Illini - UNC 2005 Championship Game

Alright, I got through 2 minutes of this game, and 1) I am already pissed, and 2) I think this would be an unbelievable running blog post. Now if you can't bear to relive this game (like most Illini fans can't), then by all means, stop reading right now. However, if you are like me, and you have gotten over the heartbreak, and realize that these 2 teams are probably 2 of the best basketball teams we have seen in the last decade, then follow along. Perhaps you might have been like me, and you were on a 4 day bender, and you don't even remember who was playing (just kidding, I waited until after the game to blackout.) Either way, this will be fun or therapeutic. I am warning you right now, mute this game when you watch it.

18:45 - Alright, so Deron buries a jumper to start the game, and Carolina races back down the floor, gets an offensive rebound and May eats Powell up inside. Off the bat, I can't believe that I forgot the Billy Packer kept calling Deron "DuhRon". We should all thank whomever we worship that we no longer have to listen to Billy!!

17:39 - Augustine picks up his first foul on a transition McCants drive in the lane. It was a foul. Also can you name a better top 6 than UNC had that year?? It was unbelievable. McCants, May, Felton, Williams, Manual, Jawad Williams, and Marvin Williams. They just fly down the floor. Carolina goes up 9-2. Also UNC knocked off Wisconsin, MSU and Illinois in that order in the Tourney.

15:55 - Dee Brown was the fastest player in the history of college basketball. You can't tell me different. He chases down a ball in the corner, saves it into a UNC player, runs across the floor to pick up his man, then flies down the floor on a long rebound to get a lay-in. All of this in about .4 seconds. Now it is 9-7 Illinois. Deron with 2 on a jumper, Dee with 5 on a lay-in and a 3.
Captain Jack then ties the game on a put back off of a Luther Head missed 3. As fast as the UNC guards were, the Illinois guards were all over the place on defense. When you think about that team, you obviously remember how balanced they were on offense, but all 3 guards were amazing defenders.

14:42 - Powell is really playing like a man possessed inside, but he is out of control. Luther is now 0-3 from the 3 point line. The early comparisons of Dominique Keller and Roger Powell(When Keller signed with Illinois and hadn't played yet) are close, but Powell was just a much greater athlete. Luther finally buries a 3 to give Illinois the lead. 12-9.

12:57 - Illinois scored on the first possession. UNC went on a 9-0 run, then Illinois went on a 10-0 run, Carolina answers with a 5-0 run. Unbelievable!! Deron drives and Felton picks up his second foul. Augustine has been on the bench for about 3 minutes, but he only has one foul. Deron misses both free throws, and May somehow outruns everyone (including Augustine who checked in) down the floor for a dunk. On a side note, under Deron's Major, it said Sports Management. It should have said NBA Badass!! Rich McBride also came into the game, we should have known we were going to lose. (I make this comment because no Illinois player has infuriated me more than Rich McBride, except maybe Brian Randle)
Luther misses another open 3, but Powell is there for the putback. UNC is up 16-14, but Powell comes back and buries a 3 to give Illinois the lead.

11:14 - The Sean May birthday present is starting to be unwrapped. He just levels Powell for a lay-in. We have our first Warren Carter sighting. I'm not gonna start bitching about how he should have red-shirted, but every player should use him as an example when they are undersized for a 4, but can't shoot good enough to be a 3 yet. Augustine picks up his second foul on a charge, that was iffy, but it had to be called.

8:05 - Luther Head misses another 3. Warren Carter also missed a 3. UNC is playing a zone in order to save Felton from getting his 3rd foul. Up to this point, Carolina is just hitting more open looks than Illinois, but Illinois is staying in the game because Ingram and Powell are crashing the offensive glass. Has there been a more unsung player for Illinois than Jack Ingram? Illinois already has 7 offensive rebounds. And now we have our first Nick Smith sighting. Has there ever been a player on Illinois who didn't want to play basketball more than Nick Smith? I feel like he had to play basketball because he was so damn tall. He would have much rather been an accountant and played World of Warcraft when he got home. Carolina on another 7-0 run, score is 23-17 UNC.

6:45 - Luther hits his second 3 which makes him 2-7. Nick Smith gets used by May in the post, and then throws the ball away, and Bruce goes to the bench, Ingram is back in. Deron misses another 3. Can't believe that Billy hasn't lost his mind yet, or mentioned that when a 3 pointer is short, it means that your legs are tired. That was Billy's go to comment. Right now the score is 25-20 UNC and Illinois is shooting 31% to Carolina's 53%. God please stop shooting 3's!! (Unfortunately, you and I both know that won't happen.) Illinois gets a 3 on 1 break with Dee, Deron and Luther, and for some reason Luther runs out to the 3 point line and Dee gives him the ball for another miss. What the hell are we doing?? Is John Beilein coaching this team?? Captain Jack buries a 3, and Illinois is now 5 of 16 from behind the line. Marvin Williams comes down and hits a inside shot that could have been an And 1. Carolina up 27-23.

5:04 - Augustine comes back in the game with his two fouls. Bruce did what he could with Powell, Ingram, Smith and Carter, but he needed to give Powell a rest. Manual picks up his 3rd foul, and realistically, this game has been really evenly called so far. Ingram goes to the line and hits 2. He now has 7 points and 4 boards. Great half for Ingram. On a side note, you can see the 100 year anniversary patch on the Illini jersey. All season long I thought the stars were aligned for Illinois to win a National Championship because it was their 100 year anniversary. Just like I thought the Cubs would win it on their 100 year Anniversary. Too bad real life isn't a Disney movie. Felton comes down and hits another tough 3. Carolina up 30-25. Dee shoots a terrible 3 to try and answer. I'm pretty sure Illinois hasn't tried to drive since Felton got his second foul.

3:31 - Jawad Williams hits another 3 for Carolina, his second. It is amazing that pretty much at all times, at least 9 players on the floor could hit an open 3. Powell gets 2 offensive rebounds and gets hacked. Really the first missed call of the game. UNC now up 33-25 at the TV timeout. McCants gets a lay-in for the second time on an inbound play, Billy Packer reacts like Illinois just sacrificed his first born child. Illinois is now shooting 29% for the game. Carolina on an 8-0 run. 35-25. Luther throws the ball away. Bless Luther Head because he was a great player for Illinois, but I can't believe I forgot how bad of a first half he had.

2:04 - Ingram misses an open 3 from the corner, but Luther gets the long rebound. Luther finds Deron on the baseline for a little jumper, and this has to be Illinois first inside bucket since the Ingram putback. Dee misses another 3, Ingram gets the rebound, and May blocks him from behind. He then leads the break, and McCants hits an open 3 in transition. 40-27 UNC. They are now on a 13-2 run. Illinois runs the clock down with 40 seconds left. May hedges on Deron, fouls him, but there is no call, and Illinois gets a shot clock violation. Horrible end to the half.

Second Half

18:55 - Augustine fades away on the first shot of the second half, and then May seals him off for an easy bucket. Luther comes down and hits a jumper. Billy Packer does what he does best and uses hindsight to make it seem like he is the smartest basketball analyst of all-time. He says that a wide-open baseline jumper is not the shot you want from Augustine, instead a contested jumper from Luther Head (who was 2-8 at that point) is a much better shot. Nice work Billy. Augustine gets his 3rd foul on a reach on a drive. Now the video is pretty small, so I can't tell if it was actually a foul, but that is not a smart play by James, plain and simple. He gets his 4th foul 5 seconds later on another stupid reach!!! I can excuse reaching on the 3rd foul, but when you do the exact same thing 5 SECONDS LATER, what are you thinking?? I bet if Bruce could do anything over again, he would have taken him out after the 3rd one.

18:29 - The score is 44-29, and then Dee hits an open 3. The next 3 minutes are absolutely crazy, and it was the epitome of the Illini that year. Illinois gets shafted on a loose ball that goes out of bounds. Felton hits a 3 to push it back to 15. Luther answers with another 3. May gets an offensive rebound and dunks it home hard. Right now the entire crowd is going crazy. Deron comes down and hits a mid-range jumper. Luther picks up a foul on what looked like a push off, but was probably a good call and he goes crazy!! First he probably should have gotten a technical foul for that, but second and more importantly, it fired Luther up!! Luther gets a long rebound, and goes coast to coast for a reverse lay-up. 49-39 Illinois. Felton takes the inbound and takes a bad jumper, Deron with the rebound, he finds Luther trailing the play, and he buries a 3!! Illinois fans are going crazy. Illinois scores 13 points in 2 minutes. 8 from Luther.

15:46 - There is a timeout because Noel gets hit in the face. Dee should have gotten a foul there as he not only hit Noel in the face, he also slapped the hell out of his arm. Luther gets another rebound, and then Deron hits a 3 in the corner. Illinois has hit its last 6 shots, and the score is now 49-45. Marvin Williams stops the bleeding on a hard drive, and he should have gotten an And 1. Manual picks up his 4th foul with 14 minutes left. Deron hits a 3 after Luther missed one and WARCAT gets the offensive rebound. Screw the redshirt! 52-49 UNC. After going 2 for 7000 in the first half from behind the arc, Illinois is now 5-6 in the second half. May pushes the hell out of Powell on a free throw rebound, May gets called for a foul and Packer can't believe it!! If I ever meet Billy Packer, after I nut-punch him for ruining every college basketball game I have ever watched that he did, I want to ask him if he ever watched a replay in his life. Thank God we now have announcers that will admit when they are wrong after watching a replay.

11:40 - Carolina gets up 57-50 based on May getting solid position inside and bullying his way to the hoop. I can't blame the refs for not calling anything, if Illinois wanted fouls, they should have started flopping like Duke would have done. Deron hits a 3 to cut it 57-53. Illinois is now 11-28 from 3. May is taking over with an assist for a 3, and then a shot and a foul, but he misses his free throw. May gets the ball inside again and gets fouled hard. Ingram misses a 3. Do you see a recurring theme here? Either somebody makes a 3 or misses a 3. May gets another foul on Ingram.

8:50 - It is 65-55 UNC right now, and it has been all Sean May. UNC is in the bonus now. Deron gets a steal and gets it ahead to Dee for a lay-in, and it is the first turnover for either team in the second half. Ingram hits a jumper to pull Illinois within 6. Ingram had a monster game!! Augustine comes back in with 7:12 left in the game. And he fouls out with 6:49 in the game fighting for position with Marvin Williams. I don't even want to talk about whether or not it was a foul. I want to stop watching because I feel so bad for James. What a terrible night in the biggest game he was ever in. Billy chimes in by saying the "HE" doesn't think that Augustine should have been in the game. God I hate Billy Packer soooooo much!! Powell gets the make-up call on Marvin after Luther hit a floater in the lane. 65-61 UNC.

