Maybe he’s just unstoppable.
When Indiana played Duke earlier this season, Duke’s Shelden Williams, a definite All-American, was outscored by Marco Killingsworth 34-13 and outrebounded 10-9. I believe Coach K implied that part of their strategy was to allow Killingsworth to get his while limiting Indiana on the perimeter. Duke won, so give them that much. But anyone who saw the game will tell you Killingsworth ate Williams for lunch. It was no contest.
Tuesday night Illinois has the unenviable task of guarding Killingsworth, who, along with Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker has emerged as the early front-runners for Big Ten Player of the Year honors.
Bruce Weber hinted Monday that he’s likely to start out with Shaun Pruitt on Killingsworth. That leaves James Augustine guarding 6-foot-5 3-point threat Robert Vaden. Weber doesn’t want a repeat of the Augustine-Sean May fiasco and he knows Illinois has little chance to win this game with Augustine watching from the bench. Still, I wonder if playing Augustine on Killingsworth, Brian Randle on Vaden and Dee Brown, Rich McBride and either Jamar Smith or Chester Frazier (in a 3-guard look) isn’t the best bet.
The bottom line is that there isn’t a best bet. It reminds me of the Bears trying to cover Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers Sunday. They never did cover him and lost the game because of it. That was a nightmare to watch and any team that plays Indiana has to realize the Killingsworth matchup could be nightmarish, too.
Normally, Illinois would post-trap on a player like Killingsworth, sending a second defender to surround him the instant he catches the ball. But that’s a heck of a gamble considering that Indiana is easily the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the country. Maybe that’s the best bet. It’s a tough assignment, no matter which way you go.
I don’t like Illinois’ chances in this one, especially with Lewis Monroe (the other Auburn transfer) nearly certain to return from a knee injury. I don’t think anyone will beat Indiana at home this season, although I’m not entirely counting out the possibility that Weber & Co. could pull a rabit out of the hat. It would take some kind of magic stunt, however. Killingsworth has simply been that good and I expect to hear a lot of whistles if Illinois gets physical with him in the post.
January 16th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
I said it in the last post: I hope Illinois shows the mental and emotional fortitude that Michigan showed on Saturday. Right when Illinois looked to blow it wide open, a mature coach went to work with his mature team, and they made it a great game. That was great mental toughness.
I don’t want to see the forlorn looks at refs when bad calls are made or at the hoop when easy shots are missed… I want grim determination… the kind of “we don’t know how to lose” vigor we saw against Arizona last year. This team and this coach doesn’t like to lose, and if they smell blood, look out Hoosiers.
That said, Indiana is awesome and really a joy to watch. Hopefully they’re in for a rude awakening with our Defense. Let’s see balanced scoring and a team effort for 40 minutes! And take care of business, Frazier. We NEED you, buddy! Listen to Weber… just ask Luther Head: He’s DA MAN!
I-L-L!!
January 16th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Ummmm….how is Dee not a front-runner for BTPOY?
Not only is he arguably the most critical player to the success of his team of anyone in the Big Ten, he’s also averaging 22 points/game in Big Ten play, and directly responsible for both of Illinois wins so far!
January 16th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Ya HAVE to double team a guy like Marco. If you don’t..well, we all have a pretty good guess what would happen. I’d rather get beat by threes than down low. Poor Shaun. Welcome to the big time, son. We do have ten fouls to use, though, with Marcus added in there. And Marco can be poor from the line sometimes. Still, the odds are against us on paper. They have other weapons besides the big guy, ya know. This is one of the 5 losses I pinned on the team at the beginning of conference play. So, I just want to play well. The pressure is on Indiana to win, not us. Go in loose, just play and see what happens. It won’t kill us to lose this one. I want to show up here, unlike that fiasco in Iowa City. I think we will. College basketball is an unpredictable game, so we could pull it off. But, realistically, I’m not counting on it. I’m much more concerned about the rematch in Champaign. THEN, the pressure will be squarely on us! Just play hard gang. That’s all an apologist like me can ask of ya. GO ILLINI!!! LONG LIVE THE GREAT U. OF I.!!!
