Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 I must admit, the fact that Illinois scored 41 points this afternoon made me feel a little bit better about our woeful performance last night. Just remember this; we are the Billikens, and every great victory must usually be followed by a crushing defeat. Let's face the fact that we haven't had many big wins in the last 60 years. So for all you d-bags who want to get on here and gloat over the fact that you knew Brad couldn't coach or recruit, just cut it out, because I feel bad enough without you piling on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryB Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 We have had our offensive disasters this year for sure, but clearly there was an attempt to be more uptempo....still don't have enough athletes, but I believe Brad when he says he wants to run more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 That was against the #3 team in the country. I dont think there is any comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 There is absolutely a comparison! Wisconsin didn't even pressure as much as GW did. They just grind and stretch out every possesions on the time clock. Illinois had horrible offensive sets and reached a point, just like the Billikens did, when they were merely throwing the ball up at the basket, hoping to get lucky or draw a foul that wasn't coming. And spare me the condescension, Vtime. I was watching 100 college basketball games a year when you were in diapers. There is much less difference between the top 100 teams in the country than there was 20 years ago. Besides, the Big Eleven has been living off their old reputation for a long time now. The soft underbelly of the Big Eleven is almost as bad as the A-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 I saw it towards the end when Kamron Taylor was just torching them. Illinois would probably win the A10 though. Pruitt, Randle, and Carter is an imposing frontline. Smith and McBride fill it up. Chester Frazier gets in the lane when he wants. They've got a lot of talent, and some pretty good talent coming in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 I don't know Vtime. Xavier beat them in December, and I'm not drinking kool-aid, but there are scorers in the A10 final(Mo Rice, Will Daniels) that I think are more polished than anything the Illini have. I think they'd kill to have Lisch or Liddell, for that matter. Think about how you could get to 9-7 in the Big Ten; two wins against Penn State and Northwestern, maybe two against Minnesota, and then win some home games against better competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Would Xavier beat them twice in conference play. Probably not, and what ahout the rest of the A10? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 I don't know the answer to this question, but ask yourself this; was the Big Ten the big two and little nine, or am I just imagining things. The majority of this league was nothing better than mediocre. Watch the big dance for validation of my point. By the way, how did the Big Ten do in the tournament last year? You know the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 It was definitely more than the Big 2. Purdue had a great year. Izzo always has something cookin at Michigan State. Sims and Abrams at Michigan are a solid duo, but I dont why Amaker just cant get over the hump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 The first two days of the tournament will tell the tale. If the Big Ten goes 2-3, you'll realize I was right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 And if they dont, will you realize I was right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 after watching the teams this week, i truly believe that xavier, umass, george washington, and rhode island are all far better than their rpi indicates. illinois would not beat george washington. gw's guards are far better than anything the illini would throw on the floor. the problem with the a-10 this year was poor scheduling. if gw, umass and rhode island had upgraded their schedules and come out with the same records they easily could have been on the bubble at least. it is a shame their administrations and the atlantic ten put them in that position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billinikens Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 These things are cyclical. Just two years ago the Big Ten had two teams in the final four. Having teams in the final four is not a foreign concept for the Big Ten at all. The fact that they didn't have a great tourney last year really makes no difference. Ohio State and Wisconsin have great chances to get there this year. There's no comparison between the A10 and the Big Ten. Be serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry the Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 comparing the Illini - Wisconsin game to the SLU - GW game is pretty funny there Band. The Illinois - Wis game was all about tough, rugged defense and it also did not help that Illinois shot something like 30%. There was no trapping and the pace of play dictated a low scoring game. Did you even see that game? Tucker basically won that game for Wisconsin because he is probably the second best player in the men's basketball (behind Durant). Who would guard him for SLU? I am sorry, I love SLU basketball