For almost 4 years now I have watched Bruce Weber run Mike Tisdale out on the floor and I have yet to see any improvement. After watching the latest chapter unfold last night at "The Barn" its obvious that young Mr. Tisdale better make sure he graduates and is able to put that Communications Degree to use because he has about 6 weeks of basketball left in his future before he becomes a ringer in office leagues.
I got to thinking about other bad big white guys that Illinois has given a free education to and decided to compare a few.
Tisdale: 105gp 72gs 21 min per game 79.6% ft shooter 4 rebs per game and 8.6 ppg This dude is 7'1" and averages 4 rebounds and 8.6 points per game????
Nick Smith: 135gp 15gs 13.6 min per game 76.3% ft shooter 2.6 rebs per game and 4.7ppg. Mr. smith was 7'2"
Before Nick Smith the Illini's last 7 footer was none other than Jens Kujawa he played on the '86, '87, and '88 Illini teams but a quick google search doesn't turn up any career stats while in Champaign/Urbana. Makes ya think that somebody, somewhere was trying to forget. Hmmmm, wish I could.
Coach Weber has actually had a few good years of recruiting and it will be evident by the 2011-12 Illini team that takes the floor. The Freshman, Sophomores, & Juniors will be from those 3 years and it may be Weber's last chance to be something more than mediocre in the new Big 10.
I wouldn't say that I am slow to the party because I have know about him since he was a sophomore but I never realized how dominant he is. I chose the photo above because if you take note of where he is on the floor it is still within his shooting range!
I'd like to see how well he plays defense but his offensive game is just WOW! Trying to come up with a comparison is tough. He is too small to compare to guys who can play the small forward position but part of me wants to call him the best white shooter since Larry Bird(6'9"). I thought a fair comparison for him would be Chris Mullin but CM was 6'7". John Stockton(6'1") came to mind but Jimmer(6'2") is a scorer more than an assist guy. Maybe John Paxson? Feel like that isn't enough though. If you can come up with other white guys to compare him to list them in the comments, we can discuss it there. Tonight he went for 43 of his team's 71 as they beat SDSU by 13. By the way SDSU was 20-0 coming in.
He's fun to watch and he might be able to do for BYU what Steph Curry did for Davidson come tourney time. By the way, don't insult the Jimmer by saying Bryce Drew.
Look, Jay Cutler comes off as kind of an ass when it comes to dealing with the media. His answers are snarky, he doesn't make eye contact with the reporter, he has a flippant attitude when answering questions. He often comes off as jerk to those of us who aren't privy to being around him outside of football. What he isn't is soft or a quitter.
This guy got the living tar beat out of him this year behind that weak O-line the Bears ran out there. Some of them are his fault for holding the ball too long but regardless he always got up. Plenty of times since he joined the Bears he went down and I thought "oh hell, here comes the 2nd stringer." Never happened until he got knocked silly in New York on SNF. To suggest he quit or didn't want to play in the biggest game of his career is moronic. The guy had 6 quarters of playoff football under his belt and had 2 quarters left to go to the Super Bowl. No way in hell he would willingly opt out of this game.
The Bears have plenty of issues that need addressed, they didn't exactly set the world on fire getting to the NFC Championship game and hopefully the organization realizes that. Lovie Smith is a below average coach especially when it comes to play calls, personnel, and game management. The offensive line is still in need of at least 2 better players than the Bears currently have and if Cutler is to achieve his full potential he could use a real WR instead of Devin Hester. Knox and Bennett might be great 2nd and 3rd options but the Bears need a #1 option. On defense they need a cover CB and a DE to go opposite of Peppers. Anyone remember Alex Brown?
It's OK as a Bears fan to be angry or upset but if you are blaming Cutler you are wrong and your feelings are misdirected. Blame Lovie or Martz, the Bears had a chance to at least tie the game near the end and had to call timeout because the offense couldn't lineup correctly.Then they ran a slow developing play against a speed defense when they needed 2 yards for a first down in a 4 down situation. Despite everything that happened on Sunday they had a chance right up until that point.
I think it is a great move for the 49ers. Works well for Harbaugh too since he doesn't have to relocate. I question the terms of the deal though. If Stanford is offering $5 million to retain your services don't you use that as leverage to get MORE money at your next job?? Now obviously when talking about $5 million per year its not like a person leaves a $75,000 dollar job and gets a increase to $90k. It's $5 million! So the question always comes up, How much money do you really need?
