You may be on to something there. Rice is a great slasher and pretty much on par with Brandon Paul although
maybe not as athletic. I haven't seen the other guys do as much of it. Everyone waits for their chance to shoot
a three or perimter jumper if the ball doesn't go into the "black hole" ( Egwu), hence the lack of rebounding.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Egwu can hit that shot. Before last night, he's been pretty judicious in putting up the pick-and-roll 3 and he's been hitting it pretty consistently.

He got shot-happy last night. I'm a little more pro-Egwu than you guys I guess. He's an effective shot-blocker and relatively poor rebounder. He can hit the baby hook from time-to-time.

But, yes, overall he's not a difference maker.

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My Maserati does 186.

What Egwu can do offensively does not matter. Illinois doesn't need him to be good at offense at all. They need him to be a defense and rebounding force in the lane. There is no reason he should not average 10 rebounds per game. Right now, he averages 2.

Well, it would be nice to have a guy down low that you can dump the ball into and try to get a bucket when the guards are going 2-20.

But, yes, he's there mainly for the D.

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My Maserati does 186.

Egwu will not be able to carry the team with his offense. Illinois lives and dies by the guard play. Egwu being able to shoot only means the other team can't leave him wide open to double the guards. But the way Illinois uses him on offense, he gets left wide open on the arc -- and teams should leave him wide open out there.

It boggles my mind that Illinois runs a ball screen with the bigs at the perimeter. They should be running it with Rice and Hill instead. Have them pick and pop or pick and roll.

If they do it right, it wouldn't matter if the defenders switched on the screen. Hill and Rice are way to big for small guards to defend them.

6pm tip on ESPN tonight. Gonna be a tough matchup. Illinois hasn't played well against top
competition the last ten years or so. According to the preview article:

The Illini have lost six in a row and eight of nine against top 10 teams. They own a 10-game losing streak against them on neutral floors since a 72-57 victory over No. 4 Louisville in a national semifinal April 2, 2005.


I'm just hoping they can hang in there and make a good showing.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

2005

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My Maserati does 186.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It's becoming similar to a 1985 Bears mention.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

grudge match with Vanillanova for Brunson

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The great thing is Groce can gear the team up for a grudge match for every game.

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My Maserati does 186.

Did I notice that Illini cracked the top 25?

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Elections have consequences.

They did and then they cracked right back out.

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My Maserati does 186.

They did for a week but now they are just outside the Ap Top 25 bubble again.
They are 25 in the USA Today poll.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

A little bit of a frustrating game last night. They showed brief bursts and kept it much closer than the final
score indicates. They were still well within reach with 7 minutes to play. In the first half the offensive glass
and turnovers killed them but somehow they kept it within 7 pts at the buzzer. The second half they rebounded
much better but again, gave the ball away an awful lot and I saw a lot of questionable shot selections. Nova
really played some good defense so I give them a lot of credit.

Hill had a breakout game. Nunn was lighting it up. Egwu had a solid game, I never realized how hard he
works on defense, especially with another 7 footer down on the blocks with him. He played a very good game.
Rice had a so-so game on defense but didn't have his stroke. No other guards really stepped up.

Jay Bilas had a lot of complimentary things to say about the Illinois team and thinks they are headed for the
NCAA tournament. Not unhappy with the eventual loss but they just made too many mistakes the last 5 minutes
to overcome.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

What a shot by Rice.

I think that guy will play in the league.

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My Maserati does 186.

Let me start the calls for Groce's termination. The guy can't coach.

They absolutely blew that game today.

Look, I see they realize that Cosby and Starks may not be quite the sharpshooters that maybe they thought. But they're here. You have to use them. It can't just be that Rice or Hill goes one on three.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Walt Williams Neck

Post subject: Re: Groce your new ILL INI coach?

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:00 pm



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Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:43 pm
Posts: 8667
Location: end of lonely street

I have been watching Illini Basketball since Dickie Freeman...and you clowns think this asshat can recruit and coach?????? Talk to me in two years when this guy is bye bye


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My point was to tell people that Orb ain't all of that






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Profile

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

I like Groce. He needs some big bodies. Let's see what happens against Ohio State tomorrow and
Maryland at home Wednesday. If he can split those then we have something.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Interrupt the game to march the football team out there! I cry foul...do it before the game or at halftime.

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Nope. Interrupting the game is cool. They should have had Kerry Wood's kid come out and hug Wes Lunt.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

They could have done it in the 2nd half down by 20 what happened????

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

@GaryParrishCBS: Illinois star Rayvonte Rice has suffered an injury that could sideline him for several weeks, a source told @CBSSports. Story coming.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Any NCAA invites seemed to go out the window with new that Rice would be out 3-6 weeks but they had
a nice win last night. The Big Ten schedule is just going to be tough without having a 17ppg scorer on
the floor but maybe the younger guys will be able to pick up some of the slack.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Maybe it's time for it to be Hill's team anyway.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I'm just about done with the Ahmad Starks and Aaron Cosby experience. I'm ok with limiting their minutes until they shoot better.

I have been liking what I am seeing from Jaylon Tate at the point guard position.

Watching then vs. Da Hoosier.....Indiana will score 85 on em

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Illini gave this game away. It looks like The Illini have an exciting team but maybe more athletes and maybe one or two shooters? This is my first time watching them,so not sure about what they have.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."