illiniguy

Damn. Well that'll do it. You want him gone or no? I can't remember which side of the fence you're on. I don't necessarily want him gone unless that stuff is true. But his leash has gotten way shorter after this disaster of a season, which reshaped my perception of him as a coach. This team, at the worst, should have been 7-5. We'll be lucky to go 6-6 at this point. It was a total failure for the coaching staff. Take this with a grain of salt. A player have filed a formal complaint that he was choked and verbally abused by Mangino. A few of the other players have stated the same. He's been told to resign by Thursday or he will be publically fired. I'm good friends with a former KState running back who played under Mangino. He tells me Mangino is the biggest piece of crap in college football. FWIW.

He's ignorant. Making crap up to defend Sampson last year. During Deron's junior year he said that Williams wouldn't be a top ten guard in the ACC. Good call Jay, it's hard to be better than Redick and Paulus. He owned up to how wrong he was on Deron. He was biased on Sampson cause they did some overseas thing together. I'll always remember him for his call of the Arizona game. Save the train for Digger. Digger is garbage, but I doubt anyone doesn't see that. Hubert might be [expletive]. I don't think they could have found a worse guy for that job, but they really wanted the Tar Heel to go opposite Bilas. Dickie V used to be so good, but now he's just a shell of himself. Knight is really good, but he has such hatred for the Big Ten. Still I think he by far is the best that ESPN has. My main beef with Bilas though is he thought Deron was the best guard in the Big Ten and then said he wouldn't be one of the top ten guards in the ACC. Get out of here. The ACC isn't that good and it was downright a cheap shot at the Big Ten, which is all that ESPN ever does.

and being "done" is bad news for a guy who has no future in broadcasting, analysis, endorsements or coaching. Not sure what he's going to do for the rest of his life. Spend money?

He's ignorant. Making crap up to defend Sampson last year. During Deron's junior year he said that Williams wouldn't be a top ten guard in the ACC. Good call Jay, it's hard to be better than Redick and Paulus.

and i did. you guys are/were hilarious. what is that from, two years ago? IU did nothing with Gordon. Sampson is effectively banned from coaching NCAA forever. IU is an absolute train-wreck. you pretty much got everything you wanted. why are you still mad? Don't forget Illinois got Mike Davis due to Gordon bailing. I'm not mad at all at EJ or IU in general anymore. You guys definitely got the short end of that stick. Illinois wouldn't have went that far in 07-08 with Gordon on the team anyway. I'm thinking first round loss in the tournament to Arkansas would have sounded about right. We get EJ though and we might just have added Rose. On second thought its better we avoided that landmine.

and i did. you guys are/were hilarious. what is that from, two years ago? IU did nothing with Gordon. Sampson is effectively banned from coaching NCAA forever. IU is an absolute train-wreck. you pretty much got everything you wanted. why are you still mad? I want Jay Bilas to apologize to Weber and Deron Williams. Actually I just want Jay Bilas to get hit by a train. Make that happen soapy and I'll be cool with IU again.

I am of the opinion that the tools a player needs to be patient are ingrained in his head before he's ever drafted. Yeah, some guys can be taught patience and develop it over time (Jose Reyes is a good example, although he controlled the strike zone pretty well in the minors despite not walking), but it seems like a lot of guys either have it or they don't. I don't know what it would take to teach Vitters the tools he needs to become someone who can draw enough walks to be a .100+ IsoD kind of guy, but I'm guessing certain habits and tendencies leading him to be really aggressive are already such a part of his approach that it would be really difficult to change those things. In other words, the lack of walks in the Cubs' system may have more to do with scouting than coaching. Could be. So do you feel we should not worry about Castro and Lee then since they both seem to have good strike zone control even though they don't walk a ton? Sorry for a ton of questions, just really appreciate the knowledge you guys have for this stuff. I'm not worried, especially considering their age. With Vitters, I'm more concerned with the way he gets himself out on strikes (because he swings at everything and can make a lot of contact) than with him striking out too much. I guess we can hope a bulb goes off for him. That's the main reason why I don't want the Cubs to bump him up to AA without him earning it at Daytona. The thing that scares me is let's say he goes to AA and starts hot. Then let's say Aram has his shoulder flare up. You know what I'm getting at. That would be a huge mistake. That's why I wouldn't mind to see a repeat of Daytona.

