whitesoxfan99

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 8, 2008 -> 06:29 PM) FYI, if the Plus 1 system was in place this year, the matchups would have been as follows: 1. Ohio State vs. 4. Oklahoma 2. LSU vs. 3. VA Tech USC and Georgia should all just shut the f*** up. I know they were playing well at the end of the year, but they didn't do enough to belong, even in the Plus 1 model. It's easy crowing from the outside. I hope that if we do get a playoff they go all the way and make it at least 8 teams. Have all 6 major conference champions and use the BCS formula to pick the two at large teams.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 7, 2008 -> 10:36 PM) I won't disagree, but LSU is a pretty good team too Absolutely but Todd Boeckman simply should not be the QB of a team in the NC game. He holds the ball way too long and makes awful decisions under pressure. Haven't been impressed with him at all regardless of what his numbers were. Another comment after watching tonights game, in this day an age your QB absolutely has to be mobile with the speed of a lot of these defenses (unless you just have overwhelming talent surrounding him like USC with Leinart).

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 7, 2008 -> 10:31 PM) Or LSU is just really good. No he sucks.

Todd Boeckman sucks

Crandall Head has officially committed to Illinois. It really sucks that it took Weber so long to figure out recruiting but the 09 and 10 classes are going to be excellent.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 03:20 PM) agreed. how far we've fallen. Just need to be patient at this point, no other choice. The 09 class and 2010 with Richmond and Head have a ton of talent. And the 07 class with Legion, McCamey, Davis, Tisdale, and Cole is actually quite strong. I am done with the upperclassmen, no talent (Weber's fault) and now some of them just aren't playing that hard. People can make jokes about the 2010 class "bringing us to the promised land" but Richmond and Head are elite talents and the 09 class is very strong. They are a ways off but while they are young, the top players in a class generally are recognized early on these days. Gordon, Rose, Mayo, Beasley,etc. were all ranked very high as early as their sophomore years. It is possible they don't develop but it isn't that likely.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 03:05 PM) McCamey is really, really good. If he doesn't start after this game, well then Bruce needs to be kicked in the groin. And I would start Davis at PF, I just can't watch Randle play anymore.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 03:02 PM) Just fast forward me to next season. A SIU - U of I game what be quite the showdown this year. First one to 40 wins?

This team is pathetic. What the hell happened to the team that played in Maui. So anyone know a way to fast forward two years?

I cannot wait for Brian Randle to graduate.

Looks like Crandall to Illinois Sunday. http://www.ilprepbullseye.com/page35.html

