illiniguy

DMac had a great, great game tonight. Loved watching it. Let's win tomorrow and make some bubble teams really sweat.

Thompson went from keeping the 'Cats alive in the beginning of the half with three big baskets to committing three very costly turnovers under full-court and half-court pressure. whatever happened to the other michael thompson? He looked promising in his debut against DePaul late in the non-conference season in 2004 (I think). After that, he looked more like a McDonalds employee than a McDonalds All-American. He left the team early during the following non-conference season and stayed on campus to get his degree. I'm not sure anyone has really heard from him since. he was either a gigantic waste of talent or completely overhyped. maybe a bit of both. The McD's selection is no longer about the best players. Don't get me wrong, most of them belong. But there are always 2-4 guys on the roster who shouldn't be, and I can only assume it's about politics. To be fair, Hinrich was what, a soph and about 150 lbs? Hinrich ended up the better player. I think he was actually a freshman. Yes he ended up better. I wish Frankie would have had different circumstances in the pros though.

i'm not necessarily saying that crandall is as good or is the same player as HRF, but he's just got that effortlessness about him, he makes everything look so easy. Crandall was the one that I really wanted from the get go. I mean we had to get Luther's little brother. Especially when people were saying he was better than Lu at the same age. As for HRF easily my favorite Illini of alltime. That tourny game against KU when he owned Hinrich really had me thinking he was gonna be a great pro. Wish things would have worked out better for him.

i think paul is the best player in the state this year, which includes shumpert, dixon, and dunigan. he reminds me of dwyane wade and he's much further along in his development. but i really think that crandall head will be better than all of them one day. I really didn't know what to think about Paul until this year. After he committed I read a lot about him and was impressed. I love that as a junior he went toe to toe with Shumpert. I like Head already because of the bloodline, but a lot of people are saying he might be the best in the state now. I think Richmond is the best prospect as of now, but am worrying about him ever making it to champaign. The last bit of news on him is cause for a concern. As for Bertrand. I have no idea. He is all world one game then disapears for like a month. if bertrand can't cut it, he won't be playing. we're stacked at guard and i don't see him being a huge casualty if he doesn't pan out. if he wants to be lazy and ineffective from game to game, let him sit on the bench. accoring to most scouts, richmond is the best in the state right now, and i have little doubt that he'll be in champaign. he's bought into his own hype, but he'll mature, he's still real young and doesn't know what to think of himself, but his bond with the program is solid, no worries there. head may seriosuly be the best player in the state, i really think it's between him and paul. they're magical players. crandall reminds me of frankie williams in the sense that he looks slow, until he's driving by you and you have no idea what happened, or he's taking the ball right out of your hands with deadly precision. and look, there he goes draining a three in your eye in a flash when you backed off of him. he has the stroke, he has the bloodlines, and he has the body right now to play at the collegiate level. the future looks bright if they can bring everyone in, which i think they can. I think they all make it on campus. The Gordon thing was a whole different issue. I hope you are right about Jereme, I hope he gets through this. A lot of what I have heard makes me think this was a case of a high school kid misbehaving and a coach not mature enough to really handle it. If Head is as good as Frankie Williams was, at the size he is that would be something. He would probably be a two year at most player, but that would be ok in my book.

I honestly don't follow it as close as I used to. I live to far away now to get to games of most Illinois kids. If we aren't hard after them I don't pay as much attention to them. I guess I kinda got under the mindset recently if they didn't care enough about Illinois to go there, I really don't care about them enough to follow them.

i think paul is the best player in the state this year, which includes shumpert, dixon, and dunigan. he reminds me of dwyane wade and he's much further along in his development. but i really think that crandall head will be better than all of them one day. I really didn't know what to think about Paul until this year. After he committed I read a lot about him and was impressed. I love that as a junior he went toe to toe with Shumpert. I like Head already because of the bloodline, but a lot of people are saying he might be the best in the state now. I think Richmond is the best prospect as of now, but am worrying about him ever making it to champaign. The last bit of news on him is cause for a concern. As for Bertrand. I have no idea. He is all world one game then disapears for like a month.

Illinois all state teams were named. Brandon Paul was first team in 4a Stan Simpson was first team in 3a DJ Richardson and Joe Bertrand were both second team I am really excited to see what paul does in the summer. I hope he gets into the top 30.

