dalgreen

MSU isn't very good. You should win at home. As frustrating as this team is I see us winning the next four games and maybe five if we can show some guts at Northwestern. I still don't think we'll lose a home game this year. Plus remember, Tisdale's M.O. is play one bad game, play one good game, bad game, good game.... so he'll have a good game Tuesday night.

Nice, strong move by Griffey. Davis probably wasn't looking, likely sulking on the bench. I don't dislike Weber. I think he knows the game I just think he has too much loyalty to guys who don't deserve it. I think, like most fans, he thought this team would be led by D-Mac and the Mikes. Well, it's obvious the Mikes aren't leaders and props to McCamey for his performances to this point this year. Today, he did something I wanted him to do since his sophomore year, take the ball to the hole when you aren't shooting well from the floor. Unfortunately, Weber will likely still rely on the Mikes this year instead of realizing they are who they are - very good role players. Honestly, going back to the Lou Henson days and even Krueger and Self, would either of the Mikes be starting?

Does Mike Davis watch any game tape? It would seem to me that after watching himself he would be ashamed that at 6'9" he has the heart of a six year old. How many times in his career have you heard an announcer say, "Davis with a strong move"?

Yeah, I don't see us losing a home game this year. But, on the road, you can't turn the ball over. A lot of Illinois' turnovers were unforced and that's where the game was lost. Maybe Illinois' guards will finally learn (I doubt it, though) the benefits of attacking the basket after watching Battle tonight.

How has Illinois not shown a commitment to winning? They've upgraded both practice and gameday facilities, they pay their coaches well, and it appears things are starting to turn around. I'm not a huge Zook fan, but the program is inching in the right direction. You are right about Illinois' facilities they have improved greatly. And that is a good start, but I'm talking about accountability specifically with the head coach. 28-45 since joining Illinois shouldn't be acceptable. I have always said that the expectations/standards for Illini football is lower than Illini basketball. No basketball coach would survive a record similar to Zook's. He has recruited pretty well with little to show for it (recruiting class of '06, for example). I may be in the minority on this, but I'm not impressed with a 7-6 record when halfway through the season it looked like 9 regular season wins were attainable. I gave him credit for getting the new coordinators but I just think Illni football should have higher expectations than what we have seen under Turner and now Zook. Now we have to hope that most of the following people Wilson, Liget, Leshoure and/or the coordinators stay for us to be good next year. illinois is not michigan. as soon as illinois starts having sustained success, their coach will jump for a better program and leave them with someone like lou tepper. our best chance for continued success is that zook pulls it together and continues to surround himself with good coordinators. he recruits well already, and the biggest part of college football is amassing talent. you cannot win without talent. if zooks maintains a reasonable record and success, he will never leave because no one will offer him a better job than illinois. zook really is the perfect fit. we just have to make it work. I understand what you are saying. It's just the "maintaining a reasonable record" that I am not confident with. We have had talent with good recruiting classes and not a lot to show. I know we are not Michigan but why can't we get to the point where we can keep a successful coach long term? Mizzou's been able to keep Pinkel and Iowa has been able to keep Ferentz (probably spelled wrong). I'm just frustrated with our football program and can't understand why we have been fine with mediocrity. Just ranting...

How has Illinois not shown a commitment to winning? They've upgraded both practice and gameday facilities, they pay their coaches well, and it appears things are starting to turn around. I'm not a huge Zook fan, but the program is inching in the right direction. You are right about Illinois' facilities they have improved greatly. And that is a good start, but I'm talking about accountability specifically with the head coach. 28-45 since joining Illinois shouldn't be acceptable. I have always said that the expectations/standards for Illini football is lower than Illini basketball. No basketball coach would survive a record similar to Zook's. He has recruited pretty well with little to show for it (recruiting class of '06, for example). I may be in the minority on this, but I'm not impressed with a 7-6 record when halfway through the season it looked like 9 regular season wins were attainable. I gave him credit for getting the new coordinators but I just think Illni football should have higher expectations than what we have seen under Turner and now Zook. Now we have to hope that most of the following people Wilson, Liget, Leshoure and/or the coordinators stay for us to be good next year.

Good for Michigan. I applaud the move because the move shows they are not putting up with mediocrity like my alma mater (Illinois). Shannon at Miami (FL) gone after three years even though he had an above .500 record. I have argued with people that Illinois could be a very good football program if they showed that had a commitment to winning. Yeah, Illinois could be good next year if everyone (including coaches) stays but what about the following years? Again, kudos to Michigan for not accepting mediocrity.

