rawaction

This is funny. You constantly make statements and refuse to defend them. Instead you go picking on Cro for not following the circle that is your argument.

Except he didn't block it. He goaltended.

1. I don't care about ERA. 2. I don't care too much about WHIP. 3. The last column actually hurts your case. I understand why you don't care about 1 and 2, but I don't understand why it matters since there are no other stats out there that is gonna put Santana behind any other pitcher in baseball.

it's close to night and day. maybe twilight and day No it isn't. I'd take Peavy over him straight up. You would take the lesser pitcher. And Peavy is the only one in Santana's league.

What names are being thrown around if Hughes and Lester aren't available? I'd trade Hill for Santana, even for 1 year. Even without Hill; Pie/Colvin, Gallagher, Ceda, etc is good enough talent.

http://wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=120&Itemid=236 Still wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd sign him for 6/120 and look to trade Lee, Marquis, Dempster, and Derosa

Because Santana is better?

I agree with November, but I always thought the "dog days" of spring semester were from after spring break til finals.

Be better if they didn't want Gallagher. I'd really like to hang onto Sean at this point and throw Marshall in there. At the beginning of this offseason, I looked at Gallagher as one of the top trading chips. Now, with all the things I have heard about his losing weight and increasing velocity, I see him as the best candidate to start in the Cubs rotation. I'm not just saying this to flatter you, but it seems as if Sean has been the hardest working Cub (minors or majors) the last few offseasons. One of the early knocks was that he wouldn't be able to increase velocity, then he did after A-ball. Then it was weight or that he was a 4th starter at best, but again he has worked hard in the offseason. And he's always put up the numbers. I'd trust him in the ML rotation more today than Marquis, Dempster, Leiber, or Marshall.

She looks like she's trying real hard not to make actual contact with you below the shoulders.

1/2 right so far. For all the talk about IU not looking like a top team, UW hasn't shown much outside of beating Texas on the road. They lost at home vs. Marquette, who is a good team. But they also struggled to beat Michigan by 3 this week at home in addition to being tied after 24 minutes at home vs. Iowa, being tied at halftime at home vs. NW, and being up just 3 at home vs. U of I at the 10 minute mark in the 2nd half.

Wait who beat Michigan State? Last I checked, Indiana had less losses before the game and was ranked higher. Oh ya, and Iowa beat Michigan State. And to whoever said Uconn was only missing "role" players and then goes on to say "well, the guy was their second leading scorer, but he's not important" Come on now. Just admit that the Big 10 sucks as a whole. I made the comment you are referring to, but I didn't say he wasn't important...I said he wasn't AS important as most of his team. Dyson's a solid player, but he's on a team with the top frontcourt, possibly in the nation and the top assist man in the conference. UConn would have been a lot worse off today had Price, Thabeet or Adrian missed the game instead of Dyson. I agree. Obviously, he was an important piece of their team. However, if they were going to beat Indiana it was going to be because of their size advantage. I'm sure this will be labeled as a biased IU post, but the Hoosiers would've been much better off if Thabeet, Adrien, Robinson or Price were out. UConn's frontcourt was what could, and did, defeat Indiana. Exactly. Just because he's 2nd on the team in scoring, doesn't mean he's the second most important. Crawford for IU is the 3rd leading scorer, but he is their 3rd best ballhandler, 4th best outside shooter, and isn't a difference maker in passing or rebounding the ball. Whereas, Ellis is 5th on the team in scoring, but is 2nd on the team in rebounds and leads the team in assists. He also typically plays good defense against bigger players. Dyson is 2nd on UConn in scoring, but he's 3rd on the team in assists, he leads the team in turnovers, and he's 4th in 3-pt shooting. He's not particular good on D either, IIRC.

Wait who beat Michigan State? Last I checked, Indiana had less losses before the game and was ranked higher. Oh ya, and Iowa beat Michigan State. And to whoever said Uconn was only missing "role" players and then goes on to say "well, the guy was their second leading scorer, but he's not important" Come on now. Just admit that the Big 10 sucks as a whole. I made the comment you are referring to, but I didn't say he wasn't important...I said he wasn't AS important as most of his team. Dyson's a solid player, but he's on a team with the top frontcourt, possibly in the nation and the top assist man in the conference. UConn would have been a lot worse off today had Price, Thabeet or Adrian missed the game instead of Dyson.

It's weird, it seems like the PAC 10 and Big East are the only conferences worth a damn. Yep. ACC may only get 3. Only 3 in the conversation right now besides UNC/Duke. And BC has losses to Robert Morris, Providence, and last place, Virginia. Maryland beat UNC, but that was their only win vs. a tourney team, and they already have 7 losses, including to powerhouses like American, Ohio, and VCU at home. Clemson's not anything special and starting to show it.

Kansas is real good. Still take Memphis over them at this point, but there is clearly no other teams in the discussion right now for top 2. But either team can be beaten. Right now, both are beating teams who can't keep up with them athletically. KU's only close games have been with teams that can throw some athletes on the floor (Arizona, USC).

