| 14:43 remaining in the 2nd | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
Illinois Fighting Illini
|
38 | 10 | 48 |
| Stony Brook Seawolves | 36 | 7 | 43 |
NIT possible fiasco openthread: I see wolves and I eat them
by Joe Kutsunis on Mar 17, 2010 8:14 PM CDT
5 comments
5 comments | 0 recs
NIT First Round:Illini at Seawolves. Wēijī
by Joe Kutsunis on Mar 17, 2010 1:07 PM CDT
4 comments
John F. Kennedy gave a speech in 1959 in which he famously stated:
- "When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters.
- One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity"
This turned out to be completely erroneous, but as far as rhetorical devices are concerned it has some extreme staying power. It is, I am sure, the approach that many of the more optimistic Illini fans are taking at this moment concerning the NIT. That the coaching staff can take this disappointing season and see it as an opportunity to win a post season tournament and gain valuable experience for next season. That is all well and good, but players do not come to the University of Illinois to play in the NIT. (Nor to UCONN or UNC, but I digress.) This is a crisis, and I don't see much opportunity.
The NIT forward, in my opinion is going to have to be looked at like a separate season. No matter how well we do, this team still only managed to win 19 games and while beating several good teams, still lost to far too many bad teams. The regular season should be looked at as its own animal. The NIT season however is not so far offering too much to look forward to.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Don't Worry About the Seawolves
by BringBackBobby on Mar 16, 2010 1:25 AM CDT
3 comments
Since I'm probably the closest thing SB Nation has to a legitimate Seawolf fan, I figured I'd answer any questions you have, both about the town, getting in and out (to any Illini in NYC or LI interested in attending), and about the team, which was thisclose to making it to the Big Dance for the first time ever.
A few quick points on Stony Brook--it's a young, guard-heavy team that doesn't shoot all that well...I know, what a contradiction, right? But aside from Bryan Dougher, the Seawolves really don't have a single good option from beyond the arc. Swingman Muhammad El-Amin is our top scorer, but he's a slasher and a scorer more than a shooter. He's very prone to making mistakes, in the AEC semifinal against BU he killed us, turning the ball over 9 times including on a ton of crucial possessions down the stretch, but he can also go off for 30 if he gets hot, something nobody else on the team can really accomplish.
In another anomaly, despite having a starting lineup comprised almost entirely of undersized players, nobody on Stony Brook is really a true point. Chris Martin will usually handle the ball, but this isn't a team that runs a lot of set offense, it's a lot of one-on-one, which works in the AEC but probably not against a Big Ten team. Martin is a pretty good defender, though, so Demetri McCamey won't go unpressured.
Tommy Brenton and Dallis Joyner are the frontcourt guys--Joyner was the best prospect Stony Brook ever pulled in, and is a pretty big body to muscle around, though at just 6'7. Tisdale will have his way with him. Tommy Brenton is one of those typical mid-major hard working white guys who far outplays his athleticism--there's no reason a 6'5, 215 pounder should be averaging nearly 10 rebounds a game, but Brenton crashes the boards with dexterity, and also leads the team with a meager 2.7 assists per game.
Stony Brook didn't play too many marquee opponents on which to judge the merits going against an opponent like Illinois--against St. John's early in the year they got behind early and never caught up, though they never let St. John's really run away with the game and lost by just 8. Similarly, against URI, the Rams got up big early, but Stony Brook hung on to keep the score respectable.
Looking back to some of the biggest games of the year within the conference, Stony Brook played Vermont for what was, essentially, the conference title, and though the Seawolves got up huge midway through the second, the Catamounts came roaring back and nearly pulled off the win--Stony Brook went into a major rut and couldn't hit free throws or even get shots off before turning the ball over and a 20-point lead dissolved to 3. It was a similar situation in the semifinal against BU--down by 15 early the Seawolves came out of the second half on a 13-0 run and took a 5 point lead with a few minutes left, but down the stretch were burdened by turnover after turnover and more terrible foul shooting--10-21 bad--and collapsed like a lawn chair. Because they're such a small team, teams get a ton of second chances against Stony Brook, so crashing the offensive boards would be a good strategy.
Stony Brook isn't going to shock you and win this one, even if it is a home game, because they're incredibly prone to the turnover, and you've got a legitimate post presence which will diminish the drive-and-dish possibilities. The only chance we've got is if you really don't come to play, we start hitting shots like we haven't all year, and Tisdale inexplicably picks up a double-technical in the first five minutes. They're not at all a deep team, and if you get any of the starters into foul trouble, we're fucked. Though Stony Brook prides itself on their defensive intensity and disrupting passing and driving lanes, they lack a post presence and will largely try to stay in it by keeping the pace way down.
