TheWatShot

Looks like the 40-0 shirts will go back in the closet a bit earlier this year.      The fans sound like they're impressed. I can't really tell. Never heard a gym this quiet after taking down #1. 

Wasn't last year's game at UK? I thought that was the game where UCLA scored like 7 points in the first half. 

  That's what I've tried telling myself. Any halfway decent coach that built a preseason #1 and isn't criminally incompetent wouldn't be on the hot seat just two years later. Stevens might have figured the job wouldn't be open for a long, long time. 

Maybe you're right. Like I said, I'm not an insider, and part of what I heard was told to me by Butler fans who probably want him to stay the hell away from IU. 

Wow, great to hear, if true. I was hoping for 2-3 years and not a massive extension that we would be cursing if Nate's successor doesn't work out and we suck again the next couple seasons. 

  A popular line from the pro-Crean camp when this argument came up last year was that Stevens wouldn't succeed here because he isn't "flashy" enough. They then proceeded to dismiss his Horizon League success because the teams he had there would have lost a lot more games if they had played in the Big Ten. Some of them even went as far as saying that if Crean went elsewhere, he'd turn that program into a powerhouse and we'd instantly regret it.       If I had to make a gun-to-head prediction, I doubt Stevens ever comes here. Things would really have to turn sour in Boston for him to leave that behind. They have a bunch of first-round picks (thanks to the stupidity of the Brooklyn Nets) and all he has to do there is coach. I'm not an insider by any means, but I remember hearing that a big reason he left Butler when he did was because he wasn't happy about their move to a bigger conference, since it meant he would have to recruit against high major coaches and he wanted no part of that because of all the cheating that goes on. I don't think it would be difficult for him to recruit here at all (Crean has made it 100 times harder than it needs to be due to his personality and lack of results), but I think that would be the major reason he would ultimately turn the job down if offered.      Now…having said all that, I really hope we didn't bring Crean back to waste this season because we thought there was a chance we might get Stevens next spring. There are other good coaches out there who would gladly take this job and accomplish so much more. Hopefully we find one in a few months and finally cut our losses. 

Guys, we're honestly a mid-level Big Ten team and maybe a top 30-40 team overall. I'll admit I drank the Kool-aid and thought, maybe, MAYBE we could contend in the Big Ten and get hot for a few weeks in March. I was wrong. We're average. 

I wish he'd get ejected. We don't need him on our bench. 

  Big Ten has already won the challenge by tying (tiebreaker goes to league that won it the year before), so you don't have to root for Illinois. 

I estimated beforehand we'd have to hit 12 threes to have any chance tonight. We're on pace for that, but sadly, I don't think even that would be enough. 

We look slow, soft and weak. 

And we have our first random UK reference from Dickie V...

I know he didn't play Saturday, but I'm highly disappointed there were no pictures of him with the bucket and/or a cigar. 

  Can they tell us what his record is when we're unranked, playing on the road against a team that wears blue, the moon is full and it's on a day of the week ending in the letter y? 

  They passed us last February when they came into the Hall and beat us. But give it another year or two and I think we'll be back in front (assuming we have a different coach, obviously). They could lose 4 starters after this season and they only have a small point guard coming in next year. 

In the first half we gave up a lot of putbacks because guys were giving very little effort on rebounds. It got better in the second half and Alcorn State also hit some awkward looking shots.      That said, our help D is still weak and we still aren't communicating well on that end of the floor. 

  OSU and Michigan want to be in the same division so they aren't playing again a week after "The Game." It's why we have the setup we have now. The league does what they want. 

Freaking Alcorn State kept denying Priller the ball…bastards. 

Damn, there goes the shutout. 

"He's got his team playing very well."     Were these guys under a rock last week? 

It'll probably be a sloppy game with around 20 turnovers and a quiet crowd. 

  I've looked at their boards before and usually end up closing my browser because all that gold and black is so ugly and hard to look at. 

I think Wilson has earned a short extension. Nothing crazy, like 4 or 5 years, but give him 2-3 more. 

Let's get 60. 

I predict at least one more Purdue personal foul before this one ends.