Analysis: Where does Indiana Basketball go from here?

Great job Hutch! Most of us said this is the season that will determine the future of IU basketball. Lets hope a change is made to get us off this downward path. Will always watch and cheer on my Hoosiers, but I can't support one area...

It's an intentional design. July is picked because no one would ever wait until then to fire a coach. So, the buyout is meant to be a buyout for the previous year. If it were moved to March then it would have just been shifted so it was currently 12 million and became 7.5 million in March. I'm sure the lawyers spent a long time hashing out the timing and details because I have for less valuable contracts.

But, as I said last year, we will never pay the full buyout. If we do, Jay can choose my avatar. The "firing" will be a "voluntary" resignation after a negotiation. We will pay a much smaller amount than the full buyout, likely in exchange for something like no longer penalizing for future salary. So, it lowers the money but makes it guaranteed which looks better to fans, removes uncertainty, and leaves everyone satisfied but slightly disappointed. Like all good settlements.

I will hold you to that!!!

I think we need to go ahead and make the change. Might not be the best immediately, but think overall it is the best. I doubt it happens, and completely understand why.

It's an intentional design. July is picked because no one would ever wait until then to fire a coach. So, the buyout is meant to be a buyout for the previous year. If it were moved to March then it would have just been shifted so it was currently 12 million and became 7.5 million in March. I'm sure the lawyers spent a long time hashing out the timing and details because I have for less valuable contracts.

 

But, as I said last year, we will never pay the full buyout. If we do, Jay can choose my avatar. The "firing" will be a "voluntary" resignation after a negotiation. We will pay a much smaller amount than the full buyout, likely in exchange for something like no longer penalizing for future salary. So, it lowers the money but makes it guaranteed which looks better to fans, removes uncertainty, and leaves everyone satisfied but slightly disappointed. Like all good settlements.

I agree with all this. I think this is why I think Glass was quoted last year as saying the $12 mil was not an issue. He knows that it will never be paid. I really do wish the best for TC and I would imagine he would not be unemployed very long. So that is a positive for IU. I am in the camp that would prefer it happens sooner than later so the smoke can clear by April for the Golden Boy to come home. They also have a pretty good replacement and friend of Danny Ainge in place with Kevin McHale now. Dare I say that some of the pieces are falling into place?

Someone needs to step up and become a leader on the court. AKA Yogi Ferrell. Hes the oldest and knows what it takes to win. He needs to show that passion and pride on defense and dive after 50/50 balls.

In the end this is a team problem not just one person. But this team lacks leadership on defense and for the team to buy into defense someone has to show that they want to play.

 

Yogi is not a leader.  He hasn't showed leadership on or off the court during his time at IU.  However, he should step aside so someone who wants to step up and become a leader can do so. 

 

That's another flaw I see in the Crean approach to coaching and being a "leader" of young men.  I believe in the 2010-2011 season he was constantly asked about leadership in the post-game press conferences.  His response was consistently, "we need everyone to step up as leaders."  That might be true but there is almost always a pecking order with young men 17-23ish. 

 

If your older players aren't going to lead they need to keep their mouth closed and allow a players that are natural born leaders to get this team going in the right direction.  Nothing personal against Yogi but he is just not an effective leader.

I think everything we needed to know about this team was said last Spring. Three kids who have zero chance of being drafted in the first round held press conferences to announce "their decision".  Yogi is 5'11 & a four year starter who still can't feed the post, Troy can't dribble from here to there without turning it over, and Blackmon couldn't stop a nose bleed.  I've never met any of them but it appears to me that each is as narcissistic as the come.  I think the comment about not wanting to get in foul trouble is dead on.  Unless the effort can lead to a Sportscenter moment, no need to make it is the way I feel they look at it.

 

Welcome to the board and good first post. This has nothing to do with your posts, but I always encourage newbies to read over the forum rules and guidelines. Thanks for posting at BtownBanners!

Where now?

You keep Crean at least till after the spring semester starts. That locks in the roster and keeps the younger guys from transferring.

