pile on the pounds because he is having trouble playing with his back to the basket.

 

We are also still having trouble stopping quick guards off of the bounce, I think this will change when Legion begins to play. He has the athleticism to stop pretty much anyone that he wants.

[TruffleShuffle]

now you have a reason to watch big ten games this year

[bukie]

now you have a reason to watch big ten games this year

I think someone mentioned that earlier, or at least I remember making a joke about the Big Ten finally finding a way to make their brand of basketball exciting.

[Magnetic Curses]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

Iowa lost its best player in Freeman. They lost 3 seniors of consequence in Johnson(played 89% of all minutes), Gorney, and Looby. The incoming class is mediocre at best and the 2 sophomores who had serious time last year were horrendous shooters from inside the arc.(Peterson sucked from outside too)

 

They're basically Indiana with Cyrus Tate.(which admittedly is a huge difference, but it still ain't pretty)

 

As manbear said Freeman was not our best player. Highest usage rate, but played out of the system, was not efficient and was by many sources (even before he left) a negative presence.

Johnson did nothing after the Indiana game. He was a spot-up shooter who didn't shoot well but his numbers looked good because of what he did in the non-conference and against IU.

 

Looby was almost out of the rotation and when he was getting minutes he contributed NOTHING on offense. Gorney had about 3 decent games.

 

Kelly and Tate were the best players and before injury Cole would have been third.

 

I will make any internet bet with you guys that Iowa has a better record this year both overall and in the Big Ten. Maybe we'll even be as good as Lewis College and can take you to the wire in Champaign.

 

But then again in about the 3rd week you guys both said Iowa football was "awful" "lousy" would be fighting for the bottom of the league. Your disdain for the school clouds your judgment.

 

haha. "all of our former players sucked, all of our current players are awesome, etc etc etc"

[SouthSideRyan]

Iowa was like 13-19 last year, it'd be hard to not improve on that. They won't win more than 6 games in the Big 10 though. And that's with playing IU and NU twice.

[TruffleShuffle]

now you have a reason to watch big ten games this year

I think someone mentioned that earlier, or at least I remember making a joke about the Big Ten finally finding a way to make their brand of basketball exciting.

 

yeah it is a couple of weeks old, i just hadn't seen it posted.

[illiniguy]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

Iowa lost its best player in Freeman. They lost 3 seniors of consequence in Johnson(played 89% of all minutes), Gorney, and Looby. The incoming class is mediocre at best and the 2 sophomores who had serious time last year were horrendous shooters from inside the arc.(Peterson sucked from outside too)

 

They're basically Indiana with Cyrus Tate.(which admittedly is a huge difference, but it still ain't pretty)

 

As manbear said Freeman was not our best player. Highest usage rate, but played out of the system, was not efficient and was by many sources (even before he left) a negative presence.

Johnson did nothing after the Indiana game. He was a spot-up shooter who didn't shoot well but his numbers looked good because of what he did in the non-conference and against IU.

 

Looby was almost out of the rotation and when he was getting minutes he contributed NOTHING on offense. Gorney had about 3 decent games.

 

Kelly and Tate were the best players and before injury Cole would have been third.

 

I will make any internet bet with you guys that Iowa has a better record this year both overall and in the Big Ten. Maybe we'll even be as good as Lewis College and can take you to the wire in Champaign.

 

But then again in about the 3rd week you guys both said Iowa football was "awful" "lousy" would be fighting for the bottom of the league. Your disdain for the school clouds your judgment.

In our defense, we knew we would be able to beat you in football. We just didn't know how bad we would be in the next week. Win one, lose one, win one.

[hawkeyecub]

Penn St. isn't that bad. Northwestern is at least better than their 1-17 selves from last year.

 

Iowa I think is gonna be pretty awful though. Indiana should beat them at home. Other than that it's up to stealing a few.

erm...no. Iowa will improve a bit from a team that won 6 Big Ten games last season.

 

Iowa lost its best player in Freeman. They lost 3 seniors of consequence in Johnson(played 89% of all minutes), Gorney, and Looby. The incoming class is mediocre at best and the 2 sophomores who had serious time last year were horrendous shooters from inside the arc.(Peterson sucked from outside too)

 

They're basically Indiana with Cyrus Tate.(which admittedly is a huge difference, but it still ain't pretty)

 

As manbear said Freeman was not our best player. Highest usage rate, but played out of the system, was not efficient and was by many sources (even before he left) a negative presence.

Johnson did nothing after the Indiana game. He was a spot-up shooter who didn't shoot well but his numbers looked good because of what he did in the non-conference and against IU.