5:48 - Ingram hits another jumper to pull Illinois within 2. Dee gets fouled and gets to the line on Felton's 4th foul. Dee ties the game!! Felton buries a huge 3 when Dee and Deron are both on him. Deron hits a jumper to pull Illinois back to 1. May hits 2 free throws to give Carolina a 70- 67 lead with 4 to play

2:35 - Luther Head ties the game at 70-70!! Right here, I thought we would win this game, and I have had nightmares about these next few possessions. For the record (before I burst into tears), this was one hell of a game!! Illinois comes back from 15 down to tie, and we got to watch a great last 5 minutes.

2:01 - Deron misses a good look at a 3 after Marvin Williams missed a tough jumper.

1:23 - McCants drives and throws up a terrible shot in the lane, but Marvin Williams is there to tip it in.

1:07 - Luther gets a wide open look for a three because his man fell down. Billy decides this is the point to scream as loud as he can that Illinois is setting illegal screens (he mentions this about 39 more times in 1 minute). Way to stay impartial Billy, you stay professional! Illinois gets the rebound, and Bruce calls a timeout. 72-20 UNC

:50 - Deron misses another 3, the ball goes out of bounds to Illinois. Bruce had some color to his hair in this game. The 2007-2008 season took care of that. 72-70 UNC

:30 - Luther turns the ball over. It was Illinois' first turnover of the second half. Illinois has to foul Felton misses the first, and hits the second. 73-70 UNC

:26 - Luther misses the last shot of the game basically, and it looked good. I have replayed that over and over in my head. I thought that this would be fine to watch after 5 years, but it still sucks. It was a hell of a run, and a hell of a game.

Greatest Website Ever!!

I just saw this posted on Scout.com from a poster named oldschoolorangeandblue. It has all of the NCAA tournament games from the sweet sixteen on to the championship game from 2000 to 2005. I will now watch the Illini National Championship game again for the first time since I watched the last 5 minutes over and over on my buddy Guymon's couch at 4 in the morning after we lost. I was not sober (by any stretch), but it did introduce my new girlfriend to my neurotic sports obsession. Shockingly, we are still together.

here is the link

if that doesn't get you there, it is ncaa.vault.com

Illini Michigan Recap

Don't lie to me, with about 6 minutes left in the first half, you thought that is could turn out to be a 30 something output for the Illini just like Minnesota and Penn State last year. I was thinking it. Neither team could shoot, and Illinios was turning the ball over at an alarming rate. They gutted the game out, and pulled off their 5th road win in the Big Ten this season. Here are some quick thoughts from the game:

- How many times have I bitched about Michigan's offense on this blog?? Basically every time I talk about them, right? Well tonight was a perfect example of I hate John Beilein's offense. I don't care how many 3's you shoot, more often than not, you are not going to shoot a good percentage. Beilein has 4 one dimensional guards on his roster (that one dimension being shooting 3's), and their back up post player can only shoot from outside. When they slump, which they all have done all season, they can't do anything else. That leaves you with only 2 scoring options, and one of them is also a bad 3 point shooter. That is how a team that was ranked 15th in the nation in preseason polls ends up 13-14 through 27 games. People are going to argue that if they shot better, they would have won. My rebuttal is when the shit have they shot well all season? They are the worst 3 point shooting team in the Big Ten at 30%.

- The Illinois offense looked bad and stagnant for one reason: Michigan was playing 4 guards, which means that Mike Davis had Zack Novak on him pretty much all game. The game plan especially in the second half was to run pick and roll with McCamey and Tisdale, and then have a high-low with Davis posting up. Tisdale could never get him the ball. Illinois was just sloppy all night. Illinois should have put this game away in the first half, but they didn't take care of the ball. When you look back on this season, you have to thank god that Illinois some what learned from their losses early to Utah, Bradley and Georgia. They still took shitty teams lightly, like Indiana, Penn State, Iowa and Michigan, but at least they didn't have a horrific late season loss. Bad losses early in the season aren't nearly as meaningful in the eyes of the selection committee as late season shitty losses are.

- Manny Harris hates playing on this team. He was suspended for a game earlier this season because there was an altercation after practice one night. During this game, he was upset on the floor during the first half, and then gave up on Mike Davis' dunk at the end of the half. Don't be surprised if he goes pro, even it means he has to play in Europe. Him and Beilein have not seen eye to eye for 3 years now, and Harris isn't getting any better. He has tuned his coach out, and when he looks back on this season, what would make him want to come back?

If you think about it, what is the difference between Evan Turner and Manny Harris? They both can get to the hoop whenever they want because of their size and athleticism. They can both handle the ball, and they both dish it really well. The only thing that Turner does better is rebound, but that is only because this season he has to due to OSU's lack of size inside. Compare their stats:

Evan Turner: 19.5 ppg, 54.1% FG, 26% 3 FG, 72% FT, 9 REB, 6 Assists, 4 TO, 2 Steals
Manny Harris: 18.4 ppg, 42% FG, 31% 3 FG, 77% FT, 6.5 REB, 4 Assists, 2 TO, 2 Steals

Their FG% jumps out at you, but Turner has only shot 31 three's, where Manny has shot 135. If you take away Manny's 3's he is shooting 49% which is very respectable for a guard. Evan Turner has more assists, but that is because the offense revolves around him, that is also why he has more turnovers. Last season they were the exact same player:

Evan Turner: 17.3 PPG, 50% FG, 44% 3 FG, 79% FT, 7.1 REB, 4 Assists, 3.5 TO, 2 Steals
Manny Harris: 16.9 PPG, 42% FG, 33% 3 FG, 86% FT, 6.8 REB, 4.4 Assists, 3.1 TO, 1 Steal

Again, last season Evan Turner only shot 25 3's where Manny shot 159. If you take away Manny's 3's, he shot 47%.

So my point is that, John Beilein basically misused a player who, had he progressed like he should have, he would be a first round draft pick. OSU's entire offense revolves around Evan Turner, and they are a Top 15 team. As far as I can tell Michigan's offense is take the first 3 you see until we get down, and then let Manny Harris take over when we are screwed. Beilein will never get another talent like Manny Harris... EVER!! No elite guard will want to play for him. He has one fluke Elite 8 run, where West Virginia was a 7 seed. They barely beat Creighton in the First Round by blocking a 3 and then scoring a lay-up at the buzzer to win by 2. In the next round they beat #2 Wake Forest 111-105 in double overtime. Then finally they beat #6 Texas Tech to go to the Elite 8. In 18 seasons he has taken 5 teams to the NCAA tournament, so good luck Michigan. Alright enough of my Beilein rant, back to the game.


- Bill Cole is short on every 3 he misses. I can't tell if it is because he doesn't step into his shot, or because he is short arming everything, but he needs to fix that, because McCamey gets him 3-4 open looks a game. Brandon Paul hits every 3 he shoots when he follows through and holds his release. When he snaps his hand back, he always misses, you can tell a miss or a make as soon as it leaves his hand.

- McCamey did a poor job of running the pick and roll early. He was looking to hit Tisdale on the pop almost every time. He should have gone to the hoop more often, which hopefully he does against Minnesota this weekend. I love that he has turned into a pass first guard this season, and he has done an amazing job reading the pick, but this game he made some poor decisions.

- Bruce has really killed his rotation, which is something that I was imploring him to do earlier in the season. He still played 9 people tonight, but the bench only got 23 out of 200 minutes. McCamey has to be in amazing shape, because he is playing at least 36 minutes a game since getting benched early. If watch closely, Bruce always takes McCamey out in between 12 and 8 minutes to go in the first half every game. He will sit him on the bench for 2-3 offensive possessions, then sub him back in, and then he gets another break at the under 8 timeout. He pulled him at 11 minutes, he was at the scorers table with 10 minutes, and got back into the game at 9, and there was a TV timeout at 7:50. Great way to steal minutes while not having Demitri sit for too many possessions. They did the same thing in the second half for one possession. Against Purdue, he played the entire game.

- So everyone has been bashing the Illini defense so far this season, but they are the only team who is holding their opponents to less than 40% from the floor this season. It would help if they could rebound, but their man-to-man is pretty solid. The only game where it was suspect was OSU, but they shot lights out in the first 8 minutes.

- There was a closet skinny cheerleader for Michigan. By closet skinny chick, I mean that she looked thick when you saw her face and arms, but when they panned away, she actually wasn't chubby. Unfortunately for her, you can tell that she is keeping the weight off because she is a cheerleader. As soon as that ends, its all downhill for her, and there is nothing wrong with that. I just thought about it during the game.

- Musberger cannot help but mention gambling in every broadcast he does. It must be a nod to his former TV partner Jimmy the Greek. He mentioned during the game that he couldn't believe that Illinois was an under dog in this game. Then after the game, when Musberger and Lavin were interviewing Demitri, Lavin mentioned that Brent wanted to take McCamey to Vegas because he has a hot hand. Also Musberger thinks that everyone in the Big Ten will play in the NBA. According to him, Tisdale, McCamey, Harris and Simms will all play at the next level.

- Having Mike Davis playing well completely changes this team. When he is playing hard and rebounding, it always leads to him running the floor and getting dunks. These last 2 games, he has shown up, and it greatly helped us in both games. Plain and simple, there are things that Davis can do that Griffey can't. Having back to back good games is a blessing going into the last 3 games Illinois has to play. Davis got benched after 1:30 in the second half, obviously got a talking to by Wayne McClain and then was right back in the game, and he played hard from that point on.

- How clutch is DJ Richardson at the end of games shooting free throws? The only other player I would rather have on the line at the end of games would be Mike Tisdale. They both are icing close games for us. Tonight DJ had McCamey open ahead of him, but instead he kept the ball and waited to get fouled. He is a really smart player and does not make very many mistakes. Before the season started, Bruce was constantly asked who was going to step up and be a leader on the floor and take over for Chester Frazier. Bruce had no idea, but he mentioned that down the road it would be DJ. After watching DJ so far this season, you can see what it was that Bruce saw in DJ. By his Junior year he is going to be one of the best players Illinois has had in a very long time.

That's it for now. Have a good week.

Big Ten Breakdown Part 2

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the running blog during the OSU - Purdue game. To be honest, I really like doing them, it makes the game much more interesting to watch, and I remember a lot more of what I just saw when I right it down. Maybe I should have taken notes in college. Here we go with the 5-11 spots in our Big Ten breakdown.