I am of the opinion that the tools a player needs to be patient are ingrained in his head before he's ever drafted. Yeah, some guys can be taught patience and develop it over time (Jose Reyes is a good example, although he controlled the strike zone pretty well in the minors despite not walking), but it seems like a lot of guys either have it or they don't. I don't know what it would take to teach Vitters the tools he needs to become someone who can draw enough walks to be a .100+ IsoD kind of guy, but I'm guessing certain habits and tendencies leading him to be really aggressive are already such a part of his approach that it would be really difficult to change those things. In other words, the lack of walks in the Cubs' system may have more to do with scouting than coaching. Could be. So do you feel we should not worry about Castro and Lee then since they both seem to have good strike zone control even though they don't walk a ton? Sorry for a ton of questions, just really appreciate the knowledge you guys have for this stuff.

half and half. I think Brett has done better than expected, and that Josh's failure to develop discipline is troubling, but the combination is probably what's at play right now, because if one or the other didn't happen, you likely wouldn't have seen Callis decide to rank it that way. I guess I just don't see it. The age is the big thing for me. Before Vitters was hurt he was destroying the Midwest League as a 20 year old. I guess it must just be a lot of people are scared by the wrist thing that Tim talked about. Either way it's a nice problem to have and we have really imporved the system this year. While I'm concerned about the injuries, I'm more concerned about the discipline. The chances just arne't that high, IMO, for a guy who averages 3.2/3.3 P/PA to reach his potential unless he's an exception to the rule, which he might be, but I'm not willing to bet on (and maybe there's research to show I'm off base on that assertion - I've never really researched it myself). The other thing is, I thought his strong Peoria season was overhyped. He had one extremely hot streak in Peoria, in May, but otherwise, was average to decent before and after, with a cold streak mixed in. I like Vitters potential a lot, but there are definitely areas of concern. I am concerned about that lack of walks as well, but it is what it is. I wish the Cubs as an organization would preach patience more. But, since they don't appear to do that I do think it hurts many of our young hitters.

half and half. I think Brett has done better than expected, and that Josh's failure to develop discipline is troubling, but the combination is probably what's at play right now, because if one or the other didn't happen, you likely wouldn't have seen Callis decide to rank it that way. I guess I just don't see it. The age is the big thing for me. Before Vitters was hurt he was destroying the Midwest League as a 20 year old. I guess it must just be a lot of people are scared by the wrist thing that Tim talked about. Either way it's a nice problem to have and we have really imporved the system this year.

So is Thad Matta cheating? Who knows. I don't think he has to because of the crazy resources OSU has and the fact that they're a Big Ten team. I was probably too broad in my original post. I'm not talking about everyone outside of the top 5-10 programs historically. College basketball recruiting is just so shady. I really think the coach recruits more in basketball than any other sport. The basketball coach runs the practice. In football you deal a lot more with the assistant coaches, thus the head coach isn't as big. Thus if a basketball coach is really easy to relate to, it's easy to see why they would have success. Pastner, from what I have seen and heard seems to be a guy that would do very well with recruiting.

So is Thad Matta cheating?

Very interesting to see Brett Jackson ranked above Josh Vitters. Especially after so many were dead against picking him. So was he that much better than everyone thought, or is this more a reflection on Vitters?

Well the second two wanted to stay with Cal who is still a WWW guy. Henry was encouraged by Pastner to go to Kansas. That makes sense. Coaches usually try to encourage their best player to play for another team. From what I heard it was down between KU and Kentucky. Pastner told him he should go to KU. It's what has been said on the PHOG. After Cal left X wasn't going to Memphis. So Pastner wasn't pushing him away from his school.

