hitlesswonder

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Apr 5, 2011 -> 03:19 PM) Such a waste. Oh well now I officially have no expectations for next year. There still is a lot of talent on the perimeter but without Richmond the interior could be an absolute mess. Have to hope that Griffey and Leonard find their games and that at least a couple of Shaw, Henry and Egwu are ready to play big minutes as freshmen. Well who knows what will happen. The Frazier/Meacham backcourt team was good out of nowhere so crazy stuff can happen. In fact if you want a slim thread of hope, it's possible Griffey with his ability to hit a jump shot is a better fit for Weber's offense anyway. And hopefully there will be fewer teammate face punchings.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Apr 4, 2011 -> 08:58 PM) I was telling my brother the other day that Walker and Mack are probably the only players in this game that would start for any of the teams in the 08 Final 4 or for UNC or Illinois in the championship game from 04-05, Florida in either of their title years, UNC in 09 etc. It is crazy that teams that lost in the championship game (tOSU...Illinois) would have destroyed the two finalists this year. And it's not like 08 was that long ago. What the hell happened to college basketball?

Apparently the Weber to OU rumors were just Weber trying to leave a sinking ship...OU wasn't interested, which makes a lot more sense than OU being interested. From the Tulsa World OU Blog

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 31, 2011 -> 09:24 AM) The team won't be bad next year, too much talent for that. It is just a question of whether they are extremely mediocre like the last two years or the players live up to their potential and they compete for a Big 10 championship. Based on the last two years the former is probably more likely but you never know. Also, I love that Shaka Smart has a fluke run through the tourney and suddenly he is an elite candidate nationally. He has a team that shot 36% from 3 for the year shooting close to 45% from 3 for the tourney and they are taking a ton of them. The guy may end up being a phenomenal coach and I do like his personality and demeanor but he finished 5th in the colonial last year and 4th this year with pretty talented teams. He also lost to Georgia State, USF and Northeastern this year. I agree the team has talent, but it's mostly at one position (wing) and I'd be very worried about the C and PF spots. It's certainly possible for them to be good, I just think it unlikely since I thought they would be good this year with fewer question marks than next season will have. I agree with everything you say about Smart. In fact, I think Imrem's column in the Daily Herald suggesting Illinois give up on basketball if they can't hire Smart was the most ridiculous thing I've read in a while....and I read internet message boards.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 31, 2011 -> 07:31 AM) As down as I am about weber this is freaking terrible timing with Guenther likely out as AD in June or July. I didn't think he'd leave initially, but now I'm thinking it's actually pretty likely. With Guenther leaving the writing is probably on the wall and Weber is smart enough to know that next year's Illinois team is likely to be pretty bad. With OU he gets a contract to take him to retirement plus more money per year. OU has better facilities than Illinois and he wouldn't have to deal with Jereme Richmond there. I think he's gone. For Illinois, there's no way they hire an elite candidate (like Smart) under the current circumstances and I imagine they'd lose a recruit or two. They would save money by not having to buyout Weber's contract when firing him.

The coaching carousel is pretty entertaining: Weber talking to OU Again, Illini boards filling up with posts begging for Weber to be hired away. If it does happen, I think the Illini fanbase would be pretty disappointed in who the replacement would be. I don't think the program is as attractive they think it is (although that's probably true of most fanbases).

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 28, 2011 -> 08:28 PM) Supposedly, Painter to Mizzou for 14 million over 7 years. http://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-ti...missouri-purdue This is surprisingly entertaining. Illini message boards are stuffed full of posts hoping Painter goes to Mizzou and Weber leaves UI for Purdue. Of course, they are delusional about how attractive the Illinois program is and the quality of coach they would get to replace Weber (Stevens isn't leaving Butler for Illinois...).

