Official 2007-08 College Basketball Thread

[Soxbadger]

Well not sure what Randle was thinking, why not dump it into Pruitt and just for the tie? Maybe even get the 5th on DJ White and go to OT?

 

Illini could have easily won that game, Im not sure how any objective observer can say that Indiana is that much more talented than Illinois in any way shape or form. The difference is basically Eric Gordon.

 

Even then, the Illini could have won. And the Indiana fans yelling shut up Weber, how classy. With a coach like Sampson how can you possibly thow stones? He is the most classless and sanctioned coach in the Big 10.

Edited January 13, 2008 by Soxbadger

[CWSGuy406]

way to state the obvious. we've only been talking about this from the preseason up until now. remember, illinois did lose at home to tennessee state. i don't think anyone was making the argument they were talented.

 

Not to stir the pot here, but I believe somebody in this thread predicted a second-place Big Ten finish for U of I.

[hitlesswonder]

really? illinois has lost four straight including to tennessee state at home. indiana has won 26 straight at home. we've been talking for two years and agreeing that bruce weber hasn't recruited top talent. with all that in mind, your first two best observations of this game are that illinois isn't physically talented? ok. maybe you just aren't good at providing good objective analysis at basketball. that's ok. few are.

 

I was just saying that one reason for the foul differential (which was a topic here) was the disparity in athletcism between the teams. That's all.

 

You are right -- I'm probably not a good particularly analyst. If I'm not adding anything worth talking about, I'll stop. My apologies.

[whitesoxfan99]

Well not sure what Randle was thinking, why not dump it into Pruitt and just for the tie? Maybe even get the 5th on DJ White and go to OT?

 

Illini could have easily won that game, Im not sure how any objective observer can say that Indiana is that much more talented than Illinois in any way shape or form. The difference is basically Eric Gordon.

 

Even then, the Illini could have won. And the Indiana fans yelling shut up Weber, how classy. With a coach like Sampson how can you possibly thow stones? He is the most classless and sanctioned coach in the Big 10.

 

Problem with going into Pruitt is IU could just foul and there is no way he makes the FTs.

[sircaffey]

Well not sure what Randle was thinking, why not dump it into Pruitt and just for the tie? Maybe even get the 5th on DJ White and go to OT?

 

Illini could have easily won that game, Im not sure how any objective observer can say that Indiana is that much more talented than Illinois in any way shape or form. The difference is basically Eric Gordon.

 

Even then, the Illini could have won. And the Indiana fans yelling shut up Weber, how classy. With a coach like Sampson how can you possibly thow stones? He is the most classless and sanctioned, coach in the Big 10.

 

Its students being students. Just wait until Indiana goes to Illinois. You might want to recant your statements of the IU student base. It's going to be ugly in Champaigne.

[thedoctor]

I was just saying that one reason for the foul differential (which was a topic here) was the disparity in athletcism between the teams. That's all.

 

You are right -- I'm probably not a good particularly analyst. If I'm not adding anything worth talking about, I'll stop. My apologies.

 

i'm not asking you to stop doing anything. i'm not a mod nor do i want to be.

 

we all understand you've been critical of the way illinois has recruited over the past few years. even most illinois fans (me in the group) has agreed. but why continue to harp on the obvious when that's not what's happening on the floor. in the business we call that burying the lead.

[Soxbadger]

Yeah I guess he did just make 2/2 so the law of averages was against him.

 

I still think Randall shooting is basically the worst option.

[thedoctor]

Its students being students. Just wait until Indiana goes to Illinois. You might want to recant your statements of the IU student base. It's going to be ugly in Champaigne.

 

agreed. it will not be good in champaign. people will make azzes of themselves as people usually do.

[Soxbadger]

How does students yelling reflect on Indiana's decision to hire Sampson, and keep Sampson even after he has already committed violations again?

 

Im just saying its funny to hear them yell at a coach when their coach is setting Big 10 standards back light years.

[sircaffey]

agreed. it will not be good in champaign. people will make azzes of themselves as people usually do.

 

It's probably going to be the nastiest situation in a long time. What do you get when you mix drunken college students, a student section that sits on the floor 3 feet from the players, and the loss of the top recruit in the nation? Mayhem. They better bring in extra security.

[thedoctor]

It's probably going to be the nastiest situation in a long time. What do you get when you mix drunken college students, a student section that sits on the floor 3 feet from the players, and the loss of the top recruit in the nation? Mayhem. They better bring in extra security.

 

there won't be security issues.

 

but people will definitely say some unnecessary things, as we saw tonight.