You negotiate a buyout or say screw it and fire Crean an the agreed upon conditions of his contract. Every dollar he earns is a dollar less that IU pays. If he can get a job makin $1.75 mil a year, then IU will actually pay him ZERO!

You start the recruitment process of Brad Stevens as there is an official opening. You bring the best offer you can and give him any accommodations he wants. Even if it take $8 million a year. It's time to join the elite again and he is the only candidate EVERY IU fan wants. If he still says no, then there are some coaches who could be had at the $5+ million range....Marshall, Sean Miller, Bennett. The list wouldn't have to go past that as long as IU doesn't go cheap. Pay what the elite schools are paying for elite coaching, and get one of the elite coaches.

Hutch, does the administration give a damn, or not?   The answer to that question determines the answer to yours.   Does the administration care if Indiana University has a nationally competitive basketball team year in and year out?  Do they care that the University's most recognizable brand has been severely damaged, due in large part to past administration's lack of caring and very poor hiring decisions?   Do they want to be on top again, or are they more concerned with academics and foolishly believing the alumni are as apathetic as they are?

 

What do you think?

That is my fear. I am honestly afraid the University is scared that they will have another Bob Knight type figure head if they part with Crean. 

Pretty good article

"The End Is Near for Crean at Indiana" via http://TeamStre.am by Bleacher Report

http://teamstre.am/1jAqaXK

This is a painful time for me as I lost my father last week so I haven't been posting throughout this house of horrors on the courts.

 

However, right now I am amazed that this team is worse than last year's. Who could have believed Stan Robinson and Max Hoetzel were better than Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeld?

 

Who could have believed that Yogi and some of the others would have their games go DOWNHILL?

 

I would love to blame Crean for all this, but honestly I can't. Yes, he deserves his share of being piled upon, but I am sure he doesn't coach guys into making no-look passes that always (I mean 100 per cent of the time if you haven't noticed...go back at watch the UNLV replay and you'll see at least half a dozen of them) end in turnovers. I am sure he doesn't coach lack of hustle that results in second-chance points for our opposition. I am sure he doesn't coach a player turning his back and then realizing the man he's supposed to be defending is scoring.

 

While you're watching the UNLV replay for no-look passes, watch how bad our offense interacts with each other when Bryant is on the floor. THAT is either a coaching problem or a horrendous communication problem centering on Bryant.

 

I am totally LOST for any explanation about all this on the whole.

 

I believe I would bench everyone and start as many walk-ons as I could to make a statement. 

 

On the plus side...if there is one...I would rather we go through our house of horrors in November and December than in January, February and March. But what I've seen so far is that we have no reason to think we're going to turn it around. This is a team that obviously doesn't give a sh*t (whether it's a 2-point sh*t or a 3-point sh*t is irrelevant at this point).

 

Yes, I'll continue to watch. And by the end of the year my dog will be so afraid of me she won't be in the same room with me.

 

I think there's a song with a line that says, "disappointment was my closest friend."

Someone needs to step up and become a leader on the court. AKA Yogi Ferrell. Hes the oldest and knows what it takes to win. He needs to show that passion and pride on defense and dive after 50/50 balls.

In the end this is a team problem not just one person. But this team lacks leadership on defense and for the team to buy into defense someone has to show that they want to play.

 

I expected a little bit more out of Yogi in terms of that leadership. I don't know if he's the guy that can walk into that locker room and call people out or not. But I'm not sure who the legit leaders are on this team.

for some yeah that applies but the Z double is just bad coaching. Bad preparation. Z gave great effort on that play but you cannot outrun a pass and he should have never left his man to double

When this becomes the theme every year I just cannot pin much on players. One man identified and recruited these guys to come play here. Season after season one guy has kids that do not defend well. Crean is the guy. If this were a one year deal then fine but with so many different kids the problem is the same.

 

There has to be accountability all across the board here. The head coach certainly has to share in that accountability. I'm not wiling to mail in this season just yet but things have to change and they have to change fast. The frustrating thing is that I think I was saying these same things coming out of Maui, and here we are a week later saying them all over again.

