illiniguy

We do? Even Vedran has had about four bad games in a row. Carmody said he was going to try to focus on the inside game since they can't hit a three to save their lives, but that didn't work out all that well last game, either. And considering that there's no inside/rebounding presence, unless something changes, 9th is optimistic. I am thinking along the lines of Vucusic, who is leading the big ten in scoring. I still think you guys are too good to lose to either Purdue or Penn St.

1. Michigan State and Illinois the best two teams and this conference with its uneven schedule usually produces a lot of ties. 3. Wisconsin Bo Ryan is a great coach 4. Indiana Mike Davis isn't 5. Iowa Steve Alford isn't, plus now Horner is running around on one leg now. 6. OSU Next year they will jump way up 7. Michigan Great talent, bad coach 8. Minn How long is Grier out? 9. Northwestern Bad team that benefits form PSU and Purdue being in the conference. They will beat one of Illinois, MSU, Wiscy once though because they have some guys who can shoot. 10. Penn St Even Aaron Johnson left 11. Purdue Poor Matt Painter

Can you name 10 2B that are better than Walker, or were last year? um no you can probably name about 4 Chase Utley Marcus Giles Jeff Kent Brian Roberts

you have to go with pujols he is young great and locked up pretty cheap for the next few years.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. MSU has been tested. They've had to chase around Morrison all game, they've been guarded by Adams, Shakur and those athletic guards at Zona. Davis has been challenged with Batista from Gonzaga, Smith and Dudley from BC. Illinois hasn't faced that competition yet. Ager and Davis are All-Americans at this juncture in the season, and some people feel like Davis is right there for National POY. Brown has struggled in the abscence of Head and Williams. Will he improve? Will the Illini struggle with better competition in the form of more talented individuals? I don't know. I'm not saying that Brown will continue to struggle or that the Illini will finish middle of the pack in the B10, I'm raising the questions for discussion. Why can't anyone tackle the argument without going in a different direction? no dee has struggled because he missed all summer. his last two games he has found his shot. deron williams was a star yet was never player of the week even in the big ten, interesting. as of right now there are two contenders for npoty and paul davis isn't one of them they would be morrison and redick. as a matter of fact davis has no shot to wijn that award, but dee could if we would happen to run off 20 in a row or so and be the last remaining undefeated team or something. Arizona tested you guys, but now isn't even ranked, so in away I guess that game wasn't as impressive as beating unc in chapel hill. we will find out one way or another on january 5th and if recent history has anything to say about the game I like our chances a hell of a lot better than I do yours.

no we already have him. I would like to think that somewhere there is just one baseball god who has to say enough is enough lets let them keep this guy. Lord knows we deserve a break.

Just curious, did Miguel Cabrera come up as a shortstop and was then moved to 3B/OF at the major league level? Because I don't think he's ever actually played SS in a major league uniform aside from 3 innings at the position during the 2003 NLCS. He came up thru the minors as a SS, when we at AA before getting called up, he played SS. Florida has always had Alex Gonzalez at SS until this year. I think he'd be able ro get thru growing pains of not having played the position in quite some time and be adequate. It would definitely be worth a shot. He didn't stop playing SS b/c he couldn't handle it. I could swear I remember Miggy playing 3B in the Southern League. I think you're right as many talked about how he would have to move as he was blocked by Lowell. That being said at some point in the minors he was playing SS.

