Illinois at Northwestern

[Da Coach]

Northwestern beat Illinois in Champaign back on January 17, so this game looked like it might be a struggle for the Illini. But Illinois has dominated from the start. They lead 29-15 at halftime, and have scored the first 16 points of the 2nd half.
Illinois now leads 45-15 with 13:51 left in the game-

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=330480077

[Old Coach]

I think Illinois finishes 9-9 (8-10 at the worst) in the Big Ten. Depending on their conference tournament, their resume' probably gets them a 7 seed.

[tornado]

man - watching Northwestern is painful - they run a 15-second weave and motion offense then someone jacks up a long off balance brick...
Their starting five was 3-21 from behind the arc...
This game was worse than the score indicates...Illinois was up 45-15 and 47-17 when the Illini started subbing their little used players (Myke Henry..)

They have a decent big man in Olah - but they don't use him - he's always 20 feet from the basket looking lost trying to set screens - and his only shot attempts are forced 15 foot jumpers.

[BSSFan#1]

Let's be honest - Northwestern's best lineup was on the bench in sweatsuits.

Drew Crawford, Jershon Cobb, Jerod Swopshire and Sunjay Lumpkin. Tough to win when the 2nd best player on the court last night was former GIRLS PRACTICE PLAYER and now men's team walk-on James Montgomery.

[Chico]

Let's be honest - Northwestern's best lineup was on the bench in sweatsuits.

Drew Crawford, Jershon Cobb, Jerod Swopshire and Sunjay Lumpkin. Tough to win when the 2nd best player on the court last night was former GIRLS PRACTICE PLAYER and now men's team walk-on James Montgomery.

Now, now, can't use injuries as an excuse.

[tornado]

I know - but BSSFan#1 - this is Northwestern - there just isn't a reason in the world why a couple injuries forces them to use walk ons!!!
It's a school where any one of their 13 BASKETBALL SCHOLARSHIPS is worth almost $50,000/yr plus the usual room, board, and extras that the athletes all get - likely totaling close to $80K - and four years of it means $300-400K!

How can they not have a deeper bench?? There have to be hundreds of kids with D-I talent that would take their offer -
how come Butler can lose 2 or 3 kids to injury and bring talent off the bench to keep them in the TOP 10?
Wichita can do it, even Molinari's using kids from deep in his bench sometimes --

[Old Coach]

I know - but BSSFan#1 - this is Northwestern - there just isn't a reason in the world why a couple injuries forces them to use walk ons!!!
It's a school where any one of their 13 BASKETBALL SCHOLARSHIPS is worth almost $50,000/yr plus the usual room, board, and extras that the athletes all get - likely totaling close to $80K - and four years of it means $300-400K!

How can they not have a deeper bench?? There have to be hundreds of kids with D-I talent that would take their offer -
how come Butler can lose 2 or 3 kids to injury and bring talent off the bench to keep them in the TOP 10?
Wichita can do it, even Molinari's using kids from deep in his bench sometimes --

Northwestern has figured out how to make it work for football, but they've never figured it out for basketball.

[tornado]

The Illini are undeniably on a hot streak and have won every game in impressive fashion since February 5th...

but here's an article that reveals something interesting -- apparently on Feb. 5 head coach John Groce had a team meeting and laid down some new, strict rules...
Groce has banned the players from posting on twitter and other social messaging sites...in an effort to get the kids to concentrate on team issues and not individual factors..

"..It's another thing that could potentially distract us.

.. I guess it does give us a little more focus

...Groce would rather his players block out outside noise. He wants his players focused on the locker-room message, not the trends on Twitter or the rants on the message boards.

Most coaches would rather Twitter not exist. ....many athletic programs and coaches have instituted social media policies.

The issue is focus. Last season, Illinois folded as the Twitter-verse exploded with rumors, innuendo and then reports speculating about Weber's job security."

the result - four big wins in a row...including an upset of #1 Indiana..

http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1474932&PT=4&PR=2

[tornado]

Illinois beats Penn State to pull to 7-7 in the Big Ten..
but you'd hardly know it from the columns - I guess if they don't win by 20 it's a bad win??
Could 9-9 get them into the NCAA - I suspect it will

[LittleBrave]

Illinois beats Penn State to pull to 7-7 in the Big Ten..
but you'd hardly know it from the columns - I guess if they don't win by 20 it's a bad won??
Could 9-9 get them into the NCAA - I suspect it will

They should have been able to handle the Ninny Lions pretty easily, as they have 0 conference wins!
They seem to always give the Illini fits every year since the early 2000s.

And 9-9 will get them in for sure this season - even without a 1st round B-10 win. The conference is that tough, and the Illini have surged (with Sergio McClain!) toward the end from an improbable hole of 2-7. Not to mention their wins vs. the #1 and #3 teams in the country.

[tornado]

Sergio?? There was some talk that he should have been hired as an assistant by Groce...
but Geno's brother Dustin got the spot..