For starters, when did OSU start saying putting extra emphasis on 'The' when saying the name of their school? Everyone knows what I'm talking about. They turn the word 'The' into that strung out 'Theeeee". That's probably a couple extra e's in there, but I don't care. It's simply one of those things to dislike because I can.
Also, ever since my Spring Break of 2007 spent in Panama City, I have come to dislike the song 'Hang On Sloopy." It's a nice classic that usually incites mass singing when played with drunks around. However, the Buckeye's made me dislike that song by adding their O-H-I-O cheer at the end of every chorus. And as a refresher, 2007 was when Ohio State was good with Greg Oden and Mike Conley, made the title game only to get owned by Florida. Needless to say, 'Hang On Sloopy' was played many a times at the hotel pool.
As for today's game, I can't really comment too much. I was driving home from Mardi Gras in St. Louis and just got to listen to Brian Barnhart. Other than the fact I missed watching the game, I was upset because I forgot Bill Raferty was the analyst. I can't wait for tournament time to see the crazy catch-phrase he comes up with. It'll be pretty hard to beat 'ONIONS!!' though.
Just by looking at the final score it was obvious that todays game was 100x better than the 6th grade girls shootout that took place Wednesday night.
Total Combined Points Wednesday- 71
Total Illini Points today- 70
Shooting % was up 28 points overall (58-30) and 34 points from beyond the arc (52-18).
Also, the Illini shot 9 more free throws. This typically isn't that crazy, but when you shoot ZERO on one night, 9 seems like a ton.
The team also kept up it's crazy % of Asst/FGM (23/28 for 82%; above their season average as well). For those (if anyone actually reads this stuff) who didn't hear the radio broadcast, Barnhart spouted off some crazy numbers for Chester Frazier. For the season, Chester has 146 points, 144 assists, and 130 rebounds. Thats consistent, but obviously low points for your starting point guard. All Illini fans know that when Chester scores, it's more of a bonus. I could name all the intangibles that he brings to the court, but thats just wasting everyone's time. (Did you know he wants to coach after school? Or that Mike Tisdale is on a 6,000 calorie diet/day?...yeah, everyone does because any announcer for ESPN/Big10 pounds that into the viewing audience).
The defense sounded pretty good too. If it takes Evan 'The Villian' Turner 35 minutes to get on a roll, then it has to be good defense. And yes, I took that nickname from Club Trillion. Unlike Mr. Titus, I can give props/advertise for other sites. Go to his blog, laugh your ass off, and thank me when you're finished.
Well, it looks like 1/2 this post was bashing Ohio State and their traditions. The other half was looking at the box score and putting those numbers into sentences instead of spreadsheet form. Eh, nobody's perfect. See ya Thursday night unless something sparks my interest.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Vs. Pennsylvania State
WOW
Illini Nation thought that the loss @ Minnesota was bad. That loss looks like we got beat by Oklahoma compared to the atrocity that happened tonight. It's one thing to lose against Penn St in basketball...it's another to lose to them at home. Who do they think they are and where does this confidence come from?
Oh, that's right, it comes from that fateful February night in 2007. The one where the Illini were ranked. The one where Dee Brown and James Augustine were still on the team. The one where the Illini held a 15 point lead at half time. That lead disappeared in the final 20 minutes and gave way to the most embarrassing finish the Orange Krush has ever been a part of. For those that don't remember, or drank away that night like I did, let me give you the last few moments of that game.
- I covered the basics...Illini up only to lose lead and go back/forth the rest of the way from about the 3 minute mark
- Penn St scores with less than 5 seconds left, prompting an Illini timeout
- Coach Weber draws up a very nice play, leaving Rich McBride with a good attempt from behind the arc
- McBride pulls up, drains it...Krush storms the court (this is already embarassing enough. The Illini were ranked and Penn St wasn't. How many times do the fans of a ranked team rush the court after a win that was supposed to happen? Exactly...never. Any member of Krush who touched the floor following this shot should have their fan card revoked.) Sure, it was a very exciting moment. One that shouldn't have happened, but did.
- Upon further review, officials say that the shot was after time had run out. The correct call.
The Orange Krush, one of the most prestigous student groups in the country had already made fools of themselves. This night; a 15 point come from behind victory has led to the Nittany Lions rolling off 3 straight victories in Assembly Hall. Michigan St or Wisconsin can't even say that in the last decade.
