hawkeyecub

LOL, I love watching you guys whine about officiating everytime Iowa wins at home. For your information MSU was called for 21 fouls while Iowa was called for 14. MSU fouled Iowa 4 times in the last three minutes to put them at the line, so really it was 17-14. The officials were letting a lot go both ways. And if you've watched MSU play under Izzo or were paying attention last night, they were doing far more grabbing and holding than Iowa was. They play the most physical defense in the Big Ten as far as making contact. Jay Bilas even talked about it last year. They know the officials won't blow the whistle every play, so they play extremely physical and get a lot more benefit in the second half.

What makes you think he's an arrogant, pompous jerk? Have you ever met him or dealt with him? I have and he's always been very willing to talk and has seemed genuine. I also know that this group of players have a lot of respect for him and are willing to fight for him. I think a lot of people simply have that impression because he has slicked back hair and there were a lot of rumors thrown around when we had rough seasons. If you've had experiences with him, whatever, but otherwise "don't believe everything you hear." At this time last year I also felt we needed a change. But he was able to rally a team that seemingly had nothing to play for, got some big wins and played their way into the tournament. You're seeing this year how much it helps to get through the majority of the season with no serious injuries or trouble. Most of that simply wasn't his fault. And yes he did not handle himself well with the media in the past. Again that wouldn't have been a problem if we were winning though. This year he has been extremely accountable, taking the blame for basically every loss saying he has to do a better job in the areas where we struggled. He also was responsible for bringing the entire team over to the student section after the OSU game, thanking and saluting them for what they gave the team. I think he's grown quite a bit and I don't think there's any question that he's a much better coach now than he was 7 years ago. Whether we should have been paying $1M for that is a whole different debate. I really don't see anything he's done this year (as a coach or handling the press/public) that could make you upset. He's also run a clean program which isn't always a given in college basketball today. I hope he's still our coach and don't see why he's a bad fit.

You should be proud. The fact that you can't enjoy what could be our first sole Big Ten Championship in 36 years simply because you don't like the coach is pathetic. We've not won a share of the title in 27 years. This is the latest we've been in first place in 24 years. AND we're doing it in a season where the Big Ten is as deep and solid as it has been in years. Not to mention that this team is led by a group of Iowans who have never been in a sniff of trouble and have only busted their tails since they first put on a Hawkeye uniform. But yeah instead you dream about getting a new coach. Good Lord.

You should be proud. The fact that you can't enjoy what could be our first sole Big Ten Championship in 36 years simply because you don't like the coach is pathetic. We've not won a share of the title in 27 years. This is the latest we've been in first place in 24 years. AND we're doing it in a season where the Big Ten is as deep and solid as it has been in years. Not to mention that this team is led by a group of Iowans who have never been in a sniff of trouble and have only busted their tails since they first put on a Hawkeye uniform. But yeah instead you dream about getting a new coach. Good Lord.

Many have wondered the same thing about Alford. Say what you want but, previous to this year he didn't produce alot, had a scandal with Pierce, and lost his fan base. The reason Quin stayed was the same Alford has. It costs money to get rid of these guys. I know they have and that's why I wanted to hear from some of the Mizzou fans (some of whom seem level-headed) now that he's gone. There were tons of ridiculous rumors about Alford including skipping out on bills for his new house, being a jerk to people in the city and that his wife supposedly was filing for divorce after finding him cheating. I've heard a lot of strange ones about Snyder (drugs, relationships) and never really put any stock into them, but was wondering what they had to say about it or how prevalent they are in Mizzou. As far as comparisons between the two, Alford has been consistently mediocre where Quin had some very good times early and some very bad times lately. Alford has never had a losing record and doesn't have the recruiting base Snyder did. But they both were hyped up as the next great young coaches when they were hired and both have failed to take their team to the next level. They both also have been polarizing figures in their fan base although I would say Alford has had a little more support. I don't know all of the specifics on Clemens and the problems Snyder had, but Alford has never had a sniff of problems with the NCAA much less any probation. The Pierce situation was out of his control and it wasn't just his decision to bring him back.