Well the second two wanted to stay with Cal who is still a WWW guy. Henry was encouraged by Pastner to go to Kansas.

I think it may be more the power of WWW and Fed Ex. Does Pastner have a relationship with WWW? Either way, Cal recruited much better with Pastner there. Dude's unbelievable at getting talent. It will be interesting to see how he coaches them. Yes he does. I've never seen anything linking Pastner and WWW. Here you go. He coached at memphis under Cal. Cal is WWW's boy. Linked em for you.

Are you [expletive] serious? Look at your post that's quoted up top. I will bet you every dime you own that this team wins well over 5 games. They lost one [expletive] game they should have won and you're saying they might be the worst BCS team of all-time. You're being an idiot so people are calling you an idiot. If you want to cry about it, fine, but it won't change anyone's opinion. You've been a knee-jerk in all of the football game threads and you're going nuts in this one. Calm the [expletive] down. Again, the reason we lost was we missed shots and our best players played terribly. If we hit our shots, Gatens, Tucker, Fuller and Cole played well but we still lost because we couldn't defend and the young guys were awful, I would be more worried. Are you really worried about them making shots? Do you really think Gatens and Tucker are that bad? You guys just played awful it happens. Hell Kansas lost at home to an awful school a few years ago and still went to the Elite Eight that year. I can't remember who it was, maybe Richmond? Snood can you help me out here? We lost to Richmond at home in 03-04, and that year we were an overtime loss from the Final Four. We lost to Oral Roberts at home in 06-07 and got to the elite 8 that year, too (lost to UCLA.) We lost to Ball State in the Maui Classic in one of our back-to-back Final Four years. Yep and UNC lost their first game in 05 before they were given a National Title. :D

Are you [expletive] serious? Look at your post that's quoted up top. I will bet you every dime you own that this team wins well over 5 games. They lost one [expletive] game they should have won and you're saying they might be the worst BCS team of all-time. You're being an idiot so people are calling you an idiot. If you want to cry about it, fine, but it won't change anyone's opinion. You've been a knee-jerk in all of the football game threads and you're going nuts in this one. Calm the [expletive] down. Again, the reason we lost was we missed shots and our best players played terribly. If we hit our shots, Gatens, Tucker, Fuller and Cole played well but we still lost because we couldn't defend and the young guys were awful, I would be more worried. Are you really worried about them making shots? Do you really think Gatens and Tucker are that bad? You guys just played awful it happens. Hell Kansas lost at home to an awful school a few years ago and still went to the Elite Eight that year. I can't remember who it was, maybe Richmond? Snood can you help me out here?

Oops read that as Vandy, not Valpo. But yeah, you really can't use that to determine how good a team is.

Yep, the year after we throttled you. That was the last time I think it happened. You guys totally pushed us around that year. 120lbs hinrich vs 230 lbs Williams wasn't very fair. But we were a four seed, you were a one. Wasn't surprised we lost. That was when I really started liking Self as a coach, and when I became sort of disillusioned in Roy's system. Yeah it was upperclassman vs young kids. That was probably the day we lost Self to be honest.

I still really like our chances with Bradley.

Yep, the year after we throttled you. That was the last time I think it happened.

YESYESYESYES It may be more hope than actual speculation, but I've heard Mitchell and Pressey on board make us players for Beal next year. Back the [expletive] off. both of you back the [expletive] off. You guys have enough talent. Leave this kid alone.

Are those the only ones that made it over 40 possessions? Good call, when Bruce has had talent, we've struggled on offense. See 04-05 for proof. Calm down, I remember all those Augustine moving screens as well as anyone, I can still sarcastically call it boring big 10 basketball though. I'm not excited, just finding the humor in a Mizzou fan trying to tell us how to run an up tempo style of ball. Seems our style matches up pretty well against you guys. And the rest of the Big 12 for that matter. I can't even remember the last time a Big 12 team has beat us. I think it would have to be when Frank Williams was a junior.

Are those the only ones that made it over 40 possessions? Good call, when Bruce has had talent, we've struggled on offense. See 04-05 for proof.