’11-’12 Illini Bare Disturbing Resemblance to ’98-’99 Team

February 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

illinois-basketball

Bruce Weber has his 2011-12 Fighting Illini in real good shape to make the NCAA Tournament, with his third big, signature win coming just the other night over Michigan State. Yet he’s on both the hot seat and the bad side of Illini Nation. (Much more on this in a quickly upcoming post) Why?

Style points. Illini basketball is “sexy” alright, sexy as Camryn Manheim or Kathy Bates.

Their 42-41 win over MSU was the fewest points the program has scored in a win since 1946! Even though this teams look destined to hit Black Jack (21 wins) when the regular season ends, they still have an alarming amount of similarities to the 1998-99 team coached by Lon Kruger that set the school record for losses by going 14-18.

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Illinois Fighting Illini Tournament Resume: Strengths and Weaknesses

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

illini-cheerleader

In our latest NCAA Tournament projection, we have the Illini as a #9 seed in the South Regional. Since February is pretty much here- time to think about who needs to shore up the old resume for selection time come March.

At 16-6, 5-4 in conference, RPI 37, SoS 26 and 5-4 and vs the RPI top 50 their profile looks very solid, but not extraordinary. Including that BAD loss at Penn State (WTF is up with that? Seriously, a top notch program like Illinois being dominated in recent years by a program which has like 15 whole fans?).

Half their wins look hideous on paper but that doesn’t really matter. This isn’t based on the polls which can be influenced by margin of victory.

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Michigan St.-Illinois Game Just Like Overall Series: Very Tight

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

brandon_paul

Entering tonight’s contest, the Michigan State-Illinois series was tied at 55. The last 13 games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less, and this was no different. And the #9 Michigan State Spartans fell to the Illinois Fighting Illini 42-41.

There was really ugly offense in the first half, by both teams.  A 22-20 score is often the result when one team’s best player shoots 2-8 from the floor, and the other team’s best player sits with foul trouble. D.J. Richardson was pretty much the entire offense for Illinois in the first half, scoring 7 of the team’s 22 points.

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The Five Biggest Stories for Big Ten Basketball Thus Far

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Ten is having one of the most memorable basketball seasons we’ve seen in some time. The conference leads the country with five top-25 teams and ranks number one in the RPI/Sagarin ratings.

Along with being regarded as the best conference in the nation, the Big Ten is full of intriguing stories. Here are the top five on the year thus far: [Read more...]

Bracketology: Projecting the 2012 NCAA Tournament Field

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

2012 final four logo

It is kind of hard to believe that Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament is only six weeks away.  It is becoming time when college basketball teams are separating themselves as either tourney contenders or pretenders.  Here is The Sports Bank‘s latest Bracketology?  I have more than held my own the past couple of years against ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and with my extreme college hoops nerdom, plan to do so again this year.  Check back every week for an update.

UPDATED: 1/30/12

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2013 NBA Mock Draft (1/28/12)

January 28, 2012 By 3 Comments

nba draft logo

I am well aware that the 2012 NBA Draft has not even occurred yet.  Still, we are looking ahead to the 2013 NBA Draft with insanely early projections on how it may unfold.  Team needs and outstanding trades have NOT been taken into consideration with this 2013 NBA mock draft.  Click on the players’ name for a complete, in-depth scouting report.

(By the way, The Sports Bank was graded as the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft on the web.)

CLICK HERE FOR THE SPORTS BANK’S 2012 NBA MOCK DRAFT

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Illini Cheerleader Sister is WWE Diva Maria Kanellis (Hot Pics)

January 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

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It’s a great thing we have student media. They’re the guys who gave me leads like this to go research important stories like this. And make no mistake this is hard hitting, extremely important news. Let’s say you’re a fan of WWE and enjoy the work of WWE Diva Maria Kanellis. Now let’s say you’re an Illini fan, someone who really watches a lot of Illini games (these two groups of fans overlap quite a bit, I’ll show you the Ven diagrams) you might have noticed a member of the Illinois Dance Team or “Illinettes,” who kind of looks like Maria, but on a multi-year delay.

And you’d be right, they are indeed sisters. Janice Kanellis a.k.a. Janny Kanellis is indeed the younger sister of Maria Kanellis.

Let’s get to the pictures.

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Auburn Gets All-American Transfer from Illinois; Fullback Jay Prosch

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

jay-prosch

It’s certainly transfer season in college football, kind of like a mini NFL free agent signing period. Notre Dame landed the top QB recruit in Gunner Kiel yesterday, and Illinois sophomore Jay Prosch transferred to the Auburn Tigers.

Prosch is ranked among the top fullback prospects in the 2014 NFL Draft class. The move that will allow Prosch to be closer to his family in the Mobile, Ala., area, including his ailing mother. Prosch was named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Weekly on Dec. 12 and was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree this year.

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Illini Guard Brandon Paul is National College Hoops Player of the Week

January 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

brandon_paul

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Illinois guard Brandon Paul as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. And of course he’s the Big Ten Player of the Week as well.

Paul, a 6-4 junior from Gurnee, Ilinois (Warren high school), led the Illini to a 79-74 win over #5 Ohio State, scoring 43 points to go with eight rebounds and four blocks. The 43-point outburst was a career best, and marked the most points scored in a game by a Big Ten player since Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994. It’s the second-highest individual scoring output of the season behind the 44 points scored by Creighton’s Greg McDermott vs. Bradley.

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NBA Draft Stock Report (1/14/12)

January 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

draymond green nba draft

The NBA Draft Stock Report checks in on which college basketball players have made a name for themselves in the past week; either helping or hurting their future draft position.  With conference play underway, we get a better understanding of how NBA Draft prospects respond to playing better competition than some of the cupcake opponents they face in the non-conference.

Click here for The Sports Bank’s 2012 NBA Mock Draft.

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