So now can anyone tell me about some of the rumors that swirled around Quin for the past couple of years? Everyone says there's some shady stuff/people that he's been associated with, but never any details. By the way as an Iowa basketball fan I know how some absurd stuff can get spread when there's a basketball coach that is not well liked in his fan base. I've just always heard generalizations and been curious what the details were or if there could be any truth to it. It does seem to be a given that he's got some friends in high places though. I have no idea how he wasn't previously fired after the results he had there and the problems with the NCAA. Mizzou has the potential to be a power in that conference and very successful nationally if they make the right hire.

The last three games at Northwestern have followed the exact same script. Lead by 6-10 the whole game, then turn the ball over miss free throws and watch Northwestern go off from 3 in the last 5-6 minutes. It seriously is the exact same game every year. I posted my worries for this game in this thread on Sunday after Illinois lost. I was worried this team would feel the pressure of having the target on their back and feel the pressure of the past losses at NW. I just had the feeling that this team was different than the past ones that have fallen apart at Northwestern. Well we have an opportunity to make up for it on Saturday. We just lost our wiggle room and almost have to win at Indiana now if we have any dreams of winning the Big Ten.

That's completely insane. Shelden Williams is an All-American who averages about 19 and 10 a game. Paulus didn't have a good game tonight, but he's been a pretty solid freshman PG and will be very good. Dockery is a very solid role player as is McRoberts who is also only a freshman and will be a stud. I dislike Duke as much as the next guy and they definitely lack depth. But their starting 5 is very good.

Okay but the meaning of the word "ignorant" doesn't fit there. It's just a choice. Bob was also All-Pro this year and got much more pub than Gallery. Madden and all of the ESPN guys raved about him for the second part of the year and every time I saw one of the Colts games, the analyst was drooling over him.

I liked Loul Deng and Jay Williams also. I think it is ignorant to have a no name football player as your signature. Especially when Robert Gallery would be much cooler. What? Wow. That made A LOT of sense.

Not trying to kick Illinois when they're down (really I'm not) but Illinois fans were just ragging on us for rushing the court after the Indiana win. And tonight the Orange Krush storms the court after thinking they beat PSU? I'm seriously not trying to start a pissing match, I just find it ironic.

What a shocking day in the Big Ten. Iowa wins by 30 over Michigan, Penn State wins at Illinois and Purdue beats Wisconsin. As thrilled as I am about being all alone in 1st place, I'm also a little worried about how we'll handle it. We've been at the top with 2-4 other teams recently. Now we're a game up on everyone and you worry about us playing tight. Hopefully our experienced guys won't let it happen. We have to win at Northwestern, we just can't let them derail us again. This week Indiana plays Wisconsin and Iowa, Ohio State plays Michigan and Illinois in the big games. MSU should beat Purdue and Minnesota.

How did my last post have anything to do with the Haluska/Randle discussion? It didn't. You are just paranoid with some of this Iowa stuff and just read things that aren't there. If you think that I ever hinted at saying we were as good as you last year, I have no idea what you're reading. And if anyone told you last summer that Iowa was the only team that could match up with USC, it was some idiot frat boy who had no idea what he was talking about, but was eating up all of the pre-season rankings and hype.

Typical Illinois fan. oh jeez, if iowa had won back-to-back outright titles, you guys would be saying the same thing. plus iowa has always been our chief rival, imo (having grown up on the border), and the blood will always be bad between fans of the two teams. Well I should have clarified what I meant. I don't blame you guys for expecting to win, I think you'll probably win also. I was talking about the fact that he said Illinois played horribly at Iowa and still kept it close. Illinois fans refuse to give credit and whenever Iowa wins or keeps it close it's only because "Illinois played a terrible game." Respect goes both ways. Last year when we took you guys to overtime in Aseembly Hall it was only because you shot horribly and we heard that it would be a blowout in Carver because you would shoot better. Well you guys shot 48% in Carver and it was still a 3-point game with a little over a minute left. It's very possible that our coaching staff has devised solid gameplans and prepared the team well for Illinois. Some of your poor shooting could be due to us having one of the top defenses in the country. We only shot 35% against you guys also and I acknowleged that much of it was due to Illinois playing much better defense this year. Teams tend to miss more open shots when they have to work harder to get them. That's what Illinois and Iowa have done. In fact, Iowa and Illinois rank 2nd and 3rd in the country in defensive efficiency this year. Pretty impressive.