 

Looby was almost out of the rotation and when he was getting minutes he contributed NOTHING on offense. Gorney had about 3 decent games.

 

Kelly and Tate were the best players and before injury Cole would have been third.

 

I will make any internet bet with you guys that Iowa has a better record this year both overall and in the Big Ten. Maybe we'll even be as good as Lewis College and can take you to the wire in Champaign.

 

But then again in about the 3rd week you guys both said Iowa football was "awful" "lousy" would be fighting for the bottom of the league. Your disdain for the school clouds your judgment.

 

haha. "all of our former players sucked, all of our current players are awesome, etc etc etc"

 

The first part is pretty much correct. I never mentioned anything about the current players being awesome.

 

We had 9 bodies last year. They couldn't even scrimmage or use lack of playing time as a motivator. About half of the 9 were a terrible fit for what Lickliter wanted to do.

 

This year we at least have a full roster and mostly comprised of guys that fit. As long as they stay healthy the interior will be much improved. The backcourt at least has some options and has more shooters.

 

SSR I'll take you up on that. They'll win 15 overall and 7 or more in the Big Ten.

[Guest]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

[Butterscup1679666578]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

 

Well [expletive].

[Andy]

now you have a reason to watch big ten games this year

I think someone mentioned that earlier, or at least I remember making a joke about the Big Ten finally finding a way to make their brand of basketball exciting.

 

yeah it is a couple of weeks old, i just hadn't seen it posted.

It was, but it's always worth repeating.

[snoodmonger]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

 

Well Howry.

 

Who knows what will happen. KU and Memphis have ben waiitng on Xavier Henry forever, now. And now he's decided to wait until the spring. I can only assume Snaer has been waiting to see what Henry would do. With the delay, he may be saying, "Eff it, I'm going to FSU. I can't wait on Henry any longer." Or KU might have just decided to go after the sure thing, and if Henry is still interested in the spring, work it out later.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

 

Well Howry.

 

Who knows what will happen. KU and Memphis have ben waiitng on Xavier Henry forever, now. And now he's decided to wait until the spring. I can only assume Snaer has been waiting to see what Henry would do. With the delay, he may be saying, "Eff it, I'm going to FSU. I can't wait on Henry any longer." Or KU might have just decided to go after the sure thing, and if Henry is still interested in the spring, work it out later.

 

I'm actually more upset that Mizzou is out. Not that I felt great about our chances in the first place, but it was cool being involved in one of the top players in the country.

[Guest]

Now the word - according to a reliable poster at BRO - is that Snaer will delay his decision.

 

All I care about is Mike Moser. I'm going to be pissed if UCLA loses another Arizona-de-commit to Washington.

[imb]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

 

Well Howry.

 

Who knows what will happen. KU and Memphis have ben waiitng on Xavier Henry forever, now. And now he's decided to wait until the spring. I can only assume Snaer has been waiting to see what Henry would do. With the delay, he may be saying, "Eff it, I'm going to FSU. I can't wait on Henry any longer." Or KU might have just decided to go after the sure thing, and if Henry is still interested in the spring, work it out later.

 

henry hurt himself in a car wreck last week, too

[snoodmonger]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

 

Well Howry.

 

Who knows what will happen. KU and Memphis have ben waiitng on Xavier Henry forever, now. And now he's decided to wait until the spring. I can only assume Snaer has been waiting to see what Henry would do. With the delay, he may be saying, "Eff it, I'm going to FSU. I can't wait on Henry any longer." Or KU might have just decided to go after the sure thing, and if Henry is still interested in the spring, work it out later.

 

henry hurt himself in a car wreck last week, too

 

that's part of why he delayed announcing, it's theorized.

[imb]

Michael Snaer is supposed to decide on Wednesday. Sounds like it will be down to KU and FSU (w/ Marquette a distant third and Mizzou and UCLA out).

 

Well Howry.

 

Who knows what will happen. KU and Memphis have ben waiitng on Xavier Henry forever, now. And now he's decided to wait until the spring. I can only assume Snaer has been waiting to see what Henry would do. With the delay, he may be saying, "Eff it, I'm going to FSU. I can't wait on Henry any longer." Or KU might have just decided to go after the sure thing, and if Henry is still interested in the spring, work it out later.

 

henry hurt himself in a car wreck last week, too

 

that's part of why he delayed announcing, it's theorized.

 

 

as opposed to our state's other big recruit, who declared with kentucky and then immediately had knee surgery