Thompson went from keeping the 'Cats alive in the beginning of the half with three big baskets to committing three very costly turnovers under full-court and half-court pressure. whatever happened to the other michael thompson? He looked promising in his debut against DePaul late in the non-conference season in 2004 (I think). After that, he looked more like a McDonalds employee than a McDonalds All-American. He left the team early during the following non-conference season and stayed on campus to get his degree. I'm not sure anyone has really heard from him since. Really he and Dockery both didn't live up to mcdaa expectations. Granted Dockery still played 4 years at Duke, but wasn't the great point guard most thought he would become at the time.

which one? Talor Battle? Yeah, he is pretty good. How in the hell have you guys not done better in the league with him and the one good player you had who didn't get hurt right away. I always mix the two up. the team is REALLY young. they only dressed like 8 guys today, 3 or 4 of which were freshmen. Battle is amazingly confident for an 18 year old, and has already become the vocal leader/court general for the team. hope he continues to improve over the next 3 seasons Yeah he is pretty solid. Got to the lane with ease and finished. He used Fraizer like toilet paper.

which one? Talor Battle? Yeah, he is pretty good. How in the hell have you guys not done better in the league with him and the one good player you had who didn't get hurt right away. I always mix the two up.

Is Penn States point guard really this good?

only if Hansborough isn't available Nah he will be back for his senior year. We will draft Psycho T that next year.

Hibbert didn't score against Villanova. Is there any doubt this guy is who Paxson picks in the draft?

I really want to see DMac play well. He is something like 4 for his last 24 from the field.

Nah the cool thing to do is just blast whatever I say. I have watched Mayo a ton this year too. I work overnights. Thus when I am off I am up when they are on. He can guard. I think he is going to be a much better pro than most people think.

i do know that gordon has one of the quickest, prettiest, most fundamentally sound releases in the game and will instantly be a 3-point killer in the NBA. He needs to follow through more on his release to be fundamentally sound. He cuts it off pretty quick. That said it doesn't matter all that much. Reggie Miller had a terrible one and was pretty great. JJ Reddick might have the best I have seen and can't shoot at the NBA level. i think that's the best part about his shot, it's short. i think it works to his advantage, and it woouldn't be the same shot if he altered the follow-through. It makes it very quick, no doubt. But, whenever I have tried to shorten my release it causes me to lose control of the shot. He is much, much better than me so it doesn't matter. I do like his shot it is going to make him a ton of moeny. But, I also like Mayo's. I think that the Pac 10 with UCLA and WSU has some pretty good defense too.

i do know that gordon has one of the quickest, prettiest, most fundamentally sound releases in the game and will instantly be a 3-point killer in the NBA. He needs to follow through more on his release to be fundamentally sound. He cuts it off pretty quick. That said it doesn't matter all that much. Reggie Miller had a terrible one and was pretty great. JJ Reddick might have the best I have seen and can't shoot at the NBA level.

Couldn't it be argued that Gordon shoots from so deep because he struggles to get enough space to shoot the three? Wouldn't that be more of a problem in the NBA where most of the defenders are bigger? It could, although I argue that space for 3 pointers is more about your teammates. 3 pointers in the NBA typically come off 3 things: 1) A screen, either with the screen inside and the player runs out for the catch and the quick shot, or the ball screen on the outside to free the player up for a 3. 2) Transition 3 3) doubling of the inside player causes people to be open for a 3. Gordon gets none of those advantages. There is nobody that can set a screen well that is any type of offensive threat, so both defenders go to Gordon. Even if White sets a screen, which is not his strong suit, both defenders go to Gordon anyway and they switch off to White, which leaves the power forward wide open. IU ran a decent amount of this early in the season and then threw it to the open power forward, who promptly fumbled it out of bounds. IU's offense doesn't use any transition 3's, and nobody ever comes off of Gordon to be the doubleteam on White. That's why Gordon has to shoot from 5 feet behind the line all the time, and I don't think that will be the case in the NBA. Well in the NBA he will get a lot more transition threes. He is likely to be picked high enough to a team though, that will not have a post player who warrants a double team. I don't think his percentages will jump at all in the NBA. They rarely do. With the comment about his percentage rising, that was more about the injury. His 3 point percentage has plummeted since he re-hurt his wrist a month ago. He's 10 for his last 50 after being at 41.1 percent on February 10th. Gotcha. I would guess he would shoot in the mid 30's his first year. As it is pretty rare for a rookie who shoots as much as EJ will to shoot higher than that.

