snoodmonger

Watchin the games last year, it seemed like Walker was brutal at turning double plays. Him and Nomar together almost never turned one, it seemed. I'm not saying it should keep him from the lineup, but it did seem that way.

Not a surprising accusation, as they never got along. Didn't see this posted anywhere else. http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-sosa24.html

To be honest, I'm not sure how Weber earned this rep as the greatest coaching mastermind ever. Because he won a ton of games last year with 4 probable NBA players? (Deron, Luther, Dee, Augie) Because he went to the sweet 16 twice with a mid major? (Self went to the EE with Tulsa) Weber's a great coach.And he's probably better at in-game adjustments than Self. (I've seen a couple of games where Self made some baffling moves). But I think Self is a better overall package. He's a way better recruiter, and he's Weber's equal when it comes to general coaching/preparation. Anyone who thinks Self can't coach didn't watch KU play this year. He had that team playing intense defense, and he had them playig together as a team. He even had Rush, the oft-rumored malcontent (a reputation that turned out to be completely bogus), playing tough defense. And that's the thing that ticks me off most about losing to Bradley. This KU team was young, and they weren't going to go much farther than the Swt 16 regardless. But losing to Bradley gives every short-sighted hater ammo against Self, when the fact is, the guys just didn't play well, and it didn't have anything to do with the game plan. I think Self deserved criticism for the Bucknell loss (although that KU team was vastly overrated all season by most people, myself included), but the Bradley game was the players' loss much more than Self's. And for what it's worth, my sister-in-law's dad was a long time Div 1 coach. He coached at South Carolina, Rutgers, Utah, Northwestern, Duke, and more. (He took Duke to a FInal Four, too.) And he has repeatedly said that Self is one of the best young coaches in CBB. I think I'll take his opinion over the UI naysayers. Raisin--Rush has said he's coming back. Self has said that he (self) was going to invesigate Rush's draft status anyway, because he owed it to Rush, and he didn't want Rush making an emotional decision w/o all the necessary info. I think Rush stays regardless. He doesn't want to make the mistake Jaron made, and he doesn't have the ability to test the draft, as he already pulled his name last year.

Give me a break. Kurtis Townsend has never been implicated in any wrongdoings. Ever. People pin the cal fiasco on him, and he wasn't even there for it. And forgive me if I don't believe your mysterious sources. And for all of the people who say Self can't win the big game, they said that about Dean, Roy, Lute, Boeheim, and many more. I'll take Self over Weber any day. As for Huggy...I think it was the right hire for KSU. Yeah, he has a somewhay tarnished image, but I imagine he's going to walk a fine line now in an effort to clean that up. And he IS a good coach. Perhaps not the greatest coach, as his offensive schemes are somewhat lacking, but I bet he has KSU in the top third of the Big XII within 3-4 years and challenging for the crown. In one if he gets Mayo. He probably wasn't the right hire for Mizzou, though. With all the negatives swirling around the program, they have to being in someone clean and good. I still think Majerus would be a great short term fit. Get the program up and running, then in 5 years retire and leave Mizzou in a prime position to attract a younger, established coach.

By the way, I apologize to the KSU, ISU, and MU fans for hijacking the crap out of this thread. Not my goal. Mizzou/TT/dabears--any news on the coaching front?

Make a good argument putting them in front of either UCLA, Indiana, UNC, Duke, or Kentucky. The top 5 go ahead I will wait for it. KU is a top 10 program or second tier. Hey Bill, that Sommerville kid can shoot might want to guard him. I think they're in front of Duke. They had a few Final Four appearances in the 60's, but other than that they were pretty much irrelevant until the late 80's. Yeah they've quite possibly been the best program since 1989, but that's not all that matters. It's close and they're right there, but I would give them the nod. There is a real ebb and flow to these things, IMO. A few years ago, I would have agreed with you, but Kansas hasn't looked like a top 5 in a while. Yeah, no FF since '02 and '03. What a drought. KU Since 1988-- five final fours, 3 title game appearances, one title. That's plenty to keep them in top program contention. UCONN is quickly becoming part of the discussion, too. It's their lack of history that hurts them. I realize it's all subjective, but I think it's silly to discount history and coaching trees just because you think they don't matter in the discussion. When people talk about UNC, they talk about Dean and MJ. When people talk UCLA they talk Wooden, Alcindor, etc. When people talk about KU, they talk Naismith, Chamberlain, the coaching tree. All of those are elements of what makes those programs great, and you don't get to discount them simply because it weakens the pro-KU argument to do so. And, and for the record, if UI lands Rose, they'll be damn good that year they have him. Instant title contender.

No more ignorant than saying Self can't coach. Ask most people who the top all-time programs in CBB are, you'll hear Duke, UK, UNC, IU, UCLA, KU. Rarely will you hear UI. That's what makes them a 2nd tier program. One of these things just doesn't belong here, one of these things is just not the same. Smack-talk from the fan of a team whose best season is a runner-up finish. You can pretend all day KU isn't one of the premier CBB programs. Doesn't make it true. Your definition of 1st tier programs seems to be based on history, and I can't think of a single non-Kansas fan who would put Kansas in the same class as UCLA, IU, UK, Duke, or or UNC. Nevermind that making a tier of programs based on what they've done over the past 100 years or so rather than what htey're doing now is pretty lame. If we're talking present tense, yes, KU is on the 1st tier, as is Illinois. Then your friends don't know much about college hoops. KU is one of CBB's premier programs. Most sportswriters will say it, and most fans will say it (with the exception of MU, KSU, and UI fans.) Illinois is a good program. KU is a blue-blood. And yes, history does play a part in that, whether it's fair or not. That's why Self left UI for KU. It's a better program, a more premier program. UNC fans can say the same thing about KU. It's a top 3 program. KU is a top 5.

