Duff Man

Lakers.

Agreed. I'm pretty sure Jordair can bring the ball up the court and guard the oppositions' 1-3s. McCall can play 1 or 2. Evans starts every game at 3. Barnett can play 2 or 3. Drew can play the 3. Kwamain's role as the go to guy in crunch time is the most significant role for the team to fill. The most prominent news is the Carter isn't 100%...Maybe want to clarify that point? Is he sick? Nursing an injury? I concur this is a ridiculous article that misrepresents how Kwamain's absence hurts the team and completely whiffs on explaining why Carter is not 100%.

Based on this article it doesn't sound like Willie is seen as a contender for a roster spot, but is merely there to battle Cousins in training camp www.cowbellkingdom.com/2012/10/14/sacramento-kings-roster-nba-training-camp-roster-contract/

Guy is an unfunny wisecracking aging boomer media personality with zero self-awareness. Guy seems himself as the witty professor who can get away with poking fun at students. It was awkward because he wasn't funny and he has zero authority (in any form) over this team. I didn't even grasp the context of the "we won't go into the scandal" comment to Crews in regards to IU, but it went over like a Holocaust joke.

Pujols hit .269/.315/.420 from Sept 1 onward. How is that finishing strong? You can ignore his atrocious start if you want, but those games counted - and his awful April was a major reason his club fell short of the postseason. He's done this now 2 years in row mind you. There is a pattern developing that he's going to have 1 or 2 months each year where he's not the superhuman hitting machine he used to be. None of this proves he's lying about his age or suffering from a league-wide crackdown on PEDs. He's a great player in decline. He could be 32 or 36. There really aren't any good comps because his first 10 years were unprecedented. The stats are never going to convict him (or vice versa). You either believe him about his age or you don't. Both sides interpret the stats and see what they want to see. Arguing about it is akin to arguing about religion. At this point he's the Angels' problem. He might age better than A-Rod, but he's still 4 seasons away from the midway point of the 10 year deal (i.e. the point where A-Rod is with the Yankees). I think we all agree that his decline phase was not worth a 10-year 200M+ contract

He's listed here http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=stl

I would love to see how Willie measures up in camp playing against the likes of DeMarcus Cousins and Thomas Robinson. I think the best case scenario involves Willie snagging the 12th man role. He could be the black Paul Shirley.

Brad didn't need to land a JUCO to play with TL and KL, he simply needed to build on that class with another solid class of incoming freshmen. That was his make or break point. Don't chalk up Brad's recruiting failings to lack of viable JUCO transfers. Also, on the 2010-11 season - from the recruiting standpoint, they had the open scholarship for Kowal and that fell through, but it's unrealistic even under the old rules to expect a coach to be able to find players to replace Willie and Kwamain on such short notice. Remember KM and WR were not suspended until mid-October (the timing of which is a whole other discussion). Majerus was never a JUCO fan anyway, preferring to develop his guys over 4 years (e.g. Conklin). Even if those guys were suspended over the summer, and it was possible to find JUCO replacements (although you had to at least keep 1 schollie open for KM to return), by 'avoiding' the 12-18 season (highly doubtful we were going to the dance with a bunch of freshman, improving but pre-BEAST Conklin, plus JUCO transfers) we'd be compromising the long term development of the roster. Conklin, Evans, Jett, and McCall all play fewer minutes alongside the band-aid JUCO transfers and who knows how the 2011-12 season would have turned out.

clearnliness n. clearn'li·ness - the false appearance of cleanliness made possible by Mike Krzyzewski's master of hypnosis