As for tonights game, it was just ugly. If I'm a Penn St fan, I'm just happy we won. Both teams were horrible. This wasn't even a defensive battle. The Illini played their solid defense. Taylor Battle got his first shot during transition and with Mike Davis guarding him. He ended up with a mere 11pts on 3/11 shooting...4 of which from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds. Jamelle Cornley...only 5pts on 2/8 shooting. That's holding the top 2 scorers to 16 points! Granted it was nearly half of their scoring, but holding a teams scoring options to 16 points usually wins ball games.
The problem Illinois faced tonight was that their shots simply weren't falling. Coach Weber can't be too upset with the overall performance. The Illini got open shots, but couldn't hit on them. It was....I can't even think of a good word for it. It's hard to describe or figure out why an open shot doesn't go in.
In the first half the Illini were either having trouble getting the ball inside or just weren't wanting to. When they did, Mike Tisdale's hook wasn't going in. When the team had open looks beyond the arc, they got nothing. Alex Legion tried to find something, but couldn't. Trent Meacham tried, but nothing. Mike Davis made his first shot from the elbow, and then nothing consistent the rest of the way. I've simply run out of ways to show how this team couldn't hit water if it jumped out of a boat. Bad analogy, but the truth. Finally, this team shot zero free throws tonight. ZERO. The guards drive, hit the box, and turn around. They don't force contact or even attempt a shot. They've made up their mind the minute they get around their defender. Demetri McCamey had too many drives tonight where he would jump and have nowhere to go with the ball. His luck is starting to run out. The team relys on the jump shot too much, and tonight it really killed them. If there's any good that came out of the offensive version of the Illini tonight it's that the assisted on 10/15 made baskets! And I almost forgot...Jeff Jordan making his one shot attempt of the game. This is maybe his third straight game doing that? He'll be real good next year...maybe this year, who knows.
The only good was the team defense. Like I said, Battle and Cornley had 16 points. The team forced 13 turnovers. It took Cornley alot of time to start recognizing the double-team and passing out of it. Chester did a wonderful job once again on the defensive end. Honestly, unless him or Chris Kramer of Purdue do something special in the last 5 games, they need to share the Big10 Defensive Player Award. I loathe Kramer, but can't argue against the fact he's a great defender. I hope Chester can limit Evan Turner, or Sunday will be bad.
That's a wrap for tonight. I'm gonna do some minor drinking, but the majority of damage will be done this weekend. This loss just cemented the fact of me going to St. Louis for Mardi Gras. Last time I was there the Illini won. Hopefully my presence in that city leads to an Illini victory in Columbus on Sunday.
Illini Nation thought that the loss @ Minnesota was bad. That loss looks like we got beat by Oklahoma compared to the atrocity that happened tonight. It's one thing to lose against Penn St in basketball...it's another to lose to them at home. Who do they think they are and where does this confidence come from?
Oh, that's right, it comes from that fateful February night in 2007. The one where the Illini were ranked. The one where Dee Brown and James Augustine were still on the team. The one where the Illini held a 15 point lead at half time. That lead disappeared in the final 20 minutes and gave way to the most embarrassing finish the Orange Krush has ever been a part of. For those that don't remember, or drank away that night like I did, let me give you the last few moments of that game.
- I covered the basics...Illini up only to lose lead and go back/forth the rest of the way from about the 3 minute mark
- Penn St scores with less than 5 seconds left, prompting an Illini timeout
- Coach Weber draws up a very nice play, leaving Rich McBride with a good attempt from behind the arc
- McBride pulls up, drains it...Krush storms the court (this is already embarassing enough. The Illini were ranked and Penn St wasn't. How many times do the fans of a ranked team rush the court after a win that was supposed to happen? Exactly...never. Any member of Krush who touched the floor following this shot should have their fan card revoked.) Sure, it was a very exciting moment. One that shouldn't have happened, but did.
- Upon further review, officials say that the shot was after time had run out. The correct call.
The Orange Krush, one of the most prestigous student groups in the country had already made fools of themselves. This night; a 15 point come from behind victory has led to the Nittany Lions rolling off 3 straight victories in Assembly Hall. Michigan St or Wisconsin can't even say that in the last decade.