I think Harbaugh will succeed in the NFL but he will need some time. He is going to need a QB first and foremost. SF has Gore, Crabtree, and Davis on offense and seemed to be headed in the right direction on D so his top priority has to be a QB. Is Vince Young the guy? Kyle Orton? Donovan McNabb? or Do they draft and develop? The physical beating that a RB takes Gore might not last thru a draft & develop project but New England has proved if you have the right QB you don't need a stud RB, you can use short white guys and be successful.
I didn't post any fantasy recap's after Week 11 I believe but for any of you who followed along or were curious I made the playoffs in all 5 of those leagues, went 3-2 the first week of playoffs and 0-3 the 2nd week. This means I played for 3rd place 3 times. I went 1-2 in consolation games and ended up with $340 in prize money. League fees were $575. I also lost the $100 side bet in the Yahoo league by 1 game but then knocked that guy out of the playoffs in round 1.
Posted August 16, 2010 on this blog, "Still I think the class of 2011 is a 2 man photo, I'll go with Bert Blyleven and Robbie Alomar for Cooperstown, NY in '11."
Ding Ding Ding, We have a winner! It wasn't really that hard to see this coming based on the group of first time eligible players.
The 3 guys that I mentioned in that post back in August from the first time group were Jeff Bagwell 242 votes 41.7% not bad first time on the ballot and I think he'll get in in the next 2-3 years. Raffy, 64 votes 11% I told you before he should get in based on his numbers but his positive PED test shortly after his 3,000 hit will be hard to overcome. John Franco only 27 votes, 4.6%. This surprises me! I said Franco had longevity and that alone should not get a player in but as a RP with longevity comes stats and the stats have to be good to maintain longevity. It is cyclical. Franco didn't achieve the 5% minimum needed by 1st timers to remain on the ballot for future years.
After falling just short last year, Blyleven got enough votes this year to get in by 4%. It was Bert's 14th year on the ballot he only had one more year left if he didn't get in. Voting rules state that each voter can only vote for 10 players on the ballot(usually between 25-40 players on ballot). So what this is telling me is that for the last 13 years there have been some writers who felt there could have been 10 better players than Blyleven. Doesn't mean they all voted for 10 players that just can't vote for more than 10. However, 63 voters thought that Blyleven was somehow more deserving in his 14th year of eligibility than he was in his 13th year. So, did those guys all vote for 10 other guys last year or just rethink things over the last 12 months? It's probably not all 63 because there may be some new voters this year as opposed to last and we may have lost a few as well.
Alomar received 523 votes or 90% in his 2nd year. Just goes to show how dumb this HoF balloting is, Alomar only received 397 votes in his first year on the ballot and missed by 2.3%. 126 voters who didn't vote for Alomar in year 1 decided in year 2 he was worthy. If he's worthy he's worthy!! Why keep him out for a year because you morons think you can't have a guy be a "1st ballot HoFer" w/o him having kissed your ass. It's dumb!
In 2010 Morris 282 votes, Larkin 278 votes, and Lee Smith 255 votes were just behind Alomar and Blyleven. Larkin was in his 1st year of eligibility while Morris was in his 11th and Smith his 8th. On this year's ballot Larkin received a boost to 361 votes an increase of almost 11% again 83 voters playing the first ballot game or did they truly think there were 10 guys more deserving last year. Morris gained 29 votes but only went up by just over 1% and with only 3 years left on the ballot it doesn't appear he will get the call. Smith picked up 8 more votes than the previous year but actually lost 2% points and even though he has 6 years of eligibility left it doesn't appear he will make it in either.
I think Perry Fewell is the new "token" in meeting the Rooney Rule. I don't think any NFL team believes he is better than the guy they just fired. With no Leslie Frazier to bring in, NFL owners have found his replacement in Fewell.
I hope if Jim Harbaugh leaves Stanford its for an NFL gig and not for Michigan. The success of Harbaugh's brother in Baltimore and his own success at Stanford has to weigh in his favor with the NFL.
I don't think Bill Cowher or Brian Billick will take a job where they have to answer to a GM. I don't think either will take a rebuilding project either and since Houston, Minnesota, Dallas, and the Giants don't appear to be open. I think Cincinnati is probably the best option for either guy. San Francisco might actually be closer to winning than Denver, and Cleveland has Holmgren in place at the top.