5) Illinois 9-4 (previous record 6-3) (prediction 11-7)

Well the Illini shocked everyone by beating MSU at home and then beating Wisco on the road. Demitri McCamey came back to earth a little bit shooting the ball against OSU last week, but he really didn't get any help from anyone else on the team. It also didn't help that we played no defense in the first 15 minutes. Like I have said all year, Illinois needs 3 people to play well to win. It starts with Demitri, and it really doesn't matter who the other 2 are, as long as it is 2 of them. Illinois is getting better on defense, even though the OSU game might not seem like it. Here is what they have left:

@ Purdue
@ Michigan
Minnesota
@ Ohio State
Wisconsin

Illinois CAN win at Purdue this weekend. This is a good match-up for Illinois at every position. Tisdale, Davis and Griffey have to play well against Johnson. If that happens, then Purdue turns into a strictly jump shooting team, but if you let Johnson get some baskets early, then all of the sudden he starts popping 18 foot jumpers and he will drop over 20. Michigan will be a huge Brandon Paul game, because he has to learn how to close out and not help too much, otherwise Michigan's Division II players (the guys who can do nothing but shoot) will shoot Illinois out of the building. Minnesota will crash the boards like crazy against Illinois, just like they did against Wisconsin tonight, but only Hoffarber and Westbrook are good shooters. At OSU will be a better game than the game at Illinois. Illinois will not shoot as bad as they did, and they will kill the zone with Demitri running the show. Wisco is another great match-up for Illinois, even with Leuer back. All Leuer does is take minutes and shots away from some of the younger players. He is still not a real offensive presence, and he did not want to rebound at all tonight. Over the last 5 games I think Illinois will go 3-2.

Final Record: 12-6

6) Minnesota 6-7 (previous record 4-5) (prediction 8-10)

Minnesota pulled off a great win tonight against Wisconsin by just beating the shit out of them inside. Not only did they exploit what Illinois did by showing that Wisconsin has no idea how to guard a pick and roll, they also ran a high low with Damien Johnson and Paul Carter inside a lot on a smaller guard. Hell Blake Hoffarber had 9 rebounds. Tonight's game showed what is really good about Minny, but the problem that they have is that they have a lot of bad to go with it. Their zone is not good at all, and they are terrible on the road only winning at PSU and Iowa. They really have too many players that could be good if they got the shots, but they don't because 9 different people could start for them. Losing Al Nolen because he didn't go to class for a semester really hurts also because Devoe Joseph has to play point for them at times even though he is a much better 2 guard. If they impose their size inside, they could really do some damage, but do you really expect them to figure that out this late in the season? Here is what they have left:

Indiana
Purdue
@ Illinois
@ Michigan
Iowa

Indiana and Iowa at home will be easy wins because that old ass gym is a bitch to play in. Purdue has the size and shooters to beat them no matter where they play, and I really think that they will probably not win at Illinois or Michigan. The scheduling has killed this team every year. They play nobody in the non-conference unless it is at a Thanksgiving tournament. Butler and Texas A&M are the only 2 ranked teams they played outside of the Big Ten, and that was at a tournament. They have no idea how to win on the road, and they play no high profile games to learn what it takes to win in those situations. They will go 2-3 down the stretch.

Final Record: 8-10

7) Michigan 6-7 (previous record 4-5) (prediction 8-10)

Michigan is such a bad team that it really bothers me. They should be so much better, and I blame it all on John Beilein. I have bitched about his offensive system so much, that I can't do it anymore, just believe me when I tell you that Beilein will never have a top 10 team or go to a Final Four. Michigan has 4 point guards who think that they are shooting guards, and only one inside player who also thinks he is a shooting guard. They don't have one good win. UCONN is not a good win anymore because they have gone into the shitter, and they caught OSU without Evan Turner, which was hard for OSU because they only play 6 people with him. If you want to be a solid team, you can't lose 4 home games with 3 left. Here is what they have left:

Penn State
Illinois
@ OSU
Minnesota
@ Michigan State

If you don't think that the home game against Penn State has upset written all over it you are crazy!! Penn State beat Northwestern on the road which is a pretty hard thing to do. Add to that that Northwestern and Michigan like to do similar things on defense and you have an upset. If they get by PSU, I think that the only other win that they have on their schedule is Minnesota. They will probably go 2-3 down the stretch.

Final record: 8-10

8) Northwestern 6-8 (previous record 3-6) (prediction 8-10)

It was fun while it lasted for Northwestern. Yes, they are no longer the laughing stock of the Big Ten, but that doesn't mean that they aren't still the laughing stock of the NCAA. They made a good run at the tournament, until they got into the heart of the Big Ten season. They are a really fun team to watch if you enjoy watching basketball played at a circa 1960 style. They give up way too many points, and still don't have a go to scorer. Losing to Iowa on the road just killed this team. Had they won that game, they still might be in the NCAA talk. Now with losses to Iowa and then losing to winless PSU at home, they are done. At least they will get tourney experience in the NIT. Here is what they have left:

@ Wisconsin
Iowa
@ PSU
Chicago State
@ Indiana

Their schedule was made for them to make a run at the tournament!! Had they won the 2 games they should have against Iowa and PSU, they were poised to go 6-2 at worst. They also ruined my dream that they would be in the Tournament, and then somehow blow their home game against Chicago State. I know that sounds mean, but you know what, I hate those arrogant pricks almost as much as I hate "Michigan Men" and dick bags from Notre Dame. They could go 4-1 or 1-4. I will give them 4-1, although that is only 3-1 in the Big Ten, and 1-0 vs. a glorified Junior College.

Final record: 9-9

9) Indiana 3-10 (previous record 3-5) (prediction 5-13)

You have no idea how much I love to watch Indiana try sooooo hard and still play soooo shitty!!! Here is a little nugget of knowledge that you probably don't know: Verdell Jones said that Demitri McCamey's jumper is garbage. Well his jumper might be garbage but his floater when the game is tied and the clock is running down is pretty good you scrawny, lanky, d-bag!! Indiana has lost 7 straight games. 5 out of 7 by double digits. You want to know what is shocking and actually complete bullshit, Indiana is 3rd in the Big Ten in Free Throws attempted. They are only 3 behind Purdue and MSU. Verdell Jones leads the league in free throw attempts!! He has shot 96, and JuJuan Johnson is second with 76. I will never understand why this kid gets bailed out so much? I watched the MSU game, and I wanted to kill a puppy I was so outraged. I guess it isn't good for the Big Ten to watch a team that can't shoot, or finish. You don't want them to lose by 30 every game. Alright enough of that. Here is what they have left:

@ Minnesota
Wisconsin
@ Iowa
@ Purdue
Northwestern

I'm gonna take a large leap here and say that they will win one more game. I don't know where it will be because I'm not sure which game the refs are going to give them. Just kidding, but they might beat Iowa or Northwestern. They will end with a 1-4 stretch.

Final Record: 4-14

10) Iowa 3-11 (previous record 2-7) (prediction 3-15)

I do feel bad for Iowa, because they have players transferring or getting kicked off the team constantly. They just don't really have the talent to compete, but they still play pretty hard at home. Matt Gatens is a really solid player, and Devin Bawinkel is a great shooter. Aaron Fuller is playing much better inside, and it seems like Iowa is starting to come together as a team. Here is a crazy stat that Pat Forde tossed out at ESPN the other day. Devin Bawinkel has shot 79 3's this year...... and he has shot 0 2's. He has not shot one shot inside the arc this year, and he plays 15 minutes a game. In 3 seasons, he has shot 263 shots, and only 16 have been inside the 3 point line. That is astounding!! Anyway, here is what they have left:

@ Northwestern
Indiana
@ Wisconsin
@ Minnesota

I think they will beat Indiana since they crushed them on the road, but who the hell knows, and who the hell really cares. 1-3 over their last 4.

Final Record: 4-14

11) Penn state 1-12 (previous record 0-9) (prediction 2-16)

Like I said before, Penn State has way too much talent to be the worst team in the Big Ten. I love Talor Battle, and it sucks that nobody else on this team can step up and help him. They did play great at Northwestern the other night, and I still see them winning at least one more game. Also don't sleep on them in the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota, Michigan or Northewestern would be screwed to get the 6 seed and play PSU in the first round. Here is what they have left:

@ Michigan
OSU
Northwestern
@ MSU
Purdue

That is a brutal schedule for them to finish. Again I have no idea where they will get their next win and I really don't care, but they will get one.

Final Record: 2-16

Ohio State vs. Purdue Running Blog

The best game of the year is about to start, and here are some notes. John Diebler has his right hand wrapped up because he hurt his thumb. OSU is 15-0 at home this year and shooting 53% there. Purdue has never won at Value City Arena, Here we go.

- Purdue picks up an offensive foul on Dallas and already got a lay up against the feared OSU 1-3-1 zone. OSU looks bad on offense to start. Moore buries an open 3. 3 possessions for Purdue, 2 real good shots, and one strip. Missed 3 by Lighty and OSU is now out of the zone.

- After being down 7-0, Evan Turner scores the next 4 points. I think his offensive rebounding goes really unnoticed when people talk about his game. He usually gets 4-6 points a game on rebounds and put backs. JuJuan Johnson has 6 points to lead Purdue, he is a cruising. Another jumper from him. 8 points now, and look for Purdue to try to get him the ball inside to get the second foul on Lauderdale. Purdue is playing really tough defense, just waiting for the refs to start calling fouls on reaches to bring this back in.

- Purdue hasn't missed a shot, but really all of them have been easy jumpers. Now they have missed two back to back contested shots by Hummel and Johnson. Here are some surprising stats from the first match-up against these 2 teams, Purdue was up 12 at half, and Robbie Hummel had 29 points in the first half!!! Turner followed that up with 23 in the second half while Hummel only had 6. 16-9 Purdue right now.

- Kramer just threw a 120 foot inbound pass, the problem is that the court is only 94 feet. 18-9 right now, and OSU looks terrible on offense, kinda how Illinois came out against them on Sunday. Turner with a drive and 1. Really makes you feel like you can never put OSU away because Turner can score at will. You have to make him a jump shooter. Keaton Grant hits a 3 and gets a foul on Diebler. If you look closely, you can call a foul on a ton of 3 point shots because the defender will always hit the shooter on their follow through. 26-14 after another Turner drive. He will be really good in the NBA.

- Only one substitution so far for OSU, this team has to get run down at the end of the season, they also now have 9 turnovers and only 14 points in 15 minutes. Dallas Lauderdale has not done anything yet, but on the bright side, he will qualify for Social Security next year when he turns 65.

- Evan Turner's go to move is to drive right to the top of the key and then spin back left into the lane and drive. He has done this 4 times so far and Purdue hasn't stopped them once. The half-time score in 36-23 Purdue at the half. The reason that Purdue is the best team in the Big Ten is because they are up 13 on the road, yet Hummel hasn't scored. E'twaun Moore isn't playing great, but Keaton Grant and Johnson are carrying Purdue. If Moore was 2 inches taller, he would be going pro right now. He can drive, and he can definitely shoot, but at 6'3 he is not quick enough.
Ohio State has only one assist in the first half, and Turner already has 13 and 5. He will get close to 30 tonight, because him driving to the hoop is the only offense that OSU has. Purdue is actually implementing Illinois' gameplan by letting Turner get to where he wants to go, but staying on the shooters. Buford, Diebler and Lighty are 3-10 collectively.

