illiniguy

Dang, I didn't realize it was your senior night. That's not good news. Still I think it should be a very good game like the last few have been. In my opinion that will be Illinois' toughest remaining home game. This race is so tough to predict. Everyone's schedule is difficult and 12-4 will get you at least a share of the title. I've never seen the Big Ten so strong 1-7 and we probably won't see it again for quite a while. In my opinion Illinois, Iowa and MSU are in the best shape at this point. Michigan still has to go to Iowa, OSU, MSU and has OSU, Illinois and Indiana at home. Wisconsin needs to get things straightened out in a hurry and I think Indiana is in a tough spot being a game back with their remaining road games. years like this make having 11 teams and an unblalanced schedule a joke.

i'd be happy with the illini getting 11-12 wins and coasting into the tourneys feeling pretty good. i think if they beat MSU at breslin they'll win the conference. You might be right. However, that Iowa/IL game in Assembly Hall will certainly be a big game for both teams. If Henderson can shut down Brown again...Iowa will certainly have a shot. That's a tall task though. i gotta say, i put iowa's chances at winning at the AH at about 100-1. while henderson very much has shot to shut down brown, i don't see them winning even if that happens. iowa would have to shut everyone down because illinois will likely make it very difficult for the hawkeyes to score in champaign. 100-1? Don't you think that's just A LITTLE bit high? We did beat you at home earlier this year. Last year we lost at Assembly Hall in overtime and the game in Carver was very close. Two years ago we only lost by 6 in Assembly Hall in a game that came down to the last minute. This group of seniors is 2-4 against Illinois and there's only been one game that wasn't in doubt in the last 5 minutes. At the Breslin Center we just get killed, but in Assembly Hall we've been within striking distance late. The last three games between the two teams have been very close. It will be an extremely difficult game and Iowa's most probable loss the rest of the way. But 100-1 odds? I'll take that bet. I like the fact that it is our senior night. I gotta feeling that Dee Brown will want to go out with a win.

Red Grange and Dick Butkus. Not to shabby.

No I know you didn't, but I feel he is your best defender. Possibly the best guard defender in the conference not named Dee Brown. That said he wouldn't guard a center for you. Thus, why should Randle guard another point guard and expose Dee to a bigger player? By the way the Hawks fans on the Hawks nest crying about Horner shooting poorly can shut up now, man did he snap.

i think that randle will shut tucker down. I would think that pretty unlikely. Especially considering the fact Weber said he was giving Randle a "Crash course in post defense." He's likely to get in foul trouble on the road anyway. If Tucker scores under 20 I'd consider it a job well done by Illinois. that would be a first, seeing as how nobody has scored 20 on randle yet, and he always draws the opposing team's best offensive player. Even if that player is a guard? Somehow I doubt it. you must be kidding. You think I am crazy for doubting that they would put him on a dominant point guard? You already backtracked regarding them putting him on Killingsworth. I certainly understand him always drawing the other team's best wing player, but I doubt you see him on a dominant 1 or 5.Well why would he guard a dominate point when we have dee brown the reigning defensive player of the year, big ten style, at point. What a stupid argument to make. Hey I bet Mike Henderson wouldn't guard the other teams dominant center.

You're right, McBride was awesome. I have no problem stating I was wrong when players show up who I thought wouldn't. These last two games have been the best that I've seen McBride play. Yeah, I know he was a role player for the last two seasons, but I don't know why it took him half the season before he decided to become more aggressive. He's also a much better defender this year. Great game by McBride. Props to Jamar Smith and Brian Randle, too. As for James Augustine, why hasn't he figured out that when he's not on the floor due to foul trouble he kills us? It's not necessarily the number of fouls that ticks me off it's the kind of fouls that ticks me off. It's the unnecessary fouls. I'm just glad he wasn't called for his third (which it was an offensive foul) in the early part of the second half. All I know is we better be blowing teams out by the end of the game because if it comes down to FT shooting, we might be in trouble. James Augustine is the biggest waste of talent. Ten years from now most Illinois fans will say man he had a good career, but if he would have just shown up in the championship game who knows what would have happened. Last night he was dropping passes off of his legs and out of bounds. How can you be on the verge of having 1000 career points and rebounds and do that?

