Magnetic Curses

i didn't say that randle would shut him down, but i doubt that haluska repeats his performance in champaign. you use statistics, i use statistics, who's to say which statistics are better? everyone has their own. still puts it at 22-13. as i said, it's hard to win on the road in the big ten.

yeah, the game was played at carver, and it showed. the hawkeyes got called 13 fouls while the illini were called for 27. do you think that will be the case at the AH? somehow, i doubt it. randle got in early foul trouble due to some dubious calls and never got back in the game. again, do you think that the same scenario will unfold at the AH? furthermore, randle has no jumpshot, none. any points he gets are strictly layups or dunks. i might be a homer, but you're being a huge one here.

well, for one, he's probably the big ten's best defensive player.

i think this is a crazy assessment. there aren't many coaches in the big ten who wouldn't say that randle is by far the best leaper in the conference.

randle's probably the quickest jumper in the BT, along with arguably it's best athlete. athletic-wise, i don't think there's any comparison.

haluska's a more skilled basketball player than randle, but if randle draws him defensively, haluska's offensive game will suffer. plus, if last game is an indication of anything to come, randle will be taking the ball hard to the hole against haluska, who better have quick feet, or he'll get some early fouls. illinois shot terribly at carver, and part of that was iowa's defense. but i seem to remember several wide open threes each that were missed by dee, mcbride, and smith. illinois just didn't convert any open shots and then got bogged down in an ugly game. they didn't receive any help from the refs, the hawkeyes better not be expecting any special treatment at the AH. in the theoretical sense, yes, iowa has a shot, but to believe that it's anything more than a long-shot would be lying to onesself.

i'd be happy with the illini getting 11-12 wins and coasting into the tourneys feeling pretty good. i think if they beat MSU at breslin they'll win the conference. You might be right. However, that Iowa/IL game in Assembly Hall will certainly be a big game for both teams. If Henderson can shut down Brown again...Iowa will certainly have a shot. That's a tall task though. i gotta say, i put iowa's chances at winning at the AH at about 100-1. while henderson very much has shot to shut down brown, i don't see them winning even if that happens. iowa would have to shut everyone down because illinois will likely make it very difficult for the hawkeyes to score in champaign. 100-1? Don't you think that's just A LITTLE bit high? We did beat you at home earlier this year. Last year we lost at Assembly Hall in overtime and the game in Carver was very close. Two years ago we only lost by 6 in Assembly Hall in a game that came down to the last minute. This group of seniors is 2-4 against Illinois and there's only been one game that wasn't in doubt in the last 5 minutes. At the Breslin Center we just get killed, but in Assembly Hall we've been within striking distance late. The last three games between the two teams have been very close. It will be an extremely difficult game and Iowa's most probable loss the rest of the way. But 100-1 odds? I'll take that bet. considering that illinois hasn't lost in two years to anyone at the AH, i'd say it's a pretty good bet. sure, iowa beat us at carver, but so what? it's very hard to win on the road in the BT, which is why i'm saying that the hawkeyes will most probably lose.

because strikeouts have nothing to do with OBP. #-o it's okay, you're just thinking too hard about it.

because strikeouts have nothing to do with OBP.

i'd be happy with the illini getting 11-12 wins and coasting into the tourneys feeling pretty good. i think if they beat MSU at breslin they'll win the conference. You might be right. However, that Iowa/IL game in Assembly Hall will certainly be a big game for both teams. If Henderson can shut down Brown again...Iowa will certainly have a shot. That's a tall task though. i gotta say, i put iowa's chances at winning at the AH at about 100-1. while henderson very much has shot to shut down brown, i don't see them winning even if that happens. iowa would have to shut everyone down because illinois will likely make it very difficult for the hawkeyes to score in champaign.