Any questions you have, feel free to ask.
3 comments | 1 recs
We did it. 100,000 hits and going strong
by Joe Kutsunis on Mar 15, 2010 11:27 PM CDT
9 comments
It took a little over a year, but I'm not complaining. Given that we have had to wade through the worst year in terms of Illini athletic performance in several years, I am proud to say we have grown every single month and have finally reached the magic number of 100,000.
It has been a crazy ride so far. Starting from a small blogspot to making the jump to SBN to getting real honest to God credentials to cover the teams I have followed since I was a kid. You could not have convinced me this was on the horizon.
I hope that I have been able to deliver you mostly timely, mostly insightful and mostly humorous Illini coverage over the last year, and hope to do so for years to come.
I also want to thank all of you have followed me and helped this site grow, joking around in the comments section is what makes this blog so much cooler than it ever could have been on blogspot. Thanks for being interested with what I have to say and looking past (for the most part) all of my journalistic shortcomings. You guys rock.
Now maybe we can make a damn bowl while I am still young enough to blog about it.
9 comments | 0 recs
It was the Illini’s sixth loss in their final eight games, but as Izzo has predicted could happen all season, that was more a product of the imbalanced Big Ten schedule than anything else: Three of the losses were to Ohio State, one to Purdue before the Robbie Hummel injury, one to Wisconsin, one to Minnesota.
"This is why the Big Ten has to take a serious look at how we schedule," Izzo said. "When someone says you lost at the end, and that's where you are, it's ridiculous. It's so schedule-driven, as I told you when we were 9-0."
Izzo said Illinois also probably was victimized by tough non-conference losses to NCAA-bound Gonzaga and Missouri.
2 days ago
Joe Kutsunis
2 comments
0 recs
Illini to face Stony Brook in opening round of NIT Wednesday
by Joe Kutsunis on Mar 14, 2010 8:25 PM CDT
17 comments
Cirque Du Soleil, I hope you are worth it.
The Illini will play on Wednesday night, at Stony Brook Sports Complex. in Stony Brook, New York. It seats 5,000.
We are the #1 seed in the NIT and have to play in a rec center on Long Island, because of a french interpretive dance circus.
Let that sink in.
The game will be on ESPNU, so I hope it will also be on 360. 8pm Central
ANOTHER UPDATE: This local paper suggests the complex will be open after all.
It will be the first basketball game held in the Stony Brook Arena in nearly two years. The basketball teams have been playing their home games in the smaller Prichard Gymnasium for the last two years. According to a report on Newsday.com, the Arena was prepared earlier this year in case the men’s basketball team had made it to the America East finals.
17 comments | 0 recs |
Illini will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament
by Joe Kutsunis on Mar 14, 2010 5:42 PM CDT
19 comments
19 comments | 0 recs
Selection Show and Acid Reflux Openthread
by Joe Kutsunis on Mar 14, 2010 2:37 PM CDT
159 comments
This is exactly where we didn't want to be on Sunday March 14th. Without control over our post season destiny and rooting for chalk in the conference tournaments.
We know the resume and we know who might end up jumping us. Use this to discuss and react as the minutes wind down toward the Illini's fate next week.
It is going to be close, but I don't have a great feeling.... come on Ohio State, crush the Gophers.
159 comments | 0 recs
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Big Ten Conference Standings
(updated 3.15.2010 at 12:34 AM CDT)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Purdue Boilermakers
|
14 | 4 | 27 | 5 |
|
Ohio St. Buckeyes
|
14 | 4 | 27 | 7 |
|
Michigan St. Spartans
|
14 | 4 | 24 | 8 |
|
Wisconsin Badgers
|
13 | 5 | 23 | 8 |
|
Illinois Fighting Illini
|
10 | 8 | 19 | 14 |
|
Minnesota Golden Gophers
|
9 | 9 | 21 | 13 |
|
Northwestern Wildcats
|
7 | 11 | 20 | 13 |
|
Michigan Wolverines
|
7 | 11 | 15 | 17 |
|
Indiana Hoosiers
|
4 | 14 | 10 | 21 |
|
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
4 | 14 | 10 | 22 |
|
Penn St. Nittany Lions
|
3 | 15 | 11 | 20 |
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