- The Evan Turner is now starting. He has dribbled into the lane and got fouled 2 times in a row. How the shit is this only the second sell out of the season for OSU?? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say when you have a National Player of the Year candidate that goes to a school that has 75,000 students in a town that does not have a pro team, if you don't come out and watch a RANKED team that is trying to win a BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP, you have terrible fans.

- The USA is up 6-5 against Switzerland in the 10th end with the hammer in their curling match. If you are up with the hammer in the 10th, you win 90% of the time, in case you were wondering. They really need this win.

- I love Moore's mid range jumpshot, it is fantastic. OSU's offense now consists of Turner driving the lane and getting fouled, but now he has 3 fouls. 6 point game now, as Turner just buried a 3. Where have you gone JuJuan Johnson?? The only knock I have on him is that he doesn't post hard, instead he tries to use angles to get easy lay-ins. This works really well when Purdue is moving the ball, but they need to get the ball inside, if you don't then all you do is move the ball around the perimeter and jack up a shitty shot as the shot clock runs out..... which just happened. Turner now has 22 points and has scored the 9 of their last 11 points.

- As soon as I bitched about it, Johnson gets the ball on the block and gets the shot and 1. I am now sending in my application for a Division 1 basketball coach, maybe I can take over for Ernie Kent at Oregon, because he needs to be fired. You don't need to recruit there with all of that Phil Knight Nike money pouring in. Turner another drive and lay-in he now has 24 of OSU's 39 points.. He might drop 40. Johnson answers with a jumper, he has 22. Purdue 48 - OSU 39 with 12 to go...

- Does wasting a timeout with 12 minutes left because you can't inbound the ball make sense?? Nope, I didn't think so either. Another foul on a 3 point attempt, this time by Purdue on Buford. Stop touching 3 point shooters!!!

- Robbie Hummel apparently could win an Oscar for Big Ten Player of the Year. No I didn't write that wrong, that is what the announcer just said. Does that mean that he does a great job of acting like he should be a good player?? No Clue.

- Purdue gets an offensive foul, and Buford buries a wide open 3, then Hummel turns the ball over. OSU within 4 now, 48-44. The terrible fans are now really into the game. This is a perfect time to call a timeout, but wait.... Purdue only has 2 left. Can't go 10 minutes on the road with only one timeout. Nice work d-bags!! Oh, and there was a foul on the turnover, now OSU is in the bonus. I'm calling it right now, OSU will win, and Turner will shoot at least 8 free throws down the stretch.

- Dallas not only hits Johnson's hand on a jump shot, but also runs him over, but there is no call because this occurs 30 times a game, Buford hits a long 2, and now Painter has to call a timeout. 48-44 Purdue, 10 to go, and Purdue has only scored 12 points in the second half. OSU is trapping full court now, and Purdue only has 1 timeout. Way too much one on one with Purdue right now, no ball movement on offense.

- OSU know turning into jump shooters. Why the hell do you not let Turner drive and create now? Lighty, Buford, and Diebler all took 3's without Turner even looking to drive. Why?? 52-46 Purdue with 6:30 to go.

- Turner hits a jumper, but he hasn't gone to the hoop in about 4 minutes now. Another jumpshot misses for Turner. And for the record, Jim Jackson and I are the exact same page with Evan Turner. OSU had all of the momentum in this game 5 minutes ago, but they were never able to take the lead. 6 missed jumpshots later, Purdue builds a 6 point lead. Turner missed another 3!!! What the hell is he doing???

- Chris Kramer gets a nice lay-in and then concusses himself. I was trying soooooooo hard not to talk about him, but dammit, know I have to. When players like him, Lucas Johnson and every other "hustle" player has an injury that gets so much attention it drives me crazy. They are not INJURIES, they are SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS. When a person hangs himself, you don't say the rope murdered them do you?? Diving 7 rows into the crowd to save a ball on the opening tip is not great basketball, it is stupid. The reason that these players always risk injury is because they don't really mean a ton to the over-all game. You never saw Michael Jordan dive into the crowd did you?? Does that mean that Lucas or Kramer tried harder than Jordan, or that the game means more to them??

- Turner just picked up his 4th foul, but I can assure you that he could stab Robbie Hummel and they still wouldn't foul him out. It is now an 8 point lead for Purdue, 58-50 with 3 left. Buford takes another 3 and misses, and Lighty bails him out with the offensive rebound and foul.

- I don't understand what I am seeing, Turner has not gone to the hoop in about 8 minutes, the entire offense is drive and kick outs to Buford or Diebler. Does Matta not have any short term memory?? Did he forget that nobody on Purdue could guard Turner 1 on 1 and he was getting to the rim or the line every time he tried?? Now 60-53 Purdue with a minute. Turner gives the ball up again and Buford misses a floater, but Dallas bails them out with a put back. Those were his first points of the game. 5 point game, and Kramer is at the line with 58 seconds left.

- Turner finally goes to the hole, and guess what?? He scores!!!! Amazing!! It's almost like he could do that anytime he wants to. 3 point game and Turner gets a rebound 15 seconds left and all hell breaks loose. He passes ahead to Buford, who drives in for a layin that gets blocked. Diebler gets the loose ball and hands off to Lighty, who gives the ball back to Diebler and he dribbles to an open look, but misses a 3. I'm gonna guess that if Matta had his choice, he would have Diebler shoot the 3 to tie, but I really want to know if Matta had another time out? Any chance that OSU had was completely blown by Matta. OSU had all of the momentum and was in the Bonus with 10 minutes left and Evan Turner only went to the basket ONE TIME!!! They gave the game away.

- On a side note, while Painter was doing his post game interview with Charrisa Thompson, you clearly see a Purdue benchwarmer check out her ass as he walks by. You have to remember that these players are also college kids.

Big Ten Breakdown Part 1

There is now basically only 4-5 games left for every Big Ten team, so we are going to take this time to look and see how everything is going and check to see how my predictions are holding up. This will be the first part of a 2 part series, as I am going to do a running diary of the OSU Purdue game.


1) Michigan State - 11-3 (previous record 9-0) (prediction 16-2)


I basically gave MSU the Durty kiss of death because as soon as I posted my predictions, MSU lost 3 straight. They were without Kalin Lucas in a loss to Illinois, and had him back without practicing at home against Purdue. The ankle injury to Lucas didn't lose the Wisconsin game, and realistically, it shouldn't have affected them as much in the Purdue game. I am guilty of giving them too much credit because their 9-0 start included 2 wins against Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, a road win against Michigan, and home wins against Illinois and Wisconsin. I am also guilty of not remembering my history which states that Tom Izzo teams are not great in February. So far this year in Feb, they are 2-3, in 2009 they were 5-2, in 2008 they were 3-4, in 2007 they were 4-3, and 2006 they were 3-4. February is by far MSU's worst month, I apologize for not realizing this.

Apparently February is not a good month for Raymar Morgan either. I'm not the only one who thinks he is an underachiever, as Tom Izzo called him out this week. In 5 games this month, he is averaging 7 points, 5 boards, and 1 assist a game. Durrell Summers is right their with him, averaging 7.5 a game, with 2.5 boards and 1 assist a game. Both of these upperclassman needed to pick up the slack with Lucas hurting, and they haven't. Also MSU has not been playing any defense what so ever lately, and collectively they are a bad 3 point shooting team. They are 19-64 in their last 5 games. Lucas is a decent outside shooter, and Chris Allen is a real good outside shooter, the rest of the team is garbage. Here is what they have left:


Ohio State
@ Purdue
Penn State
Michigan


The way they are playing right now, I will put them at 2-2 over those last 4 games. Nobody is playing better than Ohio State and Purdue right now. Purdue already crushed them at home, so what makes you think that they won't do it when MSU has to go on the road.


Final Record 13-5


Purdue - 9-3 (previous record 6-3) (Prediction 13-5)


I previously thought that Purdue would only lose 2 road games to MSU and OSU. Well they handled the hell out of MSU, but I still think that the Ohio State game will be a huge task for them. I think it will be a real close game tomorrow, but OSU just has a much better starting 5. Chris Kramer is going to annoy the shit out of Evan Turner, but he will still get his. Diebler, Buford, and Lighty are all really great shooters, and that will be too much for Purdue to overcome. JuJaun Johnson has been playing like a beast lately, and I think he will be able to get shots against the 1-3-1. Lew Jack gives them much needed help at the PG position, and Purdue is by far the deepest team in the Big Ten now. Moore and Hummel are very consistent. I think that Purdue is the best TEAM in the Big Ten, but that doesn't mean that they can overcome OSU who has the best 5 in the Big Ten. After the OSU game, Purdue doesn't have a lot of problems on the map that could really derail their season.


@ OSU
Illinois
@ Minnesota
MSU
Indiana
@ PSU


Now they have already beaten Illinois and Michigan State on the road, but at the same time, Illinois and MSU are 2 teams that can win anywhere. I think that Purdue will end up losing 2 games down the stretch because I find it very hard to believe that a team can go 12-1 at the end of the Big Ten schedule, especially with how talented yet disappointing some teams have been this year. Don't sleep on Penn State to end the season also, they can shock somebody. Purdue will finish 4-2 to end the season.


Final Record 13-5


Wisconsin - 9-4 (previous record 6-3) (prediction 12-6)


I know that everyone is all hot in their pants because Jon Leuer is coming back this week, but the guy hasn't played in over a month, and had a broken wrist, so color me skeptical. I really doubt that he will come back and shoot lights out like he had been before. It's not like he is a guard who just sits outside and shoots. He is inside banging for rebounds, and will get hacked a lot on his hand. Good luck with that. After going crazy for a few games, Keaton Nankivil has come back down to earth a little, averaging about 10 and 5 in his last 4 games. To be honest, I am not impressed with anyone that they have on offense. Even Trevon Hughes doesn't impress me. He doesn't dish the ball very well, and is only shooting 41% on the year. Wisconsin is exactly the same team that Illinois was last year with a little more depth on offense. They are bad on offense, but they make up for it by limiting possessions by the other team, and by playing amazing defense. Now that they are playing more road games, I still believe that they will have some bad losses down the stretch. Here is what they have left.


@ Minnesota
Northwestern
@ Indiana
Iowa
@ Illinois



The more I think about it, I think the Northwestern game might be a shock for Wisconsin. Northwestern did not turn the ball over against Wisco (only 6) but also did not shoot too many 3's. Northwestern led with 5 minutes left in that game before they choked, I can see them stealing the game at Wisco. I don't think they will win at Illinois at the end of the season. I think they will go 3-2 at the end.