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 07:01 PM) Chris Mooney signs a 10 year extension with Richmond instead of taking the GT job. The ghost of Paul Hewitt lives on, and now they're looking at crappier names like Brian Gregory or Wojcik, the Tulsa coach. So...Shaka and Tubby aren't candidates? That surprises me (especially Tubby). I do think the rush to get Shaka Smith will be funny...I'm sure almost any BCS or near-BCS school opening will have him at the top of the list. In fact, even schools without openings have fanbases lusting after him (some Daily Herald columnist already wrote that Illinois should open up the checkbook for Smith or fold the program). Shaka may turn out to be a great coach, but his VCU team did not have an awesome regular season and I think it's humorous how a good tourney run on it's own is worth millions of dollars to a coach.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 12:39 PM) Too many question marks for a team with this payroll. after watching this spring, I'd rather have started the rebuilding than go 'all in" Particularly since so much of the Sox being World Series contenders is predicated upon a Cy Young type version of Peavy. Peavy returning throwing 85-90 won't cut it. I'll take having a legit shot at the division title and playoffs over rebuilding any year. Rebuilding assures you of not competing in 2011 and doesn't assure you of competing later on. How many years have the Pirates, Royals, etc. been rebuilding? As for a high payroll team having a bunch of question marks, look at the Yankees. Their payroll has bought them Freddy in the starting rotation. The Sox failure has been drafting and signing talent in Latin America and that means they've had to up the payroll to compete. As much as I hope they'll do a better job developing players in house, given the reality that their minor league system sucks I'll take spending to compete over not any day.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 02:53 PM) Even though McCamey had solid numbers, I thought he made this team worse when he was on the court. Poor defense and poor judgments on the court in transition. I would much rather have Jereme run the point assuming he gets his issues fixed. So, I don't want this to sound too critical but did you watch Richmond this season? He repeatedly showed poor judgment passing the ball and had some truly awful turnovers. It's true that he can bring the ball up court against opposing 3s and 4s but I don't think that should be confused with the ability to play point guard. Illinois has to hope Maniscalco and Abrams (and maybe Paul) can play point. Actually, it would be a great opportunity for Paul who needs to improve his ball skills to have a shot at the league. Also, I think there's a very good chance Richmond is gone after this season. In truth, Illinois has huge problems next season at the C, PF, and PG spots. If Weber manages to get a sweet sixteen appearance out of that group he'll have done a good job coaching.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 20, 2011 -> 09:49 PM) annnnnnnnnd, they're done. f*** you seniors. Way to wait until the last 2 games of your careers to give a s***. I don't think that's necessarily a fair assessment, especially to Mike Davis who really had a pretty good season. Lack of effort is always the first thing fans blame and coaches seem to like to pin bad performances on it as well (I guess because it is theoretically correctable while lack of talent isn't). I don't think I can be labeled as an apologist for Weber or Illinois, and I have to say that I think they had decent tournament run. Beating UNLV was an actual accomplishment and they played decently against Kansas in a hostile atmosphere for most of the game. The final score is lopsided, but I think if you watched the game you wouldn't think Illinois should be embarrassed by their performance against a very good Kansas team. Overall, I think the season probably was a disappointment -- a sweet sixteen berth seems like it would have been fair bar to set. Illinois failed to do that mostly because they didn't play well enough in the regular season to get a favorable seeding. But I have to admit they were a better team than I thought they were.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 20, 2011 -> 01:18 AM) Someone is offering to give me Illinois +19.5 (actual line is +8.5). I'm not trying to be a homer but think I have to take it... Here's hoping you didn't take it. I think Self is going to take vengeance on Illinois for the crap they threw at him (the way the AD treated him on the way out, the mock funeral)....

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 11:44 PM) From his freshman year at North Shore, there have been rumors bout his atttitude, getting "benched" for the first game of the tourney doesnt help all of that. The kid has talent, hope he can stay, especially cause they will really need him next year, but I can see it going bad with him. So...Bielfeldt (sp?) supposedly said Illinois has a spot for him next year if he wants it and both Bertrand and Griffey have denied they will transfer. The coaching staff must know that at least one scholarship will open up somehow. It will be interesting to see what happens.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 10:23 PM) Shocked that the Illini stepped it up in this game, hopefully they can do it again vs. Kansas. Of course, they still battled with sloppiness in the last 5 minutes of the game. Well, they won't do it against Kansas but I think they beat a good team tonight and did so handily. And they punished the UNLV pressure which I absolutely didn't think would happen. The last 5 minutes I think they were clearly tired and had a big lead. It was still their best game of the year.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 10:25 PM) So I thought the Big 10 sucked and should only get 4 teams in? 5 and 2 in the first round (I refuse to acknowledge the new "first round") and the 2 losses were by a combine 4 points. I was wrong.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 15, 2011 -> 10:37 AM) I can't really disagree with what you're saying, but if you watched that team all season you would have seen 20-25 minutes bursts where this team showed that it could beat anyone in the country. They played really well against Texas but lost in overtime. They beat a good Wisconsin team at home. They nearly upset Ohio State and Purdue after playing brilliantly in the first half of each game. I think a lot of teams have flashes of excellence...Penn State nearly beat tOSU earlier in the season and had some good home victories as well, but I think we all know a team like Kansas would be a good bet to annihilate PSU in the tournament. For me, the flip side is that if UI does beat UNLV I will be impressed -- it will be an accomplishment (biggest of the season IMO) regardless of how bad the subsequent beatdown by KU would be. Unfortunately for UI, I think beating UNLV would not be regarded by most of their fanbase as anything more than "expected".