Typical Illinois fan.

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. How am I being a huge homer? Your statement basically made it sound like Haluska couldn't stay with Randle and that Randle would shut him down. So I used the statistics from their last game which showed that the exact opposite will happen. Do I think that will happen again? Probably not. But I'm also confident that Haluska can stay with him defensively and will get his points. And yeah the fouls sound pretty bad when you say it was 27 to 13. But you're ignoring that at least 5 of those came in the last 3 minutes when Illinois was forced to put us at the line becuase they were down 8-10.

Yeah, shouldn't you be judged by how you do against your schedule? I know how it's judged. There are 3 parts to it. One is based on your wins/losses and where they take place. The other is your opponents winning percentage and the other part is basically their schedule strength. It's the best measure we have to evaluate teams right now and that's why it's the most important tool to the selection committee. The top 25 polls are a joke. How many losses in a row did Louisville need to fall out? They were still ranked when they were 2-5 in their conference. To sum this whole argument up, I won't say that Haluska is a better athlete than Randle. But just because he's white and from Iowa doesn't mean he's not a hell of an athlete. His track times and distances would carry over very well to Illinois. He wasn't just another guy who won a couple of championships in Iowa. He's one of the better sprinter/jumpers in a long time and is also a skilled basketball player and our best overall player. Tim Dwight was also a white guy from Iowa, but I think he was a pretty good athlete and would have done just fine in Illinois.

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. It is a two man group of Pettway and Randle. As far as leaping and raw athleticism, Doug Thomas is right there with Petway. He is 6'8 with a legit 44 inch vertical.

According to who? Randle may project to be more valuable in the NBA, but that has nothing to do with being a better athlete. If you can't say Haluska is a heck of an athlete without being moronic, well I would question what is really moronic there. Randle couldn't rival what Haluksa has done in track. Haluska is two-three inches shorter but weighs the same and is much stronger. Oh by the way he's also averaging 6 points more per game than Randle. So once and for all let's break this all down. Randle is averaging 8.3, 5.7 boards and 1.4 assists per game. Haluska is averaging 15.3 points, 4.9 boards and 2.5 assists. So Haluska has been much better this year. He's also faster and a better leaper than Randle. In addition he's stronger and has a much better build. Yet it's moronic to say that he's a heck of an athlete too? Good logic. By the way Haluska will be playing in the NBA some day also. Maybe not a lottery pick, but he'll be there. I can't believe how much some of you are overrating Randle. What has he done? And if you think those numbers can dictate greater value or a better player you are a moron. Brian Randle is a defensive stopper on the 6th best team in America. Adam Haluska, is a nice role player on a top 25 team. LOL what? Haluska is a nice role player on a top 25 team? That may be some of the best spin I've ever seen on here. Using the ridiculous polls was also a nice touch. How about saying Haluska is the best player on the #10 RPI team? That would be closer to the truth. I didn't say the numbers equalled value on the next level. Randle will be valued higher in the NBA because of his size. Unfortunately we aren't playing in the NBA right now. Haluska has shown much more than Randle has and it's not even close. sulleymon Randle and Haluska were matched up for most of the first Illinois-Iowa game. Haluska had 15 points, 3 boards and 1 foul. Randle had 4 points, 2 boards and 5 fouls. Haluska's offensive game most certainly did not suffer and I think he showed that he has quick enough feet to avoid fouls. In fact I think it was Randle who needed quicker feet to avoid foul trouble.