but you cannot compare 2 top Big Ten teams to SLU and GW. True, Illinois would like to have KL and TL, who wouldn't? That is not the point here. The point is that Illinois surrounds themselves with more than just two players and actually has bench help. You also say that Illinois had two wins against bottom dwelers..... wait a minute? SLU could not even beat the Bonnies or the Dukes? Come on, those teams would get smoked by Minnesota or even Northwestern for that matter. You love towards SLU is commendable, but please don't put up nonsense that simply doesn't make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 your respect of the illini is way too high. i have no problem with distancing ohio state and wisconsin but there is a drop off of talent after those two teams imo. the illini are extremely weak guardwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band Legend Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 I made this same point in an earlier thread. I did watch the entire game, by the way, and I saw an extremely offensively challenged team in the Illini. Like I said before, the soft underbelly of the Big Ten was pretty big this year. That being said, there truly is no comparison to the bottom feeders in our conference. They drag the entire ship down with them. Once you get into conference play even those horrible teams get lucky a couple of times and win home games. That's the nature of a conference season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry the Legend Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 You are not making sense once again. You are supposed to beat the weak teams on their home courts if you expect to have a successful season and make it to postseason play. That is what good teams should do. Illinois beat most of the weak teams in conference that they were supposed to beat. SLU did not. They could not beat the Dukes and the Bonnies who suck!!! Come one, you are Mr. Basketball IQ and should know that you need to beat sad teams on the road. SLU could not win a road game and no committee would put them in a postseason tourney. As far as I can see there are six teams in the the Big Dance from the Big 10 and only two from the sad A 10. At last glance the Big Ten got a #1(Ohio St.), #2(Wisconsin), #7(Indiana), #9(Purdue), #9(Mich. St.) and a #12(Illinois). The A 10 got a generous #9(Xavier) and a #12(GW). No comparision IMO. And it doesn't matter what these teams from the Big Ten do in the tournament, it is what they did in the regular season that got them there. Yeah, they have sort sucked in the Big Dance in the last few years but they are a far superior league top to bottom that the A 10. Once again your loyalty is commendable but full of nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlecat455 Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Larry, I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the Big 10 "top to bottom". Penn State and Northwestern stunk it up pretty good this year. One big difference is the self perpetuating nature of RPI. The Big 10's lousy teams don't take RPI hits when they get their butts beat in conference and the strong teams are correspondingly not taking hits by playing poorly against the weaker teams. IMO, GW, Umass and Xavier would be quite competitive playing in the Big 10. You do recall X beating Illinois earlier in the year? The Illini have guard trouble and are the gang that couldn't shoot straight from the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry the Legend Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Yes, Xavier did beat Illinois - at home and early in the season. I will give them that quality win. That really was it, right? And that wasn't much of a quality win considering Illinois was the last team in most likely. My point is that the bottom dwellers in the A 10 still do not stand up to the ones in the Big Ten. I could be wrong but the talent in the Big Ten is simply a lot higher than the talent level in the A 10. Teams like Xavier, GW, and UMASS could compete in the Big Ten but still would stand behind the likes of Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, and Illinois. No one stil has acknowledged the fact that the good teams in their conferences should be beating these weak teams and thus not hurting their RPI. SLU could not do that this year, plain and simple. Plus, we all can see that RPI is not even close to being the sole determination for making the tournament. Quality wins, wins on the road, last 10 games, etc., are all factored in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 all i know is that when i saw xavier, umass, gw, and rhode island i saw size and athleticism every bit as good imo as the likes of purdue, michigan state, illinois, and indiana. even the middle of the a-10 with fordham, slu, st joes, and dayton were as formidable as the middle tier of the big conferences imo. the drop off for the a-10 comes after that. the rpi is designed to protect those conferences. the mvc figured out how to encroach on it, and now the committee gives em the high hard one anyway. the a-10 should have been playing the same formula as the mvc, but the umass, rhode island and gw athletic directors didnt play the game and cost their teams accordingly. the big 6 conferences make me sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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