hawkeyecub

1. As a Pistons fan I hope they take Beasley. Beasley will be an All-Star and is a safe pick at least on the offensive end for a number of years. Rose has the higher upside in terms of what he can do for a team as a whole. If he turns out the way I think he will, you have a legit contender in 2-3 years if Pax doesn't screw it up. 2. Where are people getting this talk of the Bulls landing the #2 pick from the Heat? It reminds me of last year when some people suggested the Blazers could trade for the #4 pick to package Conley with Oden. Then everyone realized that in order to do that, you would basically be left with just Conley, Oden and a bunch of scraps.

As a Pistons fan, this completely blows. Paxson got completely bailed out. Adding Rose and Beasley to the East is good news though.

Wesley Johnson is transferring from Iowa State. Packed up his stuff at the end of school and left without saying anything to any coaches or teammates. His family called McDermott Thursday and said he was transferring. Big blow for them, he was a really solid player. There has just been massive turnover consistently since McDermott took over. It will be year 3 and now I don't know if things will be any better than the first two. I wouldn't have expected it but I don't mind seeing it.

I think it would be a good idea. I don't know why they would have to be sold at face value though. If it's a big game and the street/ebay/stub hub prices are at least $20 over face and someone is willing to sell them on here for $5-10 over face it's still a good deal. I understand not wanting to have sharks coming here solely for that purpose but I think they would generally be ignored if there wasn't interest.

That's a great get for SIU and the MVC. Yeah it is. Glad he's going to a solid program where we can occasionally see him. I must say it is pretty odd that he's going to SIU when he was frustrated by the slower offense and was looking for a faster pace. I'm not sure how well he fits in there offensively. I mean he can do anything they'll want and will still be very productive but I think he'll have some of the same problems in their system that he had under Lickliter. He would be ideal in a Tennessee-style offense where he can run the court and spot up from outside.

(a) when did pat burrell become wildly popular such that he'll be elected to the all star team (b) geovany soto??? Was he trying to see how he could fill a lineup using as few NL teams as possible? Soto and Furcal both belong on there.

He was awful and cost them the series or at least forcing game 7. Disappointed in how they played the first 3 quarters. Bad defense and got too caught up in the officiating. They played a great 4th but that quick 6 Kobe put up on two tough shots in the middle of the quarter and the iffy charge call were too much. Still had a couple good looks to tie it at the end. Man I hope the Hornets can win game 7 and beat the Lakers. I really wanted to see a Jazz-Hornets conference final. It was ridiculous how many easy layups and open shots the Lakers were getting early in the game when they built the big lead. They were basically able to do whatever they wanted offensively. They came back in the fourth - mainly because of a ton of offensive rebounds which they weren't getting earlier in the game - but the deficit was just too much. Yeah that was the last thing I was expecting from them in a closeout game at home. They looked like they had a major hangover from game 5. And again, Boozer just killed them. He got his boards but only 16 ppg on 40% from the field.

He was awful and cost them the series or at least forcing game 7. Disappointed in how they played the first 3 quarters. Bad defense and got too caught up in the officiating. They played a great 4th but that quick 6 Kobe put up on two tough shots in the middle of the quarter and the iffy charge call were too much. Still had a couple good looks to tie it at the end. Man I hope the Hornets can win game 7 and beat the Lakers. I really wanted to see a Jazz-Hornets conference final.

Robert Horry strikes again! That was a clean play but it was something to hear their fans chanting his name after taking West out of the game. Man I hate the Spurs. Can anyone explain why they have 3 off days before game 7? So we're looking at no games Saturday, possibly no games Sunday (but probably 1) and two game 7's on Monday? Is that right?

I was more optimistic than most, admittedly without great reason. He's been fun to watch. We know it won't last at this level, but regardless 9 starts with a 1.00 WHIP, 1.65 BAA and 2.35 ERA is outstanding. The key is for Lilly to continue to build and then obviously Hill coming back strong.

Dempster wants a complete game. 37 pitches through 4.

Geo has cleat marks on his back from DeRosa.

Criticize Lou all you want, but this wouldn't be happening under Dusty Baker. Being better at Dusty in teaching patience at the plate isn't all that impressive. Oh, and I credit Perry more than Lou for this particular change. You're missing the point. It's not just that he's better than Dusty, it's that this team has been extremely patient and productive at the plate. So you credit Perry more than Lou, okay. Who hired Perry to be his hitting coach? It seems like he lets his coaches coach, but ultimately they're carrying out his vision. I often dislike his in-game moves and some playing time decisions, but I appreciate a lot of his philosophies and strategies and overall I can't think of many ML managers I would rather have.

So he was the player to be named later in the Ewing Jr. deal. I was wondering when that would be completed.