According to who? Randle may project to be more valuable in the NBA, but that has nothing to do with being a better athlete. If you can't say Haluska is a heck of an athlete without being moronic, well I would question what is really moronic there. Randle couldn't rival what Haluksa has done in track. Haluska is two-three inches shorter but weighs the same and is much stronger. Oh by the way he's also averaging 6 points more per game than Randle. So once and for all let's break this all down. Randle is averaging 8.3, 5.7 boards and 1.4 assists per game. Haluska is averaging 15.3 points, 4.9 boards and 2.5 assists. So Haluska has been much better this year. He's also faster and a better leaper than Randle. In addition he's stronger and has a much better build. Yet it's moronic to say that he's a heck of an athlete too? Good logic. By the way Haluska will be playing in the NBA some day also. Maybe not a lottery pick, but he'll be there. I can't believe how much some of you are overrating Randle. What has he done?

Not with the Randle I watched Tuesday night in Wisconsin, Haluska' a good player but, I don't believe he's as quick or long as Randle nor can he jump with him. Randle isn't even averaging 9 points a game...some of you act like he is Adam Morrissey offensively or something. Randle has a couple inches on him, sure...but Haluska is also a heck of an athlete. You really think he is an athlete in the same sense that Brian Randle is? I mean sure if a long jump breaks out he might win, but even then I doubt it considering Randle was in a far superior state for high school athletics. How can you judge that? Did Randle play anything besides basketball in high school? I can't find it on his bio. Haluska won the 100, 200, 400 and long jump as a senior. His junior year he won the 100, 200 and long jump. He also won the long jump his sophomore year. Yes obviously Iowa isn't on Illinois' level for high school athletics, I won't argue that. But if you take a look at his times and distances you would see that he also would have done VERY well in Illinois at the same time. He's also a legit 6'5, 210 with about 7% body fat. He's much stronger than Randle.

Sweet then you guys should order your big ten championship shirts then. Me I think I'll get my three peat one ordered. I don't think anyone ever said that, the discussion was about individual matchups. He said no one could match up with Randle, but Haluska matches up with him fine and Brunner can work on him also like he did last time. I know he's been improving but we certainly didn't have much problem with him last time. You don't think Haluska is as quick enough? Randle may have 2-3 inches on him, but Haluska is most definitely as quick if not quicker than Randle. It was funny at the first game in Carver some Illinois guys parked by us and were walking up with their sons. One of them had his 7 year old kid waving a sign that said "Iowa can't handle the Randle", just taunting everyone and holding it right up to the cars stuck in traffic. The dads thought it was just hilarious. Of course Randle then went on to foul out with a total of 4 points and 2 rebounds. Watching them after the game was priceless. And sorry if I'm not that impressed with McBride yet. He's been good the past two games, but he hadn't done much in the previous two months outside of one huge game against a terrible team. Jamar Smith is scary though. He was able to get a lot of open looks against us in January but wasn't hitting them early. He's the kind of guy who can just kill a defense when you defend well for 30 seconds and then he knocks down a 3. I think he contributes much more offensively than McBride. Anyways that Illinois game is still 3 weeks away. We've got a big one against Michigan tomorrow.

Dang, I didn't realize it was your senior night. That's not good news. Still I think it should be a very good game like the last few have been. In my opinion that will be Illinois' toughest remaining home game. This race is so tough to predict. Everyone's schedule is difficult and 12-4 will get you at least a share of the title. I've never seen the Big Ten so strong 1-7 and we probably won't see it again for quite a while. In my opinion Illinois, Iowa and MSU are in the best shape at this point. Michigan still has to go to Iowa, OSU, MSU and has OSU, Illinois and Indiana at home. Wisconsin needs to get things straightened out in a hurry and I think Indiana is in a tough spot being a game back with their remaining road games.

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.

They did get a break with the way those 4 shook out, but not necessarily overall. We play Indiana, Illinois, MSU, Wisconsin all twice and we only get Purdue and Northwestern once this year. Wisconsin got the big break with the schedule, but they're reeling.