January 16th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Mark,
I’ve been too busy to post lately, and I just wanted to lighten things up a bit. It is still too early in the B10 season to get too serious.
Don’t forget that tonight is the Losers Bowl on ESPN with Kansas visiting Missouri. What a hoot that should be.
On the same day that the Illini were beating Michigan for the 11th time in a row, the media was making a big deal about Kentucky, Kansas, UNC and UCLA all losing at home and Arizona losing on the road, 4 of the 5 to unranked teams. Maybe the power structure of college ball has changed (forever)? Maybe it is just the Illini and the Dookies in the future.
Also, on that day the Kansas blogs were calling for the head our former coach. “Not even mid-major, fire selfless, and destroying the Gayhawk program” are things that come to mind. And meanwhile, Lon Kruger’s Las Vegas team was losing to Steve Fisher’s San Diego State team in a lowly Mountain West conference match.
I fully acknowledge that both former coaches had a positive influence on Illini basketball and that we would probably not be where we are without them. But the Illini are ranked 5th (as of today) and their teams are a long way from consideration.
So I do question now (as I did then) their logic for leaving, theoretically for a better opportunity. Looks like poor judgment, at best. And meanwhile, Bruce Weber has the Illini at a level that we only hoped that the previous coaches could achieve.
Oskee Wow Wow - Keep the Chief!
January 16th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I’m not sure I share your apprehension about this game. No, I don’t expect us to win, but I think we have a reasonable shot at it.
Killingsworth is good, to be sure, and stopping him will be key to stopping Indiana. That’s partially because he uses a gargantuan 35% of possessions when he’s in the game, which is third in the nation. He also shoots a very high percentage, which makes him even more dangerous. But his Achilles heel is that he turns the ball over like a freshman point guard. If you can bring a quick double and recover in time, we could be in business. Randle in particular is crucial because he can double down and still recover in time to contest outside jumpers. We’ll need him to avoid silly fouls so he can stay in the game.
Personally, I don’t see the wisdom in putting Augustine on Killingsworth. Sure, Vaden might be a tough match for Augie, but Killingsworth draws an awful lot of fouls, and our offense can’t afford to have our best scoring option on the bench.
Another key will be rebounding. Indiana is simultaneously very good on the defensive glass and terrible on the offensive glass. They don’t miss very much, so we’ll really need to clean up when they do, and I’m concerned that the inability to get to the offensive glass will cost us a lot of easy buckets. Then again, with DJ White out, Pruitt and Randle might have a very good day rebounding against smaller defenders. Pruitt in particular has done far better on the offensive glass against smaller defenders, and I’ll be looking to see if that holds up tomorrow. As I’ve pointed out before, our offense frequently looks only as good as our offensive rebounding, so that’ll be something to watch.
I know it seems like they create more match-up problems than we do with their offense. That’s because their offense is better than ours. But our defense has been quite a bit better than theirs, and I’m not sure they’ll be able to deal with our size on the front line. I think it’ll be a good game, and maybe we’ll be able to pull it out! Don’t forget, this is as hard a game as we’ll have in the Big Ten, so we can play loose knowing that a win here is gravy. Go Illini!! Oskee wow wow!!
January 16th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Our perimeter defense should be able to hold its own against IUs shooters, but if Killingsworth scores 30+ inside, it’s going to be a long shot to win. The way the bigs have racked up fouls, Pruitt and Arnold will both foul out trying to hold Killingsworth.
Then, who do we have to throw on Killingsworth other than Augie? Carter? He could at least beat on Killingsworth for 4 or 5 fouls. We could put Randle on him and try to deny him the ball. Randle is quick enough and can jump well enough that they couldn’t lob it over him.
Any way you cut it, he’s a matchup problem and this is going to be one tough win if Illinois can pull it out.
On the Bears…I sure wish I could find a way to pin this on Ron Turner, but I just can’t. Who would’ve ever thought it would be the defense and not Turner’s offense that cost the Bears a big playoff game? That game was ugly, real ugly.
My only complaints on offense are that they didn’t run the ball more to control the clock. And that Muhsin Muhammad had so many balls thrown to him that he didn’t catch. Berrian, on the other hand, looks like a star in the making.