yep, and tucker did pretty well but was matched by randle all-around. what's your point? I'm just saying that Tucker was double and triple teamed quite a bit that game. All that being considered, Tucker had a pretty good game. That said, Wisky looks to be in a little bit of trouble with their new lack of depth at the post. i don't remember tucker being triple-teamed, but he was definitely double-teamed in the post. despite his defensive prowess, randle still needs a little help with top players down low. it also didn't help that the game was played in madison and randle got stuck with a couple early foul calls. overall, if randle can play like he did offensively and hold the opposing star under 20, illinois will have a lot easier time.

i'd be happy with the illini getting 11-12 wins and coasting into the tourneys feeling pretty good. i think if they beat MSU at breslin they'll win the conference.

yep, and tucker did pretty well but was matched by randle all-around. what's your point?

i think that's paranoia. i think it's (to use an andy dufresne reference, and please don't take offense) obtuse of you to take issue with it. Now why would I take offense to someone using a word to describe me that means "lacking of quickness of perception or intellect"? I don't know.... What I *really* find interesting is that me taking a bit of offense to your comment about me maybe not knowing that Killingsworth is a post-up player is "paranoia", but you thought that Chocolate Milk's question to you asking if you had seen Alando Tucker play is a "ridiculous" and "meant to be insulting" comment? Not sure I have the ability to reconcile your two stances there. Then again, maybe I am being "obtuse" again. Like I said...why are you so on edge in this discussion? You do know that you can have a civil conversation about sports even if people disagree with you, right? i didn't say you are obtuse, i said it's obtuse of you to not be able to understand that there's a difference between randle guarding ager or tucker and randle guarding killingsworth. killingsworth is strictly a post player. are you capable of doing dumb things but not being dumb? i know that i am, and i didn't mean it to be an a-hole. now, if i say: "no offense, but you're stupid", i think that i'd take offense. as for civil conversation, you're being every bit as beligerent as i am, if not moreso. it's comical to see someone accuse another of being agitated, when the person doing the accusing is being incredibly insulting himself. i said, "maybe you didn't know that", in response to killingsworth being a post player, because i honestly did not know if you knew he was a post player or not. none of your previous statements would have led me to believe that you did. you certainly were unaware that randle has completely shut down such scorers as hairston and ager--remember what the point was?: you DID say this, right? I apologize if i've offended you, but any inferred "edginess" is purely incidental.

This isn't difficult. Linebackers from generations ago aside, U of I hasn't been good with any consistency recently in the sport. They are a big school, in a major conference, and obviously aren't going to be competing with Middle Tennessee State in the recruiting rankings. The point is that they were terrible last year, and it's not a departure from the near past(11 wins the last 4 years, 5-19 in B10 play, including 1-15 most recently). How many 8 and 9 loss schools do you see near the top 30 in the recruiting rankings? top 50? It's great for the program that Zook's been able to do that, I'm just wondering how he did it. And no, I'm not implying any sort of illegal actions at all. i'm just pointing out that illinois has history, some recent success (sugar bowl appearance in 2001-2002) although no current success, exposure opportunities, enough good players in the NFL, and plenty of opportunity to start right away. i think the power of being a bad team with several openings for freshman starters is being overlooked here. BTW- WE GOT JUICE!!!!!!!

stop telling me to calm down! illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class. you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name! Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program. wisco was once a perpetual doormat in the BT, they get alvarez and now they're a perpetual power, even though their tradition wasn't close to the illini tradition. hayden fry left iowa pretty barren, but ferentz has them competing again. northwestern? come on, until the early 90's they'd always been terrible. illinois is still a major college and will still get top recruits by accident.

so? does that mean he shouldn't be able to recruit anyone good ever? i mean, how is illinois going to improve if they don't get the recruits? i could ask you why weber didn't get scheyer, wright, rush, or collins after sending a team to the championship game, in which they narrowly lost--not to mention turning deron williams into a top 3 draft pick and sending luther head to the rockets in the first round as well. i think you just hate the illini for whatever reason. maybe it's their recent dominance over MSU, maybe it's their perrenial dominance over mizzou, i don't know.