As for tonights game, it was just ugly. If I'm a Penn St fan, I'm just happy we won. Both teams were horrible. This wasn't even a defensive battle. The Illini played their solid defense. Taylor Battle got his first shot during transition and with Mike Davis guarding him. He ended up with a mere 11pts on 3/11 shooting...4 of which from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds. Jamelle Cornley...only 5pts on 2/8 shooting. That's holding the top 2 scorers to 16 points! Granted it was nearly half of their scoring, but holding a teams scoring options to 16 points usually wins ball games.
The problem Illinois faced tonight was that their shots simply weren't falling. Coach Weber can't be too upset with the overall performance. The Illini got open shots, but couldn't hit on them. It was....I can't even think of a good word for it. It's hard to describe or figure out why an open shot doesn't go in.
In the first half the Illini were either having trouble getting the ball inside or just weren't wanting to. When they did, Mike Tisdale's hook wasn't going in. When the team had open looks beyond the arc, they got nothing. Alex Legion tried to find something, but couldn't. Trent Meacham tried, but nothing. Mike Davis made his first shot from the elbow, and then nothing consistent the rest of the way. I've simply run out of ways to show how this team couldn't hit water if it jumped out of a boat. Bad analogy, but the truth. Finally, this team shot zero free throws tonight. ZERO. The guards drive, hit the box, and turn around. They don't force contact or even attempt a shot. They've made up their mind the minute they get around their defender. Demetri McCamey had too many drives tonight where he would jump and have nowhere to go with the ball. His luck is starting to run out. The team relys on the jump shot too much, and tonight it really killed them. If there's any good that came out of the offensive version of the Illini tonight it's that the assisted on 10/15 made baskets! And I almost forgot...Jeff Jordan making his one shot attempt of the game. This is maybe his third straight game doing that? He'll be real good next year...maybe this year, who knows.
The only good was the team defense. Like I said, Battle and Cornley had 16 points. The team forced 13 turnovers. It took Cornley alot of time to start recognizing the double-team and passing out of it. Chester did a wonderful job once again on the defensive end. Honestly, unless him or Chris Kramer of Purdue do something special in the last 5 games, they need to share the Big10 Defensive Player Award. I loathe Kramer, but can't argue against the fact he's a great defender. I hope Chester can limit Evan Turner, or Sunday will be bad.
That's a wrap for tonight. I'm gonna do some minor drinking, but the majority of damage will be done this weekend. This loss just cemented the fact of me going to St. Louis for Mardi Gras. Last time I was there the Illini won. Hopefully my presence in that city leads to an Illini victory in Columbus on Sunday.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Easiest Job Ever
From this day forward, you can call me Dr. Reid, Head of Bracketology for the Blogger universe. I have no Ph.D, haven't played basketball since my freshman year of high school, and haven't talked to a female in the past year. So, given those previous statements, I believe I am equally qualified as one Joe Lunardi to be called a Bracketologist. Of course that final part about talking to women is false. I talk to my mom all the time, much like Mr. Lunardi does.
This guy has the easiest fake job in the world. He makes Mel Kiper look like little Alby Einstein. Mel Kiper actually watches game film, talks to coaches/players, does his homework and makes his predictions far more advanced than filling out a bracket.
Lets look at the info:
1- There are 65 teams invited to the NCAA Tournament each year. There are 31 conferences with automatic bids via winning their tournament title. This leaves only 34 'guesses' for Lunardi.
2- Typically, the BCS Conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac 10, SEC) are good enough to get at least 3 teams into the tournament. Further math will show that this leaves 22 'guesses' at most.
3- Out of these 22 remaining slots, we'll say that 3 more teams from the BCS come in...this now gives 19 spots open.
So, Joe Lunardi is basically picking 19 teams. This is without saying that conference tournaments aren't always won by a team already included in the first 31 or that these tournaments whittle down the pool of prospective teams down even more. By the time the conference tournaments are at the semi-finals, most of those teams are already in the Dance.
The hard part about Lunardi's job is finished by Saturday night on Selection Weekend. Arguments can be made like looking at RPI's, Strength of Schedule, Record against RPI Top 25, or Record against Top 25. Sure, he does this. Every analyst does. But everyone thinks Lunardi is super because he averages 32 of 34 at large teams a year. It's made out to look harder than it really is. When it comes down to picking those last 4 teams, he has a pool of maybe 6-8 to pick from.