Eric Gordon the number 5 player in america says coach weber can recruit just fine. in fact about 15 spots better than self ever did at u of i.

i think that randle will shut tucker down. I would think that pretty unlikely. Especially considering the fact Weber said he was giving Randle a "Crash course in post defense." He's likely to get in foul trouble on the road anyway. If Tucker scores under 20 I'd consider it a job well done by Illinois. that would be a first, seeing as how nobody has scored 20 on randle yet, and he always draws the opposing team's best offensive player. Even if that player is a guard? Somehow I doubt it. he guarded malik hairston a sg for oregon.

Anyone else notice that snazzy dresser behind the Illinois bench tonight? What was that? Bring your green hat, snoop a loop.

That's the last conference game, so you're right no matter what. :wink: true, ok if we win one more big road game I think we win the conference. Either OSU or Michigan. Actually, the Wisconsin loss tonight opens up the door for Iowa, as if all the top 7 teams win out at home and don't slip up (any more?) against the bottom 4, Iowa finishes 12-4 and wins the conference outright. 5 teams would tie for second at 11-5, and OSU would finish 10-6. I see it as we got a tough win out of the way on the road. Us and MSU both have big road wins, that should put us ahead. Stupid unbalanced schedule.

That's the last conference game, so you're right no matter what. :wink: true, ok if we win one more big road game I think we win the conference. Either OSU or Michigan.

If we can go into the Breslin and win this conference race is over. Richard McBride was awesome tonight dalgreen.

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten. Yes but right or wrong they still have the perception. Hell Illinois is better over the last ten years record wise than Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky. Does that mean we are more of a powerhouse nationally than these teams? I think not. I thought you were talking about football and the conference with PSU. PSU will not "always be among the programs in the Big Ten" because they've never been in the class of OSU and MU. They are just another second tier team that can contend from time to time. I am, but I still think that the example I used is valid. PSu has been very good historically. Enough so to put themselves ahead of the other Big Ten teams not located in Ann Arbor and Columbus.

I'm not saying it's head and shoulders above it. They're definitely close. It's just my opinion that the Big East is better. But I wouldn't go as far as to call RPI reliable. The polls are probably more reliable in my eyes. They generally pick a more accurate top 25 than RPI does. I can tell you right now, there is no way that Wisconsin is a top 10 team. And there is surely no way they should be ranked ahead of UConn. They have a great coach and I would be willing to wager they could beat UCONN in Madison. But, I do agree with your point the RPI sucks.

the MVC is very very good this year...they should get 4 teams in the big dance this year in UNI, SIU, Creighton, and Wichita St. I would not have been that embarassed to lose to UNI, they are going to win at least one game in the tourny this year...mark it down. I'm not really that bummed about it, since they do have a pretty darn good team. Plus, it was on their home court, went to OT, and Horner was injured. The frustrating part is that we just can't seem to beat them in Cedar Falls. They are very good, I am glad we don't have to go to SIU every other year. Now playing tham at a nuetral court or at home would be ok. i hope SIU can play Illinois at least once in Carbondale in the next 4 years when I'm down there. Of course, I'd rather see them face each other in the national championship game this year :wink: I highly doubt that happens. Perhaps the biggest criticism I have with my alma mater is their reluctance to play the top basketball schools in Illinois. We refused to play DePaul in the 80's, and pretty much refuse to play SIU even in a home and home series. We did play Bradley a few years ago in Peoria, but I think that was only because of Frank Williams and Sergio McClain were from there. I may be a cynic, but I don't think the MVC is any stronger this year than previous years. They'll likely send one team to the sweet sixteen, which they've done in the past, but I don't see any more than that. Weber has stated he would love to do it, but I don't think Guenther will ever give in to it. i thought I heard Weber say last year that he'd like a 3 year series with SIU where they have a game at a neutral site (like the UC), a game in Champaign, and a game in C'Dale. IMO, I think Guenther would give into Bruce if he pushed him hard enough for it. they should so it as it would only help legitimize what SIU has accomplished. Especially if they would beat Illinois which they possibly could next year if the game was played there.

PSU? They've been no more successful than Iowa since joining the Big Ten. Yes but right or wrong they still have the perception. Hell Illinois is better over the last ten years record wise than Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky. Does that mean we are more of a powerhouse nationally than these teams? I think not.

