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Illini on ESPN GameDay again
Illinois will be included in ESPN's College GameDay broadcast again - this time on the road. Illinois at Michigan State (Feb. 19) is one of thefeatured matchups this coming season. The Breslin Center game is a rematch of last season's UI-MSU game at the Assemby Hall.
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Tate: Bo knows winning
Listen to Monday's edition of The News-Gazette Sports Page here.
MADISON, Wis. – In a brain spasm last month, my picks as the 1-2 all-time basketball coaches in the Big Ten boiled down to Bob Knight and Tom Izzo.
You can't argue with Knight's three NCAA titles and 11 Big Ten championships. And Izzo's still-unfinished business of five Final Fours in the last 11 years and the 2000 NCAA title is extraordinary. At Breslin, the Spartans have lost 15 games in 13 years.
But Rodney "No Respect" Dangerfield, aka Bo Ryan, is sneaking up on the outside. Others landed in the Big Ten with bigger splashes, Tubby Smith carrying a national title from Kentucky to Minnesota, John Beilein thinking he could do at Michigan what he did at West Virginia, and Tom Crean trading success at Marquette for rebuilding Indiana. Iowa's Todd Lickliter was part of Butler's still-amazing run. And no one has brought in more talented recruits than Thad Matta at Ohio State.
But in the difficult business of winning Big Ten Conference games, Wisconsin's under-the-radar coach is alone at the top in his 8 1/2 seasons with a 102-41 audit.
His recruits aren't as fancy, and his Badgers have reached the Elite Eight just once, but his regular season numbers are better than Izzo's. Ryan has taken 12 of 17 in head-to-head duels with Izzo, including all three of their Big Ten tournament meetings. Ryan's Badgers are 133-10 overall at home, trailing only Duke and Kansas in that span, and 66-5 (93 percent) in conference games at Kohl.
Virtually every year his Badgers produce more wins than projected. They've already grabbed three Big Ten titles, and won 30 games in 2007 and 31 in 2008. Now No. 11 in the AP poll, they weren't even ranked when the season began. If Ryan doesn't receive today's Gene Keady Award for perceived overachievement, who does?
Seeing red
Illinois reached the magic level Saturday with the "sixth man," a near-crazed fandom, sparking a 78-73 defeat of Michigan State. It'll be different tonight (6 p.m.) with the visiting Illini swimming upstream against a sea of red.
These Badgers are a lucky 13-0 at Kohl, lucky because Jordan Taylor went berserk and rallied them from an eight-point deficit in the last two minutes to outlast hapless Penn State. The team is 5-2 since tall Jon Leuer, the team's leading rebounder and scorer, fractured his wrist.
"They've gone to 'small ball' with three guards," said UI coach Bruce Weber, and he might have added that they sometimes go with four. Everybody shoots the three-pointer, including hometown center Keaton Nankivil (7 for 8 against Purdue), and 11-game conference stats show them shooting from beyond the arc 47 percent of the time.
"Taylor has been getting major minutes since Leuer was hurt, and this three-guard lineup is hard to deal with," Weber said. "Trevon Hughes is playing exceptionally well as a senior. And Jason Bohannon, who came in as a catch-and-shoot guard, is now scoring on pull-ups and fades. All three of their guards can dribble and create. We have limitations on our team in that regard.
"You wonder if they might get hurt defensively but they pack in and compensate for their lack of size."
Wisconsin is No. 5 in the nation in points allowed (56.2) and tops in fewest turnovers (9.3), both strong signs of Ryan's work.
Tate's tidbits
– You didn't see it here because the dice being tossed are full of snake eyes but, if you believe in long shots, wins by Illinois and Purdue tonight would give the UI a share of first place.
– Only disappointment Saturday was the wet blanket Dick Vitale threw in chastising UI students for rushing the court and inferring that the win meant less because Kalin Lucas didn't play. Vitale must not understand how grim it was to see Illinois' RPI drop into the 70s, and how nervous Illini Nation is about the UI making the NCAA tournament cut.
– Two great Illini passed away in recent days. Art Dufelmeier, who was shot down over France and spent 11 months as a prisoner of war, was a former Beardstown star. He rushed for 123 yards in the Rose Bowl-clinching 20-0 win against Northwestern in 1946 and was named captain of the 1947 club. Bill Pinkstaff, who died at age 78 at the Assembly Hall on Saturday, received his Varsity "I" in 2000 and attended virtually every Illini football practice until Ron Zook closed access.
Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.
Comments
Count me as a Bo Ryan fan. He get more from less than any other Big Ten coach. His early losses in the NCAA are because of his lack of talent and more importantly the lack of home court advantage which is huge for Wisconsin. That said one wonders why Bo can't seem to attract high talent players to Madison or is it because he prefers it his way. Take average players and mold them into a tight unit and play to his home court advantage. Either way the Badgers do well year in and year out. It will be a tough win tonight for the Illini!
