Article On Sam Maniscalco

[tornado]

The PJS has more on Sammy Maniscalco this morning --

There's this main one and then a smaller companion one that there's no link for..

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1797082268/Sams-playing-again

[BigJoe]

I love the Weber quote... crafty, tough, knows the game. That's it??? I think Weber already knows he's not real fast, a defensive liability (guys can go around him or shoot over him--take your pick), a streaky shooter, etc. I will give him credit for his ability to make clutch free throws. He's going to be a small guard in the Big 10. Good luck with that, Bruce.

[SFP]

He'll be fine. He always was able to play well against top flight talent when healthy. He also brings intangibles to that team which any D-1 team could use. One thing we will not know until Oct. is if he can keep the quicker guards in front of him. We never saw a SM 100% healthy as an upperclassman. If I'm an Illini fan I'm real happy with this one year scholarship.

[Da Coach]

I love the Weber quote... crafty, tough, knows the game. That's it??? I think Weber already knows he's not real fast, a defensive liability (guys can go around him or shoot over him--take your pick), a streaky shooter, etc. I will give him credit for his ability to make clutch free throws. He's going to be a small guard in the Big 10. Good luck with that, Bruce.

You seem to think Sammy will struggle in the Big Ten. I think he is far and away the best PG on Illinois, and will be one of the top 2 or 3 point guards in the Big Ten this season.

What Big Ten point guards do you think are better? There is not a great deal of point guard talent in the Big Ten this season, as many of the top PGs left due to graduation or the NBA draft. And there are so greatly talented point guard recruits coming into the league that will stand out immediately.

Here are the Point guards in the Big Ten (please correct or add to this list if I am missing any significant point guards):
Illinois- Sam Maniscalco is the PG. Incoming freshman Tracy Abrams may get some time there, though many think he is not a point guard, and won't be ready to play PG in the Big Ten this year. Brandon Paul is actually projected as the backup PG.
Indiana- They have a number of players who spent some time at point guard- Jordan Hulls (injured and possibly out for the year), Verdell Jones, Jeremiah Rivers, and walkon Daniel Moore. None played the point very well to satisfy Coach Tom Crean. None of their incoming recruits are point guards, except Coach Crean has publically touted Remy Abell, who is more of a 2-guard, as his point guard of the future.
Iowa- Juco transfer Bryce Cartwright returns for his senior season. He is a solid, though not flashy point guard. There are no solid backups. Cully Payne has left.
Michigan- A real question mark at PG -arguably the best PG in the Big Ten (Darius Morris) left after his sophomore year and was drafted by the Lakers. It is projected that incoming freshman Trey Burke might be their primary PG. Good luck.
Michigan State- another question mark- top point guard Kalin Lucas left to enter the NBA draft, but went undrafted. Their only other returning guard who averaged more than 0.7 assists per game is Keith Appling, who is really a shooting guard. They have an incoming freshman PG named Travis Trice, who was just a 3-star recruit, and is only 5'11", 150 pounds.
Minnesota- They lost their top 2 point guards from last season (Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber). Nobody returns with any significant experience at PG. Nobody knows who Coach Tubby Smith will use at point guard. They have a 2nd year kid named Maverick Ahanmisi who barely played any last year, and they have a couple incoming guards, juco transfer Julian Welch and freshman Andre Hollins, who are not point guards, but shooting guards. Much of the speculation on the message boards is that their point guard may be a late walkon freshman named Kendal Shell who did not have any D1 scholarship offers out of high school!
Nebraska- They also lost their top point guard to graduation (Lance Jeter), and do not return anyone with much experience. It might be combo guard Brandon Richardson, or incoming 3-star 6'1" freshman Corey Hilliard.
Northwestern- They also lost their primary PG and top assist player Michael Thompson. They do not have a clear choice for PG this coming season, and none of their incoming recruits are point guards, so it's not clear who will be playing PG for them this season.
Ohio State- Probable PG is Aaron Craft, though he will be just a sophomore and only started 1 game last season.
Penn State- Tim Frazier (a former Bradley recruit) will return for his junior year as the primary point guard. There are no experienced backups at PG, and the only incoming recruit that plays point is a 5'10" lightly recruited 2-star guard.
Purdue- E'Twaun Moore graduated. Lewis Jackson returns for his junior season as Purdue's primary point guard. But if Sammy is too small for the Big Ten, then Jackson won't do much better at 5'9". They don't have any experienced backups, and they also have no incoming point guard recruits.
Wisconsin- Probably returning senior PG Jordan Taylor will be the top point guard in the league if he is healthy. There do not appear to be any solid backups on the roster.

[tornado]

...
Wisconsin- Probably returning senior PG Jordan Taylor will be the top point guard in the league. There does not appear to be any solid backups on the roster.