Final Record 12-6


Ohio State - 10-3 (previous record 6-3) (prediction 13-5)

I am more excited for OSU vs. Purdue than any other game the rest of this season (except for any Illini game) Both teams are playing extremely well, but Evan Turner is so good that he can win games by himself. Only Talor Battle has shown that he can do that also. Turner can get to the rim whenever he wants, and really in the last 3 minutes of a tight game, he will just drive and score at will. The 1-3-1 zone they play really does a good job of keeping their starting 5 out of foul trouble, and also gives them a break on defense so they don't have to substitute as much. It is not a great defense because teams get a lot of open shots against it. They have to hope that they can stay out of foul trouble down the stretch. Dallas Lauderdale is really coming on lately, and I think that William Buford will be a leading candidate for Player of the Year next season when Evan Turner is not the first option. He has one of the best jump shots I have seen in basketball in a very long time. Everyone on this team is playing fantastic, you just have to hope that they didn't peak to early. There remaining schedule:

Purdue
@ Michigan State
@ PSU
Michigan
Illinois

The schedule is not easy by any stretch, but I see them going 4-1 down the stretch and winning the Big Ten. That is if they can play well on the road, which they really did at Illinois.

Final record: 14-4

Tale of 2 Illini

For most Illinois basketball fans, what occurred last week was the epitome of what fans have come to love and loathe while watching Illinois for the past few seasons. Illinois continued their red hot shooting, and also continued to make strides on defense when they shocked Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. Any momentum that they might have created was obviously lost when Illinois got crushed at home by Ohio State. The lack of consistency this season is obviously worse than it has been in the past few years, however many people are getting very tired with Bruce Weber's teams playing great in big games, and then losing head scratching, TV breaking games. Last season, Illinois was a great defensive team that had many apparent shortcomings on offense, 2 years ago the Illini were just bad all season long. It seems like the days of losing 59-36 (@ Minnesota last year) and 38-33 (@ Assembly Hall) are over, so hopefully the consistency will come soon too.

A problem that many people thought had been solved, reared its pathetic head again. The problem? A complete lack of energy or urgency at different points in the game. Illinois has had 3 major areas that have directly led to their 9 losses. Those areas are: a terrible start to the game, a terrible start to the second half, or letting shitty teams hang around with them late instead of putting them away. Let's examine their losses and breakdown where all of this has happened.

Utah - Illinois led 32-16 at halftime!! In the first 15 minutes of the second half Illinois was outscored 35-18. Instead of coming out and putting a real bad team away (Utah is 11-13) they let them hang around and then hit a game winning lay-up. (Didn't put them away, terrible start to second half)

Bradley - After an embarrassing loss the night before Illinois came out completely emotionless and lost for the second time in 24 hours. Illinois was up 29-28 at half, and then after 7 minutes they were losing 47-38. Illinois came back to take a 5 point lead with a little over 3 minutes left, and then didn't finish and lost by 4 to another crap team (Bradley is 13-12). (Terrible start to the second half, then didn't put them away)

Georgia - After winning 4 games, Illinois took Georgia for granted. They played a bad first half and were tied at 32 at the break. Guess what they did to start the second half? That's right, they gave Georgia a 6 point lead in the first 3 minutes. The lead got up to 9 in after 5 minutes, and Illinois was toast. Even though they regained a 1 point lead with 35 seconds left, the game should have never been close, and Illinois deserved to lose. (Terrible start to second half)

Mizzou - Surprisingly, even though Illinois almost had a turnover a minute for the first 7 minutes of game, McCamey basically kept them in it as the score was tied 11-11 with 14 minutes left. The score was also tied at 26 with 7 minutes left, and then 2009-2010 Illini Turnover-Palooza began. 7 turnovers in 4 and a half minutes finished Illinois off as they went scoreless for 5:15. At least this didn't occur at the beginning of the game or second half, so now Illinois was finding a new way to lose. The lead was 7 at the half, and Mizzou pushed it to 13 after the first 8 minutes. Game over. (Terrible start to second half)

Gonzaga - I think being down by 21 in the first half constitutes a slow start, what do you think? I guess you have to give this team credit for fighting back in games like this one and against Clemson, but obviously, you lose more games than you win in situations like this. (Horrible start)

MSU - Really Illinois played a great first 17 minutes of this game. They were in it for pretty much the entire first half until MSU hit some shots late. They did end up down 7 at half, but the game didn't really seem to be out of grasp, that is until the second half started. Illinois waited 4 minutes to score their first point unlike MSU who decided that they would try to score as soon as the second half began. A 7 point lead became 14 within 4 minutes, and the game was over. (Terrible start to second half)

Purdue - Again a really good first half from Illinois. They got a lead early, played well with it, and then completely shit the bed as soon as the second half started. Illinois scored 7 points in the first 8:40, and even worse, in the first 4 minutes, Illinois was outscored 11-2, so a four point halftime lead was completely wasted. Game pretty much over in the first 5 minutes of the second half even though Illinois tried to bury 3's at the end to give them a shot. (Terrible start to the second half)

Northwestern - Probably the most frustrating loss of the season aside from losing a monster lead to Utah, on my damn birthday no less, when I was there to watch it. Illinois started the game playing like they were drunk, giving Northwestern a 13-2 lead in the first 6 minutes. They still managed to gain a 3 point lead at half once they sobered up. The second half was more of the same as Illinois only scored 12 points in the first 13 minutes. Here comes the frustrating part: Illinois actually built their lead to 7 during this stretch. That's right, somehow Northwestern managed to play even worse than Illinois. Actually, Illinois only scored 13 points in the first 16 minutes of the second half. Unfortunately, Northwestern decided that they didn't want to hand Illinois the game anymore, and they started to hit some shots. All around horrible performance for Illinois. (Trifecta of terrible)

After looking at this, and also looking at some of the wins that Illinois has had, I think the most important thing for this team is to come out hard to start the second half. They have overcome large amounts early and won some games, but in close games, they can't afford to sleepwalk into the second half. Basically, if Illinois is down 20 at half, I'm not nearly as worried as I am if Illinois gives up a lead in the first 4 minutes of the second half. You can see the life drain out of everyone but McCamey and DJ when Illinois plays bad to start the second half.

And finally on to the latest loss to OSU:

If you have been reading what has been written about this game, you will come away with the conclusion that OSU's 1-3-1 zone really caused problems for Illinois. That is total bullshit. OSU started in it, and Illinois got 2 lay-ins to start the game because McCamey was absolutely destroying the zone. The problem was Illinois was not nearly as precise as it was in its previous 2 big games. Tisdale got the ball on the block, but he travelled. Bill Cole stepped out of bounds, then missed a layup. The only bad play in the first 5 minutes was the first possession when DJ just threw the ball away. Davis hit a baseline jumper, but the score was 11-6 OSU because we played no defense on perimeter shooters. OSU started the game 5-7 including 3-4 from 3, and they also hit 5 free throws. At 11:48 left in the game, this game was over. It had nothing to do with the zone, it had to do with the fact that at this point, OSU was shooting 6-8 from the floor, 4-5 from 3, and 5-6 from the line. Illinois on the other hand was 5-13 from the field, 0-3 from 3, and had no free throws. After watching the game for the 4th time, none of the shots in the first 8 minutes were bad. They were all shots that Illinois normally hits, or at least had been hitting during their 5 game winning streak.

So the score is 13 to 8 with 13:05 left, and here is where it all went to shit. Davis switches on Lighty, he goes baseline, gets fouled by Paul (late on weakside help), and gives OSU a 7 point lead. McCamey hits Griffey on a cross court 30 footer for a lay-up to try to keep the game close. I just want to prepare all of you for this weeks Brandon Paul Tirade, because it might get brutal.

All week long Illinois talked about how Evan Turner would most likely get his, so don't let Buford and Diebler go off. Well Paul must not have been listening because he gets lost and Buford buries a 3 in his face. Actually I shouldn't say in his face, because Paul isn't close enough to him. Then, Paul doesn't close out enough on John Diebler (obviously because he is worried about Diebler's amazing And 1 crossover that no one has ever seen) so Diebler buries a three in what would have been Paul's face had he been close enough. Now it is 21-10. Now the next offensive possession is a jumble fuck because OSU is playing pretty good MAN defense. Paul gets a offensive rebound off a missed DJ putback and decides to throw a twisting over the shoulder shot off the backboard because for some reason he thought that he would either magically make it, or that he would get a call against the Big Ten leader in blocked shots Dallas (I look older than Greg Oden did in college) Lauderdale. Seriously, if I saw Lauderdale in public, I would probably call him sir because his bald spot alone makes him look like a 45 year old man. Back to the shot, Paul didn't even draw contact with Dallas, probably because the OSU scouting report said to let Paul shoot anything he wants in the lane because there isn't a chance in hell it's going in. Next offensive possession, Paul misses a wide open 3. At this point, I would just take him out of the game, because you know that he isn't going to contribute much. I hate to say it, because I think he will be a great player for us. 2 weeks ago when Illinois was on the verge of missing the tournament, I was all for letting these young guys play through their struggles, but now there is way too much that can be lost. Bill Cole sat on the bench for the first 2 seasons he was an Illini, so his legs should be fresh. Sorry if you thought I was done with Paul........ I'm not. Illinois gets a nice bucket on an in-bound play when McCamey finds Davis for a bunny. Buford hits a shot against Michael's son (I will now call Jeff Jordan Michael's son, so we all know why he is playing), and then Paul decides that it is his time to shine. He again drives into the lane for a contested floater that goes high off the glass and hits no rim at all, Evan Turner outlets to Lighty for a scary dunk that caused Gus Johnson to scream so loud his microphone exploded, and now it is 25-12 OSU. Finally Bruce stops the bleeding by putting Cole in with 9 minutes left. So the damage for Paul is 1 foul for 2 points, 2 3's by the man he was supposed to be guarding, a missed 3 attempt, and 2 terrible shots in the lane, one of which was so bad, it led to a run out for a dunk. For the record, if McCamey did this even last season, Bruce would have probably taken his scholarship away.

Now I don't want you to think that Illinois lost because of that stretch that I just recapped for you. It just frustrated the hell out of me, and I really had to vent. Honestly, nobody played good defense, or shot the ball well, so that doomed Illinois from the get go. OSU was shooting 75% to Illinois 28% when the score was 27-12 with 8 minutes left. This game occurs to everyone, pretty much every year. The tables were reversed at Wisconsin. Illinois went to Wisconsin after a 4 game winning streak, and they shot the hell out of the ball. McCamey was unconscious, and everyone else hit every open shot that they got. Well if there was a team playing better than Illinois in the Big Ten, it was OSU. They came in and shot the ball extremely well, and Illinois could not keep up. Had this game happened against Minnesota or Michigan, then I would be extremely worried. And Illinois did hold OSU to 9 points in the last 8 minutes of the first half, they just couldn't hit enough shots to cut the lead.