Posted by FloridaIllini on February 9, 2010 at 8:31 AM | Suggest Removal
Vitale talks out of both sides of his mouth and is no friend of the Illini, despite what he'd like us to believe. He spent most of the game saying how it was a "must win" for the Illini and then degraded it because Lucas didn't play. He also talked up the 05 team then reminded everyone of the loss in the title game and did the same with the 89 team, while saying how great Michigan and Steve Fischer were.
In my humble view Vitale is a complete waste of space. I don't know who enjoys him, but some folks must for him to have lasted as long as he has.
Posted by jeffh on February 9, 2010 at 4:53 AM | Suggest Removal
Wisconsin is the "new Purdue" under Ryan. They do great in conference yet struggle in the NCAA. His 30 plus win team a couple years ago famously flamed out in the 2nd round but he, like Keady, gets more out of less.
As far as Vitale goes his 5 minute diatribe was way over the top. All game long he praised the atmosphere and the Krush but he couldn't wait to diss Illinois and devalue the win at the end. He's a Duke and ACC lover only and hates Illinois and the Big Ten except for Knight.
Posted by illini82 on February 9, 2010 at 6:44 AM | Suggest Removal
Bo Ryan has zero Final Fours. Overrated.
Posted by MarkHoekstra on February 9, 2010 at 7:24 AM | Suggest Removal
Bo Ryan is a great coach with what he has to work with. 5 star players aren't exactly flocking to Madison, Wisconsin . . but Bo is one of the better coaches in doing more with the least.
Posted by RPeterE on February 9, 2010 at 8:03 AM | Suggest Removal
Bo know early exits from the NCAA.
Posted by oandb on February 9, 2010 at 8:14 AM | Suggest Removal
Finally, an article by Loren Tate not saying anything negative about the Illini.
Posted by ax474 on February 9, 2010 at 8:39 AM | Suggest Removal
Dick is A Vitale. Dont listen Illini nation. Win or lose, nothing can take away last saturday. Go Illini.
Posted by mk on February 9, 2010 at 9:57 AM | Suggest Removal
Does Vitale gush way too much about college basketball royalty? Yes. But, he gushes about pretty much everything and everybody. I was at the game and didn't hear his "diatribe", so I can't comment on that. I've never heard a thing from him over the years that would suggest he "hates" any team. It's obvious that the only thing the man hates is cancer and the alternating possession rule.
Posted by chrispatton33 on February 9, 2010 at 10:34 AM | Suggest Removal
"Ryan has taken 12 of 17 in head-to-head duels with Izzo". "133-10 overall at home". I'm pretty sure he has a winning record against every team in the Big Ten. Madison isn't exactly BB Mecca. Most picked Wisky towards the bottom of the BT this year. Leuer has been out for a number of games. Yet once again, Wisky is in the hunt for a BTT. His record hasn't been great at the dance, but doesn't mean he can't coach.
Posted by illiniphil85 on February 9, 2010 at 1:39 PM | Suggest Removal
Those commenting here obviously look at the players on the UW team and assume they have less talent or make the mistake of listening to the idiot analysts at ESPN. If you look objectively at the recruiting rankings of the players that play at Wisconsin, you will see they are very highly rated. In fact, more highly rated than Illinois the last several years, including this one. While it is true they do not seem to pickup the superstar 5* recruit, they are full of 4* recruits. How many 5* recruits do you see on any team other than Duke, NC or Kansas?
Doing more with less if a myth!!! Now, if you want to say that he makes them better and makes them better team players, then I buy it. I think he is a great coach but he certainly isn't doing more with less.
Posted by blmillini on February 9, 2010 at 1:54 PM | Suggest Removal
Dick Vitale is full of the ACC AND KNIGHT. ANOTHER ME PERSON IN THE MEDIA. Good article.
Posted by z on February 9, 2010 at 4:11 PM | Suggest Removal
Is that the same Vitale who dumped all over Frank Williams in one of Frank's first games back after Prop 48 ('no hustle.....bad decisions.....bad rep') against Duke (of course) at the United Center- - and is that the same Vitale who priased Knight's coaching to the heavens ("A plus!!") and dissed Lou Henson's ("C minuus") just seconds before Henson's genius move put Bardo on Alford - - and saw the Illini freshman block the IU All American's potential game-winning shot?
HEY DICKIE V.........STAY OUTTA TOWN (and keep Phelps out with you)!
Posted by CecilColeman on February 13, 2010 at 7:44 PM | Suggest Removal
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