Couldn't it be argued that Gordon shoots from so deep because he struggles to get enough space to shoot the three? Wouldn't that be more of a problem in the NBA where most of the defenders are bigger? It could, although I argue that space for 3 pointers is more about your teammates. 3 pointers in the NBA typically come off 3 things: 1) A screen, either with the screen inside and the player runs out for the catch and the quick shot, or the ball screen on the outside to free the player up for a 3. 2) Transition 3 3) doubling of the inside player causes people to be open for a 3. Gordon gets none of those advantages. There is nobody that can set a screen well that is any type of offensive threat, so both defenders go to Gordon. Even if White sets a screen, which is not his strong suit, both defenders go to Gordon anyway and they switch off to White, which leaves the power forward wide open. IU ran a decent amount of this early in the season and then threw it to the open power forward, who promptly fumbled it out of bounds. IU's offense doesn't use any transition 3's, and nobody ever comes off of Gordon to be the doubleteam on White. That's why Gordon has to shoot from 5 feet behind the line all the time, and I don't think that will be the case in the NBA. Well in the NBA he will get a lot more transition threes. He is likely to be picked high enough to a team though, that will not have a post player who warrants a double team. I don't think his percentages will jump at all in the NBA. They rarely do.

gordon may be a poor ball handler, but mayo is just as bad. like i said, they'r ealmost the exact same player. i'll listen to exile, he makes good points. oh, and he actually isn't the worst poster on this whole board. You are very mature. bad. Again good one.

Couldn't it be argued that Gordon shoots from so deep because he struggles to get enough space to shoot the three? Wouldn't that be more of a problem in the NBA where most of the defenders are bigger?

gordon may be a poor ball handler, but mayo is just as bad. like i said, they'r ealmost the exact same player. i'll listen to exile, he makes good points. oh, and he actually isn't the worst poster on this whole board. You are very mature.

i don't know why you'd take mayo over him, other than the obvious reason. they're like the same player, flip a coin. i'll take Gordon. More ability to play the point, he is bigger, has a better handle, is a better defender, and I think he has shown the ability to make others around him better. I have yet to really see EJ demonstrate that. he's not bigger and he's not a better defender, and he doesn't have a better handle. they're pretty equal across the board. furthermore, you're the one promoting DJ White as the best player in the big ten, but he's not better because of gordon? He absolutely has a better handle than Gordon. I doubt you find any perimeter draft pick this year that has a worse handle than Gordon. He is obviously is bigger than Gordon too. . i don't know how you figure that. they're like the exact same size. Because I doubt the listed size of Gordon. Seeing him stand next to other guys on the court makes me think his height has been doctored. Kinda like Dee Brown was 6'0". that's super convincing. Oh well. Your argument about how Gordon had a better handle was riveting up until the IU fan shot you down with it.

i don't know why you'd take mayo over him, other than the obvious reason. they're like the same player, flip a coin. i'll take Gordon. More ability to play the point, he is bigger, has a better handle, is a better defender, and I think he has shown the ability to make others around him better. I have yet to really see EJ demonstrate that. he's not bigger and he's not a better defender, and he doesn't have a better handle. they're pretty equal across the board. furthermore, you're the one promoting DJ White as the best player in the big ten, but he's not better because of gordon? He absolutely has a better handle than Gordon. I doubt you find any perimeter draft pick this year that has a worse handle than Gordon. He is obviously is bigger than Gordon too. . i don't know how you figure that. they're like the exact same size. Because I doubt the listed size of Gordon. Seeing him stand next to other guys on the court makes me think his height has been doctored. Kinda like Dee Brown was 6'0". Especailly since Mayo can and will play some point at the next level. Whereas I don't think EJ can or will.

i don't know why you'd take mayo over him, other than the obvious reason. they're like the same player, flip a coin. i'll take Gordon. More ability to play the point, he is bigger, has a better handle, is a better defender, and I think he has shown the ability to make others around him better. I have yet to really see EJ demonstrate that. he's not bigger and he's not a better defender, and he doesn't have a better handle. they're pretty equal across the board. furthermore, you're the one promoting DJ White as the best player in the big ten, but he's not better because of gordon? He absolutely has a better handle than Gordon. I doubt you find any perimeter draft pick this year that has a worse handle than Gordon. He is obviously is bigger than Gordon too. . I would take Gordon over Mayo, though. Rose would be my first choice at guard. Gordon would scare me because of size though. Guards can e great at that size, but they take such a beating. Baron Davis and Dwyane Wade come to mind. Davis is always hurt and I think we have already seen the best of Wade. I, were I an NBA GM, would be a little leary of that.