I've done all that without mentioning his brackets that he posts on ESPN. Those are just crazy. The NCAA has developed the 'pod system' for placing the top 16 teams in the tournament. Lunardi ignores this when filling out his bracket. He's stopped doing this, but he used to place 2 teams from the same conference in the same sub-regional, thus setting up a second round match-up.
Lastly, I feel the need to mention what just flashed across the ESPN ticker. There was the prediction of his 'Probable #1 Seeds' in which he listed UConn, Oklahoma, North Carolina, & Pitt. No shit...way to go out on a limb on that one Joe! That's saying that those 4 teams will win out the regular season and more than likely win their conference tournament. Just sack up one time and say that one of those teams will lose a game and will fall from the top. This prediction is just as bad as every fan in America claiming that their team would make the playoffs if they had started today. I'm guilty of it, but it's stupid. If that were the case then the St. Louis Cardinals would have won the 2005 World Series over the Chicago White Sox because they had one more regular season win.
I could easily finish off this post with my bitching about this weeks polls. However, I've given up on caring about the polls. The coaches poll is filled out by student managers. The AP is full of garbage beat writers that plug their local team too much. It's just not worth caring about. The only thing I worry about is the Illini playing well enough to secure at least a 4 seed and play relatively close to home in the first round.
Since it's Monday, 24 is on shortly. Time to see who Jack Bauer kills tonight.
This guy has the easiest fake job in the world. He makes Mel Kiper look like little Alby Einstein. Mel Kiper actually watches game film, talks to coaches/players, does his homework and makes his predictions far more advanced than filling out a bracket.
Lets look at the info:
1- There are 65 teams invited to the NCAA Tournament each year. There are 31 conferences with automatic bids via winning their tournament title. This leaves only 34 'guesses' for Lunardi.
2- Typically, the BCS Conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac 10, SEC) are good enough to get at least 3 teams into the tournament. Further math will show that this leaves 22 'guesses' at most.
3- Out of these 22 remaining slots, we'll say that 3 more teams from the BCS come in...this now gives 19 spots open.
So, Joe Lunardi is basically picking 19 teams. This is without saying that conference tournaments aren't always won by a team already included in the first 31 or that these tournaments whittle down the pool of prospective teams down even more. By the time the conference tournaments are at the semi-finals, most of those teams are already in the Dance.
The hard part about Lunardi's job is finished by Saturday night on Selection Weekend. Arguments can be made like looking at RPI's, Strength of Schedule, Record against RPI Top 25, or Record against Top 25. Sure, he does this. Every analyst does. But everyone thinks Lunardi is super because he averages 32 of 34 at large teams a year. It's made out to look harder than it really is. When it comes down to picking those last 4 teams, he has a pool of maybe 6-8 to pick from.
I've done all that without mentioning his brackets that he posts on ESPN. Those are just crazy. The NCAA has developed the 'pod system' for placing the top 16 teams in the tournament. Lunardi ignores this when filling out his bracket. He's stopped doing this, but he used to place 2 teams from the same conference in the same sub-regional, thus setting up a second round match-up.
Lastly, I feel the need to mention what just flashed across the ESPN ticker. There was the prediction of his 'Probable #1 Seeds' in which he listed UConn, Oklahoma, North Carolina, & Pitt. No shit...way to go out on a limb on that one Joe! That's saying that those 4 teams will win out the regular season and more than likely win their conference tournament. Just sack up one time and say that one of those teams will lose a game and will fall from the top. This prediction is just as bad as every fan in America claiming that their team would make the playoffs if they had started today. I'm guilty of it, but it's stupid. If that were the case then the St. Louis Cardinals would have won the 2005 World Series over the Chicago White Sox because they had one more regular season win.
I could easily finish off this post with my bitching about this weeks polls. However, I've given up on caring about the polls. The coaches poll is filled out by student managers. The AP is full of garbage beat writers that plug their local team too much. It's just not worth caring about. The only thing I worry about is the Illini playing well enough to secure at least a 4 seed and play relatively close to home in the first round.