January 16th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
‘expect to hear a lot of whistles’ would be nice to hear if they are called on the Hoosiers. In any submarine war movie you hear the captain yell, “DIVE-DIVE-DIVE!!!” What we can do with the ball is DRIVE-DRIVE-DRIVE it down the lane and get Murderingsworth in foul trouble. Turn the tide on them and attack the heart and soul of the beast. It won’t be easy will it? Good luck Illini and kick some Hoosier hiny!!!!
January 16th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
I see Killingsworth as a big threat, but his ball-handling skills and proneness to foul trouble make him a less effective player overall than Shelden Williams. He certainly got the best of Shelden in that matchup, but we’ll see how he does over the course of the season. Anyway, the shooters on Indiana paired with their Indiana presence makes them very dangerous, but I say: make someone OTHER than an opponent’s best player beat you. The Bears didn’t do it and look what happened.
January 16th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
I would never underestimate the possibility of Dee Brown coming up big.
January 16th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
I am an Indiana fan.
Illinois will win this game.
January 16th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Thanks G #10. I hope you’re right!
I just had the distinct pleasure of watching Missouri come back from 9 down in the last 2 minutes to beat Kansas in overtime. I’m glad KU had Brandon Rush back from that decimating 1 DAY suspension for the violation.
It must really suck to get outcoached by Quin Snyder. Ouch. I wonder if Sherron Collins was watching.
Check out Thomas Gardner’s stat line for the game. He was a monster for Mizzou.
I also got to watch SIU play UNI tonight, though they lost in double OT. I know most people don’t get a chance, but if you can, watch SIU play. They’re fun to watch and definetly smack of Bruce Weber’s influence. They have a couple games on ESPN2 late in February.
Tupps…know you’re an Illini guy, but show the Salukis some love! They’re about to crack the Top 25.
January 16th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
Awwwww, say it ain’t so Tupps . . .
I still say we’re going to beat the Hosers in their own Assembly Hall, goshdarnit.
I say we put Randle on Killingsworth and see if the big fella can handle playing basketball with a bonafide FREAK in his face the whole game.
Jeff Irvine / #3: YOU?!?!? An APOLOGIST?!?!?
No freakin’ WAY, man.
I’m not buyin’ it.
Denis Lougeay / #4: I guess the old “grass is always greener” theory didn’t pan out for our old pals Lon and Bill.
Makes me wonder if either one of ‘em wouldn’t trade three years of their salary to be back at good old Ubbins.
Dave S. / #5: THAT’S THE SPIRIT!!! Okay, so maybe we don’t actually WIN the game, but I’m with you: we definitely have a reasonable shot.
Brandon / #6: I STILL can’t believe 50 total points were scored on Soldier Field yesterday.
Hell, I thought 10 points would probably be enough to win that game.
G / #10: I sure hope you’re right . . .
Brandon / #11: Quin and his boys won me twenty bucks tonight, but I’ll never admit actually betting ON Missouri.
I just be AGAINST the Hayjocks . . .
January 17th, 2006 at 7:03 am
I really think Augie can be a bit stiff on occasion. Not Nick Smith stiff, mind you, but sometimes his moves seem more mechanical than fluid. He’s prone to inviting a charge here and there, and I think that makes him somewhat hesitant to take it to the hole.
But he shed that persona at the beginning of the Michigan game and moved extremely well. I couldn’t believe it was the same guy!
I’ve noticed that players who run hot and cold like that are generally the type who let the game dictate their style of play. If the game favors them, they play up to the level of potential it will allow. If the game is difficult, they will become wallflowers, preferring to hide behind a “good enough” effort.
Augie’s gonna have to force himself to risk falling flat on his face a few times so he can pick himself up. He needs to lose his fear. IMO, he just hasn’t gone over the hump yet. We saw Dee go over that hump about six games into the 2004 conference schedule. He’d always played with reckless abandon but has since turned that into confidence and fearlessness.
We witnessed Brian Cook go through the same transition his senior year (although I’d rate his change more along the lines of what Augie will have to do rather than what Dee did). Cook’s entire attitude changed that season. He had to be the man because there was no one else. But James has Dee to fall back on. I really think he’d come into his own sooner if Dee hadn’t been here (and, no, I’m not wishing that were the case).
