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just found out Sam is not going to play in Illinois's first exhibition game Tuesday night. He is going to rest his ankle.
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What part of illegal don't you understand? -
The Supinie blog also says Langford is out PLUS Bertrand might also miss due to hip pointer...
but the real telling statement comes from Bruce Weber...
WHO REFUSES TO NAME A STARTING LINEUP....EVEN THO it's just a meaningless exhibition game against a D-II opponent.
"..Weber will base some of the playing time and starting assignments
based on players??™ records in competitive games over the last week or so..." -
Probably because, like Geno said on Dan's show this morning, everyone is going to get a lot of playing time.What part of illegal don't you understand?Comment
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Probably not a good sign that they would rest Sam during an actual exhibition when he was healthy enough to play a good amount in the scrimmage last week. See how he holds up when the lights turn on.
JasonComment
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I am hearing it is more to give a couple other guys some time at point guard in actual competetion to see how they'll do. Illinois will win this exhibition easily, so it is actually a good time to rest Sam.Comment
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I had a conference in Champaign I was at today and the attorneys we spoke to found out that I was a Bradley grad and the first thing they said to me was thank you for Sam Maniscalco.Comment
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I made the comparison between Sammy & Drew Neitzel a few years ago and there weren't a lot who agreed the two were even in the same ballpark...
Here are the stats at the same point in their senior season for both guys.....
Keep in mind Drew was surrounded by many 4-Star and 5-Star players who drew defenses away and who helpd his asst total...
but I think considering all the hype and adulations Drew Neitzel got - Sammy's been shortchanged in that department..
Sam.....1318 pts, 258 rebs, 37% on 3pt, 84% FT, 378 asst, 199 3-pointers, 43% career shooting pct.
Drew....1145 pts, 208 rebs, 37% on 3pt, 86% FT, 469 asst, 195 3-pointers, 41% career shooting pct.Comment
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I love Sammy tornado but in their only head to head matchup Nietzel dominated -- http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=273380071. In the other matchups with MSU Nietzel had very good games against BU (games when BU did not have SM) and also against Ruffin.
In Sammy's game as a starter against MSU (they did not have Nietzel) he had a very poor game when BU got blown out -- http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=283420127. In BU's win over Illinois SM had a below average game. I would argue that numbers do not always tell the story of a players ability; Nietzel also showed he could defend against and handle the talent of B-10 guards. The jury is still out on this with Sammy.Comment
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I'm sure you know that game was from December, 2007 when Neitzel was a senior and Sammy was a freshman reserve. Not exactly a fair comparison. Sam is every bit the team leader that Neitzel was, and is just as valuable to Illinois this year as Neitzel was to Michigan State in 2007-08.Comment
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I agree Sam was every bit the team leader as Nietzel while at BU and also appears to be the same at Illinois. However, I assume when one compares numbers they are comparing someone's ability, not an intangible like leadership. I happen to think Nietzel (and most top Big 10 guards) are better (and more athletic) players than Sammy. I don't think Sam would have put up the same numbers as Nietzel if he spent 4 years in the Big 10. There are plenty of examples of players who put up gaudy numbers for mid-major teams only to get exposed after transferring to BCS-caliber teams. That has not been the case with Sammy this year but it will be interesting to see if he can put up Nietzel-like numbers against Big 10 competition.Originally posted by Da Coach View PostComment
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I could say the same thing about transfers from BCS schools to midmajors. There have been a lot of them, and extremely few have dominated at the lower level when everyone expected them to. Can you name some?Originally posted by Braves4Life View PostComment
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Hopefully Sam keeps playing well for the Illini. He's going to have some good games and he's going to have some bad games....heck he did that at BU....
I doubt he makes all conference but he's going help them as long as he's healthy this year....
so let's not make him all world after a good game and all terrible after a bad one.Comment
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That's a good point. There are a lot more players that took that step "down" and still remained obscure. I think the most visible example of a player that hurt himself by going "up" was Jason Conley, who led the nation in scoring at VMI, before transferring to Mizzou and exposing himself as just an above-average player. I think had he stayed at VMI he would have continued to lead the nation in scoring and may have been a high NBA draft pick.Originally posted by Da Coach View Post
The jury is still out on Seth Curry of Duke. Will Coach K's connections and influence help him to become an NBA player? Or, would he have been better off staying at Liberty where he would be "the man", like his brother was at Davidson? Time will tell; I think it was a mistake.
Other less notables who tried for the "big time" were the 7-footer Zarikopolous, who transferred to Ohio State. A guy from Hampton - Matt Pilgrim - transferred to Ok. St. and was nothing special. I also remember Ga. Tech had a guy named Deng that transferred fro St. Francis.
How about you Da Coach? Any others to add to the list?Comment
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Remember Marcus Arnold who went to Illinois and was a constant benchwarmer for 2 years?
Conversely, the MVC has gotten a few Big Ten transfers over the years, and none have ever excelled as much as they were expected to.
Here are just a few-
Rich Beyers (Illinois to ISU)
Kyle Wilson (Illinois to WSU)
Matt Moran (Northwestern to Bradley)
Terence Avery (Northwestern to Indiana State)
there are others, but nearly all have been forgettable.Comment
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