Official College Basketball Thread

[SnB]

Iona up by 17

*hug

[Heads22]

Iona wins 89-72 and Heads goes on anti-depressants.

[Chisoxfn]

Iona wins 89-72 and Heads goes on anti-depressants.

ND has a shot to make you happier cuase I'm gonna be crushed if Stanford gets this.

[Heads22]

Nah Iowa could lose by 80 in either sport and I wouldn't give a care.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

DePaul 59 - 49 Northwestern

[ilsox7]

Followed the IU game on the internet. First half "looked" terrific. Disappointed in the 2nd half b/c it appeared we forgot to play defense. Still, a 23 point win on the road while shooting 60% works for me. Hopefully we can have a solid showing against Duke without D.J. So far, 3 games and 3 good results.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Great game going on for the Great Alaska Shootout championship on ESPN2.

 

 

Lets go Marquette!

[The Bones]

Monday, Nov. 28

7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Virginia Tech at Ohio State

Tuesday, Nov. 29

7:00 p.m. ESPN Wisconsin at Wake Forest

7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Purdue at Florida State

8:00 p.m. ESPNU Clemson at Penn State

9:00 p.m. ESPN Illinois at North Carolina

9:30 p.m. ESPN2 Miami at Michigan

Wednesday, Nov. 30

7:00 p.m. ESPN Georgia Tech at Michigan State

7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Minnesota at Maryland

8:00 p.m. ESPNU Northwestern at Virginia

9:00 p.m. ESPN Duke at Indiana

9:30 p.m. ESPN2 N.C. State at Iowa

 

Can't wait for this. I've got a good feeling about the Big Ten's chances this year with the new expanded field.

[danman31]

Heads my condolences if you didn't off yourself yet. You said you'd wait for me to get back, well I'm back at 2:45 in the morning but I doubt you waited for me after ISU basketball got killed by a school that resembles Iowa if only by name lol.

[greasywheels121]

Followed the IU game on the internet.  First half "looked" terrific.  Disappointed in the 2nd half b/c it appeared we forgot to play defense.  Still, a 23 point win on the road while shooting 60% works for me.  Hopefully we can have a solid showing against Duke without D.J.  So far, 3 games and 3 good results.

 

Yeah, they definitely relaxed in the 2nd half. I don't think they will do that against Duke, nor will they have the opportunity to. The Hoosiers did look great tonight, Western Illinois couldn't decide who or what to stop.

 

Killingsworth had 22 points along w/ 7 boards. Vaden was looking great after starting the season a little rough, 22 points, 8 assists, 6 steals. And the Hoosiers were 16 of 26 from outside the stripe. Now we've got ourselves a few days to prepare for Duke.

 

I can't wait!

[Chisoxfn]

Heads my condolences if you didn't off yourself yet. You said you'd wait for me to get back, well I'm back at 2:45 in the morning but I doubt you waited for me after ISU basketball got killed by a school that resembles Iowa if only by name lol.

Hell Dan...after they lost to Iona, I even started to feel for Heads and thats coming from the person that wouldn't have given two cents about the ISU/KU game if it weren't for the fact that Heads has driven me nuts knocking on my teams.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Monday, Nov. 28

7:30 p.m.          ESPN2          Virginia Tech at Ohio State

Tuesday, Nov. 29

7:00 p.m.          ESPN            Wisconsin at Wake Forest   

7:30 p.m.          ESPN2          Purdue at Florida State         

8:00 p.m.          ESPNU          Clemson at Penn State         

9:00 p.m.          ESPN            Illinois at North Carolina     

9:30 p.m.          ESPN2          Miami at Michigan

Wednesday, Nov. 30

7:00 p.m.          ESPN            Georgia Tech at Michigan State

7:30 p.m.          ESPN2          Minnesota at Maryland

8:00 p.m.          ESPNU          Northwestern at Virginia

9:00 p.m.          ESPN            Duke at Indiana

9:30 p.m.          ESPN2          N.C. State at Iowa

 

Can't wait for this. I've got a good feeling about the Big Ten's chances this year with the new expanded field.

Despite my thoughts on Big Ten being by far the best conference in the nation this season, I really don't like these match-ups for them, especially with their best ammunition going up against that pathetic Georgia Tech squad.

 

I believe it comes down to that last game, and NC State has been very impressive early.

[thedoctor]

bruce weber deals a blow to the "can't recruit top players" theory:

 

eric gordon chooses illinois

 

obviously this won't be official until he signs on the line, but given the fact that illinois has always been his leader, i'm confident he will be an illini.

 

big-time committment for illinois.

[whitesoxfan101]

bruce weber deals a blow to the "can't recruit top players" theory:

 

eric gordon chooses illinois

 

obviously this won't be official until he signs on the line, but given the fact that illinois has always been his leader, i'm confident he will be an illini.

 

big-time committment for illinois.

 

Great news for the Illini on many counts. It blows down the "Weber can't recruit" door, and also, Gordon is close friends with Derrick Rose, another 5 star class of 2007 recruit. I would be very surprised if Illinois doesn't also get Gordon sometime in the near future, and that backcourt under Weber's coaching could be terrifying in the Big 10.

Edited November 28, 2005 by whitesoxfan101

[thedoctor]

Great news for the Illini on many counts.  It blows down the "Weber can't recruit" door, and also, Gordon is close friends with Derrick Rose, another 5 star class of 2007 recruit.  I would be very surprised if Illinois doesn't also get Gordon sometime in the near future, and that backcourt under Weber's coaching could be terrifying in the Big 10.