seriously? Just off the top of my head, here are 5 schools that are relatively respected academically, have spent part of the last 25 years in the same conference as SLU, to my knowledge have not been sanctioned by the NCAA in the last 25 years, and have accomplished much more than SLU on the court (also, I'm not sure how Rick Majerus assistant coaching the 1994 FIBA team 13 years before arriving at SLU really matters, nor am I sure how to compare our 5 vastly different coaches to other schools' coaches) SLU 5 NCAA appearances, zero Sweet 16 appearances, zero conference championships 3 players drafted, 2 first round, 1 lottery 2 extended NBA careers*, no all-star appearances, no championships Majerus was awesome. Butler 10 NCAA appearances, 4 Sweet 16 appearances, 2 National Final appearances, 10 conference championships 1 lottery pick, 1st round pick, 2 drafted overall no extended NBA careers, but Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack are active Brad Stevens is awesome. Marquette 13 NCAA appearances, 4 Sweet 16 appearances, 1 Final Four, 2 conference championships 1 lottery pick, 3 1st round picks, 11 drafted overall 7 extended NBA careers, plus Lazar Hayward, Jimmy Butler who are still active, and Jae Crowder Darius Johnson-Odom who were just drafted 11 played at least 1 NBA game 1 All-Star (Dwyane Wade x8) 2 total NBA Championsips (Dwyane Wade) Kevin O'Neill came off as a man of integrity in Hoop Dreams. Temple 18 NCAA appearances, 5 Elite 8 appearances, 8 conference championships 3 lottery picks, 6 1st round picks, 9 drafted overall 10 extended NBA career, plus Lavoy Allen who is active 16 played at least 1 NBA game 1 All-Star (Eddie Jones 3 times) Jon Chaney threatened to kill John Calipari (add or deduct points accordingly) St. Joseph's 5 NCAA appearances, 2 Sweet 16 appearances, 1 Elite 8, 6 conference championships 3 players drafted, 2 first round 2 extended NBA careers, 3 players played at least 1 NBA game Phil Martelli told Billy Packer to kiss his @$$. (add or deduct points accordingly) Richmond 7 NCAA appearances, 2 Sweet 16 appearances, first ever 15 over 2 upset, 4 conference championships 3 players drafted, 0 first round 1 extended NBA career, plus Justin Harper who is still active, no all-star appearances, no championships Chris Mooney is an excellent coach who spurned bigger opportunities to stay at Richmond. *extended NBA career defined as 165+ games, i.e. > 2 full seasons

Modern Era is a relative term...you can draw the line in any number of places 1975: NCAA Field expands to 32 teams 1976-77: Dunking is once again legal in NCAA basketball 1979: Magic vs Bird 1980: NCAA field expands to 48 teams 1982: 1983: (granted they lost on a miracle play, but their style left a permanent mark on the game) 1985: NCAA tournament field expands to 64 1986-87: NCAA adopts 3pt shot 1995: Kevin Garnett drafted #5 overall out of HS Modern Era or not, 1976 IU have to be up there with the best of the best. Over 2 seasons they went 63-1, with the only loss coming in a 92-90 loss to National runner-up Kentucky in the 1975 Mideast regional final. They followed that loss with a 32-0 season and won their games by an average margin of 18 points. The crazy thing is that over a 21 season span from 1956 to 1976 there were 7 undefeated NCAA tournament champions. Since 1976, only 2 teams have come close (1979 Indiana St lost in the Final, 1991 UNLV lost to Duke in the National Semifinal), excluding Calipari's national runner up Memphis team that had it's entire season retroactively vacated.

I count 19 home games. Up 1 from last season (or 2 not counting Illinois-Springfield). You're getting an extra game (or if they drop an exhibition game, you're trading a game that doesn't count for one that does). 1 NOV-12 SOUTH CAROLINA-UPSTATE 2 NOV-14 SANTA CLARA 3 NOV-24 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 4 DEC-2 VALPARAISO 5 DEC-5 NORTH TEXAS 6 DEC-15 UT-MARTIN 7 DEC-19 EASTERN ILLINOIS 8 DEC-22 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 9 DEC-28 SIU-EDWARDSVILLE 10 DEC-31 NEW MEXICO 11 JAN-4 SAVANNAH STATE 12 JAN-10 MASSACHUSETTS 13 JAN-19 RHODE ISLAND 14 JAN-31 BUTLER 15 FEB-2 DAYTON 16 FEB-16 CHARLOTTE 17 FEB-19 VCU 18 FEB-27 SAINT JOSEPH’S 19 MAR-9 LA SALLE