[whitesoxfan99]

Yeah I guess he did just make 2/2 so the law of averages was against him.

 

I still think Randall shooting is basically the worst option.

 

Agreed. And that is the problem with having no timeouts in that situation. I have no idea what he was thinking there and the thing he is actually played a very good game before that. I know Pruitt had hit two in a row, but 4 in a row just wouldn't happen and he has already missed Fts that could have put Illinois ahead this year in similar situation.

[Jenksismyhero]

Wow, so many things to say about that game. For anyone who thinks Weber can't coach, re-watch this game. His plan was perfect. If only the two biggest morons on the team (Randle and Pruitt) showed some patience and senior/veteran decision making in the last 5 minutes, this would have been a win. How worthless is Sampson? Did he even try to get Gordon the ball on set plays? A ball screen? That's all you've got? And you have one of the worst shooting teams in the nation, and you play zone like three times? Anyone could see that the success Illinois had against the zone (i think two baskets) were lucky ones - how often is meachum going to drive right under the hoop? He's terrible. He made zero adjustments. He relied on Ratliff draining ridiculous three point shots to win this game.

 

IU fans are real classy with the shut up Weber chant - shocker there.

 

In the end I'm happy. I expected Illinois to get blown out. Honestly it reminds me of the Indiana game in 04, when Deron, Dee and Luther finally saw what the motion offense could do. I think the last two games, two of the toughest on the schedule, will go a long way in helping this team grow.

[thedoctor]

Wow, so many things to say about that game. For anyone who thinks Weber can't coach, re-watch this game. His plan was perfect. If only the two biggest morons on the team (Randle and Pruitt) showed some patience and senior/veteran decision making in the last 5 minutes, this would have been a win. How worthless is Sampson? Did he even try to get Gordon the ball on set plays? A ball screen? That's all you've got? And you have one of the worst shooting teams in the nation, and you play zone like three times? Anyone could see that the success Illinois had against the zone (i think two baskets) were lucky ones - how often is meachum going to drive right under the hoop? He's terrible. He made zero adjustments. He relied on Ratliff draining ridiculous three point shots to win this game.

 

IU fans are real classy with the shut up Weber chant - shocker there.

 

In the end I'm happy. I expected Illinois to get blown out. Honestly it reminds me of the Indiana game in 04, when Deron, Dee and Luther finally saw what the motion offense could do. I think the last two games, two of the toughest on the schedule, will go a long way in helping this team grow.

 

well said. i agree with a lot of that.

[thedoctor]

Not to stir the pot here, but I believe somebody in this thread predicted a second-place Big Ten finish for U of I.

 

i haven't been able to find that prediction, although i don't doubt that it was made. if you check back a page or so you'll note i called illinois's fans out for their homerism as well.

 

anyhow, i and many of the illini fans here understood that this wasn't going to be a great year. i was hoping that a weak big ten would propel the team into the tournament, but i probably underestimated how poorly we'd perform in the pre-conference schedule.

[whitesoxfan99]

i haven't been able to find that prediction, although i don't doubt that it was made. if you check back a page or so you'll note i called illinois's fans out for their homerism as well.

 

anyhow, i and many of the illini fans here understood that this wasn't going to be a great year. i was hoping that a weak big ten would propel the team into the tournament, but i probably underestimated how poorly we'd perform in the pre-conference schedule.

 

I thought we could finish 3-5 based mostly on how weak the Big 10 is.

[Jenksismyhero]

Not to stir the pot here, but I believe somebody in this thread predicted a second-place Big Ten finish for U of I.

 

Yeah that was me. Who blows you away in the Big Ten? Illinois, the worst shooting team, played Wisky close and nearly beat Indiana, both on the road. I figured that a) after 3 years Randle would learn how to play basketball, instead he's the same player, B) after 3 years Pruitt would learn how to pass the ball, instead he's the same player, c) I figured the team could hit some free throws and d) i figured the combo of meachum, holdren, mccamey and alexandar (alexandar especially) could hit some jump shots. I don't think any of those expectations were unreasonable.

 

And today's game pretty much proved that Indiana is not a great team.

Edited January 14, 2008 by Jenksismybitch

[CWSGuy406]

And today's game pretty much proved that Indiana is not a great team.

 

One game proves they're not a great team? I don't think so. I have no comment on whether they are, in fact, a great team -- I don't watch them enough to make that comment -- but this game didn't prove that.