 

no doubt.

 

rose and gordon are supposed to play against each other on dec. 17 in a shootout in indianapolis. in one of the other games greg oden and mike conley's team will take on proviso east. it will be interesting to see oden and carlwell match-up, although given his talent i'd say oden will probably get the best of that one.

[whitesoxfan101]

no doubt.

 

rose and gordon are supposed to play against each other on dec. 17 in a shootout in indianapolis. in one of the other games greg oden and mike conley's team will take on proviso east. it will be interesting to see oden and carlwell match-up, although given his talent i'd say oden will probably get the best of that one.

 

I am very interested in the matchup you mention in the end of your post. Oden is much more polished than Carlwell, who is still raw (and therefore, not quite as highly ranked as Oden, although still a great prospect) but I think Carlwell's defensive ability against Oden could be fun to watch.

 

(And yes, I'll admit my split allegiances right now. I grew up an Illini fan, but am now a student at NIU. I figure I can like 2 teams in college at least. )

[thedoctor]

I am very interested in the matchup you mention in the end of your post.  Oden is much more polished than Carlwell, who is still raw (and therefore, not quite as highly ranked as Oden, although still a great prospect) but I think Carlwell's defensive ability against Oden could be fun to watch.

 

(And yes, I'll admit my split allegiances right now.  I grew up an Illini fan, but am now a student at NIU.  I figure I can like 2 teams in college at least.  )

 

hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. lol.

 

i think that shootout is at southport high school in indianapolis.

[thedoctor]

eric gordon-scout profile

[SnB]

eric gordon-scout profile

yay bruce

[ZoomSlowik]

Gordon is a major committment, and if he gets Rose too that would go a long way toward ending his recruiting issues. However, he still needs to show that he can consistently get some of these guys. So far I see 2 top 50 guys for a team that has ambitions of hanging with the big boys.

[IlliniKrush]

Excellent. Need a good 2007 class, keep it up Bruce.

[illinilaw08]

Gordon is a major committment, and if he gets Rose too that would go a long way toward ending his recruiting issues. However, he still needs to show that he can consistently get some of these guys. So far I see 2 top 50 guys for a team that has ambitions of hanging with the big boys.

 

Weber just got a legit top 10 player from out of state, something that hasnt been done by Illinois in my lifetime (I dont count the committment of Vilanueva since he never actually played here).

 

Last thing to say here is that high school rankings do not mean much. Look at the freshman class at Illinois this year, Smith, Frazier and Jackson were not highly recruited, but as freshman Smith and Frazier look like they are going to be good players and I have high hopes for Jackson after he red-shirts this year.

[ZoomSlowik]

Weber just got a legit top 10 player from out of state, something that hasnt been done by Illinois in my lifetime (I dont count the committment of Vilanueva since he never actually played here). 

 

Last thing to say here is that high school rankings do not mean much.  Look at the freshman class at Illinois this year, Smith, Frazier and Jackson were not highly recruited, but as freshman Smith and Frazier look like they are going to be good players and I have high hopes for Jackson after he red-shirts this year.

 

Actually, as long as I've been following Illinois (mid to early 90's), they haven't gotten a top 10 player, period. Cook, Brown, and Frank Williams were by far the best they've gotten, but none of them were top 10 type talent, although they were generally considered top 25. If you want to consider the out of state thing, Williams was a top 50 player out of Texas.

 

The rankings do matter to some extent. There is an obvious difference between getting a top-25 type guy and getting an outside the top 100 guy. There is usually a great amount of consensus between the top 20 or so before they start to vary from ranking to ranking, but once you get around the 50's it gets more subjective. Generally the more talented the guy coming in the more likely that he will be an impact player, although obviously there are exceptions. Someone like Eric Gordon is a much more sure thing than Chester Frazier.

 

Another issue is that usually your freshmen impact players were rated among the best players in the country (at least at your bigger programs), something Illinois is going to need in the near future with Dee and James moving on. You're projecting a lot more with lower rated guys like Frazier, Smith, and Jackson, or even with formerly fairly highly rated guys like McBride and Randle. With those types of guys you hope that they can be a dependable starter by their junior year (maybe as a sophmore if you get lucky), with guys like Gordon and Rose you can count on them much earlier in their development.

[greasywheels121]

New polls:

 

AP Top 25
 

1 Duke

2 Texas

3 Connecticut

4 Villanova

5 Oklahoma

6 Gonzaga

7 Louisville

8 Boston College

9 Memphis

10 Kentucky

11 Florida

12 Illinois

13 Michigan State

14 Iowa

15 Arizona

16 UCLA

17 Indiana

18 Washington

19 George Washington

20 Nevada

21 Alabama

22 Wake Forest

23 Maryland

24 North Carolina State

25 LSU

 

Coaches Poll
 

1 Duke

2 Texas

3 Connecticut

4 Villanova

5 Oklahoma

6 Louisville

7 Gonzaga

8 Boston College

9 Memphis

10 Kentucky

11 Florida

12 Illinois

13 Arizona

14 Michigan State

15 Iowa

16 Indiana

17 UCLA

18 Alabama

19 Washington

20 Maryland

21 North Carolina State

22 George Washington

23 Wake Forest

24 Syracuse

25 LSU

[IlliniKrush]

You forgot to highlight #12 Illinois in orange