The only positives that you can carry with you right now is that Illinois seemed to have figured it out before this game. Demitri McCamey is still playing fantastic as a point guard, even though he had an off shooting night. DJ was able to bounce back from a terrible game against MSU early in the season to play well during the 5 game winning streak, so hopefully he will shoot better this weekend. Mike Tisdale is slowly becoming much more consistent, and he is picking up the slack that has been created by Mike Davis and Keller playing bad. Davis has been playing a little better, and it seems like he is gaining confidence in his jumper again. And last but not least, Griffey is giving Illinois very solid minutes off the bench. A win at Purdue is not out of the question, obviously because a we all thought that a win at Wisconsin was.

Huge Week For Illinois

What many people thought was a must win for Illinois turned out to be a barn burner, and what many people thought was "no chance in hell" game turned out to be an unexpected great win. Let me start by saying that it doesn't matter to me that Kalin Lucas did not play for Michigan State, it is still a great win for Illinois. And let me also say that Dookie V is complete douche bag, but I will get to him later. All of the sudden Illinois went from fighting for their tournament life to fighting for a Big Ten championship. All of the sudden a much criticized Demitri McCamey is looking like a lock for Big Ten First Team, and finally playing like Bruce wanted him to play. Lets look at the first win.

First the Michigan State game:

I was in South Bend, Indiana for this game. I know what most of you are thinking: "Durty, don't you hate the state of Indiana? I thought the only school you hate more than Indiana is Notre Dame?" Before you start jumping to any rash conclusions, I was there for a wedding. Thank God the wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun, otherwise I might have cancelled the check before the Bride and Groom could cash it (not really). I wasn't the only person who was aching to watch this game, as pretty much every male under the age of 40 was huddled around my buddy Matt's IPhone watching the play by play while our wives/girlfriends danced by themselves. It was like a middle school dance and Matt brought a Gameboy. Alright, enough about my bullshit, lets get to the game.
From the get go you could tell the crowd was very amped/drunk! Just like the Krush used to be when I went to school. Bruce again went with the line-up of DMac, Tisdale, Griffey, DJ and Cole which I absolutley love to start games. I like it for two reason. The first is that it is a more stable line-up to start a game defensively. Cole knows that he is in the game to play defense and hustle. Tyler Griffey is the exact same way, he is out there to give solid minutes on the defensive end and rebound, something that Mike Davis and especially Dominique Keller were not doing. The second reason I like this line-up is because it allows Mike Tisdale to be the primary option on offense early. Illinois makes it a point to try to get him either posted up, or get him an easy pick and pop shot early. We all have seen how important it is to get Mike going early in games. When he is involved on offense, he is more likely to rebound on defense, and also less likely to commit stupid ticky tack fouls on defense. If your starting line-up included Davis and Paul instead of Cole and Griffey, then Tisdale becomes the 4th option, and possibly the 5th, and all of the sudden he is not getting shots until Illinois is down in the second half and Bruce is screaming at them to give him the ball. Having Tisdale be a fourth option means that you have to pray that Davis and Paul have a good game, and they are sporadic at best.
Illinois' first score came on a post up by Mike Tisdale, and then he kicked to Griffey for a jumper. Incidentally, Tisdale had more assists on that single play than Shaun Pruitt did in 4 years. Then the McCamey show started with a little Tisdale tip dunk in there somewhere. Illinois started the game 14-4, and they went for the Jugular very early by shooting 3 straight 3's with that lead. They missed all 3, and then Bruce called timeout. The reason Illinois jumped out to that lead wasn't so much their hot shooting as much as it was good defense. I don't think enough credit is being given to DJ Richardson for how hard he is working to defend the point. He caused 2 turnovers in the first 4 minutes. Bill Cole also caused another one, then had a block that led to Raymar Morgan shooting the ball off the side of the backboard on the rebound.

The next thing that I want to talk about is how we run the pick and roll with McCamey and Tisdale when the shot clock gets under 10 seconds. People do not understand how difficult it is to make the right read off of this. A perfect example was when Brandon Paul decided he would run it instead of McCamey. Paul ended up dribbling around for 7 seconds, then after spinning twice he finally gave the ball to Davis for a contested 19 footer. This not to bash Paul because I think he is starting to play much better than he has. Instead I mention this because McCamey has to handle this situation at least 10-12 times a game, and he maybe makes the wrong read on it 2 times. In the last 2 seasons, Demitri would use the pick in order to find space for a 3, or drive a little for a contested jumper. Now he not only reads the space for a 3, but he also reads when the defense is playing tight enough that he can get to the hoop. If the defense is rotating over to get a charge, he hits a floater in the lane. If the defense all collapses, then he hits Tisdale for an 18 footer, and if Tisdale dives, he is patient enough to wait for him to get a lay-in or a dunk. The next time you get upset when Illinois runs the offense down to 10 seconds and then McCamey pulls it out, think about how well he has ran this in the last 5 games. 5 straight games he has been great in the 2 man game, and now when someone else jumps it, you will have a jumpshooter (DJ Richardson) open in the corner. I don't know about you, but I feel pretty comfortable giving Demitri 6 different options when he has the ball in his hands.

Erin Andrews is Beautiful!!!

The rest of the first half consisted of really good basketball. DJ hit some big 3's and also continues to be clutch at line. Bill Cole proved to everyone that he can actually dunk, and Mike Davis finally hit some jumpers that used to be automatic for him. Illinois' defense finally showed up causing 11 turnover, and just like last season, they weere effecient and shared the basketball with 9 people scoring in the first half. The biggest moment of the second half occured with 13:30 left in the second half. That's when DMAC decided to go OFF!!

McCamey, with the shot clock winding down, ran a pick and roll, couldn't drive, so he created space and buried a 3 in Raymar Morgan/Brian Randle's face! As soon as he hit that 3, he got a little smirk on his face that basically said "You can try to guard me, but I will use the shit out of you!!" Then he comes down and buries another 3. Now give MSU a ton of credit because they hit a jumper in the lane and then 2 3's to match and actually take the lead, but McCamey was just getting started.

To get back to my Raymar Morgan/Brian Randle comparison, they are the exact same damn player. Both of them had a ton of potential coming out of high school, and they were supposed to be leaders that, by the time they were Seniors, should have been All-Big Ten players at the least. Both of them have been injury prone, and have under acheived. And the most glaring comparison is that both of them caved under the pressure of big games. The only difference is that while Illinois imploded during Randle's final season, MSU has way too much talent to allow that to happen this season. If anything, Morgan has been a bigger bust than Randle was. While Randle never averaged more than 9.4 points a game (his senior year), Morgan has averaged less his Junior and Senior year than he did as a Freshman (10.2, 10.6 vs. 11.7) During this game, he had only 8 points, and 4 of those were in the first 5 minutes. Don't get me started on him being a good defensive player, because McCamey buried 3 3's in his face, and foul trouble has plauged him his entire career. Vitale makes a crucial error like he always does by saying at the end of the game: "At least Morgan has been trying defensively, guarding McCamey!" Yep, Vitale is a fucking joke, and so is Raymar!

Had I watched the game live, I would have thought that the game was over with 9:00 left to play. Thats when Brandon Paul got a break away with a steal and dunked. Enough credit was not given to Paul for how amazing he played on defense in the second half. He had one terrible lapse when he let Summers hit a 3 at the end of the game, but you see flashes of how unbelievable he will be in the future. McCamey comes down and nails his 5th 3 of the game to make it a 62-57 game with 8 to play, and the Hall is going nuts!!! Then the best dunk I have seen all year happens.....

BP makes another great steal on the sideline and then he flips the ball ahead to DJ. DJ grabs the ball, plants, and takes off from an area on the court that a 6 foot guard should not take off from. The 2 handed dunk was reminescent of Luther Head taking off 5 years ago. It was amazing, and the Hall is going nuts!!!

For the first time all year, I started to see this team have fun!! Mike Davis hits a jumper and he starts pumping up the crowd, and then BP takes a charge, and Demitri stands for at least 10 seconds making the charge call for the officials and the crowd! When was the last time that Illinois did that at home??

Draymon Green had 12 points and 12 rebounds with 4 minutes left. He ended the game with 16 points and 17 rebounds. What a phenominal player!! I have to admit that I love everything about MSU (aside from Raymar Morgan.) They play basketball the way that everyone should play. No one ever gives them credit, yet Izzo has made made 5 Final Fours, 2 National Championship games, 1 National Championship, and he has taken MSU to the Sweet Sixteen 8 out of the last 12 years!!!! Are you kidding me??? Best coach in basketball, hands down!!!!! I will compare him to every other coach that the college basketball experts love to blow later.

Alright 3:30 left in the game, score is 66-65.... you wanna know who won this game for us?? Well I will tell you, it was MIKE DAVIS and BRANDON PAUL!! Mike hits 2 big free throws to give us a 3 point lead with 3 minutes to play. Then he jumps out on Summers and blocks his shot (Illinois ball with 2:47 left.) Game tied at 68 and BP makes a hell of a drive to the hoop (which normally is either blocked or defended) and he make the bucket but misses the free throw. Illinois 70-68. Next possesion, BP ties up....... Raymar Morgan!! And this is when I lost all love for Dookie V.

For the record, I really loved Vitale because he is one of the good guys in sports. All he wants to do is make money for the Jimmy V foundation for cancer research, and he usually hates everything that is dirty about college basketball (hence the reason he never talks about Calipari.) When you announce a game, you don't say the refs made a mistake. If you want to disagree with the refs, you better be right, especially when you have multiple angles in SLOW MOTION!!! Now I have watched the replay 35 million times, and Dickie only got to see it 4 times, yet he saw BP grabbing Morgan on the arm, yet there is nothing in ESPN's arsenal of camera's to back up his claim. So the only thing that we can assume from this is that Vitale and his 70 year old eyes, from 45 feet away, at an angle that a sharpshooter couldn't see from, is better than than the camera that ESPN had from 4 feet away. He needs to stop getting carried away because it has become a real turn off for fans, and probably already driven most fans away from liking him.

Back to the game..... McCamey buries another 3!!! Illinois hits some free throws by DJ, and then Mike Davis gets another block... the game is over, and DICK VITALE LOSES HIS MIND!!!

Now on to Dookie V. What a fucking hypocrite!! He loves to perpetuate a mad house, and crazy fans, but when 200 people rush the floor, he goes out of his mind. For the record if you watch the replay of the game, the people who rushed the floor didn't even encompass 2/3 of the court. And for the record, didn't Dookie V say that this was "A MUST WIN FOR ILLINOIS!!" So, Illinois has Gameday, the Orange Krush has been there for damn near 12 hours partying, but for them to run onto the floor to congragulate the team is somehow unsafe??? Get the fuck over yourself Vitale!! Here is another great fact... Vitale was doing a Big Ten game, which finally beat the ACC in the Big Ten Challenge, and you want to know how many times Vitale mentioned Duke and UNC? 7 Fucking times!!! Really you out of touch douche bag!!! During a Big Ten game, that was the focus of GAMEDAY on ESPN, Vitale talked about Duke and UNC 7 Fucking times. UNC isn't even going to make the NCAA this year, but Dookie V still has to love them, because they are the reason that he has a job. I pray for the day that he retires with Billy Packard in the college basketball hall of douchebags!! Up next, Wisconsin.