Since it's Monday, 24 is on shortly. Time to see who Jack Bauer kills tonight.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
@ Indiana
The first half was a beautiful half of basketball for the Illini. There really isn't much to argue about. The team was taking high percentage shots and making alot of them, high assist/shots made, few turnovers, great defense. When's the last time an Illini team had 7 blocks in a game, let alone the first half? Matt Roth took his first shot with 2 minutes left in the half. Unfortunately, he made it, but limiting a shooter like that is pretty good. Another thing I'm just not a fan of is Tisdale's help defense. He would move too far outside, leaving Pritchard open near the hoop. The counter arguement is that the team got their 7 blocks out of this. I don't like that. Pritchard shouldn't have been open that many times. It's a good thing he's terrible at free throws too. What was he...2-6 in the first half? I know the Illini were up 17 at the break, and I'm nit-picking, but I'm trying to look for the negatives in the first 20 minutes.
As for the second half, I just don't know what happened. I guess the simplest answer is that the team got lazy. Very lazy. This is a Hoosier team that was beaten by 31 in the previous meeting and now they're up 17. The passes weren't sharp, cuts not crisp, boxing-out seemed to dissappear, the shot clock would get low without a good look at the basket, defense went obsolete. I went this whole post and the first one without even mentioning the poor free-throw shooting or lack of attempts from the stripe. Things that typically happen to this team on the road, were starting to happen again.
Another thing that's easy to harp on is the Big10 officiating. This was also a night/day thing today. The first half, the fouls happened. No doubt about it. Trent was pretty dumb on his 2 that got him into trouble; simple hand checks, but everyone does it (Purdue to the extreme). It's just a matter of the officials calling them and calling them consistently throughout the game. When the second half started, it appeared like the refs had to make up for their low first half performance. This is typical. What bothered me was the inconsistency. This game was much more competitive in the second half, but I strongly believe that what made it closer was the technical foul called on Calvin Brock. That was terrible. Greg Anthony couldn't have said it better; "I don't think that was a good call at all. We have the benefit of replay, but Calvin Brock is an emotional player. I don't think he did anything deserving of a T there. He was simply jacked up about a dunk, yelled towards his bench, and happened to bump into Taber along the way."
With all that said, the first half cushion put up by the Illini was just too much for the Hoosiers to overcome. I was very worried during the two sets of one-in-ones missed by the team in the final 3 minutes. I had some deja vu there from last year. Luckily, the team defense came back, rebounding came back, and Legion made his free throws. It will be interesting to see this Hoosier team next year, or even if we play them in the Big10 Tournament. As we proved against Purdue last year, it's tough to beat a team three times in a year.
For the rest of the year, the schedule has become pretty favorable for us. The competion is there being as the games are played against teams working for a NCAA berth. But also, all the games are televised nationally with the Thursday (ESPN)/Sunday (CBS) tv schedule. There's only two games this team can really afford to lose the rest of the way and that's the home game vs. Michigan State and the game at Penn State.
This is a very busy Sunday in the world of sports...in my eyes anyway. The Illini win and I get a breather until the Daytona 500 starts. I've attended the race 5 times. Being witness to Davey Allison, Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, and Michael Waltrip winning the most prestigious race in NASCAR. I miss going there, but I'll be back. The tailgating for the race is great with 170,000+ people in the area. That must be what it's like at an SEC football game. It's really pretty hard to describe for those who've never made the trip. My prediction, and a bold one if I may think so, is that this years winner will be Clint Bowyer.
That's all I've got for today. Spring Training has started, so there may be some baseball news coming shortly. So until Penn State, goodnight.
As for the second half, I just don't know what happened. I guess the simplest answer is that the team got lazy. Very lazy. This is a Hoosier team that was beaten by 31 in the previous meeting and now they're up 17. The passes weren't sharp, cuts not crisp, boxing-out seemed to dissappear, the shot clock would get low without a good look at the basket, defense went obsolete. I went this whole post and the first one without even mentioning the poor free-throw shooting or lack of attempts from the stripe. Things that typically happen to this team on the road, were starting to happen again.