I honestly believe that if they would play that challenge again now, the Big Ten would win. ACC is in a down year, Big Ten is having a pretty good year. But you're right, the bottom of the barrel teams don't help the Big Ten much in that. I don't know. Would Illinois still be able to beat NC at this point? Tough call as those frosh have really gotten better. Indiana def would get beat by Duke right now. Purdue couldn't beat FSU. I still think you guys would win the challenege the way it is set up. If they actually put the best teams against the other best who knows. I don't like how the challenge is ran. Why is it that Duke played Illinois and MSU at Cameron. Yet went to Detroit and Chicago to return the favor? The whole thing is set up for the ACC to win imo.

No 7-5 isn't elite and I never said it was. But your claim that we've regressed back to the middle of the Big Ten is ridiculous and I'm sure any fan of Big Ten football would tell you so. Would you say Michigan has regressed to the middle of the Big Ten? Then again you also are the guy who said that if you don't play in the national championship your team "sucks". I was at the Illinois game and it was completely full. The box score lists that 15,500 tickets were sold, and there were no empties that I could spot. They may have said that at the beginning because it was a bit of a late arriving crowd due to traffic being severely backed up with everyone arriving at the same time. Regardless he didn't cost his school any money. The atmosphere was also great for that game although it probably wasn't as good as Indiana or OSU. Like I said before I really don't care if you like Alford or not. He's a very polarizing figure within the Iowa fan base. I'm just trying to set the truth straight on a few issues. Fair enough I just am going by what Marjerus and the other guy said at the time, I am not a big Alford guy. I liked your team quite a bit when Davis was there. He seemed like a very stand up guy and I loved his full court press. I also thought his shot pass thing that they threw was very innovative and hard to guard against. I really thought he should have been alowwed to leave on his own terms. Oh well. Yeah you aren't middle of the pack I shouldn't have used that phrase. That said you aren't the class of the conference and I question if you will ever really be. I just think the OSU, PSU, and Michigan will always be the programs in the Big Ten.

Eh, until the Big Ten can beat the ACC in the Big Ten/ACC challenge at least once, I won't give them any credit. (Kidding) Big 10 is solid this year, can't argue that. But I don't see any way that they are better than the Big East. RPI be damned. How many different teams has the Big East had in the top 10 this year? How many in the top 25? Receiving significant votes? The Big Ten is also having a great year, and anyone can win that conference this year, but I still put them behind the Big East. Does anyone else think they should start a Big East/ Big 12 challenge? And a Pac 10/ SEC challenge? With the success of the ACC/ Big Ten, you'd figure the other major conferences would want to follow suit. well if we could kick Penn State back out we would have tied. Seriously will Penn State, Purdue, or Northwestern ever be able to beat one of the ACC teams?

the MVC is very very good this year...they should get 4 teams in the big dance this year in UNI, SIU, Creighton, and Wichita St. I would not have been that embarassed to lose to UNI, they are going to win at least one game in the tourny this year...mark it down. I'm not really that bummed about it, since they do have a pretty darn good team. Plus, it was on their home court, went to OT, and Horner was injured. The frustrating part is that we just can't seem to beat them in Cedar Falls. They are very good, I am glad we don't have to go to SIU every other year. Now playing tham at a nuetral court or at home would be ok. i hope SIU can play Illinois at least once in Carbondale in the next 4 years when I'm down there. Of course, I'd rather see them face each other in the national championship game this year :wink: I highly doubt that happens. Perhaps the biggest criticism I have with my alma mater is their reluctance to play the top basketball schools in Illinois. We refused to play DePaul in the 80's, and pretty much refuse to play SIU even in a home and home series. We did play Bradley a few years ago in Peoria, but I think that was only because of Frank Williams and Sergio McClain were from there. I may be a cynic, but I don't think the MVC is any stronger this year than previous years. They'll likely send one team to the sweet sixteen, which they've done in the past, but I don't see any more than that. Weber has stated he would love to do it, but I don't think Guenther will ever give in to it.