I'm not concerned with the Illini's defense at all; it's the offense I'm concerned about. If we can get to the foul line more I think we will win more games. When you only shoot 12-17 free throws and you don't shoot well you're not going to be really good. I don't know why DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul no longer cut and slash to the basket as they did at times last year. When they begin doing that and hitting jumpers they'll score more thus the team will score more. I still think the Big Ten may not be as good as advertised. Ohio State beat Florida but other than that haven't played anyone (I guess you can count South Carolina). For some reason I'm more concerned with Bo Ryan's team than Tom Izzo's. I think Bo Ryan could take a team of 12 year olds and figure out a way to win 6-8 college games (okay I'm exaggerating but you get my point).

The game never should've come down to a ref's call. I credit Mizzou's defense on McCamey, but our guards are allergic to dribble penetration and think the jumper is the only way to score. I've said it for a few years now, we lose more games down the stretch because we don't get to the foul line. The game was 58-58 and Mizzou's guard doesn't settle for a jump shot he takes it to the basket with a lay in high off the glass. It's simple, when Illinois shoots well they win and they generally lose when they don't because they can't make up the points at the foul line. What did they have 12 foul shots? DJ Richardson was a cutter and slasher last year and now he sits on the perimeter and our so-called big men aren't strong enough nor do they like physical to stay down low to draw fouls. I haven't pressed the panic button. I'm not certain that the Big Ten is as good as advertised.

? Having Randle chuck it with 12 seconds left off the inbound. That was terrible. Oh. Yeah, that was infuriating. I don't care either way about either team but I hate when bad plays get rewarded. If you think that was the play you are crazy. Randle took that on his own. Thats the great senior leadership this team has. Once again [expletive] free throws cost Illinois a game. Free throws and the fact we can't shoot the ball. I wonder how many games this year we'll have where we go 6+ minutes without a FG?

After watching the first half of the first half of the IU/Michigan game and seeing how bad Michigan is, I'm thoroughly convinced that my Illini will only split with Michigan this year. We'll win in Champaign and find some way to lose in Ann Arbor. That matchup might take basketball back seventy years. I'm wondering if either one of the teams will shoot 35% from the floor when they play.

I love how people's memories are so bad. Miami was supposed to beat Ohio State, USC was supposed to beat Texas, Ohio St. was supposed to beat Florida and now people say there's no way LSU loses to Ohio St. I'll watch a little bit of the game. In my opinion, people should not watch the national championship game as a boycott to the way they crown a champion. That's the only real way they will change the format. Everyone knows it's about ratings and money. If no one is watching then they will change it. This game could be very good because I think both teams are overrated.

I'm taking your word on this since I haven't had a chance to read anything about this yet. I don't know why McCamey and Brock can't be our backcourt, with Alexander, Randle and Pruitt up front. Frazier as a shooting guard is even worse than Frazier running point. I got it from Weber's postgame comments. He said that his coaches threatened to not sho wup if DMac wasn't starting. DMac Meachem Alexander Davis Pruitt Lets see what Davis has in an extended role. I have no problem with that lineup. Except I don't want to see Meachem nor Frazier in it. Meachem and Randle almost make me ashamed to say I'm from Central Illinois.

I'm taking your word on this since I haven't had a chance to read anything about this yet. I don't know why McCamey and Brock can't be our backcourt, with Alexander, Randle and Pruitt up front. Frazier as a shooting guard is even worse than Frazier running point.

The way Frazier played his freshman year, I thought he was going to be good. But like Randle, it appears he peaked his first year.

You answered my question regarding your following of college basketball. Syracuse, Maryland and UConn have had down seasons since winning the national championship. They may not be as down now as Illinois but they were a couple years after winning their national championships. I don't think UConn made the tourney last year. In fact, you're making my point. Yes, last year was supposed to have been our "down" year. This time last year, we figured Smith and Carlwell would help us out a lot this year, and we figured Randle would be fully recovered over his injury and play as well as we hoped when he first came to Illinois. Sure would've been nice had Rose chosen Illinois instead of Memphis. Ive been following college basketball for long enough Mr High and mighty, thanks. No need to get huffy. I just made an honest challenge when you stated that UConn, Maryland and Syracuse didn't have down years following their national championship wins.

I agree with your above recruits. However, you have to give the full story. We lost guys to Kansas, Duke and Memphis and not to some schools like Colorado, Seton Hall, Florida State, etc. And remember, Deron Williams only chose Illinois after Kansas gave their scholarship to Aaron Miles and Indiana gave theirs to Deron's high school teammate. Gordon, Rose and Scheyer were not long shots when Illinois was their second choice. Deron Williams was more of a long shot than any of those other three. Again, we are missing four players who we thought would be major contributors to this year's team. I just disagree with Weber's use of Meachem and Frazier.