They have an odd mix. There only real post player is D.J. White. I like their young guards though. Gordon, Bassett, and Crawford are all good. Ellis can be a real match-up problem, but sometimes it seems like he struggles to fit in with that team. I wonder how much the frosh center would have helped this team. I think a lot. Holman wouldn't have helped a lot offensively. He's just not ready there yet. However, he would be the only other big man that can finish. Dre is fine when he can get the ball 1-on-1 downlow. Mike White is fine when he can crash the boards and screen. Stemler is fine when he can play D and shoot the 3. But none can finish at the rim. Mike is too short. Dre is too fat. Stemler is too white. I almost hate to see one of the 3 get an offensive board. Thomas blowing those 2 wide open layups when UConn was making their 1st half run, could have made a difference today. I am thinking for defensive purposes only. You guys are always at a disadvantage because of playing 4 guards. When Deandre and the other White are in they just kill you on the offensive end. At least Holman would dunk and can guard. Yeah, he'd definitely help there. But he probably wouldn't see the floor with White, making him less of a factor. And we really don't play 4 guards much. Did for maybe 5 minutes today and 5 vs. U of I, but other than that, one of the "bigs" is usually in there with DJ.

FWIW, the players out for UConn were just role players. Granted Dyson was their 2nd leading scorer, but he's not nearly as important to that team as Thabeet, Adrien, Price, and possibly Robinson. That being said, yeah, really no excuse to lose at home today if you are IU.

They have an odd mix. There only real post player is D.J. White. I like their young guards though. Gordon, Bassett, and Crawford are all good. Ellis can be a real match-up problem, but sometimes it seems like he struggles to fit in with that team. I wonder how much the frosh center would have helped this team. I think a lot. Holman wouldn't have helped a lot offensively. He's just not ready there yet. However, he would be the only other big man that can finish. Dre is fine when he can get the ball 1-on-1 downlow. Mike White is fine when he can crash the boards and screen. Stemler is fine when he can play D and shoot the 3. But none can finish at the rim. Mike is too short. Dre is too fat. Stemler is too white. I almost hate to see one of the 3 get an offensive board. Thomas blowing those 2 wide open layups when UConn was making their 1st half run, could have made a difference today.

They were clearly psyched out all day by the shot blocking capabilities of UConn. They were changing their shots without much pressure to do so. The guards were afraid to penetrate early on. It sucks that our 2 most lackluster games this season have come against the only 2 tourney teams they have played. I will state now, though, we will beat Wisconsin. And that's gonna be with UW coming off a loss today at Purdue.

Real disappointing loss at home. First in the Sampson era. 29-straight comes to an end. We missed too many easy shots early and took to many tough ones when we weren't.

UConn will have just 3 guards in Bloomington tomorrow. Their 2nd leading scorer, Dyson, and top bench perimeter player, Wiggins are both suspended for violating team rules. That's over 20 points missing from a team that doesn't get much backcourt scoring. I still expect them to come out strong, ala IU without Gordon and Bassett vs. UK. And ala Penn St. without Claxton.

26-5 would mean either a home upset (29 straight wins in Bloomington) or losing all 4 of those tough road games. At this point, I can't see them losing at Illinois. I think we could beat O$U in Columbus also. Wisconsin isn't playing the best basketball, either, but I still think that's a loss.

There's no arguably about it. At Minnesota is the only Big 10 game IU should have been challeneged in. UConn's easily one of the top-two teams IU has played this year, along with Xavier. However, that's just how the Big Ten schedule broke; IU hasn't played Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State or Purdue yet.* The conference slate gets tough starting next Thursday at Wisconsin. Though at Minnesota (#46 Sagarin) is a solid win. UConn is a difficult matchup for IU with their size. I'm very concerned about this game. As Raw said, IU did win at UConn last year, but both teams have improved. If IU isn't hitting outside shots, this could be a very difficult game. *Edit: I don't mean to imply that UConn isn't better than Purdue or perhaps Ohio State. Just pointing out that of the likely top-5 Big Ten teams outside of IU, the Hoosiers have played only one. Interesting stat about UConn. They have led the nation in blocked shots for the last 4 or 5 years. I don't think another team has led a category like that for that amount of years, ever. Sampson can't recruit big men. Calhoun can't recruit guards. Combine the 2 and you have the best team in the history of sports.

With Washington St.'s loss last night, IU is a win vs. UConn on Saturday away from being a top 5 team. Should be a good game tomorrow. IU beat them in Connecticut last year, with a lesser team. UConn brings back the same team, but with more experience, and they are better down the line. DJ has to stay out of foul trouble facing a front line that goes 7'3", 6'9", and 6'7". He put up 21 last year and played 38 minutes, but Thabeet was not an offensive factor last year. Our guard play is much better than their's and if we can knock down shots as usual at home and they struggle to shoot as usual on the road, IU should win a close one late.

Deleted all the crap out of this thread. Please refrain from using that type of language or else you will be banned. Warnings have been sent.