illiniguy

Didn't they lose most of their team?

Some people alway vote for the last years champion until the season starts.

I don't think it's out of the question that they're going to be in the top 20 this season. They're returning everyone from last year's team, including Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims who both should dominate this season. It should be a good season for Michigan, as long as injuries don't pile up. Agreed, Manny Harris is very good. The Wolverines will be a good team again this year.

Shaq and Z should never be on the court at the same time. You don't need to be a genius to figure that out. Yeah, it was a bit sad when Z was trying to cover 'sheed in the Celtics game. You act like anyone can guard Sheed. Rasheed Wallace is, without a doubt, the coolest player ever. He won me over with his lefthanded three he cashed in the flow of the game, during the AllStar game.

Oh yeah definitely, i forgot about St. Louis. No wonder they have like no black players on their roster. Joe Thurston disagrees.

I can't believe we aren't in the top 25. We lost mid major talent, according to the experts, from our team last year and added three 4 stars. If we were top 25 last year, I don't get how we aren't now.

Just the one year? Eh, I'm fairly optimistic Iowa can be middle of the conference in '10-'11. Cole will be a senior, Gatens, Tucker and Fuller will be juniors, Payne, May and Cougill will be sophs and they have a pretty decent recruiting class coming in. Not amazing but Larson is a top 100 kid, McCabe had a bunch of nice offers and I think Brust could be a piece off the bench right away. I think they can make a run at the tournament next year. The Big Ten is going to be loaded then. Look at some of the recruiting classes teams have lined up. UI and OSU could both be top 5 teams that year, with Minnesota, MSU, and Purdue all really good as well.

Carlos Boozer is awful, that is all.

Maybe. Battle could leave early with a big year.

I'm bearish on Penn State as well. I think they're a bottom-3 Big Ten team. I really like DeChellis and Battle, but I'm dubious Penn State's program is to the point it can lose players the caliber of Cornley and Pringle and not face a precipitous decline. I mostly agree, though some of the underclassmen started stepping up in the NIT tourney. Getting those 4 or 5 extra games was SOOO valuable to this program. That said, I have no idea what kind of players are coming in as freshmen this year. The league is probably better this year as well, which hurts a rebuilding PSU team. At least the OOC games are a little better this year (though not much, and RPI killed PSU's bubble status at tourney time last year). 8 home games, only 2 road (plus 1-3 neutral court [Charleston Classic Tourney]). They'll lose @Temple, but can't afford to lose any easy home games like Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, etc. I think you guys are gonna be pretty good still. Dechillis has done a nice job. I like a lot of your big, young players last year.

Bruce, you've covered the Cubs for a bit now. Can you kinda speak to what it's like to have Cub fans be so angry and disappointed with an 83 win season? Quite a change from a decade ago.

I don't even really care, many have pointed out how he hasn't ever coached before. My only issue was with LaRussa saying he was a product of hard work and diet. That's absurd. Plus this is the same Tony that accuses everyone and their sister of cheating whenever they are beating his team. I am sure there will be some interesting interviews.

Todd you play for Kansas. Quit hitting the OU players in the numbers.

Juice has no escapability. At all.

I know nothing about college football at all. But, at this point, I am pretty sure I can come up with a better offense and game plan than what Zook is doing.

I would like to ask him how he felt the 01 team would have done against the 05 team. I always felt the 01 was a better team, but that the entire college scene was better in 01 than in 05. Does he still stay in touch with the other two Manuel guys, if so how is Marcus' health these days? How close was he to really choosing Indiana?

I had absolutely no idea he was their leading all-time scorer. Was the rebounder too I think until Augustine beat it. I might be wrong on that one though.

I think it is awesome that they are doing these interviews. I feel badly for Deon, he should have been the last piece we needed to win it all. Plus most fans don't recognize his career for being as great as it was.

Mike Davis is not first team. I can see Battle on there but not Davis. He is a decent scorer and good rebounder but does little else. Doesn't block shots, doesn't get steals, can't shoot from out ... etc. Mike Davis actually is a very good shooter up to about 16 feet. Not everyone needs to shoot threes. I'm also basing a lot of this off of assuming that Hummel will mis more time again as a back injury is one that tends to linger for a long time and at most points last year he didn't look anything like the player he was his frosh year.

Kalin Lucas Manny Harris Evan Turner Mike Davis JuJuan Johnson That should be the first team. It might not be, but it should be.

So you mean to tell me that if you were in line for a huge payday, you wouldn't want to minimize any risks you may have? He's been able to play through this injury, as you've said. Now, especially considering the next off-season chance he'll have for TJS is his contract year, he's not going to opt for it until his next contact. But fine, my post is wildly stupid. You win. It doesn't matter what I'd do. It doesn't matter what you think he should do. It matters what he did. He turned down a contract extension. You're asserting he's going to sign a huge deal and get the surgery. Well, he was offered to start on that huge deal and he turned down the opportunity for now and opted for minor surgery. If it was his goal to maximize earning power and minimize the risk that his elbow would blow before the opportunity to sign a $250,000,000+ contract, THAN HE WOULD HAVE DONE IT LAST WEEK WHEN THAT OPTION WAS OFFERED BY THE CARDINALS. Instead, he has chosen to put off contract negotiations for now and undergo a procedure that doesn't fix the ligament problem. Sounds like he's ok with the risk. Or maybe he doesn't want to sign his next contract with the Cardinals. ;) I imagine that will depend on what happens with Holliday this offseason. If the Cardinals don't look to him like they are trying to win I imagine Albert walks.

If he played for the Royals maybe. Kinda, although he would sell enough tickets that maybe it would be worth it.

Can someone wake up the thrid base umpire. There's a game going on here that is kinda important.

I agree. While excited about Castro, until I see some power, I gotta go with Vitters.

Wasn't it Jason Stark who said ARod was the least valuable player in baseball because of his contract? Good call Jason.