whitesoxfan99

Also, I'd like to say f*** you to Ron Guenther yet again. Illinois was a borderline elite basketball program that Guenther allowed Weber to run into the ground. Add in that he allowed our football program to be a laughingstock and he had to have been arguably the worst AD in the country over the last 20 years.

Also, Groce needs to just go to a lineup of Abrams, Richardson, Paul, Bertrand and Egwu and then only sub when guys get in foul trouble. I wouldn't play anyone else on this roster more than 10 minutes a game. They are all f***ing terrible besides those five.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jan 12, 2013 -> 03:08 PM) The question should be "Why do you have one post player, 2 million wing players, and no true point guard?" The 2009 class looks pretty bad now. Paul, Richardson, Bertrand, and Griffey. 4 players and not one true ball handler or post player in the bunch. The 2011 class was similar, except that egwu has the potential to be a good post player. The lack of inside presence and ball handling are killing the Illini in big ten play. A million wing players who can't shoot or pass btw.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 12, 2013 -> 03:02 PM) The questions be coming for John Groce. This is the first game this year I felt like the team looked completely unprepared. We have a lot of terrible players though. None of Shaw, Griffey, McClaurin and Henry are even close to being Big 10 players. Richardson sucks and has sucked for 3 years. Weber was a remarkably terrible coach, he completely destroyed Illinois basketball.

It is clear that the early season 3 pt shooting for Illinois was a fluke, you had a bunch of guys who have never shot the 3 well making 3s. You have 3 awful seniors getting minutes in Richardson, Griffey and McClaurin and sadly the guys who sub for them are just as bad if not worse. Everyone on the planet just got to witness why Shaw doesn't play. He f***ing sucks and has no idea how to play basketball. Henry is completely worthless and a huge disappointment.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 10, 2013 -> 12:58 PM) Shaw was a top ten player at one point, finished hs with his RSCI in the 60s. How you can't find minutes at the four with this team is just shocking. Have to assume total bust. I think it is a few things, he rebounds well but has always looked completely lost on defense when he plays (albeit in very limited minutes). He also thinks he is a small forward on offense and jacks threes and jump shots even though he isn't a good shooter. I also tend to think that he is being pushed out the door because he isn't good and the slight upgrade he might provide this year, if any, isn't as valuable as his scholarship is going forward.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 10, 2013 -> 11:50 AM) Oh yeah in his own right he's not good. But he's the best option at the four right now. His defense down low for this team is huge, and paired with Egwu you have a competent front line. He's also a better rebounder than our other options, even if poor in his own right. Offensively, whatever. Griffey is giving you nothing anyways. Henry is the best threat there but he isn't a four at all. Really just out of position. I've been calling for more minutes for Langford, but other than that, I want to see more of the Egwu/McLaurin combo if it means less of Griffey and Henry down low. I sound like a broken record, but Griffey really does make everyone he plays with a lot worse than they actually are. McClaurin has been a solid offensive rebounder but he has actually been the worst defensive rebounder on the team this year. It is scary how bad our options are at the PF position.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 10, 2013 -> 11:20 AM) You can play McLaurin with Egwu and in fact they have a lot this year. IMO, that's when this team is at it's best. Problem is you lose depth by starting them together. Either way, Griffey playing next to either makes both look worse than they are. McClaurin doesn't rebound and kills the offense when he is in there with Egwu. Playing them together for long stretches does not work. McClaurin plays solid low post defense but doesn't really bring anything else to the table.

So the one positive from last night for Illinois is that Egwu looked like a legitimate Big 10 center for the second straight game. He is really talented so hopefully the light has gone on for him permanently and this wasn't just a couple of good games. The biggest negative (other than the fact that it is clear at this point that Richardson is just a terrible shooter and not just in a slump) is that we now have the worst production from the PF spot out of anyone in the Big 10. Griffey and Henry are just awful. Henry showed ability last year and I loved him in HS but he still doesn't play very hard and he rushes shots constantly. If I need to pick between the two I choose Henry because he at least doesn't looked scared on the floor and has upside but Groce has very limited options. McClaurin isn't very good and you can't play him with Egwu, Griffey sucks, Henry sucks, you can't really play Bertrand at the 4 for long stretches because then all the wing players are going to play way too many minutes although that may be the route you have to take, maybe you try Langford at the 4 and see how he does.