I’m not trying to be a downer on the kid. I just see so much potential in him that it makes my heart ache at times. He’s come such a long way, and I guess I’m selfish for wanting just a little more. I shudder to think how well he could be at the next level if he could learn to keep his apprehension in check and become more aggressive all the time. Cook did it his senior year, and I’d argue he was more meek than James is.
January 17th, 2006 at 8:06 am
Tough game on tonight. This is what its all about. I can’t wait.
I have often counseled about not looking back to the former Illini administration (other than to thank them for building the base upon which greatness is being built), but I just could not resist posting Stewart Mandel (of CNN-SI)’s final obervation this morning. Here it is:
“Finally, remember the great Roy Williams-Bill Self-Bruce Weber coaching domino of 2003? Let’s recap how that’s worked out for the various parties. Williams: Returned to alma mater and delivered UNC’s first national title in 12 years. Weber: Orchestrated greatest season in Illinois history and has the Illini back in the top five again this season. Self: Lost to Bucknell in first round, had two of his best players transfer and, on Saturday, was on the sideline as Kansas lost to Kansas State for the first time in 31 games. Ouch.”
After the loss to the mighty Mizzou, I wonder if they have started the buyout fund over at the phogblog?
Paul
January 17th, 2006 at 8:35 am
Illini are gonna crush the Hoosiers tonight. Dee Brown 50-Indiana 42.
January 17th, 2006 at 8:56 am
Editor: The “apologist” remark is just a slam for our old buddy Danny. Wonder if he’s still around or back to his life of misery hating evrything Illini? I hope “G” is right and I’m wrong, I really do. I feel we have nothing to lose because my guess is most people expect Indiana to win. Be nice to surprise everyone, but it ain’t life or death this early in the league season. Like I said before, all I care about is not seeing another Iowa game out there….we won’t. Bruce would have a cow if that happened. They’d be running forever!! GO ORANGE, MAN, GO ORANGE!!!
January 17th, 2006 at 9:33 am
Thanks for passing that along Paul from Atlanta. That’s great stuff!
January 17th, 2006 at 9:35 am
First of all, I’m an IU fan and I think that this a great post from a basketball prespective. Anytime people can take a step back from being a fan and look at the pure X’s and O’s of a big game like this, is a great thing. I think that it should be a barn-burner tonight and I won’t even begin to start making any prediction, let alone a bold one.
I realize that you posted this yesterday but one correction that needs to be made is that Monroe is only a 60% chance to come back from a much more embarassing injury(not his knee). That brings up the question of how does IU defend against Dee Brown. Do we let him shoot from the outside and give up some penetration or vice versa? Do we attempt to shut him down (ala Iowa) or attempt shut down everyone else (ala Michigan State)? I think that we have to attempt to shut him down and it should be an interesting match-up with Strickland and Calloway attempting to do the job. Strick is a much better defended but cannot match up in the speed category. Calloway is almost as fast as Brown but is much less experienced. I think that a combination of Strick and Monroe would be best but I’m not sure that is going to happen.
Like I said though, it’s anyone’s game and could easily be one of the best games of the season.
January 17th, 2006 at 9:56 am
For all of you who rip Lon K. & Bill S., I just hope your are half as good as them in what you do. These two men had a lot to do with the great basketball you are enjoying today. I hope they win ever game they play, other than Illini. Thank you Lon & Bill for the enjoyment you have given us Illni fan.
Bruce Webber, you are the best! We love you! But Bruce, be prepared for when the fans turn on you!
January 17th, 2006 at 9:58 am
I see a couple of things that could go our way. I do not think Indiana has seen ball preasure like we are going to put on them. I also saw Duke attack them on the offensive end. I would go right at Killingsworth every play for awhile make him play defense or foul. We have to start going inside out throw it in then out to the open man, our shooters can not shoot on the run they have to get there feet set under them. It’s going to be tough if they jump on us early we get beat. If we keep them at bay early we make a game of it and maybe win. GO ILLINI
January 17th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Kyle, let me be among the first Illini fans to thank you for coming to the board and not making a complete jerk of yourself. You are to be commended for not blowing through the door with the BS and bravado that the KU fans did. Thanks for being a classy rival fan and keeping it levelheaded. Good luck to the Hoosiers tonight, should be a great game!