The TEAM, not Dee himself. is illinois THAT unlikelable of a team that everyone has to hope against hope for their downfall? they are the kings until supplanted, and i really don't think that MSU has the ability to beat them. indiana, granted, will offer more of a challenge with white and killingsworth down low, but it remains to be seen. I'm a Michigan State fan, am I not supposed to hope that they win? No one has responded to the point that they haven't played anyone on Ager or Davis or Killingsworth's level, and we don't know how they will fare against the best players without their losses from last year. IU has played Duke(Redick and Williams) and to a lesser extent Kentucky(Sparks and co.). MSU has played BC(Smith and Dudley), Gonzaga(Morrison and friends), and to a lesser extent Arizona(Adams and co.). All I'm trying to say is that Illinois is untested yet in that fashion. I've said multiple times that they may not have a problem with it, and may or probably will win the conference. The other point is that Brown hasn't performed to last year's level to date, and he may not return to last year's level because of the talent lost. It's a valid concern, just like MSU's defense thus far. I've been able to talk about MSU's lack of defense previously without getting super defensive, why can't it go both ways? are you forgetting that they beat UNC fairly easily in chapel hill? Fairly easily? I can't get the flowchart thing to come up, but they were tied at halftime and won by 4. That's irrelevant anyways, because Noel or Hansbrough aren't on the same plane as all the players mentioned in the previous post. That's the point. Good teams with star players, not just a borderline top 25 team. Right, you guys and your stars. Hansborough is a much better player than Patrick Sparks who you have listed. Hariston from Oregon is a pro. Good teams aren't always made of stars anyways. Last year we didn't have a star and we did alright with a bunch of really good players. Every year you guys are gonna snap us back to reality and every year we beat you guys pretty handily. The last time you guys were better than us was when Cleaves and MoPete were in school. I like Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager a lot, but they haven't had to show it yet against an All American like Dee Brown. Paul Davis hasn't been tested yet like James Augustine reigning Bit Ten Tournament MVP will do. I think Paul actually has nightmares about James. In seriousness I think Randle will more than hold his own defensively against Ager or Brown. McBride will be ok as long as he gets back on D in transition. Dee will eat Neitzel alive.

Prior hasn't pitched like an "ace" except for 2003. Gotta put some blame on the guy too for the Game 6 choke against the Marlins. If that's part of the reason we trade him, then we are very very very very very very stupid as an organization. Yes but we have all known this for years, seriously we lucked into a an all star pitcher and now we might just give him away. Hell we might as well trade Z for pudge afterall we could have had him in 2004 too.

I think it will be a no brainer for a lot of fans if this trade goes down.

Prior hasn't pitched like an "ace" except for 2003. right and how many 25 year old kids in the big leagues have. I will wait for your list, here let me get you started.Dontrelle Willis

This is wonderful. Having not learned from the Greg Maddux ordeal years ago the Cubs have decided to let younger fans know what it feels like to let a young ace go. This franchise abuses its fans and like addicts we all line up and take it.

Dee is fine. He is rehabbing as he plays. He is so much better than Maurice Ager it isn't even funny, and I like Ager a lot. People just don't respect Dee Brown enough the things he does are often overlooked. He will not back down from any of these so called stars in the big ten. He is a lockdown defender that will really pressure Drew Neitzel and whomever the heck OSU and IU decides to have bringing the ball up. That being said I think that either Illinois or MSU wins the title. I lean towards MSu because this year we only get PSU and Prudue once. Oh yeah and Jamar Smith has to come off of the bench to give us some scoring off of it and because McBride is a much better defender and can play the point. So I guess in short McBride is a better player, Smith is the better shooter.

Yeah that was pretty sweet. Pruitt just looks lost sometimes. Randle was solid sans his passing early. I mean he missed some shots, but he isn;t a shooter. McKinney is great. They are still better than illinois and he is still better than dee, just ask him. We are gonna roll on MSU we play this thing called defense and even Izzo will admit if the Spartans don;t start playing some they will underacheive all year.

So, he's a lot like Semrau? Well that is argueable. At first glance that is what I thought too, but it seems like they are going in different directions. Cole is moving up according to most services after he finally played in AAU this summer. Semrau was moving down. That siad I am confident that both will provide us with some nice things.

No I doubt he was either, just thought it was interesting that he was even in contact with him. Alhtough ROy has said that he likes to stack his classes every other year. One great class like his 06, then role players the next year. I think it is a pretty good way to balance out your team. Now we just need to add Rose and I would say our team is pretty set for the next five years.

Billy Cole top 100 in 07 joins Eric Gordon. If Weber can land Rose with these two I would say we wouldn't have to worry about being a mid major anymore. GMAFB. The man is getting the recruiting ball rolling and is a heck of a game coach. One article claims that even Roy Williams was in after Cole. great get Bruce.

Sorry to cut out the other stuff in your post, but I just have to say the Wildcats aren't even playing like a top 25 team right now. I just wonder how long it takes to shake off what happened to them last year. That loss could affect the guys that were there for quite a while. Duke looked great. God I hate saying that, Redick probably won player of the year with his 41. Although Morrison might have something to say about it. Indiana will only get better adding White, MSU is gonna be solid as they always get better as the year goes on, Iowa is just not as good as advertised. The Big Ten is winnable but, I think if we have granduers of winning it we have to beat MSU at home.

