dalgreen

You're on my friend! If I win you have to use a Syracuse sig and if you win I'll use an Illinois one...sound fair? My undying allegiance to my alma mater will prohibit me from using a sig (a non negative one) from another institution. I'll be happy to use you in a sig in some way, though. And the bet is that barring injuries, or coming in late as a defensive replacement, Neifi Perez will not play in 140 games as a Cub this season.

I'll be there waving my huge purple foam shocker. Everyone look for me! :lol: espn2 Is your big man back yet?

I still don't know why Big Ten coaches aren't advocating for an 18 game conference schedule. Yes, I'm bitter, but then if we (Illinois) had either Ohio State or Wisconsin at home, I'm sure there wouldn't be a three way tie for first.

I can't imagine how many blown steals Pierre will have when Neifi fouls off a pitch in the dirt after Pierre is almost standing on second. There is still no doubt in my mind Perez will be the starting SS. Are we all talking about the same Juan Pierre? Or are some of you assuming he's going to all of a sudden start stealing at an 80% success rate? I won't mention that he needs to also improve his OBP for any of this concern regarding the #2 position to be relevant. I loathe the idea of Perez starting at second, but if neither Walker nor Hairston clearly beats him out statistically then that's more of a slam on Walker and Hairston. I'm not a big fan of Baker to say the least. But I'll give him a little more of a chance since he'll have no excuses this year. After all, he finally has more speed, a leadoff man, a good bullpen and better defense up the middle.... something he's been crying about since the end of 2003. Now he has no excuses to fall back on. I don't remember writing about him having a 80% steal rate but I'll read my post again to see if I did........nope, I didn't. My point is that Perez will take away steals from him because he swings at every pitch. And again I will say that Perez will be starting at SS and play in at least 140 games. Sorry, Cuse. I used your quote but wasn't necessarily addressing my post to you. I was addressing those who think that whoever hits second will have a negative effect on Pierre's stolen base accuracy. He's going to have to improve an awful lot because he wasn't an efficient basestealer even without Neifi hitting behind him, plus Pierre has to get on base to even have a chance at stealing -- something else he wasn't that good at. Barring an injury to Cedeno, I'll make a cyber bet with you that Perez won't be starting at SS. Wish I felt as confident that he won't be starting at second, though. How about this bet Dale...how about an under/over with Perez? I say 140 games or more....you want to take the under? I'll even make this bet with a healthy Cedeno, Walker and Hairston. I think that Perez would still take some steals from Pierre. Pierre might even add to Perez and his total amount of DP's that he hits into if that could be possible, that is if Neifi bats second. I agree that Pierre has to get on base in the first place to steal but he has gotten on base better than Patterson or Perez did when they lead off so he is better in that regard. Of course this goes along the thoughts of Murton being the most productive OF....we're always marking on a curve we Cub fans are. I haven't heard Baker use the dreaded "platoon" word yet, so I feel pretty confident that Perez won't start at SS. And if neither Walker nor Hairston can't clearly beat him out statistically in spring training then those two don't deserve to start. Having said that, the only way I see Perez playing in 140 games is due to injuries or he comes in every game in the eighth and ninth as a defensive replacement at second. Other than that, there's no way he plays in 140 games -- I'll take the under.

I think a big part has to do with the overall interest level dropping off among young kids whether you're talking small and fast or big and slow.

I can't imagine how many blown steals Pierre will have when Neifi fouls off a pitch in the dirt after Pierre is almost standing on second. There is still no doubt in my mind Perez will be the starting SS. Are we all talking about the same Juan Pierre? Or are some of you assuming he's going to all of a sudden start stealing at an 80% success rate? I won't mention that he needs to also improve his OBP for any of this concern regarding the #2 position to be relevant. I loathe the idea of Perez starting at second, but if neither Walker nor Hairston clearly beats him out statistically then that's more of a slam on Walker and Hairston. I'm not a big fan of Baker to say the least. But I'll give him a little more of a chance since he'll have no excuses this year. After all, he finally has more speed, a leadoff man, a good bullpen and better defense up the middle.... something he's been crying about since the end of 2003. Now he has no excuses to fall back on. I don't remember writing about him having a 80% steal rate but I'll read my post again to see if I did........nope, I didn't. My point is that Perez will take away steals from him because he swings at every pitch. And again I will say that Perez will be starting at SS and play in at least 140 games. Sorry, Cuse. I used your quote but wasn't necessarily addressing my post to you. I was addressing those who think that whoever hits second will have a negative effect on Pierre's stolen base accuracy. He's going to have to improve an awful lot because he wasn't an efficient basestealer even without Neifi hitting behind him, plus Pierre has to get on base to even have a chance at stealing -- something else he wasn't that good at. Barring an injury to Cedeno, I'll make a cyber bet with you that Perez won't be starting at SS. Wish I felt as confident that he won't be starting at second, though.