January 17th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Also an IU fan. Speed wins this game and that means Illinois. Marco is tough, but doubling him clearly lessens his effectiveness significantly. Your defense will be a lot better than ours and defense wins on the road. Unless our defense turns a new page, I suspect our D will make your offense look great. You have the worst possible scenario for use: A big guy in the paint who can have a career night, a lightning quick guard who can run circles around us, and an athletic wing who will pick up all the garbage. I better shut up, because I’m getting depressed.
January 17th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Rock on Kyle / #18.
I know I’ve said I had tonight’s game penciled in as one of the road games we could win this season, but more on the basis of matchups than anything else.
But the closer to tipoff, the less sure I am. I just hope you’re right about tonight’s game being a barn burner, especially with Dooky Vee at the microphone, and like you said, it might even be one of the best games of the season.
Your comment about Lewis Monroe made me curious so I did a little Googling and found this blurb on the Indiana Daily Student website:
“Senior guard Lewis Monroe will likely be reduced to a “fill-in” role, said IU coach Mike Davis, because the Auburn transfer is still recovering from minor hemorrhoid surgery he underwent last week. Monroe watched Friday’s practice from a cushioned office chair and participated only in the shoot around at the end.”
I wouldn’t wish that on ANYONE except Dooky Vee and assorted members of the NCAA policy making board.
In any case, most opponent’s fans come here to talk trash, and it’s a breath of fresh air to read your comments, Kyle.
Tee minus 340 minutes and counting . . .
January 17th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Thank you jowaldner. You are talking about the men I love.
January 17th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
#18 Kyle & #22 jowaldner - Nice posts, it’s fun when opposing fans can come here and have an intelegnt respectful conversation with us. If you come here with posts like you guys posted you will get nice posts in return. We had some Kansas & Iowa fans come in and be jerks. It’s refreshing and fun when you have two class programs that can talk intellegently about a game. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
When I looked at the schedule at the beganing of the year and figured the Illini would be 2-2 in the 1st four games. The only exception was I figured it would be MSU instead of Iowa beating us with Indiana the other loss.
I am looking forward to tonight game, it should be a great one. At least I hope it is. Indiana scares me more than anyone else in the B10. They are athletic and shoot the ball very well.
Anyway, good luck tonight, but not to much luck.
Go ILLINI and pass the orange coolaid! Only 5 hours, 20 minutes, 30 seconds till tip off. I’m starting to tingle….
I-L-L
January 17th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
CJ (at #19); Since I’m the only one who mentioned either of those two fine fellows, I assume you must be talking about me. If you read my post carefully, however, you’ll see that I only mentioned one of those guys, and gave him credit for helping build the foundation for what we have today. Its a two edged sword there, though, buddy. We would not be where we are today without Bill Self. And I don’t think we’d be where we are today with him either.
Two other things: first, Illinois fans only “turned” on those guys after they ditched us for what they perceived to be greener pastures; second, if you are going to profess love for someone, it’d be nice if you spelled his name right.
PS If the evidence of how good they are at their jobs is Kruger’s seasons here with the Hawks and Self’s tenure at Kanses so far, I’m pretty sure I’m up to that.
PPS I don’t really dislike either of them. They are both responsibile in part for getting Illinois basketball out of the lame funk it was in during the early to mid 90’s. (Among other things, moving the students down low was a big help). But that post (1) appeared to be aimed at me, and (2) was so lame that it was too easy to take shots at for me to pass.
PPS I-N-I, Todd.
January 17th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
I was born and raised in D-town, though went to school at IU. So, for me, this match up is both the toughest and funnest of the games to watch as a fan. Must say though, nothing was better than sitting in my neighborhood bar in New York City last year, standing on my chair and screaming at my fellow drinkers (Arizona fans) yelling/taunting as the Illini hit the first three to start the comeback. They way they shot the ball, with that much time, my Decatur Public School District 61 math helped comfort the possibility of there still being a chance. Payback always seems to give one the most comfort, right? Especially, when it seems like one drunk lonely guy trying to fend off what seemed like a bar full of Arizona fans. Luckily the owner found it hilarious, me taking on the bar, and comped my meal and drinks the rest of the night. Gotta love a city where you can walk one block home.