You answered my question regarding your following of college basketball. Syracuse, Maryland and UConn have had down seasons since winning the national championship. They may not be as down now as Illinois but they were a couple years after winning their national championships. I don't think UConn made the tourney last year. In fact, you're making my point. Yes, last year was supposed to have been our "down" year. This time last year, we figured Smith and Carlwell would help us out a lot this year, and we figured Randle would be fully recovered over his injury and play as well as we hoped when he first came to Illinois. Sure would've been nice had Rose chosen Illinois instead of Memphis.

I don't place a big blame on Bruce. He's running the same style offense and defense as he did when we made it to the national championship game. It's not his fault that Randle sucks, even though athletically he's one of the best players night in night out. Had Indiana not fired Mike Davis we'd have Gordon and if Smith hadn't been stupid, that would've been a nice backcourt this year, plus Carwell on the inside. As I said before, I think McCamey should start and Alexander, but I'm not sure you'd see a big difference in terms of record with that lineup. We just don't have talent. Despite what some think, I don't think it was even in the plans to have Meachem starting. You say you dont place a big blame on Bruce but then say the bolded? Yes the Gordon situation set us back, but there is still no reason for the Illini to lack the talent like they do, and thats a direct reflection of the coach. Bruce fell asleep, and finally woke up. You responded as if Gordon is just an average player. How do you recover when a recruit like that rescinds his commitment? Again, you may have chosen to disregard a large part of my post regarding Smith and Carwell also missing. Did you really think that Randle would also suck the way he does? All of these reasons have little to do with Weber. I thought Randle would be a 17 pt/ 8 rebound a night guy. Too bad he is only able to spend about 17 minutes on the floor and can't shoot from the field nor the free throw line. I know Gordon isnt just an average player, but we should not have had all our eggs in one recruits basket. Do you think losing Gordon the way we did would have hurt the elite programs in the country the way it did us? Just what 3 years ago we were in the National Championship game, and Bruce hasnt used that to help us out at all. Smiths situation sucked you are right I dont fault Bruce for that. Continuing to count on Randle to produce is basically like the Cubs continuing to count on Wood and Prior to produce. Again, there is no reason for the cupboard to be so bare, when just 3 years ago we were playing in the National Championship. What top guard could Illinois had gotten once Gordon changed his mind so late in the game? I don't know how long you've been following college basketball but this "down" year happens. Where is Maryland? Syracuse? UConn? It happens. At least it seems we are getting top recruits coming in 2009 and 2010.

I don't place a big blame on Bruce. He's running the same style offense and defense as he did when we made it to the national championship game. It's not his fault that Randle sucks, even though athletically he's one of the best players night in night out. Had Indiana not fired Mike Davis we'd have Gordon and if Smith hadn't been stupid, that would've been a nice backcourt this year, plus Carwell on the inside. As I said before, I think McCamey should start and Alexander, but I'm not sure you'd see a big difference in terms of record with that lineup. We just don't have talent. Despite what some think, I don't think it was even in the plans to have Meachem starting. You say you dont place a big blame on Bruce but then say the bolded? Yes the Gordon situation set us back, but there is still no reason for the Illini to lack the talent like they do, and thats a direct reflection of the coach. Bruce fell asleep, and finally woke up. You responded as if Gordon is just an average player. How do you recover when a recruit like that rescinds his commitment? Again, you may have chosen to disregard a large part of my post regarding Smith and Carwell also missing. Did you really think that Randle would also suck the way he does? All of these reasons have little to do with Weber. I thought Randle would be a 17 pt/ 8 rebound a night guy. Too bad he is only able to spend about 17 minutes on the floor and can't shoot from the field nor the free throw line. So in a sense, we are missing four players this year.

I don't place a big blame on Bruce. He's running the same style offense and defense as he did when we made it to the national championship game. It's not his fault that Randle sucks, even though athletically he's one of the best players night in night out. Had Indiana not fired Mike Davis we'd have Gordon and if Smith hadn't been stupid, that would've been a nice backcourt this year, plus Carwell on the inside. As I said before, I think McCamey should start and Alexander, but I'm not sure you'd see a big difference in terms of record with that lineup. We just don't have talent. Despite what some think, I don't think it was even in the plans to have Meachem starting.

Fans in SD seem to be not too bright today. I think kicking the FG is the right decision than thinking you can get a long yard on fourth down.

Uh, I bet Northwestern in saying the same thing about us. Awesome.

Why wait until he gets to Champaign? We see them in a week. Since we'll likely lose by thirty anyway, might as well make the game a three-hour game by fouling. The home fans deserve to see it. But yeah we can do it at both places. I was just thinking, since we've been scared to play SIU and DePaul for more than twenty years now, we should schedule them next year while they're down too. As sickening as it sounds, I'd rather lose to those in-state schools than Tennessee State and Miami (OH).

Why wait until he gets to Champaign? We see them in a week. Since we'll likely lose by thirty anyway, might as well make the game a three-hour game by fouling.