Look out Dee is starting to find his shot, the further he gets from his surgery the better. Did anyone else notice the announcers talking about how great Luther Head is then not recognizing it was him sitting behind Dee and James during the game? If he is so great, why don't you recognize him. :alright:

The price for Bradley is going up. According to Gammon's L.A. rejected Todd Walker trade. I guess I don't get how it could be as he is likely to be nontendered in a weeks times.

Brown has been absolutely abysmal shooting this year. If he were producing at last year's levels they'd be fine. Brown was a player that really benefitted from the presence of Deron and Luther. I'm not sure he's the kind of guy who can really shoulder the load. As a result, I'm not sure how good the Illini really are. Right now they remind me a bit of KUs team last year, some good players who were much better when surrounded by lotto picks like Hinrich/Gooden/Collison. Don't get me wrong. The Illini are still a good team, but I'm not sure how good, and I'm inclined to think by season's end they'll be a bit lower in the polls. i agree. i think this is a sweet sixteen team based on defense alone, though. yep and anything past that would be gravy. I do think though that part of Brown's problem is that he isn't 100% yet and as a result he isn't playing nearly as well as he was. As for the Kansas remark, that sure isn't what all Kansas fans were screaming about there guys last year. Miles was a McDAA, Simien is an NBA player, and Giddens was the best sg in highschool of his class not named LeBron. I think Dee will play much better as his foot continues to heal and Jamar SMith continues to knock down more shots. Right, and the KU fans who thought we were good enough last year were wrong (although Simien is an NBA player). That talent wasn't good enough to stand on its own. Much like yours this year, I suspect. For the record, I don't know why any honest criticism of UI has to be met with a slam on KU. Kind of weak, IMO. Sorry I am not trying to slam KU, I thought you guys had good pieces last year. I thought you would get to UNC in your draw. I think that Roy was killing you guys still though as it is rumored he was still talking to all of the guys he coached there. Which if true is just messed up, if he wanted to coach those guys so bad he could have stayed with them. I really think the team you guys had last year was an elite eight type team that didn't buy into their coach. So if our guys buy into our caoch and we make an elite eight I would be pretty happy. That said I am hoping for a sweet 16 and anything after that would be gravy.

Brown has been absolutely abysmal shooting this year. If he were producing at last year's levels they'd be fine. Brown was a player that really benefitted from the presence of Deron and Luther. I'm not sure he's the kind of guy who can really shoulder the load. As a result, I'm not sure how good the Illini really are. Right now they remind me a bit of KUs team last year, some good players who were much better when surrounded by lotto picks like Hinrich/Gooden/Collison. Don't get me wrong. The Illini are still a good team, but I'm not sure how good, and I'm inclined to think by season's end they'll be a bit lower in the polls. i agree. i think this is a sweet sixteen team based on defense alone, though. yep and anything past that would be gravy. I do think though that part of Brown's problem is that he isn't 100% yet and as a result he isn't playing nearly as well as he was. As for the Kansas remark, that sure isn't what all Kansas fans were screaming about there guys last year. Miles was a McDAA, Simien is an NBA player, and Giddens was the best sg in highschool of his class not named LeBron. I think Dee will play much better as his foot continues to heal and Jamar SMith continues to knock down more shots.

9-0. GU beat Oregon at Oregon so that should be another winnable game. Hopefully Dee can snap out of his shooting slump soon.

I wish I had your optimism, at this point I think we might get 5th in the division.

That is not a championship team. I don't think the talent is that great, and the depth sucks. Not even close to a team like UNC who won last year. But I don't think any team this year has the talent that UNC had last year. UConn may get there once they get players back. This year may be as wide open a year when it comes to teams that could win it all because of no dominant teams. Uconn, Texas, and Villanova are the best three teams. Uconn will get a lot better once they add Williams. If IU had a really good guard to go with Marco and DJ they would be the best team in the country. Vaden's really good, and he's technically a guard. :D If they can get Vaden to play every game like he did last game, and Strickland to play like he did the first 2 games, and Wilmont to play like he did his 1st game, and Ratliff to play like he did in the middle of last year, and Monroe can take care of the ball like he did the first 2 games, they will be pretty good. But yeah, those 3 are the best, and I don't think Nova is big enough to make it. I'm picking UConn to take it all. I can't remember the last time that Duke really was as good as its hype. I mean even the last year they won it all hte referees completely hosed Arizona. Vaden is a good player, I guess I should have clarified. If IU had a good to great PG they would be a load. As it is I think you guys will probably win the Big Ten as long as Mike Davis doesn't work any of his magic on you guys.