dalgreen

I think Tony LaRussa, like many others who get arrested for DUI,is apologizing more for being caught than what he did. Or do others think that this is the first time he's ever driven with a higher than lawful BAC? I do wonder how all the Cardinal fans who were Tony LaRussa haters prior to last season would react to this had the Cards not won the World Series.

You mean, "Illinois proves why they shouldn't have been in the tourney." Was I the only one who knew this game wasn't over with 7 minutes left? All you had to do was watch Illinois against Maryland, Arizona, Michigan St., Indiana and Iowa and know they were going to find some way to lose it. It's bad enough running an offense that puts you 25 ft. away from the basket when you have Deron Williams and Dee Brown, but when you do it with guys like Frazier, McBride and Meachem.... aarrrgghhhh!!! they played a 5 seed and barely lost. that implies that they belonged, not that they shouldn't have been there As an Illinois fan I said it before... the other team clad in orange deserved an invite more than we did. Plus I'll go out on a limb and say thank goodness we played the worst #5 seed in the tourney.

Otherwise known as a team full of role players, which is what we had this year. It's amazing to think if I'd told people two years ago that Warren Carter would be better than Brian Randle people would have called me crazy.

You mean, "Illinois proves why they shouldn't have been in the tourney." Was I the only one who knew this game wasn't over with 7 minutes left? All you had to do was watch Illinois against Maryland, Arizona, Michigan St., Indiana and Iowa and know they were going to find some way to lose it. It's bad enough running an offense that puts you 25 ft. away from the basket when you have Deron Williams and Dee Brown, but when you do it with guys like Frazier, McBride and Meachem.... aarrrgghhhh!!!

Yeah, Randle hasn't been the same since he broke his hand after hitting it against a wall during practice because he was mad two years ago. Then this year he would've made a perfect WebMD example if FOX had college basketball. Just about every night, he's the most athletic person on the floor, but he gets into foul trouble too much to be on the floor and he's not improved his outside shooting at all over the years. I don't know why he doesn't drive to the hole more in an attempt to get to the line.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois. Nothing from this year's Illini team makes me feel like they can win two games in a row against two solid teams. Heck, they've had trouble winning just one game in a row against a solid team. I saw our game against VT, way back in November. They are obviously beatable, but Illinois' guards better guard Dowdell and their other guard, or else they're going to be in for a long night. The key for Illinois to winning that game will be for Pruitt to stay out of foul trouble. I do have Illinois winning that game (I'll admit, more of a heart pick than a head pick), but it's not going to be an easy game, by any stretch. Trust me when I tell you my bias isn't for Illinois -- my allegiance is easily discernible by looking at my location. However, Va Tech is not a very good shooting or rebounding team. Nor are they terribly big. Illinois will almost certainly ugly this game up, giving them a chance to win. If they move on, they'll likely play another halfcourt, defensive team in SIU. Illinois will again have a size advantage. I'm not saying I expect to watch the Illini in the sweet sixteen, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. I agree with your assessment of Va Tech. However, we don't shoot the ball well, we turn the ball over too much, and if the game is close down the stretch we will be lucky to hit 50% from the line. Va Tech's guards are better than ours and unless we get the ball into the post all the time (something we still rarely do), our putrid shooting will doom us. If we could score 65 pts a game, we'd go deep into the tournament because of our defense. Too bad the only way to score is by putting the ball in the basket, and we can't do that. I've seen three Indiana-Illinois games this year (one in person), so I know all about the Illini's inability to score -- and their great defense. If they lose, it will certainly be due to the offense, but the defense will keep games against less-than-great teams (Va Tech, SIU) close. I really don't disagree with anything you said, especially Va Tech's guards being superior, they're very good. I'm really bitter with this team now. I wouldn't have minded getting an NIT bid because we would've had every game at home until NYC -- at least then we could say we were a final four team! Back to the game against Va Tech, the problem is I can give you a long list of games we lost against less-than-great teams because we just aren't that good. Of course, that all changes if Richard McBride and Brian Randle play to their capabilities.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois. Nothing from this year's Illini team makes me feel like they can win two games in a row against two solid teams. Heck, they've had trouble winning just one game in a row against a solid team. I saw our game against VT, way back in November. They are obviously beatable, but Illinois' guards better guard Dowdell and their other guard, or else they're going to be in for a long night. The key for Illinois to winning that game will be for Pruitt to stay out of foul trouble. I do have Illinois winning that game (I'll admit, more of a heart pick than a head pick), but it's not going to be an easy game, by any stretch. Trust me when I tell you my bias isn't for Illinois -- my allegiance is easily discernible by looking at my location. However, Va Tech is not a very good shooting or rebounding team. Nor are they terribly big. Illinois will almost certainly ugly this game up, giving them a chance to win. If they move on, they'll likely play another halfcourt, defensive team in SIU. Illinois will again have a size advantage. I'm not saying I expect to watch the Illini in the sweet sixteen, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. I agree with your assessment of Va Tech. However, we don't shoot the ball well, we turn the ball over too much, and if the game is close down the stretch we will be lucky to hit 50% from the line. Va Tech's guards are better than ours and unless we get the ball into the post all the time (something we still rarely do), our putrid shooting will doom us. If we could score 65 pts a game, we'd go deep into the tournament because of our defense. Too bad the only way to score is by putting the ball in the basket, and we can't do that.

I'm glad we won, but how can we be happy when we shoot under 40% from the field and less than 60% from the line? Every team who plays us should begin fouling with two minutes left.

I can't for the life of me remember a full team who can't hit two straight free-throws. Unbelievable.

Yeah, he's one of the only players we have who shows heart.

Texas now trails Baylor by 2 with about 5 minutes left. Wonder how much either team will have tomorrow afternoon.

I forgot the Big East is playing tonight, as well. I have had no interest at all in the Big East this year.

I never understand when you don't let your best player touch the ball in a game winning situation.

Better FT shooting and we are in the lead and not tied.

It's about time---- ESPNews now showing the UI/IU game.

Good point. How did I not think of that.

As for Augustine, he never, ever learned how to set a legal screen and he just always got caught (and he did get away with about two per game). Randle is just so aggressive that he's generally in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I see there's quite a discrepancy in the number of foul shots between the two teams (actually with our pitiful FT shooting I'm glad we've only had 9 foul shots). Is it justified?

I can't remember the last time we made four consecutive free throws.

As I check the Ill/Ind update on ESPN.com, I see Illinois being Illinois and not scoring a FG in four minutes and now trails IU.

Baylor still up 18 over Texas. Texas will likely make a run sometime, but I wonder if Baylor will be able to withstand it. And even if Texas wins, how much energy will they have tomorrow afternoon?

Beating Texas in Austin, to me, is a better resume than our resume or Indiana's.

Which 4? IU is already safely in, and so most likely is Mich State. If Illinois wins, they'll be 5, and Purdue still has a chance to make it 6. The four teams who make it to the semis. I'm not sure Mich.State gets in and if Indiana loses tonight, at best they're one of the last teams in, barring some other team like Baylor winning their conference tourney.

Yeah, we're up. That's been the story of the season. In eight of our 10 losses we had the lead in the second half. This has been a very frustrating season and if Shaun Pruitt picks up his fourth we will be in trouble.

I'm beginning to think that the winner of the Illinois/Indiana game will be the fourth and last Big Ten team invited.