Jordan Taylor might have been odds on the best PG but....
he has struggled this summer with foot problems along the line of what Sammy had...
he is withdrawing from USA Basketball's World University Games and is giving up playing the rest of the summer,
and he decided to go ahead and have surgery and try to get back before the season starts...but it is a question mark...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ap-bkc-wisconsin-taylor,0,816759.story

[lefty]

Jordan Taylor might have been odds on the best PG but....
he has struggled this summer with foot problems along the line of what Sammy had...
he is withdrawing from USA Basketball's World University Games and is giving up playing the rest of the summer,
and he decided to go ahead and have surgery and try to get back before the season starts...but it is a question mark...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,816759.story

I hope Sammy does well.....he will have some good games but there will be times he will struggle on the defensive end. I don't see any way he can guard Jackson with his speed. Sam's toughness and leadership is what the Illini need most. It seems that Bruce wants to make sure there are other options at PG other than Sam.....it seems like the ankle is still a little questionable

[Future Walk-On]

1. Jordan Taylor
2. Aaron Craft

hard to compare those two as JT is a scorer and AC is a mediator

3/4. Sam and Keith Appling


SM can't guard Jordan Taylor for sure

[Da Coach]

I hope Sammy does well.....he will have some good games but there will be times he will struggle on the defensive end. I don't see any way he can guard Jackson with his speed. Sam's toughness and leadership is what the Illini need most. It seems that Bruce wants to make sure there are other options at PG other than Sam.....it seems like the ankle is still a little questionable

Lewis Jackson is probably the quickest point guard in the Big Ten. Sammy won't be the only one who has trouble guarding him. But Jackson isn't much of a shooter (30% on threes), so I am not sure his quickness will hurt opposing teams that much.
I have heard Sammy's ankle is OK. Even if it's not 100%, he is much better than anyone else Weber has to play PG. I expect Sammy will play 30+ minutes a game and have a good year. I won't go as far as predicting All Big Ten, but the Illini fans will be praising him by the end of the season.

[BigJoe]

What Sam has is experience and sometimes that will cover shortcommings in other areas. However, there will be some time to get things back on track after sitting so long. I just remember MVC guards shooting over his head consistently and then when he got close they would go around him. Offensively I think he will be a leader and a good one at that. He has a quick shot and quick decision making both of which will be a great benefit for Weber. Hope he has fun at UI-UC. There are more girls down there...

[Chico]

Interesting thought while waiting for BU to settle with JL, and, MBB to start....

Danny Granger disagrees with coaching change (and apparently new coach) and leaves BU for larger program. Goes on to successful NCAA and NBA Careers = BUM

Sammy disagrees with coaching change and leaves BU for larger instate program = LEDGEND

Too bad for Danny Mo was let go when he was only a sophomore. Never had a chance to play long enough for BU to be "Once A Brave, Always A Brave"

Funny how things work out...

Granger is considered a bum because he left his team and teammates during the season. No comparison.

[real fan]

Interesting thought while waiting for BU to settle with JL, and, MBB to start....

Danny Granger disagrees with coaching change (and apparently new coach) and leaves BU for larger program. Goes on to successful NCAA and NBA Careers = BUM

Sammy disagrees with coaching change and leaves BU for larger instate program = LEDGEND

Too bad for Danny Mo was let go when he was only a sophomore. Never had a chance to play long enough for BU to be "Once A Brave, Always A Brave"

Funny how things work out...

Granger at least stayed and gave Les a chance, the thing that bothers me most about Sam leaving is he was a team captain and to me a captain is suppose to lead and not desert, sure Les was not only his coach but also his friend but Les got paid a lot of money to win and in the end he failed and a new coach was hired, I guarantee if Sam does not have a great season at Illinois the fans will be all over him because I have already heard numerous comments from Illini fans wondering why they would even want him on their team, no pressure there.

[SFP]

I had very little vested in Granger but SM was a complete different story. I should feel mad that SM left but I'm not because of the circumstance in which he left. I'm also betting there is some underlying issues that very few of us are privy to that took place which most likely made SM feel too uncomfortable to stay. Granger on the other hand it seemed as if he was taken from us underhandedly.

Unlike some here I will not put SM in the category of one of the great BU players, just one that could have. In that he has plenty in common with Granger.

[Chico]

Granger at least stayed and gave Les a chance, the thing that bothers me most about Sam leaving is he was a team captain and to me a captain is suppose to lead and not desert, sure Les was not only his coach but also his friend but Les got paid a lot of money to win and in the end he failed and a new coach was hired, I guarantee if Sam does not have a great season at Illinois the fans will be all over him because I have already heard numerous comments from Illini fans wondering why they would even want him on their team, no pressure there.

Gave Les a chance at what? He left after missing the team bus to Indiana St. Coach Les was right in not starting granger, but did let him play and he had a great game. Probably more to the story why he left, but he let his teammates down by leaving during the season.

[Big Lance]

There was much more going on there. And it was Evansville not Indy St.

[Chico]

There was much more going on there. And it was Evansville not Indy St.

I don't care where it was, he missed a bus and he left his teammates during the season.