Another thing that's easy to harp on is the Big10 officiating. This was also a night/day thing today. The first half, the fouls happened. No doubt about it. Trent was pretty dumb on his 2 that got him into trouble; simple hand checks, but everyone does it (Purdue to the extreme). It's just a matter of the officials calling them and calling them consistently throughout the game. When the second half started, it appeared like the refs had to make up for their low first half performance. This is typical. What bothered me was the inconsistency. This game was much more competitive in the second half, but I strongly believe that what made it closer was the technical foul called on Calvin Brock. That was terrible. Greg Anthony couldn't have said it better; "I don't think that was a good call at all. We have the benefit of replay, but Calvin Brock is an emotional player. I don't think he did anything deserving of a T there. He was simply jacked up about a dunk, yelled towards his bench, and happened to bump into Taber along the way."
With all that said, the first half cushion put up by the Illini was just too much for the Hoosiers to overcome. I was very worried during the two sets of one-in-ones missed by the team in the final 3 minutes. I had some deja vu there from last year. Luckily, the team defense came back, rebounding came back, and Legion made his free throws. It will be interesting to see this Hoosier team next year, or even if we play them in the Big10 Tournament. As we proved against Purdue last year, it's tough to beat a team three times in a year.
For the rest of the year, the schedule has become pretty favorable for us. The competion is there being as the games are played against teams working for a NCAA berth. But also, all the games are televised nationally with the Thursday (ESPN)/Sunday (CBS) tv schedule. There's only two games this team can really afford to lose the rest of the way and that's the home game vs. Michigan State and the game at Penn State.
This is a very busy Sunday in the world of sports...in my eyes anyway. The Illini win and I get a breather until the Daytona 500 starts. I've attended the race 5 times. Being witness to Davey Allison, Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, and Michael Waltrip winning the most prestigious race in NASCAR. I miss going there, but I'll be back. The tailgating for the race is great with 170,000+ people in the area. That must be what it's like at an SEC football game. It's really pretty hard to describe for those who've never made the trip. My prediction, and a bold one if I may think so, is that this years winner will be Clint Bowyer.
That's all I've got for today. Spring Training has started, so there may be some baseball news coming shortly. So until Penn State, goodnight.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
@ Northwestern
For starters, let me introduce myself. My name is Reid, and I'm your typical over-obsessive, think I know it all, wanna-be baller, fill in any other cliche here, type of fan. If the Illini lose, I'm miserable for 24 hours. If the Illini win, I'm great until they lose again. It's a vicious circle that I entered upon being granted admission to the University of Illinois. The truth hurts.
Anyway, every serious Illini fan knows that this team is doing 100x better than anyone thought. Sure, people will throw out the cliche's like "Well, this team is over-achieving." or "They have the talent, it was just a matter of it coming together." And for the most part, there's a bit of truth to both of those statements. The fact remains that this Illini team is now 8-4 in conference, with a NCAA berth 1 win away, and a shot at the Big10 regular season title.
I had started this blog out of anger. Anger that this team just lost another road game. Anger that this team does everything poor on the road. Anger that the offense becomes stagnant on the road. Anger for every single aspect that is involved in a road game. This anger is still there. It's just buried under excitement for now because everything I previously listed was present in tonights game.
Let me finish the intro by saying that I will cover anything sports related that tickles me. Except soccer. A-Rod, Phelps, & Duke/UNC already have X-million articles, so unless something new comes up, I'm ignoring those topics tonight. Tonight, the focus is on Illini vs. Northwestern.
This game always scares me. Northwestern has literally been the kitty litter in the cat box called the Big10 (pun intended). Iowa beats them, Indiana beats them, hell, Northeastern beats them...wait, that's Indiana this year. You get where I'm going though. The Illini always fall into what I call the "Princeton Offense Trap". It's documented, but doesn't have a name. For you who don't know the Princeton offense is based on using the whole shot clock, being patient, and using back-door cuts. Plain and simple: It's boring as hell. By running it, they limit their opponents possesions and typically keep scores under 60. The Illini run the motion offense which is more up-tempo, but has a part of patience to it. When these two schools meet, talent typically wins out. IE- Northwestern plays slow, hangs around, but eventually gets too tired and the Illini pull away.
