thomas andrew duval's blog

During Weber's postgame comments, he'd said they went to the 1-3-1 three times. Arizona scored twice and the Illini got a turnover off of a tipped pass. IMO he sensed that they weren't ready to use it more in games and needed more practice. I think it's a great tool when another team may be on a short run and you throw a zone on them. I think it tends to slow them down to evaluate the situation. I applaude their effort though. Especially Carter on the point  Read More »

 Are these two coaches similar in gettting the most from their players. Neither has been able to capture some of the top players in the country. I do think Bo has 1 MCAA in Brian Butch. Davin Harris I don't believe was a top 50 player and he is now in the pros.

Both have had excellent records since joining their schools, winning some B10 titles and making 1 run to the FF.  Read More »

Watching Brock last night I was very, very impressed with his ability--and willingness--to exploit open spaces in the defense and move toward the basket. That little floater of his is a great shot, and one nobody else on the team seems to have.

Watching Brock reminded me (in a very limited way, I hasten to add) of Nick Anderson, who loved to get the ball on the wing and dribble into the 10-12 foot area for jumpers. I generally think that good things happen when you take the ball to the basket, and our teams in recent years--despite the presence of some seriously talented scorers (see Williams, Deron; Head, Luther)--doesn't do it very often.  Read More »

Just another 4 turnover game for Rex Grossman. It's nice to know the guy hasn't changed since week 1. Maybe he has a mental block and can't improve? Sure, Favre went through the same thing and Grossman could very well eventually turn into a Favre, but realistically, the odds are not good. We don't need a gunslinger to win with this team. We just need a solid QB who's not going to take big chances and play a solid game. Grossman is not it.  Read More »

It's not a Florida bias.  You could make a case for either Michigan or Florida.  The problem is it's left to human voters.  They have a one week focus.  You can say all you want about the whole year matters, but that is only true if you are talking about the preseason rankings.

If your conference is "predicted" to have a lot of good teams (SEC this year) you can schedule teams like Buffalo and it boosts your human rankings.  If your conference is "predicted" to have an average number of good teams (Big 10) a couple losses to ranked OOC opponents drops you out of the rankings.  And if your conference is "predicted" to be weak (Big East/Pac 10) you better schedule a bunch of ranked teams and win OOC.  Read More »

25. Texas Christian 10-2

24. Oregon State 9-4

23. Boston College 9-3

22. Texas A&M 9-3

21. Nebraska 9-4

20. California 9-3

19. BYU 10-2

18. Texas 9-3

17. Tennessee 9-3

16. Rutgers 10-2

15. Arkansas 10-3

14. Norte Dame 10-2

13. Virginia Tech 10-2

12. West Virginia 10-2

11. Southren California 10-2

10. Boise State 12-0  Read More »

Dekembe Mutombo was called a monkey by a so-called fan a few weeks ago, Last year the NBA awarded the MVP to Nash over Kobe which was quite ODD, some our fellow white fans were helckling some of their Wives and family members, A friend of mind (who is half black)was at a game recently, and hears some fans (who happenes to be white and drunk) yelling out racists statments at the players(even though they were seated near the top).  Read More »

Don't look at points, rebounds, blocks, any of the stats. Ben Wallace is a guy who steps up, sets some awesome picks, plays his man better than anyone in the league, and is excellent at finding an open man. He is a team player beyond 17 boards a night or whatever. This guy can flat out play, and even if Chandler gets 20 boards and Wallace gets 3, Wallace still is better because a) he'll bounce back and get better stats the next night, b) his defense stops guys from scoring, and his offense opens things up, and c) he's got experience.  Read More »