Well Minnesota was just better tonight but also terrible luck for Illinois with garbage 3 pt shooters going 3 for 5 from 3 and Hollins also banking in the 40 footer.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) Maybe the toughest play of his entire Illini career. Too bad his fellow upperclassmen have played like p*****s tonight. Paul has been pathetic and Griffey is just awful. The confidence Griffey played with early in the year is completely gone.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 10:29 PM) I'm a Gopher and Gopher fan, but damn those were a pair of stupid foul calls EDIT: Oh, at least it was a double foul on Mbakwe and Egwu. Still should have been a non-call. EDIT2: Also, the negativity in this thread is hilarious. This is FAR from over... These refs have absolutely no clue what they are doing. Hasn't really favored either team but this is as poorly as you will ever see a game officiated.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 09:16 PM) Not only that, but the ref counted it. It has to be either a charge/no basket or an and-1 in that situation. It's not like he dunked it and then ran over Mbakwe. Yep, that made even less sense than the original call.

College refs are so f***ing terrible. How the hell was that possibly a charge on Brandon Paul? Unreal.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 01:28 PM) I've only really seen Nunn against good competition once and I wasn't impressed, however it doesnt look like he's expected to come in and start right away anyway. I'd be surprised if Illinois' starters in the backcourt next year aren't Abrams, Rice and Bertrand. I think Hill will be the first guard off the bench and Nunn will get playing time as well because he is an elite athlete and fantastic defender. He needs to work on his right hand and continue to work on his jump shot but all the tools are there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 01:17 PM) Ferrell isn't 5'6" either. How many guards that size succeed at the NCAA level? That is a huge disadvantage. It is even more rare for a guy Like Ulis who doesn't have elite athleticism. Just about every player I can think of that has been really good and below 5'10 was an elite athlete. Jerome Randle at Cal is the exception to that rule but he was still a touch over 5'9 without shoes and he was an elite shooter.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 12:25 PM) Can someone explain to me what QB-DT means? I'm looking at Northwesterns recruits and they have 2 sub 200 pound guys listed as QB-DT. It's silly to believe their 2nd position is defensive tackle at 176 and 192 pounds. Dual-threat

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 10:37 AM) That was the fear with Ohio State and it didn't happen. Obviously Minnesota's bigs are better, but I think Illinois made rebounding a point of emphasis. Perhaps Purdue was the wake up call they needed. Ohio State is a little bit above average on the offensive glass. Minnesota is by far and away the best offensive rebounding team in the country and if they maintain their offensive rebounding rate for the rest of the season they would be have statistically the best offensive rebounding rate in the last 10 years.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 8, 2013 -> 02:21 PM) My response was actually supposed to say (to Knightni) which is why it probably made no sense. It shouldnt matter the perceived strength of SEC, the reason is that if 2 SEC teams make it, likely they will be the SEC champion and the SEC 3, as opposed to SEC 2. The reason for this is SEC 2 may lose in CCG and thus SEC 3 will jump them. Which is why just taking the top team from each conference makes the most sense. If you want to be NC, you should win your conference. So this year you would propose that an 8-5 Wisconsin team should go to the playoffs over Texas A&M or South Carolina or Georgia, etc? That makes no sense at all.

So hypothetical based on the SEC's complete dominance of college football, if Alabama wins the SEC with one loss next year, and there are two undefeated teams from other conferences, would you vote for Alabama to go to the national championship game? I would put Alabama in without a doubt at this point.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 7, 2013 -> 11:02 PM) For the record SEC will be what, 6-3 in bowl season. That's pretty good. LSU and FLA with clunkers but they were inconsistent all year. And LSU lost to a really good Clemson team mostly because of bad coaching late. Florida was really the only SEC team with a terrible performance and they looked like they didn't even want to be out there.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 4, 2013 -> 11:56 AM) How is a .560 winning percentage and playoff appearances 3 times in 9 years, going 3-3, "above average?" He was a good defensive coach and a f***ing horrendous offensive coach. That's indisputable. How can you just ignore half of his job? Lovie did not do a good job picking offensive coordinators but please list the good offenses in the NFL that have had QBs the caliber of Orton or Grossman or an offensive line as bad as the Bears have had the last few years. I think you will fine that with few exceptions, they don't exist.

Nearly definitive evidence that Colorado got screwed.

Great play from the Bulls frontcourt today. Kirk Hinrich continues to be an embarrassment to the game of basketball though.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 2, 2013 -> 11:02 PM) If the bad losses pile up, and this team misses the tourney, there will be a target on him. Hell, reading the Illini boards tonight, it seems that is already the case. Wel then people are forgetting we were terrible last year and lost our only Big 10 caliber big man.