illiniguy

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.

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.

Yeah bad calls never happen in Champaign. :roll: Also these are Big East officials so I don't think they are looking to do Indiana any extra favors. :lol: I don't care where they are from even the announcers pointed out it was a terrible call.

I see what you're saying, but there really aren't that many teams that deserve to be ahead of IU right now. UCLA. :) (Not that I care about rankings, I just want the 1 seed in the West and 2 games in Anaheim.) You would only beat them by 15 at their place. I can see where you would be ranked higher.

Just a terrible call that completely swings momentum in IU's favor. :roll:

UConn looks pretty good thus far. Especially since they are missing their starting guards.

I was searching the boards tonight, which is common at late hours. Stupide overnight job. Anyways I stumbled acroos an interesting thing. Mike Nadel: Weber-basher puts his money where mouth is http://www.sj-r.com/Sports/stories/24114.asp I don't care who he has lined up coming in the next few years. This isn't good for him. If the big time boosters start to grumble, Weber will be in trouble. That combined with the recent rumor of the Pruitts having something to say in a press release about Shaun's suspension. The seat in Champaign has to be getting hotter.

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. IU beat Illinois by four in Bloomington and trailed a good portion of the game. The crowd will be insane in C-U. Gordon will have two fouls in approximately 55 seconds. It's going to be very, very difficult for IU to get out of there with a win. I agree with all of that, but you will still handle us easily. We just don't have the talent.

Only because of how poor the officiating is in that conference.

Stauffer's incredibly damaged goods at this point. I don't want any part of him. The two names in their system who seem attainable and are of interest to me are Wade LeBlanc and Will Inman. Both ended their seasons at AA and appear to have decent ceilings as middle of the rotation types down the road. I also really like Matt Antonelli, but his position (2B) and his stats suggest a few problems to me in terms of the Cubs' ability to attain him and where he'd fit in down the road, considering the glut of MIFs on this team. Antonelli might be there starter this year at 2B. I also think he would be a better player than anyone we have at 2B.

Playoffs are pretty much a crapshoot. The 2006 Cardinals are a perfect example of that. And I have no idea why you would single out individual players when discussing World Series victories. Bonds didn't lose the 2002 World Series for the Giants. Besides, how did we go from speed having an effect on a pitcher's performance to World Series wins? Yes, there is more to baseball than statistics. Proper scouting and player development can play a big role. However, it would be foolish to dismiss statistical analysis. Bonds may not have lost it on his own, but when he batted that ball around in the outfield like a big cat, he sure did help blow it. Oh and their manager was crap.

Who was it that led the league in mental RBIs last year? In my mind, I drove in 192. Take that, Hack Wilson. Since RBIs have been pretty much refuted as the measure of a good hitter, I suppose your mark was achieved largely due to the mental capacity of those around you. All my friends have high mental OBPs. Seriously though, I do agree that RBI and runs are poor measures of how good a hitter is. I thought that runs would still be a good indicator of a hitters talent, being as he has to get on base quite a bit to score a ton of runs. I understand that it is still a team dependant stat, but thought it still to be a better indicator of value to the team than an RBI. But if runs is a good measure of a hitter's talent b/c it means he had to be on base frequently, can't we just cut out the middle man and use OBP? Yeah I get that. I ust guess I always still valued runs more than RBIs. Probably foolish of me.

Who was it that led the league in mental RBIs last year? In my mind, I drove in 192. Take that, Hack Wilson. Since RBIs have been pretty much refuted as the measure of a good hitter, I suppose your mark was achieved largely due to the mental capacity of those around you. All my friends have high mental OBPs. Seriously though, I do agree that RBI and runs are poor measures of how good a hitter is. I thought that runs would still be a good indicator of a hitters talent, being as he has to get on base quite a bit to score a ton of runs. I understand that it is still a team dependant stat, but thought it still to be a better indicator of value to the team than an RBI.

