January 26 Voice of the Illini Chat
Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 11:00am
Is Illinois going to make the NCAA tournament? Is Bruce Weber regretting his decision not to take the Oklahoma job? Ask Voice of the Illini Brian Barnhart, who is chatting today
sorry guys...running a little late today. Got busy with some correspondence and just now got on line. Lets get going
Why is it that you can hardly get an Illini game on the radio anymore? I'm only an hour south of Champaign and other then 97.5 (weak signal after dark) I can't find a station that carries the games. How can Mattoon not have a station?
Sorry that you have had trouble...but I am not sure why that is the case. The Illini Sports Network has an affiliate near Mattoon on the Effingham station WCRC 95.7. Dont know if the Salem station gets up that far...but they are on WJBD FM 100.1 also. Have you tried Decatur WSOY 1340? Not sure if their signal gets that way or not.
If you have Sirius/XM...the Illini games are on those outlets also.
The network has 40-stations across the state....but I hope the information I gave you helps.
Thanks for listening!
What is the reason behind the inconsistent play by the men's basketball team? Youth? Coaching? Mental toughness?
They did start 11-2...so despite some close calls...they were pretty consistent early in the season. I think the ongoing injured status of Sam Maniscalco has hurt the Illini. Tracy Abrams is learning on the job...and is doing a nice job with it....but he is young and is learning how to recognize defenses on the fly and get the team into the called play or motion offense.
Meyers Leonard...for all of his accomplishments...is still really just a freshman when it comes to playing time. D.J Richardson was slowed by his recent wrist injury. Teams are fully aware of Brandon Paul now after his nationally televised 43-point explosion of Ohio State.
Plus...lets give the opponents a little credit also. Penn State is not very good...but they threw enough junk defenses at Illinois to slow them down and give themselves a chance. The Badgers are ALWAYS tough to play...in or outside of Madison. Your margin for error against them is very slim.
Coach Weber has admitted he needs to use his bench more. I think we will see that in Minneapolis on Saturday night.
I think most of us want Myers Leonard to stay next year, but do you think he'll enter the draft this summer? Is he ready to go?
The best answer on Meyers comes from Bruce Weber himself.
He has told me several times that:
Will Meyers have an NBA career?.......No question
Is he ready to play at that level?..........Probably not
Will the NBA take him right now?........Absolutely
A 7'1 player with that kind of athletic ability and upside? You bet the NBA will be calling his number .
I hope he stays another year....he could use it to get even better. But I would also understand if he took the money and left early.
Well...if that is all there is...I will head to my 11:30 appointment. Thanks again and talk to you from Minneapolis Saturday night. One of my favorite stops in the Big Ten. Great arena.