Schedule with 2012 KenPom rating NOV-12 South Carolina-UPSTATE 132 NOV-14 SANTA CLARA 264 Nov-19 vs-Texas A&M (CBE Classic) 114 Nov-20 at CBE Classic (Kansas 4, Washington St 88) NOV-24 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 230 Nov-28 at Washington 54 DEC-2 VALPARAISO 147 DEC-5 NORTH TEXAS 159 DEC-15 UT-MARTIN 334 DEC-19 EASTERN ILLINOIS 302 DEC-22 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 142 DEC-28 SIU-EDWARDSVILLE 306 DEC-31 NEW MEXICO 19 JAN-4 SAVANNAH STATE 173 JAN-10 MASSACHUSETTS 72 Jan-12 at Temple 46 JAN-19 RHODE ISLAND 202 Jan-23 at Duquesne 128 Jan-26 at St-Bonaventure 52 JAN-31 BUTLER 110 FEB-2 DAYTON 65 Feb-6 at Fordham 273 Feb-9 at Richmond 105 FEB-16 CHARLOTTE 154 FEB-19 VCU 40 Feb-22 at Butler 110 FEB-27 SAINT JOSEPH’S 68 Mar-2 at George Washington 171 Mar-6 at Xavier 51 MAR-9 LA SALLE 64 Anything worse than 12-2 OOC is a disappointment. They'll do well to replicate last season's 12-4 A10 finish. 11-5 wouldn't be a disaster provided the conference is a strong as advertised. 23-7, plus an appearance in the A10 semis should get them into the dance. They'll probably have to go undefeated OOC and then win the regular season A10 title (finishing no worse than 27-3) to get a top 4 seed. Yes, they have a slim margin for error, but it's also set up for them to become a national storyline if they can just get to 6-0.

I'm not sure this is a good game to size up Grawer's chops as an in game tactician. This game certainly reflects well on Grawer, but more for his character than for his brilliance with the Xs and Os. It took some nerve to suspend Footes for this nationally televised game. Granted, he does get props for successfully shortening the game with the 4 corners offense and limiting SIU's inside advantage with the 2-3 zone, but those were tactics employed out of sheer desperation due to a depleted roster. SLU won this game because a. their undisciplined shoot-first point guard shot out of his mind b. SIU had poor shot selection in the first half and let SLU hang around c. they were lucky as $hit Grawer's 4 corners strategy worked great in the first half, but in the 2nd half, the offense sputtered, and the bulk of the points they did score were not from any coherent offense, but from the chaotic playground antics of Orlando Stewart. By my count SLU scored less than 10 points in the 2nd half from the half court offense (excluding the plays where Orlando just comes down and scores without passing, and the play where Big Mel hit a smooth baseline jumper like he was Pat Ewing - when Grawer by all accounts did not want him taking that shot). and let's be real...Rich Herrin is no Pete Gillen...a good coach would not have let the one player who was beating them just hold the ball at mid court like they let Orlando do over and over. A good coach would have employed some kind of half court trap and forced the ball out of Orlando's hands. Also, in the final minutes Grawer totally coached them not to lose and almost cost them the game...Orlando's magic steal and run to the corner 3 was shot in complete defiance of Grawer who was telling him to reset and milk more clock. When, you're down 1 with 2:30 to play and your best offensive player has an open 3, you take the shot. When someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES! Then on the next possession they get multiple offensive rebounds and fine themselves with a fresh 45, down 1 with 1:05 to play. Obvious 2 for 1 situation. Grawer clearly calls a play from the sideline, which apparently involved a risky pass into Melvin Robinson who nearly turns it over. They blow the chance for a 2 for 1 and are lucky to even get a shot off (a contested long 2 that Stewart misses). SIU rebounds and by the time SLU fouls the game clock is down to 17 seconds...but SLU had 3 fouls to give, so the clock ticks down to 12 by the time SIU is forced to shoot a 1 and 1...meanwhile Grawer subs Tadysak (1.74 RPG) in for Skinner (5.63 RPG)...SIU misses the front end, but gets an offensive rebound. Out of sheer luck they miss again, and the rebound goes to Stewart who goes coast to coast and hits a ridiculous playground shot. If SLU has a timeout remaining, they probably use it...we'll never know if Grawer would have been able to draw up a successful play or not, but he certainly wouldn't have drawn up the play that actually won the game. Again, give him all the credit in the world for having the balls to suspend Footes in the first place, and for having his undermanned team believing they could beat an oppent than ran them off the court a month earlier. You can't fault Grawer too much when he was forced to play a bunch of guys who weren't used to being out there. This game certainly makes me proud that Grawer was our coach.

at one point he moved south and became a drifter...for a while he was holed up at Orlando Stewart's apartment...just getting high all day watching Lando channel Eddie Hazel...

the epic sequence following the ill advised Travis Tadysak outlet pass The Larry Bird-esque steal and run to the corner Get the ball to Orlando, everybody get the fuok out of the way you're missing out if you don't watch the whole thing...