Yeah we just don't have many guys who fit what he wants and with a 7-man rotation there's no one to put in when he wants to send a message. Gorney is the closest thing to what he wants in a big man and when he shows up aggressive and confident he's put up nice numbers. When he doesn't he's a mess. Johnson has disappeared since the first IU game, our freshman are pretty nice fits but very inconsistent and when things start going bad Freeman gets out of the system and freelances. Against Indiana at home the offense looked really crisp and we moved the ball so well. Plus we only had 12 turnovers in a 74 possession game. Last night we had 20 in a 64 possession game. IU looked much better last night, especially defensively. A lot of it was just unforced errors on our part that led to run outs, but White and Gordon were just unstoppable. There's no question that you need some depth; Iowa's talent level is decent and Lickliter's system works well, but the depth just isn't there and you really need a body inside. More time in the system will also help a lot. I liked what I've seen from Iowa so far this Big Ten season, and I think -- given a couple years of solid to good recruiting -- Iowa will be a contender for the Big Ten title. They have Matt Gatens coming in next year. A very solid player. They should have had Beas Haegma this year, but Alford really hurt em on that one. They are doing pretty good job considering they are short on talent this year. Yeah it's basically Gatens and some role players at this point. Anthony Tucker is a 6'4 guard from the #1 team in Minnesota is probably the next best one. Great shooter but probably only a decent athlete, decent ballhandler and decent defender. Brommer is a 6'8 PF who was committed to Minnesota before Monson was fired and has more of an outside face-up game than a real post. He's pretty thin though and may need a redshirt year. Jermain Davis is a JUCO guard who is supposedly a super athlete and defender, only an average scorer, ballhandler. They're trying to find one or two more JUCO big men to help out next year. Things are looking a little better in the '09 class at least. They're sitting okay with much better talent. Of course if you put together a team with the recruits we finished 2nd or 3rd for over the last 10 years they'd be our best team in 20 years. Give us Jon Scheyer, Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, Scotty Reynolds, Willie Kemp, and Sherron Collins and let me know where we finish this year.

Give us Antonelli and call it a deal.

Yeah we just don't have many guys who fit what he wants and with a 7-man rotation there's no one to put in when he wants to send a message. Gorney is the closest thing to what he wants in a big man and when he shows up aggressive and confident he's put up nice numbers. When he doesn't he's a mess. Johnson has disappeared since the first IU game, our freshman are pretty nice fits but very inconsistent and when things start going bad Freeman gets out of the system and freelances. Against Indiana at home the offense looked really crisp and we moved the ball so well. Plus we only had 12 turnovers in a 74 possession game. Last night we had 20 in a 64 possession game. IU looked much better last night, especially defensively. A lot of it was just unforced errors on our part that led to run outs, but White and Gordon were just unstoppable. There's no question that you need some depth; Iowa's talent level is decent and Lickliter's system works well, but the depth just isn't there and you really need a body inside. More time in the system will also help a lot. I liked what I've seen from Iowa so far this Big Ten season, and I think -- given a couple years of solid to good recruiting -- Iowa will be a contender for the Big Ten title. They have Matt Gatens coming in next year. A very solid player. They should have had Beas Haegma this year, but Alford really hurt em on that one. They are doing pretty good job considering they are short on talent this year.

Isn't Bryan Anderson going to be better than Yadier, like now?

Drew has done an amazing job rebuilding that program.

--Who's Dayton Moore? I'm serious. I've never heard of him. I assume the poster meant Drayton Moore the GM of the Royals, but forgot to put the r in the name. -Banghart they left the R out because his name is Dayton.

Hehe... Just admit that comment about not being a top 4 team in the A-10 was just a tad bit of hyperbole. Can't say anything positive about IU. Sorry just can't. Get rid of Kelvin and you can be my second favorite team again though.

They should just give you guys the trophy right now.

I like how Weber is benching McCamey and only McCamey for mistakes. It will be sweet when he transfers. This year has proven that we don't need D1 guards.

I thought that was Packer. Happy to sneak out of CoMo with a win. Gonna have to watch a replay to see what happened. You shot 45 free throws on the road. :shock: I didn't get to see the game though. I live in Kansas City and the damn thing wasn't on unless you have ESPNU. Comcast here does not.

Which Billy did the USC-UCLA game today? That guy is a piece of work. Apparently he felt the need to point out that as an 18 year old O.J. Mayo wasn't as good as Oscar Robinson. No crap Billy, name me which 18 year old is it that is arguably as good as any of the top 5 players of all time. Unreal.

I wonder what Jacque is thinking when he hears Hendry talking about needing a lefty OF bat. "I guess I should have hit 20 HR last year..." I guess I will have to settle for being on the best team in baseball. You got traded to the Boston Red Sox? Either way he is on a better team than the Cubs. He also still gets paid. I doubt he gives two poops who the Cubs got in a trade for him.