 

And yes, I still think predicting U of I for second in the Big Ten -- even in a down year -- was rather ridiculous. I don't know how you could say before the season U of I were CLEARLY better than either Indiana or Michigan State. You could also make the argument that they weren't any better than Ohio State or Wisconsin, let alone three of the four afformentioned teams. I don't know, maybe I'm nuts -- I certainly don't follow UofI like I do Marquette, but I think it would've taken just about everything to go right for the Illini to finish second.

[Buehrle>Wood]

One game proves they're not a great team? I don't think so. I have no comment on whether they are, in fact, a great team -- I don't watch them enough to make that comment -- but this game didn't prove that.

They've proven they aren't a great much more than they are one. Let's face it, the only decent tourney team they've played is Xaiver, who wiped the floor on a neutral court with them. Now they've recently struggled against poor teams in Illinois(Who is a good team in terms of the rest of the schedule)and Iowa. My guess is one of their fans will remind me of a certain game, but that is only an indication on far they are reaching there. So all these games may be no indication of anything, but IU certainly has not proved they are a great team, or even a good one. There is a reason they have the lowest RPI of one loss teams by ten spots...their resume is just horrible right now. Even worse than the often critisized Wazzu's and Vandy's.

[greasywheels121]

They've proven they aren't a great much more than they are one. Let's face it, the only decent tourney team they've played is Xaiver, who wiped the floor on a neutral court with them. Now they've recently struggled against poor teams in Illinois(Who is a good team in terms of the rest of the schedule)and Iowa. My guess is one of their fans will remind me of a certain game, but that is only an indication on far they are reaching there. So all these games may be no indication of anything, but IU certainly has not proved they are a great team, or even a good one. There is a reason they have the lowest RPI of one loss teams by ten spots...their resume is just horrible right now. Even worse than the often critisized Wazzu's and Vandy's.

 

Yes, we've played a weak non-conference schedule--we still have UConn remaining at the end of the month. However, you would usually assume a non-conference slate with Illinois State, Xavier, Georgia Tech, Southern Illinois, and Kentucky would be fairly respectable. However, basically all of those teams are having horrid years beyond expecation.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Yes, we've played a weak non-conference schedule--we still have UConn remaining at the end of the month. However, you would usually assume a non-conference slate with Illinois State, Xavier, Georgia Tech, Southern Illinois, and Kentucky would be fairly respectable. However, basically all of those teams are having horrid years beyond expecation.

 

Oh yeah. I should have said that their resume is not for a lack of effort on Sampson's part.

[CWSGuy406]

They've proven they aren't a great much more than they are one. Let's face it, the only decent tourney team they've played is Xaiver, who wiped the floor on a neutral court with them. Now they've recently struggled against poor teams in Illinois(Who is a good team in terms of the rest of the schedule)and Iowa. My guess is one of their fans will remind me of a certain game, but that is only an indication on far they are reaching there. So all these games may be no indication of anything, but IU certainly has not proved they are a great team, or even a good one. There is a reason they have the lowest RPI of one loss teams by ten spots...their resume is just horrible right now. Even worse than the often critisized Wazzu's and Vandy's.

 

Just to clarify -- I'm not saying Indiana is a *great* (we're getting into the semantics of what "great" means, but that's not the point of this post) team. I'm just saying that this one game today doesn't by itself indicate the Hoosiers aren't great.

[Rex Hudler]

Gordon whines more than Pruitt when a call goes against him. Didn't think that was possible.

 

Almost as much as Illinois fans whine every game about the officiating, if that is possible.

[IlliniKrush]

Almost as much as Illinois fans whine every game about the officiating, if that is possible.

I believe the unbiased announcers did that for us today.

[sircaffey]

Wow, so many things to say about that game. For anyone who thinks Weber can't coach, re-watch this game. His plan was perfect. If only the two biggest morons on the team (Randle and Pruitt) showed some patience and senior/veteran decision making in the last 5 minutes, this would have been a win. How worthless is Sampson? Did he even try to get Gordon the ball on set plays? A ball screen? That's all you've got? And you have one of the worst shooting teams in the nation, and you play zone like three times? Anyone could see that the success Illinois had against the zone (i think two baskets) were lucky ones - how often is meachum going to drive right under the hoop? He's terrible. He made zero adjustments. He relied on Ratliff draining ridiculous three point shots to win this game.

 

IU fans are real classy with the shut up Weber chant - shocker there.

 

In the end I'm happy. I expected Illinois to get blown out. Honestly it reminds me of the Indiana game in 04, when Deron, Dee and Luther finally saw what the motion offense could do. I think the last two games, two of the toughest on the schedule, will go a long way in helping this team grow.

 

Yeah, UI fans, and every other school for that matter, are proper and very polite.