UMFan83

Yup, the Bulls only play at a 58 win pace without Rose. Sarcasm aside, I know what you mean. There's only so long the team can hold up without Rose. There's a boost of energy when the superstar misses a couple of games and guys want to pick up the slack for the missing player, but eventually that fades and you are a team that has trouble scoring and your confidence begins to wane.

The magic formula is not so magical and widely known. Suck up to the HS coaches and get on their good side and you're golden.

Also, I love this picture of Groce on the Sun-times website: http://www.suntimes.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?STREAMOID=6XkziHlwOutbJ8BW8XAlCM$daE2N3K4ZzOUsqbU5sYsovZblqplUb$464OXTU1XcWCsjLu883Ygn4B49Lvm9bPe2QeMKQdVeZmXF$9l$4uCZ8QDXhaHEp3rvzXRJFdy0KqPHLoMevcTLo3h8xh70Y6N_U_CryOsw6FTOdKL_jpQ-&CONTENTTYPE=image/jpeg

As somebody who has first-hand experience of having his school embarrassed by John Groce, what do you think of his coaching ability? nice. you can refer to my outburst in the tourney thread where I pointed out how they were 200+ ranked nationally in FG, FT and 3pt% and for a majority of the game they were shooting like 58% FG, 100% FT and 45% from 3. So maybe hes really good at somehow coaching his team to shoot better for the biggest games?

we're a better job than wisconsin or michigan. the team isn't exactly in a better place than either of those programs. but the potential for success is much greater. however true the idea that coaches are scared away by chicago hoops, if you forge an alliance with the cpl coaches, the sky is the limit. also, kruger didn't recruit chicago at all and was successful at illinois. the illinois job is the equal of osu and msu, it's a 3-team battle for second, which the other two teams are winning right now and over the last 6-7 years. that can change very quickly and likely would have changed immediately if we were getting one of our top choices. wisconsin doesn't recruit well-enough and thusly limits themselves, their ceiling is low and floor is high. michigan has detroit and ohio to recruit but must share that ground with 2 superior programs. they are also a football school and basketball will always be second. I agree about Michigan and probably Wisconsin. Michigan until this year had the shittiest basketball arena in the Big Ten this side of Northwestern, was getting destroyed by Michigan State and Ohio State for in-state recruits, and like you pointed out is a clear 2nd behind football and always will be, even during the Fab 5 years. If Michigan were to ever reclaim recruiting dominance in Michigan then the story might change. But despite a few footsteps in the right direction, I can't see that ever truly happen with Izzo at the helm. Illinois should be 4th in the Big Ten. Getting in good with the HS coaches is big, but Illinois is the big in state school and I just don't see many of them referring their kids to DePaul, Bradley or Southern Illinois over Illinois (in terms of in state options) regardless of who is coaching.

I swear I've seen this movie before. This is about the point where everyone tries to sell themselves on Groce only to be stunned by the news that even Groce turns down the Illini offer.

I sometimes get the obscure Bears CBs mixed up with each other so I could be wrong but didn't he fill the 2nd CB role admirably 2-3 seasons ago, to the point where some thought he was a decent long term answer?

I don't understand this. He went after the right guys correct? And there's nothing to suggest he wasn't willing to pay them enough to entice them right? The main reason it seemed like Smart would be willing to consider Illinois is due to his preexisting relationship with Thomas. Not sure about Stevens but I don't see any evidence that Stevens chose to stay at Butler because Illinois didn't present themselves well enough. Maybe he failed behind the scenes, but there is nothing I've seen to suggest Thomas is the reason Smaty and Stevens declined the Illinois job.

I don't understand how you don't get this. No one thinks the Stars are a cakewalk. They would rather play them then Nashville who completely owns the Hawks, or Detroit who are simply more talented than Dallas.

I didn't watch the 3rd period but one of the 3 goals in the first 2 periods was completely his fault and shouldn't have gone in.

I don't think we're going to have a Neimi stepping up parallel this season.

Nashville completely owns the Hawks. If this 3-0 score holds they will be 4-0-1 against the Hawks this year, outscoring them 18-9 in the process. The only other team that can compete with Nashville for complete ownage of the Hawks is Edmonton.

lol Baylor actually asked the NCAA if they could wear those ugly ass neon jerseys today and were denied because they are the lower seed.

Preds and Wings both won tonight. Gotta find a way to beat Nashville, who has given us problems this year.

So the Broncos just signed Hanie to a 2 year deal to back up Peyton. Could possibly be third string but still, what could they have seen from last year to make them want to sign him?

Would be the 2nd time the Bulls hit 50 win since MJ. Of course this one would be done in 66 games.

love how Florida managed to shoot two different 4 point shots on their last possession according to Kevin Harlan. Wow Florida really choked this away. It's been a tournament of chokers

Wow, get the ball back down 1 with 17 seconds left only to immediately travel.

I liked it. I was hoping to one day point out that sign to my grandkids.

random story: My GF, who is a fairweather kansas fan because her friend is very passionate about them, was at the bar with her friend watching the game last night. My gf was given a Kansas jersey to wear and was at the bar getting drinks when a group of like 4 Missouri fans surrounded her and started yelling "M-I-Z-Z-O-U!" in her face. She had no idea what the hell was going on, and it was obvious but these douches wouldnt stop taunting her. She later saw them doing the same thing to another group of Kansas fans later that night. I just found that odd given the embarrassing loss last week. It would be like me going to an OSU bar tonight and chanting "GO BLUE" in the face of girls wearing Buckeye gear. Fake edit: No they weren't trying to sleep with her, no she didn't sleep with them and no i wasnt banging the cubs chick while this was going on.

According to this article, the Eamus Catuli sign remains but not the part where they track our futility. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-23/sports/ct-talk-eamus-catuli-sign-0323-20120323_1_ricketts-family-president-theo-epstein-lakeview-baseball-club Yeah its a slow news day.

Garza must be 501 then

Not much you can do there with 3 seconds left, but throwing it 75% of the way down the court near 3 Kansas players is not what I'd do. Also catching the ball and immediately shooting despite having enough time to get your feet set, or at least pass to the open dude next to you is pretty dumb.

How to [expletive] Up Horribly in the Last Minute of a NCAA Tournament Game by NC State Wolfpack. 2 terrible shots in one possession, couldnt come up with a rebound on an opponents missed FT, terrible play run out of a timeout that involved throwing a cross court pass over 3 defenders for some reason. And yet they still have a very slight chance

I still think that Butler shot in the National Title game would have been one of the top 20 most memorable sports moments ever if it had gone in.