He continually builds the team around pitching at the expense of hitting. Our margin for error is nil, so if a pitcher goes down, we're screwed. And our pitchers continue to go down. He's seen this formula fail, yet he goes back to it again and again. On top of that, he is overly frugal with impact players and a spendthrift with role players. We're paying a lot of money for Rusch, Neifi, Eyre, and Howry. I expect we could match the production of at least two of those guys with cheap prospects.

No more ignorant than saying Self can't coach. Ask most people who the top all-time programs in CBB are, you'll hear Duke, UK, UNC, IU, UCLA, KU. Rarely will you hear UI. That's what makes them a 2nd tier program. One of these things just doesn't belong here, one of these things is just not the same. Smack-talk from the fan of a team whose best season is a runner-up finish. You can pretend all day KU isn't one of the premier CBB programs. Doesn't make it true.

No more ignorant than saying Self can't coach. Ask most people who the top all-time programs in CBB are, you'll hear Duke, UK, UNC, IU, UCLA, KU. Rarely will you hear UI. That's what makes them a 2nd tier program.

There's little chance Rush and Wright both go pro. Collins is "on track" to qualify, whatever that means. I won't have the Self can't coach argument because it's pointless. You think he can't. You're wrong. He has 3 elite eights. He's got a great career winning %. He's got multiple conference titles. He took a team of FR and SO to the Big XII championship. He coached the hell out of that team. If you really though he couldn't coach, you wouldn't be so bitter about him leaving. But deep down, you know UI can't get back to the 2005 level with Weber because he won't bring in the quality of players, Gordon notwithstanding.

Whatever the grad rate is at KState it will go down dramatically. Huggy is a very good coach and recruiter but he doesn't belong at a college campus IMO. Screw the grad rate.. we need to WIN! KU fans must be pissing down their leg right now! HAHA!!!! This makes my day! No, I'm happy. It was boring beating up on you guys. We'll still be better anyway. :wink: Right, because it gets so boring winning all the time. I guess that is why you guys have tanked the last two tournaments, boredom. So much hostility. The rivalry isn't fun anymore, is all I'm saying. Do you get a major rise out of beating up Northwestern? (Maybe, as UI is a second tier program). It's more fun when the stakes are higher, when you go into a game wondering who's going to win. This year, KSU beat us for the first time since 1993. They've never beaten us in their current home gym. Never. Do I find that amusing? Of course. But I'd rather be able to take pride in beating our rival. It's not much fun when you're expected to do it. In the Kruger/Hartman eras, it meant something to beat KSU. As for losing to Bradley...the more I watch them, the less I'm concerned about it. They're good. I'd still take the state of KU's program over the state of UI. have fun wating for Gordon to show up. That's about all you have to look forward to with that returning lineup.

Whatever the grad rate is at KState it will go down dramatically. Huggy is a very good coach and recruiter but he doesn't belong at a college campus IMO. Screw the grad rate.. we need to WIN! KU fans must be pissing down their leg right now! HAHA!!!! This makes my day! No, I'm happy. It was boring beating up on you guys. We'll still be better anyway. :wink:

We'll see. I think I might have to go http://www.wrigleyvillesports.com and pick one out now! Don't think there's a chance I'll win this one, just backing up my bold talk. Anyone want to make me a bet I can win? I bet you a drink you'll never come visit me at Zoe's. You have approximately 10 weeks to cash in on this. I move from STL at the start of June.

I don't think it's that much harder to build a success at KState. Remember, they had a very solid program for a while, including 4 or 5 final fours. The've been down for the last 15-20 years or so...ever since Kruger left. Yeah, it's ion the boons, but a lot of schools are. If they get Huggy, they'll be good again. I hope Mizzou passes on Alford. but with the state of that program, it might be hard to lure the best coaches there. Still, that should be a top 30 gig, IMO. It's the only high-major school in a state with two decent sized urban areas. Good acadmeically. New facilities. Decent college town. There's no reason they shouldn't have a strong program. They ought to fire Alden and let someone with a brain do the hiring.

awesome

Can I borrow your sweet new Cubs hat sometimes, Vance?

How has Gooz looked this spring?

I'd rather not. I think we lost our entire defense. But I'm already slowly getting over it. And I really can't blame the Mizzou and UI fans for being happy. Oh well. It's on to six months of baseball, aka Who's on the diabled list, now?

Typical Mizzou class. :?: You expected a "nice effort, kU" post? And sorry swetepeteman, I should've said low seed rather than crappy. No, I got exactly what I expected. A fan of a program so bad, they can only celebrate other peoples' failures. Right, like you kU guys don't root against Mizzou. Don't be mad at me for being happy that your team got embarrassed in the NCAA Tourney again. I rarely celebrate it publicly, and when I do, it's in response to lame Missouri smack. Whatever. I'm just in a Crap mood right now.

Well, as poorly as they played in the last few minutes, they made KU look worse for the entire game. I think the Jayhawks were expecting to out-athlete Bradley, and there was a collective pants-crapping when they realized Bradley was perhaps their athletic equal. They're a good team, and I hope they beat Pitt Sunday.

Typical Mizzou class. :?: You expected a "nice effort, kU" post? And sorry swetepeteman, I should've said low seed rather than crappy. No, I got exactly what I expected. A fan of a program so bad, they can only celebrate other peoples' failures.

Hey! Oh, and screw CBS for cutting away from the last 2 FRICK'N SECONDS!!!! COME ON. YOU STAYED WITH UNC FOR THE LAST 5 USELESS SECONDS... If you're a bradley fan, congrats. It shouldn't have even been that close. You guys were tougher and better.

Typical Mizzou class.

Why? Until last year, we had the longest streak of first round wins. It's not like we've done it a bunch.