illiniguy

hopefully clemens gets his huge strikezone in this too.

Judging a player by one game is never a good idea. I think Tex's career speaks for itself. He certainly didn't show up ready for the WBC. its prolly because the games arent at the ball park in arlington.

Leiter didn't play as horribly as Griffey, Wells, Teixeira, and Willis did. And Leiter sucked. yeah but were are bonds, oswalt, berkman, etc. just like our dream team in hoops none of those guys cared enough to be there. leiter shouldn't have been on this team in his prime let alone now. Well, Berkman has an excuse. He'd probably love to be healthy enough to play baseball full tilt right now. Bonds is a monster, but I'm not sure I'd put up with his crap if I was Buck Martinez. Oswalt - well...you've got a point. yeah buck is an idiot too. first off if you have to play tex he should dh. lee is the best fielder in the game at first. then we don't start our best player arod. are we trying to win or keep everyone happy? Chase Utley should be playing all the time with Young at some short. We need offense. plus wells really looked comfortable out there in right. Griffey batting third I get that if this is 95. But if it is we outta get joey belle to play right for us.

Leiter didn't play as horribly as Griffey, Wells, Teixeira, and Willis did. And Leiter sucked. yeah but where are bonds, oswalt, berkman, etc. just like our dream team in hoops none of those guys cared enough to be there. leiter shouldn't have been on this team in his prime let alone now.

Al Leiter is on the freaking team because American athletes are only loyal to the almighty dollar.

Could have been? I still think they could win this tourny and make the final four. Izzo is a genius. I don't think there's any reason to think they can suddenly turn it around and win it all or even go to the FF. They certainly have a ton of talent, but the fact is, they haven't played that well this season. They're incosnsistent, and they haven't shown the ability to beat even mediocre teams on the road. They're 5-5 in their last ten. Now, I understand the Big Televen is a very tough conference, but MSU has been very unimpressive every time I've seen them play. It's surprising, too because Izzo is so good. This year is the anti-Izzo team. MSU has surprised people with tourney runs because they always play defense, rebound fantastically, and on offense run so many sets that it's hard to prepare for in the NCAA's. This year the defense and rebounding just aren't there, PF was a question mark then they all got hurt, and they have zero bench scoring. That said, when all 3 of Davis, Ager, and Brown play well, they still D and rebound well enough that they are very tough to beat, and their offense is still tough to prepare for on a short timeframe. They'll need a good draw to do anything in the NCAA's, because I don't think they have it in them to knock off a top team, especially if they face a higher seed that has a quasi home court advantage. Power forward or not I think the key to any run MSU makes sits on Neitzel. If he can score a little and get the ball where it needs to be they can beat anyone.

it obviously has something to do with MSU laying a big fat egg in conference play, despite the contributions of "The Big Three". what a joke. Am I taking crazy pills here? Can you say with a straight face that those two outperformed Davis? Wisconsin disappointed in the Big 10 too, let's get Horner in there instead of Tucker. brunner looks like some dude i knew back in high school who was always trying to smuggle beakers out of the chemistry lab. that is all. Greg Brunner is good. His hairline is bad.

it obviously has something to do with MSU laying a big fat egg in conference play, despite the contributions of "The Big Three". what a joke. Am I taking crazy pills here? Can you say with a straight face that those two outperformed Davis? Wisconsin disappointed in the Big 10 too, let's get Horner in there instead of Tucker. For real. If he wasn't a huge pansy he would be the best rebounder in the Big Ten, or the best scoring big man in the conference.... In a league void of elite big men. You would think if he was as tough as everyone gives him credit for being he would have been able to get his team with two other great players into the top half of his conference.

Could have been? I still think they could win this tourny and make the final four. Izzo is a genius.

I don't know; old used balls may have too much sentimental value for somebody. We probably COULD get an autographed Jose Macias card for Welly, though. :D I have one and no I won't trade it to you for Wellemeyer. Sorry. It's part of a set.

