Showing posts with label Meyers Leonard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meyers Leonard. Show all posts
Sunday, January 22, 2012
That was a disappointing loss to Wisconsin today, but very predictable. The Illini are mostly featuring a 4 guard offense that passes the ball around and has trouble getting it to Meyers Leonard, their athletic center. Most of the season, the ball handling has been sloppy with too many turnovers. That was not the case today. The biggest fundamental flaw for the Illini is the struggle to block out and rebound the ball on the defensive end. They gave Wisconsin too many chances today and it cost them dearly. Bruce Weber has not been using much of his bench, either. Egwu gets on the floor when Leonard is in foul trouble, Sam Maniscalco provides relief when healthy to Tracy Abrams, and Tyler Griffey seems to enter the game when the rebounding woes are evident.
With losses at Penn State and now the home loss to Wisconsin, the Illini are no longer looking like a sure tournament team. Will have to see how they turn things around, with the next game at Minnesota. I hope Bruce Weber can shake things up and try some bench players in some kind of a rotation. The bench scored zero points today, which is rarely going to win games. Would like to see Henry in for some serious minutes, since he is one of the better scorers on this team, and the guards looked tired today.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Good News and the Bad News
First the good news..............I'm back blogging again after some vacationing this summer. It's nice taking those European holidays for a month or so, isn't it? Actually, I have been focusing on work, and there really hasn't been much to write about in college basketball until this week.
Actually the good news is Meyers Leonard has provided the Illini with a verbal commitment to play in the class of 2010. Meyers is a local kid from Robinson Illinois, who has grown to 6-10 or so, and weighs over 200 pounds already, and has attracted the attention of all the big programs around the country. Meyers is highly rated by the recruiting gurus as well, and joins two awesome recruits for that class, Head and Richmond. My hope is that Lenzelle Smith announces he is headed to Illinois, which will make our class of 2010 one of the best in the NCAA.
Now, some people are getting excited about these recruiting grids on the internet that show there are no more spots available on the 2010 roster. But I'm not the least bit worried, since these grids assume optimistically that each and every player plays at Illinois for exactly four years. That just does not happen in the NCAA currently, even at Illinois. So people need to relax about scholarships available, and realize that people transfer, go pro, and other miscellaneous things happen.....
That leads me to the Jamar Smith stories. Being a night owl myself, I can't blame him for being up late during the summer at U of I. I stayed in town one summer myself when going to Illinois many years ago, and that was one of the best times you could have, compared to the alternatives. However, I just can't understand how you find yourself violating your probation by drinking in public, unless he is still mired in alcoholism, which might be the case. I won't dwell on this, because I am tired of reading the stories already, and assume his career at Illinois must be over.
On a more positive note, we can look forward to this fall's team developing during a transition year, and welcoming the Class of 2009 the following season.
Actually the good news is Meyers Leonard has provided the Illini with a verbal commitment to play in the class of 2010. Meyers is a local kid from Robinson Illinois, who has grown to 6-10 or so, and weighs over 200 pounds already, and has attracted the attention of all the big programs around the country. Meyers is highly rated by the recruiting gurus as well, and joins two awesome recruits for that class, Head and Richmond. My hope is that Lenzelle Smith announces he is headed to Illinois, which will make our class of 2010 one of the best in the NCAA.
Now, some people are getting excited about these recruiting grids on the internet that show there are no more spots available on the 2010 roster. But I'm not the least bit worried, since these grids assume optimistically that each and every player plays at Illinois for exactly four years. That just does not happen in the NCAA currently, even at Illinois. So people need to relax about scholarships available, and realize that people transfer, go pro, and other miscellaneous things happen.....
That leads me to the Jamar Smith stories. Being a night owl myself, I can't blame him for being up late during the summer at U of I. I stayed in town one summer myself when going to Illinois many years ago, and that was one of the best times you could have, compared to the alternatives. However, I just can't understand how you find yourself violating your probation by drinking in public, unless he is still mired in alcoholism, which might be the case. I won't dwell on this, because I am tired of reading the stories already, and assume his career at Illinois must be over.
On a more positive note, we can look forward to this fall's team developing during a transition year, and welcoming the Class of 2009 the following season.
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