Holy JC!!!

[That Guy]

Good Guys - 81

UIC - 72

Jeremy Crouch pours in 29 (7-12 from the promised land!)
ZA adds 26 of his own (Including SIX free throws!)

Great contributions from these two...

Stat that can't continue: Only seven points off the bench

Let's keep it rolling and win this tourney...

[Big Mike]

WELCOME TO THE BOARD....SOCCER! JC did have a big game and he seemed to get his shot off very quick today.....the confidence is back!

[tornado]

Jeremy Crouch is working hard to silence his critics.
He could well be the best shooter in the Valley, even with Nate Funk.
Zach had a great game and simply owns the paint, even against 6'11" guys.
Bu has an awesome combination of quickness, shooting, and great defense.
UIC is a pretty good team, but they had three guys with whistles helping them stay close.

[MacabreMob]

UIC is a pretty good team, but they had three guys with whistles helping them stay close.

From what UIUC fans have told me over the past 20 years, ONLY UIUC gets HOMERED at home.



That said... I think there were some calls that BU would not have normally had called against them. Blatantly... the call on JJ during a full court press and his player got away from him from over-playing him and then the UIC player tripped on himself and JJ got called for a tripping foul when he was AT LEAST 6 FEET away and going the other direction.

There were others.

But I STRONGLY believe referees try to be neutral. They are not out to get one team. They are not trying to serve an agenda against one team. They diligently try to do the best they can.

[BradleyBrave]

I was one of the very few people who thought JC was going to come out like a man on a mission this year and who saw JC being our leading scorer. However, I didn't see him scoring at a 20 ppg clip! I know we're only 3 games in, but wow. Perhaps he's having the Jerome Robinson-esque season we were hoping for. Keep it up Jeremy!

[Da Coach]

Teams will start to put their best defender on JC and bump him around a little more on screens, etc. I don't expect him to keep this up every game. But just being a threat makes teams cover him more, and will open up things for Will, Ruffin, and the others.

[BradleyBrave]

Teams will start to put their best defender on JC and bump him around a little more on screens, etc. I don't expect him to keep this up every game. But just being a threat makes teams cover him more, and will open up things for Will, Ruffin, and the others.

I agree. However, Ruffin's return and our continued movement and passing will allow for Jeremy to continue to get open looks. Right now he's looking like the guard that Big Ten teams were heavily recruiting, and that we were fortunate enough to get. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

[romar]

For me the biggest difference this year is the screen & roll & the unselfish inside out play. Last year if it went in to POB or Sommerville, it was usually a shot with a good chance at an offensive rebound on any miss.

So far this year ZA has done an excellent job of seeing the double team and finding the open cutter or shooter on the perimeter if his shots not there. Only 3 games thus far, but the passes made for open shots and easy layups on the O end of the court have been what I've found most impressive. I suspected the tenacious D would carry over to this season.

JC worked very hard to get to this point and deserves tons of credit for his efforts. As JL likes to say, he's a scorer, not a shooter, so hopefully he'll continue to fill it up.

[Big Mike]

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/112006/KIR_BBJ1E7T8.080.shtml

[MickeyT]

Wow, what a nice article!

Really sounds like Jeremy has worked hard to improve. Great for him.

[Dallas Brave]

I'm printing the JC article and going to highlight some key passages for my 13 year old son.

What is wonderful about JC is that rather than boo-hooing his lack of playing time last year, he dug down deep within himself to find the drive to work hard in the off-season, worked with his coaches rather than fight them, and consequently raised his game to a new level.

JC is a solid example of the results than can be earned when a person opts to exert some sweat rather than shed tears.

[mike radigan]

I'm printing the JC article and going to highlight some key passages for my 13 year old son.

What is wonderful about JC is that rather than boo-hooing his lack of playing time last year, he dug down deep within himself to find the drive to work hard in the off-season, worked with his coaches rather than fight them, and consequently raised his game to a new level.

JC is a solid example of the results than can be earned when a person opts to exert some sweat rather than shed tears.

Lessons in life, great idea, Dallas.