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The typical Illinois fan can't name the starting lineup, but remembers the Bruce Pearl-Deon Thomas thing like it was yesterday. Go figure.

Last I saw Illinois they were pretty athletic, but tend not to play good basketball. Could be dangerous at home. Just watched PSU take it to OSU, who'll probably drop out of the rankings for good I'd guess. PSU looks for real, strong inside and outside, very good looking roster.

First two Q's were about Marble, right?

Bingo. No problem with Fran's T's here.

I was hoping we could pull it out, since we almost won at their place. OSU lost to Michigan for the 2nd time tonight. I thought OSU's new two-post lineup would have been at least as tough for UM's short team as it was for us.

Why? BTW, hoops unis are not even 2 years old.

Similar with baseball - they built a huge new facility and nobody shows up. Guess it's a football school. ;)

I assume they're coached to go out and pressure the perimeter. Personally, I think that's last thing a team who's usually disadvantaged inside needs to do. Fran has more coaching W's than I do, though. ;)

Her husband died while at UI Hospital. I never knew the details, and I forgot most of what I did know, but Stringer was extremely upset about the situation.

I'm a lot more worried about a major college WBB program with only one post, than where they're from. OSU's ability to bring in a 2nd post really affected the game tonight.

Is Tony Freeman playing anywhere? Of course the transfer bug was biting in the Alford days as well. How good would SA's last Iowa team have been with Marcellus Sommerville & Courtney Scott?

The big plus with Fran, I think, is that he's turned around bad teams before. So I think we'll be fine, just not this season. The league is extra tough now, not a good time to rebuild a program almost from scratch, but it is what it is.

I agree, though I see this happen with a lot of teams, not just Iowa. IMHO, in today's game there's generally too emphasis on help defense, and not enough on good individual defensive fundamentals. Way too many flat-footed, hands-down defenders, relying on teammates to help them out. And...

Well, for one example, immediate PT got Jeff Moe to Iowa. He said after watching Iowa on TV he thought he was better than anybody else we had at guard.

Thought I heard the TV guys say they ripped out the sod after the Fiesta Bowl and put down all new turf. Not a good move in hindsight. Sure looked purty before they started playing on it, though.

.....

I think Barta thought he was getting the basketball equivalent of KF - no ego problems, and could win with lesser talent. Now sadder but wiser.

The other thing is, when we're in man, the offside players sag so far into the lane to help interior defense that the other teams' wing shooters are left alone anyway. So again we get torched, unless the shooter is cold.

I watch a fair amount of WBB also. The lane struggles you mention are mainly due to the increasingly physical nature of the womens game IMO. Everybody is shoving, slapping and hacking, usually without much being called. I do see a surprising number of shots taken directly underneath...

Archie continues to look like he just took up basketball last week. :(