Dee Brown- first team all big ten by both coaches and the media James Augustine- first team all big ten coaches I wish Deron could have came back so we could have 3 of the 5 on the first team again. That and we might have been undefeated.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I didn't see the second half yesterday, nor have I looked at the box score, just the final on a ticker. Dee Brown is overrated. He's not a very good scorer at all, 55th of 58 B10 players in PPWS. He's a very good defender, and he does a good job of not turning the ball over and distributing, but in all honesty he doesn't belong on the B10 first team. Now, feel free to say that I hate Illinois and all that it stands for, and that I'm bitter about yesterday or the season or whatever. Ok, you ask Tom Izzo what he thinks of Dee Brown being overrated. Anyone who has played the game at a high level would be the first to tell you that if anything in someways Dee Brown is underrated. All he has done his entire career is win. Maybe Mizzou should pick up some overrated players like Dee Brown. I just get tired of reading this garbage all the time. There is more to playing basketball than scoring. I would say that John Stockton is one of the best players ever to play basketball, did he score over 20 points a game? What number was he in the league with the cute stat you are using. Dee has switched to the most demanding position on the court for his senior year after losing two other NBA guards from his team and all he has done is lead that team to a 25-5 record. If you want overrated look no farther than Paul Leg Cramp Davis. Did Paul ever once beat Illinois in his career? Man you are bitter. It's not about scoring more points, it's about making the shots you do take. Dee has been terrible at that this year. Not just "not amongst the best" at scoring efficiently, but he's one of the worst in the league. The Stockton comparisons are ridiculous. He shot over 50 percent from the field, and he gave out double digit assists per game. Dee is shooting 37 percent from the field, and hands out half as many assists. On another note, mocking Mizzou does you no good, everyone knows they are terrible. Being overrated doesn't mean you aren't a good player, because Dee is good(I pointed out his strengths in the previous post), it just means people make you out to be better than you are. Also, trashing Davis has nothing to do with Dee, but Davis makes his shots and is one of (the?) best rebounders in the conference. But he doesn't win. Dee Brown is not overrated. He is a streaky shooter, yes. He is the reigning defensive player of they year. Defense is half of the game. He can create a fast break on his own, which when your team struggles with its offense is a positive. What would Dee be shooting if early in the year he didn't have to force up a shot because his teammates weren't ready to contribute because of lack of playing time and game experience? I brought up Davis because every year every publication predicts him to be the best big man in the big ten, yet every year with great talent around him he finds ways to not win the conference. Ager would also be another player I would consider to be overrated, Especially since he had what 9 ppg (Brian Randle) against Illinois this year? For someone who has these two guys on his team to call Dee Brown overrated is humorous.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I didn't see the second half yesterday, nor have I looked at the box score, just the final on a ticker. Dee Brown is overrated. He's not a very good scorer at all, 55th of 58 B10 players in PPWS. He's a very good defender, and he does a good job of not turning the ball over and distributing, but in all honesty he doesn't belong on the B10 first team. Now, feel free to say that I hate Illinois and all that it stands for, and that I'm bitter about yesterday or the season or whatever. Ok, you ask Tom Izzo what he thinks of Dee Brown being overrated. Anyone who has played the game at a high level would be the first to tell you that if anything in someways Dee Brown is underrated. All he has done his entire career is win. Maybe Mizzou should pick up some overrated players like Dee Brown. I just get tired of reading this garbage all the time. There is more to playing basketball than scoring. I would say that John Stockton is one of the best players ever to play basketball, did he score over 20 points a game? What number was he in the league with the cute stat you are using. Dee has switched to the most demanding position on the court for his senior year after losing two other NBA guards from his team and all he has done is lead that team to a 25-5 record. If you want overrated look no farther than Paul Leg Cramp Davis. Did Paul ever once beat Illinois in his career?

When Dee is on, this team is fantastic. When he's not (eg vs. Iowa) they are very beatable. That said, they could be a Final Four team and surprise no one. I think we are better when Dee doesn't have to score, i.e. when Randle and Smith are playing well. An example would be the Wisconsin game when we beat them handily there. 25-5 in a rebuilding year, not to shabby.

He's a stud. Too bad he didn't pick Mizzou... No hard feelings though, I wouldn't go to Mizzou either if I was a 5 star recruit. Mizzou is such a mess. Still, he would have looked good in black and gold... I heard that Mizzou refused to recruit/deal with his younger brother because of what his dad did to the university. He pulled a Cushman on Snyder, saying not to go after any other big men because Tyler was a done deal to Mizzou, then dumped him. Good to see Duke go down. Looks like Redick's jumper is losing it's legs. His last 4 games he's 5 of 21, 3 of 10, 10 of 28, and 5 of 21 from the field. You could make the case that an early ACC exit, even if it means a 2 seed in the NCAA's, would be best for Duke's Final Four and Championship aspirations. Duke could be in trouble with the 8/9 game. Say an athletic team like Kansas gets that seed. They are long and athletic and would give Duke all they want.

Man stupid Penn State. Without that loss we could have had an outside shot at a 1 seed. We are rounding into form at the right time though. Pruitt is so much better now than he was at the start of the year. We could be a real tough out if we play well, we could also easily be an upset victum if Dee doesn't show up. Either way I want a rematch with OSU on a neutral court.

Hey at least you're finally being honest. Actually unless we play again in the big ten tourny I am now rooting for Iowa. Go Big Ten, lets repeat last years great performance.

You can buy it from illinitorrent for like 4 bucks. It is well worth it.

In Iowa and Kansas hater.

Well, I'm not totally sure what it is all about, but if he is unhappy that becuase he had to compete for a rotation spot, then he's just a prima-donna sissy. What makes him think he earned a spot, especially that he was getting lit up all over the place last year? Based on his performance last year, makes me wonder why he's having a cow about this? I don't get it either, seemed like the kid couldn't decide how to pitch. He can either paint or throw 98, how can he not get guys out? Seems like a change of scenery guy to me. Would much rather have him than Rusch or Hill.

I still think MSU could win it all. They better be in.

Doesn't Donovan always do this? Usually it starts with Kentucky beating them. Then snowballs.

We don't deserve it, we lost to Penn State at home. That said it was sad to see James and Dee play their last games in Champaign. Congrats and good luck guys.

But both have played there recently and still are young enough to go back. It isn't like we are saying hey lets put dlee at second or short.

Perhaps off topic, but why so much confidence in Sheets or Wood vs. Rolen? I personally don't have a lot of confidence in either Rolen or Aramis playing 150 games this year. I want David Wright. :( Or Miggy Cabrera :( I actually like Wright better. Though I'd be happy with either one, of course. How come? I like Miggy's ability to play multiple locs and he is a better hitter and younger. Wright would probably do fine in the OF, too, so I don't count the positional advantage as much of one. Wright's first full season in the bigs compares favorably with Cabrera's. He's a more athletic guy, so I give him a higher ceiling than Cabrera. I like Wright's demeanor on the field better and think his approach to the game will serve him better over the long run. Why do you think Cabrera's such a better hitter? Their career lines are as follows: .302/.371/.524 .300/.366/.523 The only thing I'll give you as an edge for Cabera is the year younger. But they are both mere pups. Yeah I guess it really is a no lose situation. I think I just overvalue Miggy because of what he did to us in the playoffs at such a young age. That and I think he keeps getting better as a hitter. Maybe I just have more confidence because he has more of a history. That being said I will take one for 3B and the other for LF if they are available.