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Dec 30, 2007 -> 06:32 PM) Any fan that bashes Illinois basketball is in their right. Most Illini fans were unbearable in their love for Bruce, to the point where some STILL defend him. This to me is like the football program under Turner circa 2003 right now though, we're one great coaching hire away from returning to prominence. The problem is I don't know how long it will take us to fire the horrible coach and if the new guy will be any good. We got lucky with football, hopefully whenever the Weber era mercifully ends, the same occurs. Oh, and not all Illini fans have loved "BAM" forever, there are some of us who were concerned in November of 2004 when we signed a class of an offensive linemen, a 2 star PG with a 2nd best offer of College of Charleston, and a spot up shooting specialist (and hell, he turned out to be a felon). If Weber didn't have the 09 guys coming plus Richmond and basically Head for 2010 he would be as good as gone. The 06 class is when I really started getting concerned. 2005 class was very weak, but I liked and still like Jamar as a player and Chester would be fine if he was playing the role he should be in of a 10-15 mpg hustle guy who plays great D. Never saw CJ play but he actually was a top 150 player and dominated Kovortney (sp?) Barber in HS, thought he could maybe be a solid rebounder and defensive player potentially (obviously didn't work out). 05 class would not have killed the program if Weber would have capitalized on the final 4 run and landed guards in 06. Scheyer, Conley, Collins, Beverley were all guys in that class who were interested in Illinois that Weber missed on. Not landing a single guard in 06 is what killed this team. He gets a PG in that class and gets Beverley there are really no problems with the program. How you don't get a guard in that class is still beyond me. I always try to be optimistic about the future of my teams, (during and after games when I am pissed off not so much), so for me at least it was more hope that we would remain a very strong program. The talent is already in the pipeline for Illinois to return to the top of the Big 10 or else I would be calling for Weber's head and this season would be much harder to take. I'm far from happy with the state of the program (more like pissed off) but every school goes through down periods and it sure looks like we will be very good again soon, although the 09 class does seem very far away at this time. Until Legion is eligible next year Illinois will likely be painful to watch. On this years team, Chester simply should not be playing the minutes he gets. Outside of recruiting my one big criticism of Weber is his stubborness with his use of players. Against a zone where is Cole? He can shoot and pass. Chester clearly has somehow regressed and has no business being on the court 30+ minutes. Weber's treatment of Chester mirrors Zook's treatment of Halsey last year. Guys who obviously have no business in their roles yet the coach continues to back them inexplicably. I just don't get it. Pruitt is selfish and the next time he refuses to pass the ball out of the post if I'm Weber I bench him. This season is lost, play the freshmen, and get them prepared for the future. I would much rather watch Davis, Tisdale, and McCamey out there then the upperclassmen.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Dec 23, 2007 -> 12:53 AM) Actually I think the BCS chant was stupid. Sure some Mizzou fans probly got pissed, but it's not that clever. We weren't playing football. When we did, they beat us. And we all know they should be in. It would have been even more of a dumb chant had we lost... Some sort of chant that emphasizes 8 in a row would be better. Yes, 8 in a f***ing row. How hard is that to rub in? Not very. Nothing was more retarded than walking out of the Savvis Center (a few years ago) every year and having people yell "illinois football (clap clap clap clap clap)" or "yeah, well your football team sucks." It's irrelevant, as football has nothing to do with the game that was just played. And with the talent we have coming in, if Mizzou doesn't beat us next year then it could be a long time before they do so. Legion should be eligible for next years game and Mizzou loses a lot so I'd say we have a good shot as of now.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 22, 2007 -> 09:52 PM) Missouri was negative 25 with Demarre Carroll in the game. That is pretty unbelievable. Also, I my memory may not be exactly right on this, but wasn't that basically the exact same finish as last years game where Hannah lost his dribble and Mizzou didn't get a shot off.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Dec 22, 2007 -> 09:49 PM) Officials have been bad both ways. Agreed. I thought Mizzou got a ton of calls early, then we got 3 or 4 bad calls their way in a row. My comments were on college officials in general, they suck.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 22, 2007 -> 09:40 PM) After getting a lot of calls all nights, Mizzou is just getting killed by these officials. Frazier clearly got fouled after that rebound. These officials suck really bad.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 22, 2007 -> 09:34 PM) This Mizzou/Illinois game has some of the worst officiating I've ever seen. The jump ball call on Mizzou was terrible, and then the non-existent travel call on Leo Lyons is as bad as it gets. College refs are terrible at their jobs. Nothing else to say about it. They have no clue what they are doing.

QUOTE(gbuk @ Dec 22, 2007 -> 11:10 AM) For sure...I just hope it stays that way. So do I. I really get the feeling that based on some of his comments that he is sick of her being so controlling and really wants to live his own life. You would also think she would finally realize that she needs to back off and Legion and the coaches take care of his basketball career. She can't afford to ruin his experience at another school because you really can't afford to transfer twice in college basketball as a player for the most part.