But back on topic, both these teams are riduculously athletic, and I just really hope it turns out to be a good game considering the pressure. I don’t care what anyone says about the time of the Big Ten season, in this conference, every game literally matters. I would hate for it to be sloppy because both teams are “pressing” to put on a good show for us. The one thing I would say tipping the scale to favor IU is the way they are playing this year, to win instead of not loose.
Much like U of I all last year, sans the OSU loss, the Illini played full throttle, stomp on your throat basketball. Their whole goal was to get a lead, and then just increase the lead and demoralize you. That is a very subtle way of intimidating your opponent before the ball is thrown up before tipoff. To know the other team is going to come at you for a full 40 Minutes, mentally your mind has to start out ridiculously sharp.
While IU hasn’t had the clear or stellar results as last years Illini, they play all out every possession. They have no problem loosing (if there is such a thing) as long as they go down fighting. They attack the basket hard, and if that gets shut down from weakside help or what not, they kick it out to a player wide open for the three. It should not be shocking to anyone they are near the tops in 3-point field goals. As we saw from last years Illini team, and even this Illini team’s success shooting the trey, when you are “wide” open, you’ll most likely make the shot. The only time I’ve seen IU “fall apart” was against MSU. They were aggressive the whole game, unfortunately, they also saw a majority of the calls go against them. (Side note: Big Ten officiating this year sucks overall.)
In the game against Duke, IU was playing almost as though the game was supposed to be on the football field next door. For the first time all year, Sheldon Williams got smacked in the mouth (not literally) by an opponent, and didn’t know how to react. Accordingly, a majority of the calls went for IU. We should all hark back to the days as kids, when we would complain to our parent/coaches about the officials and they would say, calls always seem to go to the team playing the hardest.
I hope we’ll all be able to reconvene here tomorrow with posts saying it was hands down the best game of the early Big Ten season. I’m thinking the game will go to IU b/c Special-K is a tough cookie down low. Then again, the Alpha-man at U of I wasn’t the best big man in the conference tournament last year just b/c he was on a great team. I hope my fellow patrons at the bar tonight don’t think I’m some psycho drunk as I sit there drinking my frosty, watching this great game, and taunting myself as both schools score back and forth.
January 17th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
CJ Behrle / #19: the “ripping” of Lon Kruger and Bill Self that you read here is generally well deserved, regardless of how much either one of them had to do with the great basketball we’re enjoying today.
Lon Kruger left for the NBA against the advice of everyone he knows, including a very humbled Rick Pitino, who had only recently failed in his own attempt to become a pro coach.
Lots of kids make the mistake of their lives when they opt to leave college early for a shot at the NBA, and I happen to think Kruger made a huge mistake when he opted to do the same, as do many other folks who know way more about it than I do.
And being a few decades OLDER than the average college athlete, I honestly believe Lon Kruger should have been a better judge of whether or not HE was ready for an NBA career.
But no matter how you personally feel about Kruger, there’s no denying the fact that he’s back where he started, trying to re-establish himself as a successful college coach.
As for that other guy . . .
Bill Self looked Ron Guenther, Deron Williams, Dee Brown, James Augustine, Luther Head, Roger Powell, Jack Ingram, Brian Randle, Rich McBride and Warren Carter (not to mention all of Illini Nation) STRAIGHT in the eye and flat-out LIED to all of us when he emphatically promised he was not going anywhere.
So forgive the hell outta me for getting some small measure of satisfaction out of seeing him strugge in those greener pastures of Kansas.
I get your whole “people in glass houses should not throw stones” point, and I’ll be the first to admit that Kruger and Self both contributed to the EVENTUAL success of the Illinois program.
But the two of them put together turned the entrance to the Illinois basketball coach’s office into a revolving door, and you simply cannnot deny that program building became the first casualty of having to replace our head coach every 3-4 years.
I really hate to use this example, but one of the reasons Dook has been so successful for so long is stability in the coach’s office - all the more reason to be grateful we have a guy like Bruce Weber in charge of our program now.
