Illini lose at home to Miami

[Da Coach]

Miami (OH) 61
Illinois 58 in OT

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200712200267

[bu fan 9]

Good!!!!!!!!!!

[Grassman]

Good!!!!!!!!!!

With this and Purdue's loss to Wofford, the Big 10 is now #7 in rpi, not far from the other offensively challenged conference, #8 The Mo Valley.

[MacabreMob]

Hehe... and to think I even got 10 pts from Vegas.
MacabreMob = Schadenfreude



btw, DaCoach.. you should edit your thread title to include the OHIO after Miami... with a hyphen... which will be sure to indicate it is not only a Mid-Major but also a hyphenated/directional (if a State can mean direction, hehe) Mid-Major.

[bert notorius]

I thought it went pretty well considering. MiaOH had us scouted well enough to know to focus on our walk on shooting guard and forget about the other guards. The guards are like 3-30 over the last few games. If rebounds were points, IL would have the best point guard in the B10. Pruitt continues to have huge games all while having a vertical leap of 12".

Mizzou is going to kill us.

[MacabreMob]

From Jerry Palm's collegrpi.com, prior to the game....

UIUC RPI 52
UIUC SOS 28

From RealTimeRPI.com after the loss...

UIUC RPI 84
UIUC SOS 49

Good luck vs Mizzoo in the StLoo... a winnable game.

[bert notorius]

Winnable in the sense that if it turns into a run and gun, which is very possible the way Anderson likes to play it, would be better for IL. Anything to keep them out of setting up that dreadful offense.

[tornado]

Wow, really choking at home on cupcakes.
Illinois again scores only 58 points, and only had 52 in regulation time.

2-15 from 3-pt, and only the size and strength advantage Illinois enjoyed kept them fro being blown out as Pruitt had 24 points/15 rebounds
Randle's 14 pts are offset by 5 turnovers and four fouls.



Here are a few pictures from the Illinois game............

Bruce Weber appears to be saying "I give up"



Michael Jordan seems to be using the same gesture, but he's really saying "Hey- PUT MY KID IN THE GAME!!"



Anyone who says the Big Ten is strong has a hard case to argue.....the
RPI's of the worst five teams in the Big Ten (Purdue, Michigan, NW, Penn St. Iowa) would place those five teams
in the #9, #10, #11, #12, and #13 spots in the Missouri Valley!!!
In other words, the entire bottom half of the Big Ten is worse than even the 8th best team in the Valley!



DePaul also lost to Ole Miss, 69-63, DePaul shooting only 31%, 18% from 3-pt.
DePaul falls to 2-6 and their RPI is 15th in the 16-team Big East, only Cincy is worse.

[houstontxbrave]

Hehe... and to think I even got 10 pts from Vegas.
MacabreMob = Schadenfreude



btw, DaCoach.. you should edit your thread title to include the OHIO after Miami... with a hyphen... which will be sure to indicate it is not only a Mid-Major but also a hyphenated/directional (if a State can mean direction, hehe) Mid-Major.

That was an easy $100 last night. Way to big of a line for the offense Illinois tries to play. Oh and their free throw shooting is maybe the worst in D1. I also hear that there were plenty of open seats at the game.

[real fan]

Michigan State and Indiana are the only top 20 teams in the big ten and Indiana is only there because they cheated and broke the rules; the valley does not have one team that you could say will win the conference going away as Drake and Creighton have great records but have not beaten what I would call a really good team; Drake has played a lot better teams then Creighton has as I am still trying to figure out creighton"s weak schedule so come tour. time if the ncaa takes 4 or more big 10 teams then the valley deserves to have 2 or more bids as the conference is much stronger from top to bottom.

[BradleyBrave]

Big 10 is a 3 bid league, the MVC is a 2 bid league. Book it.

[BUBraves2006]

Big 10 is a 3 bid league, the MVC is a 2 bid league. Book it.

The Big Televen, UNFORTUNATELY, is at least a four bid league. Between Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio State, at least one is going to do well enough in conference to make the dance. Possibly two.

Again, most of these schools have actually won at least ONE big non-conference game. Ohio State beat Syracuse by 14 (RPI 16), Purdue beat Louisville (RPI 57), and even Illinois beat an 8-2 Arizona State team [RPI 78].

Compare that to our resume (now, not tomorrow, next week or next month) and our "marquee" win is Wright State (RPI 75). If you're looking at the team results blindly, as the selection commitee SHOULD do, Ohio State is ahead of us in the pecking order and would get another bid.

All of this changes every time we all play games, so who knows at this point. There's no way you can book 3 bids for the Big Ten right now, not considering past history.

[MacabreMob]

Again, most of these schools have actually won at least ONE big non-conference game. Ohio State beat Syracuse by 14 (RPI 16), Purdue beat Louisville (RPI 57), and even Illinois beat an 8-2 Arizona State team [RPI 78].

One "sexy" win isn't gonna get a team in. Ask Mo St about that big win over Wisky last year.

But like you said... if one or two do well enough in conference... coupled with a sexy win... then yea. I see your point.

[BUBraves2006]

Yeah, and what makes it tough is the definition of "well-enough" isn't the same across the board. A record of 10-8 or even 11-7 probably isn't doing "well-enough" in a down year for the MVC, or almost any year. Yet, I'd almost guarantee if say, Ohio State goes 11-7 in the Big Ten, that'd be considered playing "well-enough."

Until our teams prove otherwise by consistently doing well against the upper crust of the Big Ten/SEC/etc., if there's a coin flip (very similar resumes in good/bad wins, RPI, etc.) between one of the big boys and someone from the MVC/CAA/Horizon leagues, the common perception (which often isn't reality) that they're always just a little better will likely put the big school in first.

[Double D]

I watched the game last evening and couldn't help but wonder: "Where is this MOTION OFFENSE," I keep hearing about.

While I am no expert by any means, I have studied and taught the MOTION OFFENSE that Weber and all his SIU descenents claim to run.

I have always claimed the the Painter/Lowery SIU of Tatum and Young fame took offensive basketball to a new low. Well now the "Godfather" of this style has joined the club (post Dee Brown and Deron Williams).

I have never seen so little MOTION in my life. The motion offense (of Pete Newell and Bob Knight) in its simplest form is predicated on: ball side players screening away and off side players MOVING toward the ball utilizing the screens. All the while the ball should SWING quickly from side to side.

Look for any of these things the next time you watch UIUC or SIUC and get back to me.