i think that's paranoia. i think it's (to use an andy dufresne reference, and please don't take offense) obtuse of you to take issue with it. when a team's best offensive weapon is strictly a post player, of course he won't be guarding them. i made that pretty clear in my discussion with chocolate milk. and YOU said that you doubted that he would be given the task of defending a guard, which has been shot down, so i guess both of our statements are somewhat inaccurate, although my statement required a bit of reading between the lines to understand. if wilt chamberlain came back from the dead and played for indiana, Randle wouldn't be guarding him, either. randle is the ron artest of the illini, they'll stick him on anything from 1-3, and possibly a 4, depending on who the 4 is. in indiana's case, i believe that it was vaden, who's not generally a 4, but is a pretty good offensive player that would present a matchup problem for anyone else besides randle.

a lot of this hinges on pitching. i think the cubs, when healthy, have the best 1-4 starters in the division, but that's a huge "when".

I know you wrote Carlos would disagree, I was merely replying after seeing a few posts that questioned Hoops for writing what he wrote. It appeared to me that many thought he was nuts for thinking some GM's would think what he wrote they might think, and I happen to agree with his theory. i was just defending carlos in my own weird way. it really torks me off that a trade like this could go through when the cubs couldn't buy a decent deal.

i think that randle will shut tucker down. I would think that pretty unlikely. Especially considering the fact Weber said he was giving Randle a "Crash course in post defense." He's likely to get in foul trouble on the road anyway. If Tucker scores under 20 I'd consider it a job well done by Illinois. that would be a first, seeing as how nobody has scored 20 on randle yet, and he always draws the opposing team's best offensive player. Even if that player is a guard? Somehow I doubt it. you must be kidding. You think I am crazy for doubting that they would put him on a dominant point guard? You already backtracked regarding them putting him on Killingsworth. I certainly understand him always drawing the other team's best wing player, but I doubt you see him on a dominant 1 or 5. bactracked on killingsworth? what a joke. killingsworth is a post-up player only. maybe you didn't know that. as for defending a guard, i didn't realize that when you say "guard", you really mean "point guard". randle has shut down probably the best 2 guard in the conference.

Perception is probably reality on this one B to B! Regardless of what the numbers and sabermetrics may actually show, there is surely a perception among GMs around the league that from July through October Jose Contreras was the best pitcher in baseball. carlos zambrano, a pitcher half his age, who had a better second half AND first half, and has for the last 3 years, would disagree with their assessment. I have to agree with Hoops. He didn't say Contreras was the best, he said there was a perception he was the best. Look no further than Steve Phillips for somebody who puts far greater emphasis on win totals down the stretch than actual pitching performance. I'd bet Phillips would take Contreras over Zambrano (who he has constantly bad mouthed as immature, unstable and unproven). A lot of GMs still come from the conventional wisdom crowd. read the bolded.

Perception is probably reality on this one B to B! Regardless of what the numbers and sabermetrics may actually show, there is surely a perception among GMs around the league that from July through October Jose Contreras was the best pitcher in baseball. carlos zambrano, a pitcher half his age, who had a better second half AND first half, and has for the last 3 years, would disagree with their assessment. the phillies would want zambrano from us, but would accept contreras from the white sox? ridiculous.

why the hate on weber? it's not like he left KU for UI, is it? all he's done is be much better than self, but so have a lot of coaches. Good gracious. Where did I say anything bad about Bruce Weber? I don't hate Bruce Weber. I hate Brent Musberger's one-note, tunnel-vision style of broadcasting. Okay, Brent, we get it. You love Bruce Weber. How about announcing the game. nowhere, but bruce deserves the knob-slopping.

that was bizarre, he started smacking himself in the face over and over. i know that he was doing it to imply that wright was fouled (which he wasn't, after watching replay), but the sight was something to behold.