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 14, 2011 -> 01:01 PM) Even if Illinois gets by UNLV(which I don't think they will), they matchup horribly against KU. I don't see that one happening. I agree. I do not understand why anyone thinks Illinois is talented team anymore. They aren't. They have proven over the course of two seasons they aren't. I understand that on paper one could see a team with some tall seniors, a PG that put up a a bunch of assists and a couple of talented sophomores and think that they might do something. But that would be before the season started. At this point, we have lots of evidence that they are not a talented team. I think they'll play like they have all season, and lose to UNLV (they don't have the ball skills to handle the pressure).

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 14, 2011 -> 07:10 AM) Then again, I'm sure they will choke away the game vs. UNLV anyway. Losing to UNLV wouldn't be choking. Did you notice who has the higher seed? UNLV is a better basketball team. Moreover they are a horrendous matchup for Illinois. UNLV traps backcourt and plays intense D with lot of ball pressure. Weber's offense historically wilts under those conditions.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 13, 2011 -> 06:15 PM) Illinois beat 4 conference champions from mid-major conferences this year by a combined 50 points. I'll go with that they are better. Most of those points were scored by Illinois on their home court and early in the season when Illinois was playing better. The Illini team that took the floor in the Big Ten tournament was certainly not any better than a mid-major conference champion if a game was played on a neutral court, and certainly worse than than a team like Utah State (if you think of them as a mid-major). That being said, I don't think Missouri State would be the mid-major team I would take over Illinois if I were filling out the brackets. I do agree that Colorado should have been in over UAB (I can't believe that snub...one of the worst I can remember).

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Mar 13, 2011 -> 02:10 PM) Trouble is, the Bulls always play down to their opponent. They may end up beating all of Boston, Orlando and Atlanta at ATL, but they will sure lose a game here and there playing the weaklings. It's probably a petty thing to disagree with, but it's not true they "always play down to their opponent". They didn't last night, and they have blown out a number weaker teams this season as well. They have lost some games you would think they wouldn't lose (Philly when they were bad...the Nets...GS), but if you look around virtually all teams do that. The Lakers, Heat, and Celtics all certainly have done that this season as well. That's one reason why the 72-10 record is pretty astounding.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 12, 2011 -> 05:00 PM) Also, Penn State is in now. I think the discussion now might be will Michigan or Illinois be among the first four play in games. Although if shenanigans keep happening (Dayton wins A-10, Utah State loses their conference title game), a bid of any kind might be in peril for Michigan or Illinois. So, my post that Illinois didn't deserve a bid got flamed and I actually was feeling that people were right and I was overly harsh. If Illinois fails to get a bid after all, I think it goes to show that there's no such thing as being overly critical of that program. I have to say the I'm surprised at the early exits of Wiscy and Purdue. Outside of tOSU, I really have no confidence in any Big Ten team doing well in the NCAA...or maybe the conference was really good but just had a lot of parity...it will be interesting to see if that's the case.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 11, 2011 -> 03:06 PM) Does Illinois look good or just good enough? I'm relying on the gamecast which doesn't show much other than the score. I won't venture an opinion, except to say that I can't remember a team so unable to play with a lead in the second half. Does Weber actually change the offense down the stretch of games like that? If so, he should stop doing that.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 11, 2011 -> 12:26 PM) LOL. Man, a half day late on this, but wow. The legitimacy of your opinions in this thread is now at a zero. Did someone at Illinois steal a girlfriend of yours? Maybe kill your dog ? What's with the crazy hate? Sheesh. I'm done talking about the tournament-worthiness of Illinois. How about this for an opinion: Illinois should run actual plays to get Richmond the ball in the post against teams like Michigan that lack a big presence inside.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 11, 2011 -> 12:46 AM) Thanks for giving me a good laugh before bed. Well, at least I did one useful thing today then. On a different topic, have you (or anyone else) heard if Sam Maniscalco will be transferring to Illinois next season from Bradley? The rumors hit the mainstream press but I haven't seen anything confirming whether or not it will actually happen.

QUOTE (The Bones @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 11:43 PM) I am glad you are not on the committee. No way in hell Nebraska gets in. And UAB's best win is uh...VCU I guess? The rest of the teams all have a case to be made, but not at the expense of Illinois.'' Well...UAB losing to East Carolina makes this post look worse (scratch them from the ahead of Illinois list...) but if I were on the committee I'd reward teams that have won significantly more games than Illinois even if they are from a weaker conference. Illinois won only 19 games, lost to UIC and hasn't beaten a really good team since the Wisconsin game which was along time ago. In the absence of evidence that Illinois is a tournament quality team, I'll go with teams like Utah State with 28 wins or with teams like Colorado who have beaten truly good teams recently. Nebraska probably is a stretch and considering it now they probably won't make the dance, but again they at least beat somebody. Anyway, as a gift to whitesoxfan99, I'll make this my last post on the tournament-worthiness of the 2011 UI team.....