LeBron through the first two games with Boston: 8-42 from the field, 0-10 from 3 and 17 turnovers.

Conference wins are going to be tough to come by next year; same as in Maui. They also play at Wake Forest in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and at Kentucky. However, if the schedule is similar to last year's pathetic non-conference slate they'll have about eight cupcakes at home. I also don't know the NIT's regulations regarding Division II teams, Indiana always seems to draw Chaminade in the first round (which could be an embarrassing loss or a win to help them get NIT-eligibility). Those eight and five in conference actually get them pretty close to .500. It'll be a struggle but the NIT is possible. Plus the rest of the Big Ten isn't going to be great either. MSU should be great, but they should have been great this year too. Wisconsin will be very good. Me and 4 other posters on this board would be very good for Bo Ryan. Although he has more talent than people believe. Purdue is gonna take a step back I think. Losing Martin will not be the non factor a lot think it will be. OSU will be good, could have been gat had Koufas stayed. Minn will be ok, still gonna take a bit for Tubby to get his guys in that system. Illinois is the biggest wildcard in the conference. Either our three guards will do well and we will be good or we could be horrible again. Iowa lost it's best player, but I like their coaches system and think they will be better than a lot of people think. Michigan just lost Udoh, I bet they are about the same as last year. Penn State lost one of their two players. I always mixed the two up, so I don't know if it was cornley or claxton. I imagine with their other guys progressing they will be around the same Northwestern will be better. Indiana could be the worst, but I bet they aren't nearly as bad as everyone is predicting. Pretty good assessment. I think Purdue definitely finishes top 3. As much as I like Izzo when was the last time they really lived up to expectations fully? I think Minnesota takes a slight step back along with IU obviously dropping to the bottom third. Illinois can make a jump to 5th maybe 4th if things come together. Iowa and Michigan are still building and I think losing Udoh hurts more than many would think. They don't have many rebounders and he was the best shot blocker in the league.

The limited scouting report I've heard on him is that he's a solid all-around offensive PG but incredibly weak and thus seen more as a long-term guy. I thought he was headed to Minnesota but the immediate playing time at IU has to be impossible to turn down.

Did Carmody make some changes on his staff in the last year or two? I'm glad they're recruiting better because it's good for the league. It just seems odd when they've gone 3-31 in the Big Ten the last two years.

I don't know what upsets me more: Lou sending Marmol back out there or that a-hole Joe Buck telling me who won the Derby while I was recording it on the DVR to watch after the Cubs game.

Good Lord Geo is slow.

Glad you saw that too -- I thought I was going nuts That was crazy... What happened? After the 0-1 pitch, FOX had "Cubs home run" come up and the score changed to 6-0. They changed it back after 5 seconds or so and the next pitch Fontenot went deep. I went back on DVR and counted and it was about 10 seconds from the time they flashed it until he hit the ball. Is there that much of a delay?

Probably. If you're talking about the bottom of the league last year, Iowa (even with the loss of Freeman) Illinois, Michigan and Northwestern should be improved. Indiana will drop into the bottom tier and PSU will probably be roughly the same. They all need to get better for the sake of the conference and I expect that in '09-'10 the Big Ten will be a really strong league.

What, where is he going. This is very suprising. Don't know yet. I wouldn't be shocked if he went to New Mexico. I guess there's the potential of walking on at IU with their situation and the fact that Crean went after him in high school but that would seem unlikely. Yeah it stinks. Even though he was productive last year, he freelanced way too much forcing bad shots and turning the ball over too much. Bobby Hansen told some stories about an unnamed player (likely Tony) ignoring coaches at times. During the pregame at PSU Lick called for an inbounds play to go to a guard and then right down to Cyrus off a cut. 3 straight times he caught the inbounds pass and chucked up a 3 right away. When they weren't winning, Tony played his own game and infuriated the coaches. During the BTT game with Michigan, he made 3 straight awful, forced plays and Lick pulled him out. When he came to the bench he tried talking to the coaches and they just told him to sit down. With our roster there were simply no other options if we wanted to be competitive. Reportedly during the post-season meetings, Lick told Tony that this year we had many more options in the backcourt and if he continued to do his own thing he wouldn't be playing much. Also last week the coaches named the captains for next year and went with Cyrus Tate and Jarryd Cole who was a freshman and missed the entire Big Ten season last year with an ACL tear. Maybe they were sending a message, but at that point this was almost expected.

He was right about that throw. It was going to be a tough play and they could have gotten the out at 2nd if he didn't air mail the cutoff man.

Tony Freeman is leaving Iowa. Too bad, he was our best player who was ridiculously hard working and wanted to win like a madman. Never got in trouble and was a good kid by all accounts. He and Lickliter just never saw eye to eye. At least once the games started.