Sam M

[TPS1]

Sammy returned to action tonight off the bench. He played 27 minutes which is way more than expected. Good sign that he's healing up nicely.

0/5, 0/3 from 3, 3 assists

He took the last shot and it was a blocked layup... He's getting hammered pretty hard on ILL messageboards. Maybe they thought he'd be wide open.

[Chucky T's]

Sammy returned to action tonight off the bench. He played 27 minutes which is way more than expected. Good sign that he's healing up nicely.

0/5, 0/3 from 3, 3 assists

He took the last shot and it was a blocked layup... He's getting hammered pretty hard on ILL messageboards. Maybe they thought he'd be wide open.

He did play 27 minutes but I think he is far from "healing up nicely". He still looks pretty gimpy to me. Watching him move without the ball, it seems he is still in some pain....Sam will gut it out but I don't think he will ever be 100% this season.

[lefty]

He did play 27 minutes but I think he is far from "healing up nicely". He still looks pretty gimpy to me. Watching him move without the ball, it seems he is still in some pain....Sam will gut it out but I don't think he will ever be 100% this season.

Before the season began that was my concern......

[Bradleyguy10]

My phone blew up last night with text messages after the game. All the Illini fans that know I went to bradley texted me cussing out Sam saying Bradley can have him back, he doesn't belong in the Big10, and all that other jazz. It was crazy...

Some of the texts were BAADDDDDD

I think Illini fans are warming up to him.

I tried to defend him but he does have the point that they beat Ohio state w/out SM so it was hard to penetrate that barrier.

[abesimpson]

in addition to those comments - if you read the rest of the stories, there are even more comments in the coverage that say that Weber and the Big Ten coaches are actually out there sorta recruiting to land other grad student transfers off other teams' rosters...

Weber flatly admits he's“...just putting out feelers now, seeing what’s out there and what might become available,” he said.


His words suggest they're trying to recruit kids off other mid-majors' rosters...

He even goes one step further with this comment...
"If I was at a mid-major or a low-major, I wouldn’t like it (this rule that allows grad transfers) at all,’’ he said Tuesday"

Yeah, this rule inherently benefits larger, BCS schools. Most mid-majors don't offer that many graduate degrees compared to what the big state schools offer. I dunno how you'd really make it more fair There's also not that many graduate-level programs that lend themselves to being completed in a year or two while playing on a D1 team. As a mid-major, you wouldn't want to lessen the value of your academics by creating fluff programs just to land transfers.

[tornado]

Sam had a bad game but two things still show how valuable he is in the eyes of his coach...

one - that he was in the game at the end
and two - that the play Bruce Weber drew up as his best effort to tie thegame was a play for Sam to take the shot -

Hammer away but Illinois is still in first place in the Big Ten and I have a feeling that Sam's benefit to them will become more clear as time goes by..

[lefty]

Sam had a bad game but two things still show how valuable he is in the eyes of his coach...

one - that he was in the game at the end
and two - that the play Bruce Weber drew up as his best effort to tie thegame was a play for Sam to take the shot -

Hammer away but Illinois is still in first place in the Big Ten and I have a feeling that Sam's benefit to them will become more clear as time goes by..

I don't know T....if Weber drew up for Sam to take the last shot after not playing the last 3 games and not playing well all game then the play is on Weber...if Sam deviated from the play then it's on him.Paul had just hit that huge shot before.

It didn't look to me that Sam had a snowball's chance of scoring there

[tornado]

so Bruce is a bad coach? - Sammy was fouled - it wasn't called - his 2 FT's make the entire difference..

[lefty]

so Bruce is a bad coach? - Sammy was fouled - it wasn't called - his 2 FT's make the entire difference..

come on T....Sam didn't have a chance...a guy helped and made a clean block....they don't call those in the BT at that stage of the game anyway..

I'm not saying BW is a bad coach...but even a good coach can call a bad play...like I said Sam hadn't played for 3 games and didn't have a good game last night....I just don't think Sam was in a good position to be successful on that last play...IMO Paul or Bertrand should have tried to take the last shot.

[mrcoachdude]

come on T....Sam didn't have a chance...a guy helped and made a clean block....they don't call those in the BT at that stage of the game anyway..

I'm not saying BW is a bad coach...but even a good coach can call a bad play...like I said Sam hadn't played for 3 games and didn't have a good game last night....I just don't think Sam was in a good position to be successful on that last play...IMO Paul or Bertrand should have tried to take the last shot.

agree lefty...remember that moment in the movie Hoosiers...Jimmy Chitwood..."I'll make it"

Paul needed to take that last shot...didn't Weber see that movie?

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/mv-Mu8K/jimmys_final_shot/

[TPS1]

I doubt Bruce drew up the last play for a guy that hasn't made a basket in 23 days. Maybe Bruce called the TO because he saw Sammy had the ball and he knows how that usually works out in the final seconds. Sammy's gonna Sammy though and he went for it.

[ghunt]

An article in the Post-Dispatch said there was confusion about the play in the huddle and that he was supposed to get the ball:

"Paul was supposed to get the ball on the game's final play, but Maniscalco ended up taking the shot after some confusion."

"It was kind of scrambled in the huddle for us to figure it out. There were a lot of communication problems but it didn't work out," Paul said. "I wish it went the other way. I'd rather just step off, then make a play but it didn't happen that way."



Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colle...#ixzz1k1MJQivi

[Chico]

If I heard the tv announcers right they said Penn St's defense took Paul out of the play and Sam had to shoot. Sorry, as much as I like Sam, but I don't think he was much, if any, help last night.

[tornado]

in addition to those comments - if you read the rest of the stories, there are even more comments in the coverage that say that Weber and the Big Ten coaches are actually out there sorta recruiting to land other grad student transfers off other teams' rosters...

Weber flatly admits he's???...just putting out feelers now, seeing what??™s out there and what might become available,??? he said.


His words suggest they're trying to recruit kids off other mid-majors' rosters...

He even goes one step further with this comment...
"If I was at a mid-major or a low-major, I wouldn??™t like it (this rule that allows grad transfers) at all,??™??™ he said Tuesday"

Another new premium article details how getting a D-I grad student transfer to fill the open Crandall Head scholarship is one of Bruce Weber's priorities!!

http://illinois.scout.com/2/1151709.html

"wait and watch and putting out feelers..."
the main needs.. "a shooter" and looking at "big guys"

"..a college basketball player at the age of 22 or 23...can have much more success just because of the experience
Weber won't take anyone requesting a transfer. He has good reason to be picky...

The Illini will scour the countryside for talent, and maybe they'll get lucky this spring."

[tornado]

I know this concept of grad student transfers is interesting and involves one BU player -- but seriously - just how prevalent is it??

In all of college basketball in the past decade - just how many examples can you name - and even then - how many became players with any impact??

I can think of maybe just 2 or 3 thathave even had a measurable impact...and yet now we see articles acting like it's a major issue that's going to destroy college basketball as we know it!!

Can you say sky is falling??

http://www.pjstar.com/free/x1605024082/Graduate-transfers-acting-as-de-facto-free-agents-of-college-basketball-world

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/01/26/graduate-hoop-transfers-offer-teams-immediate-help/