Uhh? Gordon, Smith, Frazier, McBride, Pruitt, Randle, Semrau, maybe Freemen, Beverly, and Rose. Am I forgetting anyone? I'm sure they'll be ranked at least. Gordon doesn't come in til 2007-2008 class, Beverly has stated that Illinois is out of it now, Rose no one knows about. Hopefully we get Freemen (if he qualifies) or Darquavis Tucker who shortened his list down to I think Mich St. Illinois and Uconn.. fwiw, beverley has said that illinois is still in the hunt, it's his coach that has claimed to have removed illinois from the list. i'm sick of coaches trying to dictate where players go. Sulley I thought that Beverley went ahead and removed us too. I think I read that in the Sun Times. I would rather have any of the other guys though as Beverley has some major issues at this point. He has never played on a team that plays man to man defense. He won't send his transcript to the U of I which basically is like admitting he won't be elligible. I read what Sully read--his coach removed UI from the list. Beverly hasn't. i haven't heard anything about beverley removing us. i have also heard that he's said that he's already qualified. Huh, either way I don't see that happening now as there coach is taking shots at the national coach of the year and since he is a recruit Weber cannot comment back.

Now there's an accurate basis for an opninion on Alford, but one that I will also disagree with in a way. Alford was not exactly overmatched when he was hired -- in fact his first recruiting class was top 5 at the time. The problem came where some rumblings came out that certain people were unhappy/treated differently/lied to, and long story short, it's really gone downhill from there. I can think of 2 players off the top of my head, and because of the dissent of a couple, now he is overmatched. Haluska grew up a Hawkeye fan, and we couldn't land him. Horner and Brunner didn't need to be recruited, they had committed when they were 6 or something. Nobody saw Hansen ever getting significant playing time. Henderson didn't have too many people knocking on his door, as I recall. Yada, yada. Tom Davis wasn't exactly the best at recruiting in-state either. Heinrich, Collison, and LaFrentz being 3 of the more recent big examples. Back to your point. They were right in not extending Tom Davis. He wasn't going to lead them anywhere, and it was time for him to move on. At the time of Davis's departure, there was a strong link between the program and Rick Majerus (he looked for real estate in the area) as well as some other candidates, but Alford was the big name at the time because of his Big Ten ties. Funny thing is, everyone bemoaned the hiring of Ferentz (vs alum Bobby Stoops) and celebrated the hiring of Alford. Funny how much difference a few short years will make. Yeah I had a good friend who was a die hard Iowa fan, not to hard to imagine as I lived in Iowa City for about 5 years, but he just cried about Ferentz for the first 2 years. I told him he was nuts at least they are playing hard and you have to let him get his feet wet. Going into OU and Iowa were not equal starting points at that time. Now he doesn't even remember ever doubting Ferentz. It is kinda funny. DId you know a little fact about Iowa bball under Davis, you guys weren't even really recruiting Ryan Bowen because Davis though he had Lafrentz, at least according to Bowen. Bowen had visited Arizona, but then Raef left and Bowen was given the scholly and signed with Iowa.

It's now obvious to me that you really do live in Calvins world. That would work a lot better if you hadn't actually played Illinois and lost by 30. It is neat though.

the MVC is very very good this year...they should get 4 teams in the big dance this year in UNI, SIU, Creighton, and Wichita St. I would not have been that embarassed to lose to UNI, they are going to win at least one game in the tourny this year...mark it down. I'm not really that bummed about it, since they do have a pretty darn good team. Plus, it was on their home court, went to OT, and Horner was injured. The frustrating part is that we just can't seem to beat them in Cedar Falls. They are very good, I am glad we don't have to go to SIU every other year. Now playing tham at a nuetral court or at home would be ok.

Uhh? Gordon, Smith, Frazier, McBride, Pruitt, Randle, Semrau, maybe Freemen, Beverly, and Rose. Am I forgetting anyone? I'm sure they'll be ranked at least. Gordon doesn't come in til 2007-2008 class, Beverly has stated that Illinois is out of it now, Rose no one knows about. Hopefully we get Freemen (if he qualifies) or Darquavis Tucker who shortened his list down to I think Mich St. Illinois and Uconn.. fwiw, beverley has said that illinois is still in the hunt, it's his coach that has claimed to have removed illinois from the list. i'm sick of coaches trying to dictate where players go. Sulley I thought that Beverley went ahead and removed us too. I think I read that in the Sun Times. I would rather have any of the other guys though as Beverley has some major issues at this point. He has never played on a team that plays man to man defense. He won't send his transcript to the U of I which basically is like admitting he won't be elligible.