I can't imagine how many blown steals Pierre will have when Neifi fouls off a pitch in the dirt after Pierre is almost standing on second. There is still no doubt in my mind Perez will be the starting SS. Are we all talking about the same Juan Pierre? Or are some of you assuming he's going to all of a sudden start stealing at an 80% success rate? I won't mention that he needs to also improve his OBP for any of this concern regarding the #2 position to be relevant. I loathe the idea of Perez starting at second, but if neither Walker nor Hairston clearly beats him out statistically then that's more of a slam on Walker and Hairston. I'm not a big fan of Baker to say the least. But I'll give him a little more of a chance since he'll have no excuses this year. After all, he finally has more speed, a leadoff man, a good bullpen and better defense up the middle.... something he's been crying about since the end of 2003. Now he has no excuses to fall back on.

I think I'm going to have to wait another three weeks or so before I judge whether this team seems more focused than last year. I don't know what connection Maddux's conditioning program will have on the number of homers he gives up or his inability to keep runners from stealing second before Barrett/Blanco even get the pitch. It's good to hear about Z and Williams slimming down and Murton bulking up a bit, but what about the health of Wood and Prior? What are guys like Barrett, Walker, Hairston, Perez and Jones doing? Was last year a fluke for Lee? I think I'll take the wait and see approach to see if this team is more focused and if it translates to better play.

Illinois will win Saturday at home, and it's got nothing to do with their backs being up against the wall because they are and have been a team without a lot of heart. Their backs were against the wall tonight and you saw what happened. They'll win at home for the same reasons every other Big Ten team wins at home. Plus, Iowa just isn't that good on the road (just like every other Big Ten team). Anyone who thought the Penn State loss wasn't going to hurt us in the end was just being a homer. Illinois realistically could lose next Tuesday at Minnesota and will lose at E. Lansing. Why is Warren Carter even on the floor? Rich McBride has gone back to being the Rich McBride of old. It's too bad Pruitt and Randle can't consistently play as well as they did against Indiana earlier in the season. Their production is the x factor for Illinois. We need those guys to combine for just 20 pts. I won't even get into the pitiful FT shooting of this team. I'll say it again, I fail to see any kind of senior leadership on this team. I still fail to see why this team kills the shot clock by continually running their offense 20 feet out.

That's the thing I don't understand with this team and last year's. We're the #1 defense when it comes to PPG allowed and 3-pt.5, but I swear we give up so many open 3-pointers. Last year's team did the same thing, but you didn't notice it as much as this year because we buried three's last year, too. Someone, anyone explain to me why we insist on playing 19' out for at least 25 seconds of the 35 second shot clock?

In my opinion, nothing went wrong except Brooks was one of several players during that time that the Cubs were just plain wrong on. There are lots of good college players out there who are good in college only. Brooks, I believe, was just one of many poor decisions of the bad Cub scouting department at that time.

Is Davis' contract up at the end of the season? Will he be paid a nice settlement, as well?

I have never understood why some people thought Alford would not want to coach at IU.

Katz elaborated in his blog to the same extent, that it's very unlikely that Few leaves Gonzaga, and Calipari too with Memphis(although that was in reference to the Mizzou job, so who knows with a more prestigious job) I'm sure it would be difficult to pry him away, but it doesn't mean IU doesn't sniff around. Few would be crazy not to at least listen to people about jumping to a program as storied as IU. I'm sure John Stockton will do everything in his power to keep Few at Gonzaga. I agree with you. I can't imagine any coach not even giving a token listen to IU... out of respect for the program if nothing else. Since they want in-house guys, I wonder what guys like Damon Bailey and Greg Graham are doing these days? :wink:

Too bad for Killingsworth that college basketball is 40 minutes and a player is only allowed 5 fouls before disqualification. If college basketball was only 20 minutes with six fouls like the NBA, Killingsworth might be player of the year.

This loss wouldn't have been a killer if we hadn't lost to Penn State. Although I'm not surprised we lost, I don't like how we lost. I'm wondering if we had a two game losing streak in the 2003-2004 season. If not, when was the last time we lost two in a row?

I think you may be giving Illlinois too much credit and OSU not enough credit. I don't believe we'll win in the tourney if we face a team who has a very good big man. Augustine and Pruitt just can't guard big guys. Brunner, Dials and Killingsworth have shown just how a big guy can dominate Illinois. I'm glad we played UNC back in December because Hansbrough would have a field day with us now. OSU has good guards, while we have one good one.... when he's hot. I do think Chester Frazier will be very good, though.

Well the Richard McBride that I've come to know and dislike has come back. After having great games against Wisconsin, Purdue and Minnesota he's once again played his disappearing act. Chester Frazier, to me, has been one of the better players on the floor today. We need to play defense and then get to the line on offense (although we aren't a good free-throw shooting team). I said it in November and I said it in January and I'll say it today --- Dee Brown and James Augustine aren't leaders. Brian Randle, where are you?

