Tuesday, February 15, 2005
They're so Good, they Outta be in Pictures
Whil the Illini are dominating the small screen with their on-the-court performances (and CSTV set to go Behind the Scenes at Illinois), Illini Wonk insists that the Illini are so good, they outta be in pictures. What follows is a movie-title look at the week in Illini basketball news.
Ocean's Eleven
The Illini are spending their 11th consecutive week atop the Associated Press Poll, the third consecutive week as a unanimous selection. The Bloomington-Normal Pantagraph headline reads Illini's reign hits 11.
Kentucky Fried Illini
A Louisville fan who writes for the Courier-Journal attended the Wisconsin game in Champaign and pays tribute to the atmosphere in Assembly Hall here. He closes his column with this: As a now more-distant Illini fan, I kept wishing all those around me could better enjoy the moment, the undefeated season, this living history. But success has only increased the worry and expectations. It's all been so perfect up to now. Where does life go from there?
Roger & Me
In a difficult search for imperfections with this team, the media has settled on the senior slump that Roger Powell, Jr. has found himself in the midst of for the past weeks. In the last four games, Powell is averaging 6.5 points, which is less than half his average, and 4.5 rebounds. Through the first 11 games of conference play, he has yet to record a single assist on one of the best teams in the nation in that category. There's more on Powell's lack of production from Mark Tupper, Herb Gould, Marlen Garcia and Jeremy Rutherford.
Dazed and Confused
Carol Slezak types a column titled Tough to grade Illini without a test in the Chicago Sun-Times today that is just inexcusably poor for an in-state sports-writer. She repeats the tired refrain: [Weber's] team is undefeated, but it plays in the Big Ten, which is so weak this season that Illinois could run the table playing four against five. The column goes downhill from there, taking numerous pot-shots at the Big Ten, falling all over herself to praise the ACC and dismissing the Illinois win over Wake Forest as occurred a lifetime ago.
The major problem with Ms. Slezak's hypothesis (that being that Illinois is untested) is that of all the ranked teams, no team has played (or beaten) more games against the current top 25 than the Illini (6). As for the "Big Ten Conference hurting their post-season chances" argument, Illini Wonk dismantled that in this post.
Bo Knows Illinois
Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan has figured out why Illinois ended his team's 38-game home winning streak and then beat them in Champaign: the Illini are better. posted by Illiniwonk at 8:14 PM
Ocean's Eleven
The Illini are spending their 11th consecutive week atop the Associated Press Poll, the third consecutive week as a unanimous selection. The Bloomington-Normal Pantagraph headline reads Illini's reign hits 11.
Kentucky Fried Illini
A Louisville fan who writes for the Courier-Journal attended the Wisconsin game in Champaign and pays tribute to the atmosphere in Assembly Hall here. He closes his column with this: As a now more-distant Illini fan, I kept wishing all those around me could better enjoy the moment, the undefeated season, this living history. But success has only increased the worry and expectations. It's all been so perfect up to now. Where does life go from there?
Roger & Me
In a difficult search for imperfections with this team, the media has settled on the senior slump that Roger Powell, Jr. has found himself in the midst of for the past weeks. In the last four games, Powell is averaging 6.5 points, which is less than half his average, and 4.5 rebounds. Through the first 11 games of conference play, he has yet to record a single assist on one of the best teams in the nation in that category. There's more on Powell's lack of production from Mark Tupper, Herb Gould, Marlen Garcia and Jeremy Rutherford.
Dazed and Confused
Carol Slezak types a column titled Tough to grade Illini without a test in the Chicago Sun-Times today that is just inexcusably poor for an in-state sports-writer. She repeats the tired refrain: [Weber's] team is undefeated, but it plays in the Big Ten, which is so weak this season that Illinois could run the table playing four against five. The column goes downhill from there, taking numerous pot-shots at the Big Ten, falling all over herself to praise the ACC and dismissing the Illinois win over Wake Forest as occurred a lifetime ago.
The major problem with Ms. Slezak's hypothesis (that being that Illinois is untested) is that of all the ranked teams, no team has played (or beaten) more games against the current top 25 than the Illini (6). As for the "Big Ten Conference hurting their post-season chances" argument, Illini Wonk dismantled that in this post.
Bo Knows Illinois
Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan has figured out why Illinois ended his team's 38-game home winning streak and then beat them in Champaign: the Illini are better. posted by Illiniwonk at 8:14 PM