I think everything we needed to know about this team was said last Spring. Three kids who have zero chance of being drafted in the first round held press conferences to announce "their decision".  Yogi is 5'11 & a four year starter who still can't feed the post, Troy can't dribble from here to there without turning it over, and Blackmon couldn't stop a nose bleed.  I've never met any of them but it appears to me that each is as narcissistic as the come.  I think the comment about not wanting to get in foul trouble is dead on.  Unless the effort can lead to a Sportscenter moment, no need to make it is the way I feel they look at it.

 

Well said. And welcome to the board. I think the SportsCenter point is a really valid one especially with TW and JBJ. It's just part of their mentality.

Where now?

You keep Crean at least till after the spring semester starts. That locks in the roster and keeps the younger guys from transferring.

You negotiate a buyout or say screw it and fire Crean an the agreed upon conditions of his contract. Every dollar he earns is a dollar less that IU pays. If he can get a job makin $1.75 mil a year, then IU will actually pay him ZERO!

You start the recruitment process of Brad Stevens as there is an official opening. You bring the best offer you can and give him any accommodations he wants. Even if it take $8 million a year. It's time to join the elite again and he is the only candidate EVERY IU fan wants. If he still says no, then there are some coaches who could be had at the $5+ million range....Marshall, Sean Miller, Bennett. The list wouldn't have to go past that as long as IU doesn't go cheap. Pay what the elite schools are paying for elite coaching, and get one of the elite coaches.

 

But who is to say that those guys would come to Indiana at this point. People always want to characterize the Indiana job as an elite job and this program just hasn't been that elite program for a long, long time. It has been almost 30 years since IU last hung a national championship banner. Enough said.

Hutch, does the administration give a damn, or not?   The answer to that question determines the answer to yours.   Does the administration care if Indiana University has a nationally competitive basketball team year in and year out?  Do they care that the University's most recognizable brand has been severely damaged, due in large part to past administration's lack of caring and very poor hiring decisions?   Do they want to be on top again, or are they more concerned with academics and foolishly believing the alumni are as apathetic as they are?

 

What do you think?

 

I think a segment of the administration does for sure but it's hard to tell what the folks in Bryan Hall think. I think Fred Glass and the athletic side care. No one seems more intune to the IU brand than Glass and company. 

But who is to say that those guys would come to Indiana at this point. People always want to characterize the Indiana job as an elite job and this program just hasn't been that elite program for a long, long time. It has been almost 30 years since IU last hung a national championship banner. Enough said.

I don't know if that's enough said though. I agree, the program has been reduced to a "tradition of excellence" instead of being a program of excellence. But, we still pull the recruits we do, we still field the talent we do, we still have fans show up, get national attention, get ranked without doing much to deserve it, and get high expectations placed on us because of those 30-year-old banners. The job isn't some pit without any resources, it's been (thanks in large part to Tom Crean) brought back to being a hotbed just ready for the right direction to explode with glory.

 

The talent on this team could hang a banner. The talent on this team is here in no small part because of the name on the front of the jersey. If you're an elite coach and you don't want to go to a program with the resources, recruiting bed, and name recognition of Indiana, a program loaded with young talent ready to shine and who keeps showing you can miss the NIT and still recruit burger boys, well then you were never the right fit for here anyway. A coach who looks at Indiana and can't see its potential is not a coach I want.

Not sure where else to put this, but this is a hot thread. Anyways...This is going to go very, very badly in my opinion.

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Not sure where else to put this, but this is a hot thread. Anyways...This is going to go very, very badly in my opinion.

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ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1449171845.425934.jpg

Charge your battery.

 

And yes, this will be very funny. They should just have everyone wear white, and then crowd into columns. There will be more than enough empty seats to make up the red stripes.

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2015/12/03/breaking-down-indianas-historically-bad-defense-and-why-their-seasons-at-a-crossroads/?utm_network=twitter&utm_post=4679843&utm_source=TW%20%40NBCSports&utm_tags%20=srm%5Bsport%20%E2%80%93%20ncaab%2Cbrand%20%E2%80%93%20collegebasketballtalk%5D

 

 

Guess this belongs here?