I'm not sure if Alden is smart enough to even go after Hobbs let alone hire him. I could see him promoting Watkins or hiring MO State's coach.

Man, I hate Mizzou almost as much as I hate the Cardinals. But Boy Wonder was just a bad hire, and even Mizzou fans deserve better. I know Majerus' name will be tossed around but Mizzou needs someone who will likely be there for the next 8-10 years and not someone whose health will always be in question. Snyder just needs to start over and coach at a lower level Divison I school and just move up from there. He was able to recruit pretty good talent, but was never able to develop it.

Man @tOSU, Mich, and MSU is going to be brutal. I hope we get 1 of those. yeah I think we can get at least 1, hopefully 2 of those. Izzo said that 5 losses could win the Big 10. If we win just one of those 3 road games and win every other game, that would put us at 5 losses. Even though we lost to PSU, I believe we can beat tOSU on the road as well as Michigan on the road. But isn't Michigan State done with all the "tough" road games? I think we'll (Illinois) beat OSU but lose in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. Wait a minute..... if Augustine doesn't have to guard Dials too much, I think we'll win. Michigan State still has to go to Iowa and Indiana, their schedule is absolutely brutal. I don't have much faith in IU even in Bloomington, but Iowa may beat them in Iowa City. I still think MSU is the team to beat. I'd much rather have their schedule than what we have. Three of our final four games are road games at Michigan, Minnesota (bad team but always 20+ pts. better at home) at Michigan State with a home game against Iowa somewhere in there. Plus, we're in Columbus on Sunday. Maybe the remaining schedule, but MSU drew the worst possible schedule this year. They only get Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Northwestern once each, and get the rest of the top 7 twice. I definitely meant the remaining schedule, which is why I hate that the Big Ten doesn't play at least 18 conference games. I don't know about other teams' schedules but Illinois has had two different times where they have had a week off in the conference schedule.

Man @tOSU, Mich, and MSU is going to be brutal. I hope we get 1 of those. yeah I think we can get at least 1, hopefully 2 of those. Izzo said that 5 losses could win the Big 10. If we win just one of those 3 road games and win every other game, that would put us at 5 losses. Even though we lost to PSU, I believe we can beat tOSU on the road as well as Michigan on the road. But isn't Michigan State done with all the "tough" road games? I think we'll (Illinois) beat OSU but lose in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. Wait a minute..... if Augustine doesn't have to guard Dials too much, I think we'll win. Michigan State still has to go to Iowa and Indiana, their schedule is absolutely brutal. I don't have much faith in IU even in Bloomington, but Iowa may beat them in Iowa City. I still think MSU is the team to beat. I'd much rather have their schedule than what we have. Three of our final four games are road games at Michigan, Minnesota (bad team but always 20+ pts. better at home) at Michigan State with a home game against Iowa somewhere in there. Plus, we're in Columbus on Sunday.

Man @tOSU, Mich, and MSU is going to be brutal. I hope we get 1 of those. yeah I think we can get at least 1, hopefully 2 of those. Izzo said that 5 losses could win the Big 10. If we win just one of those 3 road games and win every other game, that would put us at 5 losses. Even though we lost to PSU, I believe we can beat tOSU on the road as well as Michigan on the road. But isn't Michigan State done with all the "tough" road games? I think we'll (Illinois) beat OSU but lose in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. Wait a minute..... if Augustine doesn't have to guard Dials too much, I think we'll win.

Players continue to regress under Davis. Vaden ought to be a superstar in the Big 10. Ratliff looked better as a snot nosed freshman. Additionally, terrible offense, not only in execution, but in design. At this rate, Davis had better go deep in the NCAA or win the Big 10 Tourney. What a lousy team. Has there been a game other than the Illinois game that Killingsworth has played in more than 20 minutes? He seems to get into serious foul trouble against every team except Illinois.

Oh yes it should have. We hadn't beaten Nebraska in 25 years prior to that game; they were ranked #10 (I think) in the nation at the time; we hadn't defeated a ranked team in 20 something years; and we didn't just beat Nebraska, we kicked the crap out of them. If ever there was a time to tear down goalposts, that was it. And I didn't take any real offense to your original comments about Mizzou fans. It's just friendly bashing of teams you don't like. I do it all the time. The timing could have been better, I guess, but it's not like a Cards fan making fun of a Cubs fan after Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS or anything. I apologize, I don't think I made myself clear with my point. My point was when Pinkel was hired after Larry Smith many, many fans and media (at least in St. Louis) swore up and down that Mizzou would become a prominent force in the Big 12 within two years. Well, four years (or is it more) after Pinkel's hire, the expectations must have lowered because beating an unranked Nebraska team at home meant tearing down the goalposts. I think Mizzou was even predicted to finish higher than Nebraska in the Big 12 North. My main point is neither coach (Snyder and Pinkel) have gotten their programs where people thought they would several years ago, which means to me either fans and media had too high of expectations for these coaches or either the coaches aren't doing a very good job.