As far as the game went, it played out pretty much as I explained above...minus NU getting tired in my opinion. The Wildcats seemed to shoot 60% in the first half and 45% in the second half. Obviously, they never gave up. They seemed to be getting every roll/bounce in the first 35 minutes though, and when you're rooting for the other side, that seems like every possession. For Illini road games, it seems like their opponents cut sharper, run closer off of screens, make everything, and grab every loose ball...things the Illini should be doing, but don't. Honestly, it makes sense, but it sucks. Chester is a pretty good on the ball defender, but how many times did he get caught on a screen? Is it just me, or does the team help too much on defense, thus leaving a good shooter wide open for 3? Do the Illini run the offense looking lost when on the road? Do they rebound 10x worse? Basically, do they look like an 8th grade girls team? I think the answer is yes. It's happened everywhere but Purdue (that was an average game; some good some bad) and Michigan St. (where they dominated 33 minutes of the game, then turned into crap). I don't get it, Coach Weber doesn't get it, the players don't get it, no one gets it. As a wise man once said 'Thats life in the Big 10." I'd like to say tonight wasn't that, but it was, until the last 5 minutes. Seriously, a 17-2 run to finish a game?! The last time they did something like that was against Arizona in 2005. Some may remember that game. Tonight, this team decided to play defense when they needed too, decided to make the extra pass, decided to grab a rebound with two hands. Little things that weren't being done earlier in the game. The Illini pulled this thing out and I'm happier because of it. If they had lost, this post would be similar, but with a much more negative tone. I'm not one of those people who hope that the team reads this and finds motivation from my ranting/raving. I'm realistic. The only people who will read this are my friends and they will either agree with me, or same I'm a F-ing moron. Like I stated at the start, I'm simply a nobody who hasn't played organized basketball since my freshman year of high school. I admit to that. But since Al Gore invented the Internet, everyone with an opinion can write whatever they want for anyone to see. That pretty much sums up what the Illini do/fail to do when playing on the road. If you want to dig up stats, you can, to futher show the difference between home/away games. I'm not gonna do it. What matters in the end is a win, and thats what the team came out with tonight.
So, after that rant, I'll just brush on the other teams that influence me.
Bulls- trade talk with Stoudamire is a good thing. Just get it done. The current roster isn't doing anything other than playing their asses off in order to not get traded. That's pro sports for you. Do well, you stay. Do poor, you go....unless you're involved in trade talk. Then you step up your game.
Blackhawks- if only they would get more credit. The changes Tallon has made in the last 1.5 years aren't something to win a Nobel Prize (televise games, spend money on free agents, acknowledge old legends). Every fan knew this. This team has the feel of the Bulls in the late 80's...as in '"We're getting better, we just have to learn to get past Detroit and the sky is the limit." Look what happened in 1991.
White Sox- another offseason where nothing special has happened. Sign another young Dominican, sign pitching stud Bartolo Colon (wait, he was a stud in 2003), and still have holes to fill at 3B, 2B, CF, and 5th starter. Seems like last year except they had Crede. I'll take a division title again...just stretch the post-season out longer.
Cubs- they don't matter to me, I'm a Sox fan.
Bears- lets just wait and watch Angelo draft someone for defense when the main concern is offense. More to come on this topic at a later date, probably when something significant happens.
That's all for tonight. Hopefully the next time I post, there will be a step-up in production value. Probably not. Check back after the Illini take on the lowly Hoosiers. I could've dealt with losing to the Wildcats tonight, but not IU this year. THEY LOST TO NORTHEASTERN....AND LIPSCOMB!!!
Anyway, every serious Illini fan knows that this team is doing 100x better than anyone thought. Sure, people will throw out the cliche's like "Well, this team is over-achieving." or "They have the talent, it was just a matter of it coming together." And for the most part, there's a bit of truth to both of those statements. The fact remains that this Illini team is now 8-4 in conference, with a NCAA berth 1 win away, and a shot at the Big10 regular season title.
I had started this blog out of anger. Anger that this team just lost another road game. Anger that this team does everything poor on the road. Anger that the offense becomes stagnant on the road. Anger for every single aspect that is involved in a road game. This anger is still there. It's just buried under excitement for now because everything I previously listed was present in tonights game.
Let me finish the intro by saying that I will cover anything sports related that tickles me. Except soccer. A-Rod, Phelps, & Duke/UNC already have X-million articles, so unless something new comes up, I'm ignoring those topics tonight. Tonight, the focus is on Illini vs. Northwestern.
