Iowa's foul shooting at the end of the Northwestern game was aweful. Losing after leading for almost the entire game because of a bunch of missed free throws at the end of a game is pathetic, I don't know what Jeff Horner's problem is but he should be ashamed of his FT%.
illinois spanks minnesota to go 21-0 big game coming up at michigan state... that's a damn good team and they have a great home court advantage should be a great game no matter what
The fighting illini are the unanimous #1 in the AP poll today. And.... breaking news coming out of Iowa City says that Pierre Pierce is in trouble with the law! Again! Although this time he didn't try to rape anyone at least.
I love illini, but teams who shoot threes always end up losing when its big. So hopefully if we do lose its now bc if we lose in the tourne then thats not to good. We got unselfishness, but stanford had that last year. In the end, it might be different cauz we got seniors studs, but you never know illini end up losing in big time games in the tourne. 81-68 sickly impressive though.
Who's crying? I'm glad Pierce is gone, the guy is a prick to say the least. Now I'm off to get a chicken enchilada grilled stuffed burito from Taco Ball. .
Illinois just spanked my Spartans in the Braz, which is not an easy task. Well looks like they are going to win it all this year, what a team. Mishigan State is a good team and will probably get second place in the big 10, and a sweet 16 spot. If everything goes the Spartans way then they can make it to the Elite 8 at the max.
Pierce IS THE BIGGEST SCREW UP, what an IDiot. HES A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF AN ATHLETE WHO USES HIS POWER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS. HE SHOULD"VE BEEN IN JAIL A LONG TIME AGO(2 yrs ago).
wish i saw that 15 pass segment on sportscenter... all inside of the 35 second shot clock with a wide open 3 buried by dee at the end
You Illinois fans need to keep it tidy. You've still got two games left, and while I expect you to win both don't think the game @ Ohio State will be a walkover. OSU has only lost twice at home, and when they are on they can be pretty darn good.
I'd really like to believe this myself, season tix and all. But, I can't. On Tuesday, Fuss and Sylvester came to J&B's, but I don't know what to say to them anymore. Matt is nice, but Brandon thinks he is too cool to talk to people. I think being a senior and lossing your starting PG job to a Frosh is pretty cool. Matt has been playing much better, but we shoud have seen this a couple of years ago. I always wanted to boost his confidence and take charge, take shots, mix it up and he has. JJ Sulinger is all jump and not much else. Great athlete and would be great on the playground, but either they don't use him well or he is limited in his overall bball skills. Tony Stockman is too streaky to be called a pure shooter. Another "Too Cool" guy who allows a few misses to mess with his head. Funny that I believe that you should shoot yourself out of a slump, but he isn't starting because he shoots the team out of the game if he is off early. If you come off the bench, it's for one thing...shoot the trey. He has to make them. Ja'Kel in the starting lineup is not a good move. He was the best 6th man we had all season. Heck, the other night he had zero points. I believe his natural progression should have been 6th man this season and next year, this would have been his team. Natural leader and overall positive and solid effort every game. Am I alone here? But, doesn't Ivan Harris remind you of Robert Horry of the NBA? Basicly plays the exact same way. Anyway, the Bucks had been as high as 4th in the Big 10 and last night should have put Iowa away early. They didn't and this idea of "this is our NCAA tournament" crap has all but faded. OSU isn't going anywhere, but the playing time and the coaching moves being made show that we are looking towards next season. The experience alone will help, and we really shouldn't expect too much in the B10 tourny. Team MVP: Terrance Dials. Just a few years ago with all the big bodies around the team, who would have really thought Dials would be such a solid player and the overall team go-to guy? He is old school, back to the basket player, but not a true center in terms of any pro possibilities. Hope he gets a look, but doesn't have many other skills. Good low-post moves in a weak league, but no outside shot and don't expect him to dribble around people. Too many times, with the "green light" most players seem to have from coach Thad, they forget to get it inside to the big guy. That alone, the re-post, can get him and the outside shooters more open looks. Did any of you notice last night in the Iowa game how nobody on the floor at the time wanted to take the shot?
i've said it before and i'll say it again... there is no such thing as an easy game in the big ten... sure, you might get a blow out occassionally... but you worked your butt off to get it and more often that not, it's going to be a battle til the end and it will be fairly close
That was a good game, that OSU @ Iowa matchup. Especially at the end. What really steamed me, however, was the insane amount of illegal screens Iowa was allowed to get away with. I don't think I saw a single screen where the screener wasn't moving his feet and throwing his shoulder into the defender. Brunner nearly knocked Butler clean out of the game on one of those uncalled illegal screens.
But that is conference ball in general. These teams know each other, the players, the coaches, the arenas, just about anything. Many of these players know each other from high school days if not earlier from the summer camps. To take a guess, I'd say that half of the conference have zero home court advantage due to the fans. If I were a kid looking for a school, the traditional names are there, but overall you can't really call it a quality conference. Value City just plain sucks. That game at St Johns this year was great. I remember many a classic in that old barn, but even then, Columbus doesn't do that well with bball. I'd rather go back and play everyone home and home.