Iowa - Illinois Running Diary

I always wanted to try this, so I will give it a shot with tonight's game. Basically I will give you guys a little insight into what it is like to watch an Illini game with me, and of course I will add all of the random text messages I get from all of my friends. Although to be honest, the same people who read this are the same people I text the entire time. Oh well!!
The starting line-up is supposed to be McCamey, Richardson, Tisdale, Cole and Griffey. Here is hoping that this is finally the game where Mike Davis wakes up and plays the way he is capable of playing.

Wayne Laravee just said that under Bruce Weber, Illinois is the "11th winningest program" in the Nation, but most of you are right, we should fire him! (I used the quote there because I'm pretty sure winningest is not a word)

McCamey is already owning this game. I love when the bigs run the floor, and realistically Cole, Davis and Keller should get at least 10 points a game in transition because they are more athletic than every other big man in the conference. Iowa's first 3 shots have been 3 pointers, they have missed them all, but they have been open.

Now Matt Gatens has hit 2 open 3's. Illinois needs to eventually learn to close out on shooters, or not get beat off the dribble. Story of the season has already shown up in the first 4 minutes. Offense looks good with solid ball movement. Brandon Paul was in the game for 6 seconds before he drove, got stuck and put up a bullshit shot.

Holy Shit! Lickliter's son is in the game, and man he is not a Division 1 basketball player. It is also awesome to hear the Krush chanting AIRBALL at Cully Payne even though the game is in Iowa. Laravee has already mentioned 3 times that 160 Krush members made the trip to Iowa. For all of Paul's terrible decisions on offense, he is getting much better at defense. Dominque Keller on the other hand is getting much worse on defense.

Somebody get a god damn rebound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Iowa is shooting 35% yet they have hit 5 3's to stay in this game. Tisdale and Davis both look pretty active so far. They need to start owning the defensive glass though. The downside to having so many mid major coaches in the Big Ten now is that you know get mid major 3 point shooters. By that I mean a bunch of short white kids who only shoot from 25 feet away.

Not too many fouls called so far in this game, actually only 3 so far with 16 minutes gone in the first half. Just as I say that, McCamey picks up a foul against Bryant "Big Country" Reeves. I wonder what farm Lickliter found this hillbilly on?? I would like to see Demitri penetrate a little more in this game instead of settling for the 3, he is 1-4 right now, but he has 5 assists.

And as soon as I say it, McCamey starts getting in the lane and closes out the half on a great run. I will bet you anything that Iowa comes out and hits 2 3's to start the half and Illinois is only up by 2 before Bruce calls a timeout. Any takers?

Okay maybe I was wrong, Illinois is playing very hard to start the half. Shocking, but we need to make sure that there aren't any major lapses. Cully Payne with ANOTHER airball, dare I say he is rattled!! Lead is now 10.... Illinois really needs to push this to at least 15 and step on Iowa's throats, they have had too many damn games where they get a lead and then let a team back in. Northwestern springs to memory. On a lighter note, Chunk is back in the game for Iowa.

Now Illinois is going into their typical second half offense which consists of nobody screening, nobody posting, and then McCamey getting the ball with 10 seconds on the shot clock. McCamey just caught a hamhock from Chunk in the face....... I am really excited to see what type of player McCamey is when he is pissed off!!

For those of you who are wondering, Jeff Jordan is god damn terrible. It is funny to watch him play against Lil Lickliter, a battle of two people who are playing because of who their father is.

McCamey is on the bench, and nobody has scored for the last 3 hours. Actually Illinois hasn't scored for the last 7 minutes, and now it is a 5 point game. Back up to 9, Illinois runs nothing on offense, and then Jeff Jordan decides its his turn to airball a 3. Awesome!!

We need to just pound the ball inside. They are packing the lane against Tisdale, but the beauty of that is that Tisdale is never in the paint! He usually starts out posting there, but is pushed out by the 3 point line in about .4 seconds. Illinois has 12 points in 13+ minutes.

McCamey misses a dunk, Tisdale get s a foul, nothing about the way Illinois is playing is making me feel good, and right on cue, Payne hits a 3. Another Tisdale foul, and this game has just gotten a whole lot more interesting. We need McCamey right here.

Huge jumpshot by Griffey, that used to be the shot the was automatic for Mike Davis. Illinois up 5 with about 3 to play. Gotta love how Illinois can't put anyone away. Maybe they should just think that they are down by 10 and there is only :45 to play. Maybe then they will show a little fire.

Demitri McCamey made the worst play I have ever seen him make, even if it wasn't Bill Cole, nobody could have caught that ball. What the hell was he thinking?? Mike Davis with a huge jumper from the top of the key!! McCamey and Tisdale hit their free throws, and that is all she wrote folks. Pretty much exactly the same Illini game that we have become accustomed to watching. MSU on Saturday, that is going to be a damn dogfight!! I for one am praying that Kalin Lucas can't play because of his ankle, and then he comes back and destroys the rest of the Big Ten.

Big Ten Breakdown

Now that the Big Ten season is half way done, I am going to look forward and predict what each team will do for the rest of the season. As of now, Lunardi in his infinite wisdom has 4 teams in from the Big Ten. Let me start of by saying that Bracketology is a crock of shit. Every year, people are astounded by how accurate Lunardi is when he picks his bracket. By the time the bracket is released, there are really only about 5 teams that are on the bubble, and it is usually for 3 spots. How hard is this?? A person who knows nothing about basketball can get this correct. It would be really impressive if he was ever correct on his seeding, but he never is. Anyway, I bet that the Big Ten gets at least 5 teams, if not 6. The 6th team will be determined on how Northwestern finishes.

Big Ten Teams:

MSU - 19-3 (9-0)

Izzo is the best coach in college basketball, hands down. He doesn't get nearly the talent that teams like UNC, Duke, Texas, and Kansas get, yet every year Michigan State is awesome. This season is no different, MSU has won 14 out of their last 15 games, and I guarentee that if they played UNC, Texas or Florida (their 3 losses) today they would beat them easily. Here is a look at their upcoming schedule
@ Wisconsin
@ Illinois
Purdue
@ Penn State
@ Indiana
Ohio State
@ Purdue
Penn State
Michigan
I don't think that MSU will run the table in the Big Ten. They should win tonight against Wisconsin because without Luerer they are not the same team. I think that they will lose one road game against Purdue or Illinois, not because I think that either team is better, but those games will mean more to Purdue and UI. MSU is pretty much a lock for a #2 seed in the NCAA's and they probably can't make a run at a #1 seed. They also might get shocked at home once.
Final Big Ten Record (16-2)

Purdue 18-3 (6-3)

If Purdue can get Lewis Jackson back up to speed in the next 3 games, then they will be scary for the rest of the season. The only thing that they were missing this season was the playmaking that Jackson brings at the point. Moore and Grant have done a great job handling the guard position while he has been out, but with him back, it allows those two to move back to the 2 guard spot without having to rely on Freshman handling the point. JaJuan Johnson had his "Mike Davis" moment for 3 games, but he found his game again. It is a funny coincidence that he found his game against Mike Davis and the Illini. Since playing only 17 minutes and scoring only 8 points in a loss to Northwestern, Johnson has averaged 18 points over his last 4 games. Purdue's remaining games:
@ Indiana
@ MSU
Iowa
@ OSU
Illinois
@ Minnesota
MSU
Indiana
@ Penn State
The two games that I think Purdue loses in @ MSU and @ OSU, both of those teams match up really well against Purdue, and they both have strong big men that will give Johnson problems. Also they each have guards that can match up with E'Twuan Moore and a SF that can match up with Robbie Hummel. Their home game against MSU will be an awesome game, other than that, they shouldn't lose a game unless they completely lay an egg on the road at Minnesota.
Final Record 13-5

Wisconsin 16-5 (6-3)

Every year I think Wisconsin will be crap, and every year I am shocked when they are good. It's like being surprised that it gets cold in Chicago during winter. How well they play the rest of the season depends on how long Jon Leuer is out. Hughes is a stud, and Bohannon is the typical Bo Ryan slappy white guard who can shoot from anywhere, but beyond that the scoring is very inconsistant. Jordan Taylor will be another great guard for them in the next 2 years but he is only shooting 36% from the field in Big Ten play, and he is not shy about jacking shitty shots up. Keaton Nankivil has gone off in his last 2 games, but he needs to do it for the rest of the year for Wisconsin to have a shot at the second spot in the Big Ten. Wisco's remaining Schedule:
MSU
@ Michigan
Illinois
Indiana
@ Minnesota
Northwestern
@ Indiana
Iowa
@ Illinois

As always, Wisconsin doesn't lose at home. Their only loss at home this year has been against Gonzaga. I think they will lose to MSU tonight, but then after that, they have no home losses left on their schedule. Even without Leuer, their home court advantage will help them take care of the rest of their schedule. I think they will lose to Minnesota and Illinois on the road though, and possibly Michigan. At home Wisconsin is great at controlling the tempo, but on the road, I think Michigan will speed things up.
Final Big Ten Record: 12-6

Ohio State 16-6 (6-3)
OSU is the most talented team in the Big Ten. That is of course when Evan Turner is on the floor. What they don't have is depth. Thad Matta has done a fantastic job of recruiting one and done players who give his program absolutley nothing. I'm not forgetting about the National Championship run that they made a few years ago, they were the exception. Also they had 3 freshman who went pro after one season. This season they finally have a team that has played together for longer than a summer. With Evan Turner this team is more than capable of making the Sweet Sixteen. Here is their schedule

PSU
Iowa
@ Indiana
@ Illinois
Purdue
@ MSU
@ PSU
Michigan
Illinois

Having 4 out of 5 games on the road could break this team. They are going to need much more than a consistent triple double from Evan Turner every game. If they can get out of that strecth with 2 or less losses, they will end up either 2nd or 3rd in the Big Ten. They win on the road at Purdue was a great win for them, and if they can sweep the series, they will be second easily.
Final Big Ten Record: 13-5

Illinois 14-8 (6-3)

Illinois had by far the easiest Big Ten schedule to start conference play. Losing at Northwestern really hurt them, and their inconsistent play is really hindering their chances of getting to the NCAA Tournament. Demitri McCamey has been carrying this team while someone else chips in occasionaly. What the Illini need is for 2 out of Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis, Bill Cole or DJ Richardson to consistently play well. If that happens, then they are as good as anyone in the Big Ten not named Michigan State. The odds of that happening is pretty slim though. Illini remaining schedule:
@ Iowa
MSU
@ Wisconsin
OSU
@ Purdue
@ Michigan
Minnesota
@ OSU
Wisconsin

This schedule is brutal, and really if Illinois can go 3-1 at home it will be a miricle. They need to steal the Michigan road game and hopefully one other game to get into the tournament. Since we talk about the Illini all damn day here, I won't waste any more space on them.
Final Big Ten record: 11-7

Minnesota 13-8 (4-5)

The Fighting Tubby's have had a pretty up and down year. They should have been much better than they are, and in some games they do play up to their potential. Beating OSU in Evan Turner's second game back is their best win of the year besides beating Butler early in the season. OSU got them back in a big way by crushing them by over 20. Tubby Smith played a cake non conference schedule last season, and the same thing happened this season. Once the Big Ten season rolls around Minnesota isn't nearly as ready as they should be. They are 4-5 right now, and they still have some big games coming up. Tubby's remaining schedule:

@ PSU
Michigan
@ Northwestern
Wisconsin
Indiana
Purdue
@ Illinois
@ Michigan
Iowa

Minnesota took a page out of Duke's scheduling playbook and only had one non-conference road game, which they lost to Miami. A 12 point road win at Iowa means absolutley nothing, but an overtime road loss to Indiana means a lot. They MIGHT beat PSU on the road, but I really doubt they beat Northwestern, Illinois or Michigan on the road. They need to win out at home, but they won't beat Purdue, and probably won't beat Wisconsin either, although playing at the Barn is difficult because no one can shoot in that abomination of a sporting venue.