There’s nothing wrong with Illini fans feeling jilted over such extenuating circumstances, and there’s nothing wrong with them voicing their frustrations.
No true Illini fan is ever going to “turn on” Bruce Weber, any more than we would turn on Lou Henson.
You might think I’m “ripping” on you too, CJ, but I mean no offense or disrespect to you or your take on the situation.
One man’s “ripping” is another man’s “venting.”
T-minus 243 minutes and counting . . .
January 17th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Kyle and G from Indiana: I’m always happy to talk “shop” with folks who are game savvy and realize this is just a game…no need to go crazy…except maybe with your own “kind”!! As for what do do about Dee…from my perspective it all depends on what kind of night he’s having from the floor shootingwise. If he’s on, then I would play the more experienced player on him. The young guy might get discouraged. On the other hand, if Dee shoots like he did at Iowa, you’ve got very little to worry about offensively and the young guy would be ok. Somewhere in between is what I feel will be the case. Then, Coach Davis might rotate them on him. Whatever happens let’s hope for a competetive and fun game. These two teams are NCAA caliber and play in the best league in the country. It should be a beauty! Thanks for stopping by, both of you.
January 17th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
You IU fans are welcome here any time. Good luck tonight. GO ILLINI!
January 17th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
In preparation for tonight’s Dick-Vitale-called game, I present the Illini nation with this:
http://www.collegehoopsgazette.com/blog/archives/2006/01/dick_in_his_own_words.php
January 17th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
2 hours, 54 minutes, 30 seconds and counting down…..
January 17th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
There are 12 minutes left in the game, Dee just picked up his 4th and James picked up a phantom foul on the 3 pointer.
Nobody can deny it. The officiating is absolutely #*#*$&% AWFUL.
January 17th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
This Illinois team is the worst free throw shooting team I have seen in my life. Also, Brian Randle sometimes looks like he is lost out there. He has no outside shot and he tries for the spectacular instead of the sensible play. This team needs one whole practice like we had in high school after the game and practice free throws. This team must win on the road to have a chance for a top five big ten finish.
January 17th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
I know better, but I can not help my self. I must reply to Paul and others.
Glad you are Illini fans.
No. I did not like Bill going to Kansas. Ifr I was Lon I would never went to the NBA. The $$ to go to the NBA to set his family for life seems to be a good reason. But to wish them bad luck and say bad things about then is another.
My first comment wasnot ment to attack or even concern myself with any individual. However, now it’s you and me. I will let the others judge who is wrong. First, I know how to spell Weber. My typing is very poor and am weak at spelling. Second, Your a elite coach if you are the weakest coach in the NBA. The Kansas job is one of the 6-8 elite programs in the country. Third,I believe that Self would not have done the Job that Bruce has done.
January 17th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Killinsworth is a dirty dirty player. I hope he gets kicked out of the next game he plays. Other than that, Indiana played well, Illinois came back and almost won. Our Illini are getting better every game.
January 18th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Honestly CJ - wasn’t trying to rip on you, but I must set the record straight: re-read what I posted and you will find that I neither wished bad luck or said bad things about either Kruger or Self.
I merely pointed out that Kruger made a bad choice, and has obviously had to pay for it in his own way.
Okay, so I said that I find some satisfication in seeing Self struggle at KU.
So sue me.
I’ll admit to being a little bitter about the inevitable comparisons between he and Weber that came after they took their new jobs: Self was uber-recruiter and the prodigal son of the NCAA with a stable full of more raw talent than any other two teams put together, and Weber got nothing but doubt over his ability to recruit.
Now Weber has proven he can coach at the highest level of college basketball, and has started making waves in the recruiting circuit, and KU fans are calling for Self’s head on a stick, and yes that’s a smirk on my face.
Again CJ - I’m not attacking or ripping you. All I’m doing is offering a different take on your original comment, because it sounded like you thought this was becoming the Crucify Poor Lon Kruger and Bill Self Blog.
Nothing could be further from the truth, because as we all know, WE came out on top in that coaching change trifecta.
jas / #36: Killingsworth plays the way I WISH Augie would play . . .
February 5th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
debt consolidation
debt consolidation today.