This game always scares me. Northwestern has literally been the kitty litter in the cat box called the Big10 (pun intended). Iowa beats them, Indiana beats them, hell, Northeastern beats them...wait, that's Indiana this year. You get where I'm going though. The Illini always fall into what I call the "Princeton Offense Trap". It's documented, but doesn't have a name. For you who don't know the Princeton offense is based on using the whole shot clock, being patient, and using back-door cuts. Plain and simple: It's boring as hell. By running it, they limit their opponents possesions and typically keep scores under 60. The Illini run the motion offense which is more up-tempo, but has a part of patience to it. When these two schools meet, talent typically wins out. IE- Northwestern plays slow, hangs around, but eventually gets too tired and the Illini pull away.
As far as the game went, it played out pretty much as I explained above...minus NU getting tired in my opinion. The Wildcats seemed to shoot 60% in the first half and 45% in the second half. Obviously, they never gave up. They seemed to be getting every roll/bounce in the first 35 minutes though, and when you're rooting for the other side, that seems like every possession. For Illini road games, it seems like their opponents cut sharper, run closer off of screens, make everything, and grab every loose ball...things the Illini should be doing, but don't. Honestly, it makes sense, but it sucks. Chester is a pretty good on the ball defender, but how many times did he get caught on a screen? Is it just me, or does the team help too much on defense, thus leaving a good shooter wide open for 3? Do the Illini run the offense looking lost when on the road? Do they rebound 10x worse? Basically, do they look like an 8th grade girls team? I think the answer is yes. It's happened everywhere but Purdue (that was an average game; some good some bad) and Michigan St. (where they dominated 33 minutes of the game, then turned into crap). I don't get it, Coach Weber doesn't get it, the players don't get it, no one gets it. As a wise man once said 'Thats life in the Big 10." I'd like to say tonight wasn't that, but it was, until the last 5 minutes. Seriously, a 17-2 run to finish a game?! The last time they did something like that was against Arizona in 2005. Some may remember that game. Tonight, this team decided to play defense when they needed too, decided to make the extra pass, decided to grab a rebound with two hands. Little things that weren't being done earlier in the game. The Illini pulled this thing out and I'm happier because of it. If they had lost, this post would be similar, but with a much more negative tone. I'm not one of those people who hope that the team reads this and finds motivation from my ranting/raving. I'm realistic. The only people who will read this are my friends and they will either agree with me, or same I'm a F-ing moron. Like I stated at the start, I'm simply a nobody who hasn't played organized basketball since my freshman year of high school. I admit to that. But since Al Gore invented the Internet, everyone with an opinion can write whatever they want for anyone to see. That pretty much sums up what the Illini do/fail to do when playing on the road. If you want to dig up stats, you can, to futher show the difference between home/away games. I'm not gonna do it. What matters in the end is a win, and thats what the team came out with tonight.
So, after that rant, I'll just brush on the other teams that influence me.
Bulls- trade talk with Stoudamire is a good thing. Just get it done. The current roster isn't doing anything other than playing their asses off in order to not get traded. That's pro sports for you. Do well, you stay. Do poor, you go....unless you're involved in trade talk. Then you step up your game.
Blackhawks- if only they would get more credit. The changes Tallon has made in the last 1.5 years aren't something to win a Nobel Prize (televise games, spend money on free agents, acknowledge old legends). Every fan knew this. This team has the feel of the Bulls in the late 80's...as in '"We're getting better, we just have to learn to get past Detroit and the sky is the limit." Look what happened in 1991.
White Sox- another offseason where nothing special has happened. Sign another young Dominican, sign pitching stud Bartolo Colon (wait, he was a stud in 2003), and still have holes to fill at 3B, 2B, CF, and 5th starter. Seems like last year except they had Crede. I'll take a division title again...just stretch the post-season out longer.
Cubs- they don't matter to me, I'm a Sox fan.
Bears- lets just wait and watch Angelo draft someone for defense when the main concern is offense. More to come on this topic at a later date, probably when something significant happens.
That's all for tonight. Hopefully the next time I post, there will be a step-up in production value. Probably not. Check back after the Illini take on the lowly Hoosiers. I could've dealt with losing to the Wildcats tonight, but not IU this year. THEY LOST TO NORTHEASTERN....AND LIPSCOMB!!!
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