Final Big Ten Record: 8-10

Michigan 11-10 (4-5)

Like Minnesota, Michigan has only won one road game so far this season. I still think that DeShawn Simms and Manny Harris are two of the best players in the Big Ten. Considering Manny Harris leads the Big Ten in scoring and Simms is 5th, you would think Michigan would be much better than they are. They reason they suck is because Beilein has surrounded these two with a bunch of great white unathletic outside shooters who can't shoot for shit! This team is going to be garbage next season also when Simms and Harris are gone. They beauty of Michigan is that they can beat anyone when they get hot. The problem is they only shoot well once every 4 games. Their remaining schedule:

@ Northwestern
Wisconsin
@ Minnesota
@ Iowa
PSU
Illinois
@ OSU
Minnesota
@ MSU

I can't even begin to predict what Michigan will do. For all we know, they will lose at Iowa and PSU at home, but they will beat MSU, Wisconsin and OSU. If everything plays out the way it should though, they will beat PSU and Iowa and probably Minnesota. They also will have one other win somewhere, possibly tonight @ Northwestern.
Final Big Ten Record: 8-10

Indiana - 9-11 (3-5)
Indiana sucks! I hate Tom Crean, and don't understand why people think he is such an amazing coach? He went to the NCAA tournament 2 times with Dwayne Wade, who led him to a Final Four. The next 2 years he failed to win 20 games and made the NIT. Then he made the NCAA 3 times in a row winning only one game in 3 years. His career record is 205-132 with 83 of those wins coming with the best shooting guard in the NBA right now.
Indiana is a scrappy team, and they fight. Since they lost their best player though, this season is another complete and total loss for them. I hope Kelvin Sampson and Eric Gordon was worth it scumbags!! Their schedule

Purdue
@ Northwestern
OSU
@ Wisconsin
MSU
@ Minnesota
Wisconsin
@ Purdue
@ Iowa
Northwestern

I will give them 2 wins in this stretch. They might beat Iowa because they got embarrassed by them at home, and they could possibly beat Northwestern at home. I am being very nice here, and I'm not sure why, because realistically they shouldn't win any of these games.
Final Big Ten Record: 5-13

Northwestern 14-7 (3-6)

The stars were aligned for Northwestern as far as getting into the NCAA tournament this season. They had a ridiculously easy non-conference schedule, and they only had to play Purdue and MSU once. Then Kevin Coble (the ugliest man not only in the Big Ten, but all of college basketball) went down and everything looked like hell. They have played really well without him, and the system they run is perfect for the players they have. That being said, they are not a tournament team, and they won't make it. Their remaining schedule:

Michigan
Indiana
@ Iowa
Minnesota
PSU
@ Wisconsin
Iowa
@ PSU
Chicago State???
@ Indiana

They have by far the easiest road the rest of the way in the Big Ten. @ Wisconsin is their only remaining game against a ranked team. Like damn near everyone else in the Big Ten, they have only won one road game, but their road schedule is not that hard. I think they will lose 4-5 more games, and play in the NIT.
Final Big Ten Record: 8-10

Iowa 8-14 (2-7)

Iowa has no talent really at all on this team. They recruited talent, but they all either transferred once they realized that they had to live in Iowa, or they got suspended because they probably were hanging out with the football team. I don't know how Iowa turns things around, and I doubt they will with Lickliter as coach. Remaining Schedule:

Illinois
@OSU
Northwestern
@ Purdue
Michigan
@ Northwestern
Indiana
@ Wisconsin
@Minnesota

I really don't see Iowa winning any of these games although they did crush Indiana on the road, so maybe they can beat them at home. Really, who gives a shit. Maybe one more win.
Final Big Ten Record: 3-15

Penn State 8-13 (0-9)

Penn State is the wildcard in the Big Ten. There is no way that they should be this bad. Talor Battle is a stud, and I have a feeling that he will start to completely take over a couple games late in the season. They did lose a lot in the last 2 seasons, and the young players that they have are not stepping up. I just pray that Illinois does not get Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament because they will beat Illinois. Here is their remaining schedule:

@OSU
Minnesota
MSU
@ Northwestern
@ Michigan
Ohio State
Northwestern
@ MSU
Purdue

If you are any of the top 3 Big Ten teams, you do not want to get Penn State at the end of the season. When a team with this much talent has nothing to play for, they get really dangerous.
I will give them 2 wins.
Final Big Ten Record: 2-16

Durty Is Back!!

Durty is back from my Sebatical in India. I have taken the last week to absorb what has happened to the Illini over the last month and I finally have an answer for all of you. I know all of you want to know who to blame. Most of you would like to blame Bruce Weber, and you might be correct, he has done a terrible job working with this team. However, I think the blame can be placed more on the players than anyone. Let's dispell some myths before we delve further into why Illinois has played terrible this season, and make no mistake, this team should be 17-4 instead of 13-8.

Myth 1) Illinois needs to play more zone
I hate when people assume that a team can just switch up defenses. If you assume that when you don't play man well, you will play zone well, you are an idiot!! It is so much easier to get open shots against a zone defense than it is against man to man. Just think about the principles of each defense and you can figure this out. I heard a ton of people saying that the reason we lost to Northwestern was because we didn't play zone. If Illinois had played zone, Northwestern would have started burying 3's much sooner than 6:00 left in the game. The reason Illinois lost that game was because they scored 3 points in 10 minutes of play. Think about that!! 3 god damn points from 14:00 left in the game to 4:00 left in the game. In those 10 minutes they had 7 turnovers, and they missed 6 shots. When you have more turnovers than shots in a TEN MINUTE STRETCH then you will lose. Defense had nothing to do with it. The same can be said when Illinois played like shit to start the second half against Purdue. Sure Purdue came out and played really well, but did you really expect anything less from a veteran team like Purdue. Illinois scored 7 points in the first 9 minutes of the second half, in that time, Illinois missed 9 shots, had only 2 turnovers, and missed 3 of 6 free throws. Thats how you go from up 2 to down 9.
So whats my point? My point is that you lose games to Utah, Bradley, Georgia, Purdue, Northwestern because you get careless and don't play 40 minutes, and also because you are not mentally tough enough to fight back when things start going bad.

Myth 2) The Freshman need to play more
I love the upside that Griffey, Paul and Richardson bring to this program. That being said, only Richardson has proven that he deserves to start and play extended minutes. Brandon Paul shows flashes of being amazing, yet he still takes terrible shots, misses assignments on defense, and can't handle the ball at all. Griffey is really raw right now. Having Griffey play 10-15 minutes a game would be perfect. This is what should be expected of him if Mike Davis could be consistant and Dominique Keller could stop making stupid mistakes. If Illinois was consistantly good on defense like they have been in the past, then Weber would have the luxury of playing the Freshman more minutes because each offensive possesion would not be so crucial. Since they don't play any defense, you can't sit around and wait for the Freshman to start hitting shots.

Myth 3) Bruce Weber needs to stop bitching about his players and take the blame.
You can blame Weber all you want for not recruiting well after the Final Four season. There is no way you can argue against the fact that he did not use the momentum from that to season for recruiting. You can also make the claim the Bruce is not very good with post players, but how much blame can he take for the play on the floor? People bitch about the offense like Bruce is running some unorthodox never heard of scheme. The motion offense has been in existance well before Bruce Weber started coaching. It's not his fault that people don't screen well, and that Tisdale and Davis can't hold a post position.
What I blame Weber for right now is the fact that he has called out Demitri McCamey for 3 years trying to get him to be a better player, yet everyone else in that class has gotten a pass. I don't give a shit if Tisdale and Davis don't respond to criticism like McCamey can. They are Big Ten basketball players, if they can't handle the pressure or criticism then go play in the MAC. The theory was that if you coddle these players, then by the time they are upperclassmen, they will be consistant players. Well neither Davis or Tisdale are, and now after 3 years, Davis is finally catching some flack, and he isn't responding at all. Maybe last year was just a fluke, and Davis has peaked, or maybe Davis hasn't been pushed as hard as McCamey because of his fragile mind set, and now he isn't capable of taking his game to the next level. I alluded to this before with mental toughness. Whenever Illinois blows an early lead and are trailing in the second half, the entire team with the exception of DJ Richardson stand around and wait for Demitri to do something.

Now that I am done with telling uneducated Illini fans why they need to quit bitching about crap they obviously know nothing about, lets look forward.

In order to make the NCAA tounament, Illinois needs to finish in the top 5 in the Big Ten, and they have to steal at least one game from Michigan State or Purdue. This is their remaining schedule: @ Iowa, MSU, @ Wisconsin, OSU, @ Purdue, @ Michigan, Minnesota, @ OSU, and the end with Wisconsin at home.
Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota are must wins!!! I hate playing at Michigan because they can get hot at home, and realistically we have no one who can guard Manny Harris. If Beilein's bullshit offense actually works in that game, then we will be screwed because they will shoot us out of the gym. Minnesota at home shouldn't be too difficult, but with this team, everything is difficult. So after Iowa, I think the Illini need to go at the very least 4-4 to get in. That would mean a split with Wisco and OSU and wins against Minny and Michigan.
Right now their RPI is 80, but that is also because their strenght of schedule is 78th. That will change as soon as they play the rest of the Big Ten. Illinois has actually fallen in the RPI after wins against Penn State and Indiana. If they can win out at home, that will be wins against MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, then they should be a lock. It is not impossible for this to happen. Illinois' only loss at home this season was against Purdue, and that was a very close game. MSU will probably beat us, which means we will need to steal a road win. Hang on, because the season isn't over just yet.