Maniscalco getting slammed by ESPN announcers

[afan]

"Major disappointment at Illinois"
"Has not shown leadership skills"
"Left Bradley because the old coach was fired and he did not like the new coach"
"Has only scored 16 points in more than 200 plus minutes of playing time"
and more...really hard on SM.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

A lot of UoI fans have been even harder on him.

[spoon]

He can't do a whole lot on those ankles. It's amazing he's out there playing at all really.

[Da Coach]

A little ridiculous, but maybe those announcers are simply ignorant of the facts about Sam's injuries. Sam's ankle and knee injuries and the fact Illinois pushes him to play when he's not healthy is the reason for his drop in production. Recall that Sam scored 24 points against a decent Maryland team, 19 against Richmond, and double digits in 5 other games earlier in the season, before injury slowed him down. He was averaging 10.6 ppg and 3 apg when he went down with injury.
Despite the fact that Sam has not scored a single point in 11 of Illinois last 13 games, and he has only scored 2 baskets since Dec. 27, he is still the #4 scorer on the team, and the #2 assist man on the team. He is also the best free throw shooter on the team.
Illinois' problem is not Sam, it's the almost complete lack of production from everyone else on the team except Paul, Leonard, and Richardson.

[TPS1]

They have a point about his leadership.

This whole episode gives people another reason to look down on BU at a national level. At least teams may think twice before trying to lure away our players!

[Da Coach]

The announcers just hit the nail on the head...
"They have just not stopped anyone".

Illinois does not play good defense, especially because Bruce Weber continues to play 3 and 4 guards at a time against teams with solid inside players. That can work in the Horizon League, or even maybe in the MVC, but you'll get embarrassed in the Big Ten trying to match up with the better teams with 4 guards on the floor.

[TheAsianSensation]

Sam has not been good this year. The vast majority of that is injury-related though. And frankly, Illinois has several problems worse than Sam this year.

My thing about Sam this year is that he doesn't have impact. He may be steady, he doesn't take anything off the table when he plays. But he doesn't put anything on the table, either.

As for leaderships, it's his first and only year there. He shouldn't be responsible for leadership.

[wily coyote]

I think Sammys injuries have been a minor part of his problems, but lets be honest here. There was a reason he was at BU. He is NOT a Big 10 guard. Doesn't play that good of defense because of his quickness. His decision to come to BU was a very good one. His decision to leave ,not so good.

[TPS1]

This thread isn't long for this world!

[JMM28]

Illinois does not play good defense, especially because Bruce Weber continues to play 3 and 4 guards at a time against teams with solid inside players. That can work in the Horizon League, or even maybe in the MVC, but you'll get embarrassed in the Big Ten trying to match up with the better teams with 4 guards on the floor.

Yeah, really.


Maniscalco probably didn't picture his career ending by completing the trifecta of tournaments not named NCAA.

[shaunguth]

His decision to come to BU was a very good one. His decision to leave ,not so good.

I guess one would have to ask Sam if it was a good decision to leave. He had graduated after all.

Oh well......break a leg Sammy! Traitors never win. Oooops......wrong board!

[Future Walk-On]

Dakich did predict Leonard's path accurately

will leave early and bust

[Bravesfan]

They have a point about his leadership.

This whole episode gives people another reason to look down on BU at a national level. At least teams may think twice before trying to lure away our players!

Please! Are you that ignorant?! You try leading that team with ankles so bad he could barely run!

[Boiler]

Please! Are you that ignorant?! You try leading that team with ankles so bad he could barely run!

He can barely run? Looks like he's running fine to me.

His explosiveness might be slightly limited by his chronic ankle problems, but he's nowhere close to the point of 'barely being able to run'.

[lefty]

The announcers just hit the nail on the head...
"They have just not stopped anyone".

Illinois does not play good defense, especially because Bruce Weber continues to play 3 and 4 guards at a time against teams with solid inside players. That can work in the Horizon League, or even maybe in the MVC, but you'll get embarrassed in the Big Ten trying to match up with the better teams with 4 guards on the floor.

I disagree here DC....You can still play good defense with 3-4 guards...you may be overmatched but it doesn't mean you can't play good D.....I watched the first 10-12 minutes of the game and the defense was atrocious...nobody contained, nobody helped,hardly anyone blocked out, they were just generally lazy....no excuse for that..........to me that is on the players and not the coach