Crews was the first coach to get an at-large bid to the dance out of the MCC...going 23-4 in the 1988-89 regular season (2 pt loss @methdale, 6 pt loss @ Wake, 8 pt loss @ X, 11 pt loss @ Kiel on Gray/Douglass Sr night). There's so many things that go into maintaining a successful D1 program...for whatever reason, Crews wasn't able to adjust to the changing dynamics in D1 heading into the 21st century. That being said, he had a solid 11-year run where he went 210-121 with 4 NCAA bids. When he's had talent, he's been able to get it done. I get that people are concerned about the recruiting gap, transfers, etc...but we don't want to panic. At this stage of the game, our best recruiting tactic is to win. We'll be poised to make the dance again in 2013-14 with players already in the program, and ideally we'll have a loaded recruiting class in 2014-15, possibly along with a transfer or two that new coach brought with him to bolster the remaining 5 of Carter, McBroom, Drew, Glaze, and Manning.

Some places use live cameras to monitor who is at the door when they have to buzz people into the building. The expense of recording is relative to how many cameras you're recording, and how long of a window you're keeping the data before it deletes. You're going to have to pay someone to install and maintain the system, as the hard drives in the DVRs will eventually go bad and need to be replaced, not to mention you have to employ someone to be on-call to pull the data when needed. So there is a significant amount of overhead involved, and while I'm sure there is some potential for taxpayer money to be used, nothing is going to happen until the local businesses in a given area step up to the plate and pool their resources for the good of the neighborhood. Case in point: The Loop has just this month gone live with their cameras http://universitycit...the-delmar-loop

Fun Fact: Mitt Romney's cousin coached in the first ever NCAA tournament in 1939.

back in Dillard's day, we had the twin towers of Big Mel and Travis Tadysak

I already backed off my original statement...which was an exaggeration...and clarified my point "Quitman Dillard was a good kid who played hard, but he was never more than a role player on a average dysfunctional team. He was never the kind of impact player that Conklin evolved into his senior year." "I guess technically speaking he was more than a role player...but when you lose 14 of your last 15 games, and shoot 38.8% from the field on the year, what difference does it make?" "Dillard's talent level was that of a role player." "We don't need to split hairs in regards to what constitutes a role player. The context was his placement ahead of Brian Conklin in Broy's ranking. I'm calling that an absurd statement, and somehow I'm in the minority." and to be clear, I don't mean "role player" to be a diss...merely a distinction that a player was not a 'star' or 'difference maker'. I should have said Dillard would have been a role player on a good team. That's really what I meant but I failed to articulate it properly. When I call someone a role player who is obviously more than that (e.g. Kyle Cassity in 2010-11) I'm really saying they're better suited to play a supporting role rather than a lead role. A more apt term to describe Dillard's contribution those 2 seasons would be that he was a 'good soldier'. a. the tall blacks got bounced b. it's july, and there's a drought of actual news to discuss, thus it's only a matter of time before a wildfire of debate erupts regarding the merits of Billiken players past/present/future moving on to the case of Jamal Johnson v Brian Conklin.../sarcasm

You want to talk effective FG percentage? Fine. Let's provide some context. 1990-91 1991-92 Note how he was amongst the worst eFG% of the regulars. Conklin's 4-year career eFG% was 51.1%. Only 2 regulars on last year's team had an eFG% under 50% (Evans 48.0% and Jett 47.9%). Just because you say it doesn't make it true. I'm not going to dispute that since I'm sure some people had unrealistic expectations (was he hyped as some kind of stud transfer?), but I never felt that way about him. I'm sure many fans appreciated him as a fairly decent athlete who played hard every minute he was on the floor. I have yet to see this argument. Broy doesn't seem interested in backing up his claim. I concede you can make an argument for Jamal Johnson on the basis that we was a skilled offensive player who could have been all conference had he been around for the 1994-95 run, but there is no such hypothetical scenario where Quitman Dillard could replicate what Conklin accomplished in 2011-12.