QUOTE(gbuk @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 11:51 PM) Legit pick up...good luck with his mom, seriously...I hope she doesn't do anything that completely ruins his career for him, although she said she's staying in Lexington to continue to work on her awesome ministry of prophecy. Weber needs a guy like this, definitely a player he can work with. Well based on this decision it would appear he is distancing himself from his mom who clearly wanted him at ND.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 11:06 AM) Well, Gordon was the only recruit Weber has had on a par with Richmond and he did have trouble keeping him. It's not like the rest of Weber's recruits were 5 stars everyone wanted. But I wasn't appealing to past history, but rather what I think is an obvious future. I don't see why the 09-10 recruits would be less likely to come to Illinois if Weber were replaced, I think it might actually make the program more appealing. As you say, only time will tell. If I can switch to a more interesting subject --are you surprised at McCamey's play so far? I didn't see him play before now, and I get the impression you did. I don't want this to sound like I'm ripping on him (he's a freshman), but he doesn't seem very quick. Do you think he can be a quality point guard in the Big Ten eventually? I was hoping that Illinois would have a guard that could penetrate finally, but it's possible that that's not all on McCamey -- it seems like the UI motion offense doesn't lend itself to that. I saw him play against Simeon last year and he was outstanding in that game. Couldn't guard Rose (but who can) but he showed a ton of promise in that game. He has very good court vision and he actually handles the ball very well. I think there are some concentration issues with him as he doesn't always seem to be all there during games. He has made a lot of lazy passes this year and some passes that he could get away with in high school are turnovers right now. He has also had several really good passes dropped this year because it seems like people aren't expecting the ball (probably a product of playing with a PG who can't find the open man last year). Quickness will be a problem against the small quick PGs but he should be able to use his size to offset that on offense once he figures the game out. He is actually very fast end to end just not very laterally quick. Time will tell how good he becomes but he certainly has the ability to be a very good big ten PG. I do question his work ethic though as he doesn't seem to grasp how hard you have to work at this point in time or the intensity you need to play with at this level. And I think that has been a big part of his problem this year because most of his turnovers have just been lazy ball handling or passes. He also has to work on his jumpshot because he is an extremely streaky shooter at this point (the game against Simeon he was on fire and couldn't miss from the outside). I think the ability is there, it may take some time and I hope he develops the work ethic to live up to his potential. I do think it is time to throw him to the wolves and just let him learn on the court though. Frazier has actually regressed and he means little to the program at this point.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Dec 21, 2007 -> 10:51 AM) well, time will tell on that. my point is that there has been one case (one) in five years where weber had a problem keeping recruits. if you can cite others i'm missing, feel free. and yes, i am fairly certain that richmond, bertrand, and paul are going to end up playing for illini. just as i'm confident crandall head will, and fairly confident anthony johnson will. but again, time will tell. i will say that my confidence in those guys coming would diminish considerably if weber was fired. but that isn't going to happen, so it isn't really relevant to discuss. This is basically my feeling on the situation. Crandall Head is basically committed to Illinois. After the shootout on Saturday he said he loved Illinois it was the only school he was seriously considering and he was making a decision shortly after the new year. Add in that Jerrance was Lu's roommate and Luther has a ton of respect for Weber and it is pretty obvious where he is heading. Richmond, Paul, Bertrand, and Richardson are all sold on playing together and they are sold on Illinois. If Richmond was committed and Weber didn't have the 09 guys a decommit may be a possibility (although if he didn't have the 09 guys he would probably be fired).

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 20, 2007 -> 08:43 PM) Doesn't help all too much when you can't hit free throws. As bad as this team has played, if they make FTs they are 9-1 right now. Oh well, I am just ready for the 09 and 2010 recruits to get here.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 20, 2007 -> 08:34 PM) Illinois got a ton of calls from the refs, and still couldn't win. Bramus and Pollitz are great players to watch. Fantastic finish to the Duke game. It's just too bad Gus isn't doing these games. Frazier needs to not see the floor the rest of the year. Play McCamey, I really don't care how much he struggles. Play him and let him improve on the court.

Legion's mom favors ND but his father and godfather favor Illinois. Will be interesting to see how this turns out.

QUOTE(Brian @ Dec 15, 2007 -> 10:49 PM) Yeah, their main post guy is out until after January with a bad foot, but nobody else is stepping up to help Brandon. If he had guys to play with, he'd be much better. Agreed. He showed flashes, but he has no help at all. None of those guys are even respectable high school players. He got frustrated and forced some bad shots. He has unbelievable potential.