Leaderboard

Just going to throw my thoughts on Vonleh here first before I give more toughts on Crean:   Noah Vonleh will not sniff the top five this year, and I highly doubt he goes higher than seven or eight. Also, unlike Cody Zeller, Vonleh's stock will more than likely rise if he returns for a second year. If Vonleh's eventual draft selection is ever lower than Cody's, then the particular draft is either stacked beyond belief like this year or reaffirms how incredibly lucky Zeller got when Jordan decided to pick him at four. I believe Vonleh will stay.   Now on to Crean:   People had low expectations for the year, and somehow Indiana can't even reach those. At some point, we have to stop using "youth" as a crutch also. Indiana could easily be 13-2, maybe even 14-1, so it's disappointing to look at 10-5. Sure, the players need to be held accountable to some extent, but Crean needs to be held accountable as well (No, he doesn't get a pass for rebuilding the program.)   There is no reason why Vonleh shouldn't be taking the most shots on the team. There is no reason why the starting five should be kept intact. There is no reason why four guys should stand around and watch, while Yogi or Vonleh try to do something.    The offense is a mess, and that falls on Crean. Has the team even improved? That also falls on Crean.   I think he's a good - not great - recruiter, a great motivator, and tremendous man. He's not a great coach, but how many are actually great? I'd give him next year at least, but it's okay to begin questioning him and the future.

Can't you hear the Memorial Stadium crowd roaring "Boooooooooooth" after he scores a TD. Sweet sound.

It will be a long year, because I have to watch this poorly coached team try and not get embarrassed in the Big Ten.  I have to watch an offense that doesn't move for the 6th year in a row, and a coach that refuses to make changes.  I have to watch street ball one on one garbage.  I have to watch a talented big man not get the ball, not be utilized for the 3rd year in a row.  I have to watch players make stupid decision after stupid decision after stupid decision and get rewarded with playing time they don't deserve because the coach won't hold anyone accountable despite talking about accountability in his politician speeches after games.   Youth is only part of the problem with this team.  Get your head out of the sand and stop buying into this fallacy that Tom Crean is infallible, that his Sweet 16 ring is some huge deal.  Or if you don't want to do that, there's a couple posters on another board that would love your posts because that's exactly what they believe.   Here's the thing.  Tom Crean took this job knowing what expectations are here.  The standards don't lower to make him look better, it is up to him to live up to those standards.   Here's an idea, if you want to quote my post, how about you actually contribute to the discussion instead of calling us whiners for not thinking the almighty Tom Crean isn't doing a very good job this year.

Boo hoo, because I have expectations that are a lot higher than possibly not making the NIT.  Boo hoo, because I'm sick of a stagnant offense.  Boo hoo, because I'm sick of constant unforced turnovers.  Boo hoo, because I'm sick of the team not being able to utilize bigs.  Boo hoo, because I'm sick of the lip service politician speak from Crean after games.   You can't address the points, so you resort to saying we're whining.  Great for discussion.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/post/_/id/50216/watch-live-dominique-booths-announcement   Link to Booths announcement. Per everything I've seen it will be on ESPN.com, not on TV.

Welcome Aboard!   Derrick Tindal ‏@TindalIsland 24m I'm committed to iu

Anybody care to hazard a guess?  I'm thinking he's wearing Cream & Crimson next year!

As long as there are those of us still living who remember the Knight coached teams, everything that Crean throws out on the floor will be measured against them; fair or not. IU fans are some of the best, if not THE best in the country. We know good, well coached basketball when we see it. Win or lose, the Knight coached teams always gave us a feeling that no matter the opponent, we had a fighting chance to win the game. That doesn't mean we would, or did, but we all felt that even on a down year, we could beat a DUKE or UK. It might be because everyone played out of their asses that day, or coach Knight came up with another brilliant game plan, or any number of other intangibles, but we'd go in to games knowing we could win it.    Conversely, Crean's teams remind me of those put together by Lou Henson, Gene Keady, or Dr. Tom Davis at Iowa. Henson and his side kick, Jimmy Collins, could get some of the best talent out of Chicago; nationally recognized talent, and make them a fundamentally sound, competitive team. They'd be tough to beat, until they got in to the tournament. Same for Keady and Davis. Their teams just didn't seem to ever develop to a level that one might seriously expect them to compete for a title, despite all the talent that went through their programs. It's entirely possible that Crean may be in this mold.   The team this year, young and inexperienced though they may be, is fundamentally flawed. They don't handle the ball well, they don't shoot the ball well, they don't play defense that scares anyone, and for some reason, they don't appear to go "all out". They don't have an identity that separates them from anyone else. They do have talent. Like Henson, Keady, and Davis, Crean has put together an amalgam of talented players, that aren't getting appreciably better as the season progresses.   I like coach Crean, and I think, to a point, he's a good coach. But, as he said one time, "It's IU". As such, that puts us above 95% of the basketball programs in the Country, with or without him. In short, I don't think he should be fired yet, but neither do I think Glass should drag his feet if it appears things are not progressing long term. 

1 of only 5 undefeated teams.   The Others: #1-UConn #24-San Diego #2-Notre Dame #11-Iowa St

30 more minutes!

I do not think we need an Indiana man unless one is available. Fife not ready and Alford is less proven than Crean. RMK was not an Indiana man. If Crean cannot get the ship righted we will be making a change. He certainly should not be fired now but the red flags are starting to go up for me - a long time supporter. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Well Done Hoosiers! ‏@IndianaWBB: #iuwbb ranked No. 22 in today's AP Top 25 Poll. Just the second time IU has ever been ranked in the AP Poll & first time since Jan. 19, 1993

Here is my take..people are so quick to fire him already....ok, we lost about all of our experienced players (minus Yogi and Will) but yet all of a sudden, he isn't the right man for the job, is what I keep hearing. My opinion is this, give the man 2 more seasons. These are young kids here, and we have more coming next year. He did a lot with our previous team, what makes one think he couldn't do the same, or better with others? If after next season, he can't get IUBB led to at least the Sweet 16 or elite 8, than I will start to question. Everyone just needs to remember, we have a very young team, and it shows, but who is to say that can't be better?

We can't feed the post, we can't take care of the ball, our half court offense sucks because no one moves.  Why do those sound familiar?  Oh, right, because those exact same problems have plagued us every single year with Crean.  Different years, different rosters but identical problems with all of them.  Yeah, it sounds like the problem is the common denominator between the teams.     Maybe, just maybe, people are sick of it.  Maybe people are sick of the same problems plaguing the team every year.  Maybe people (I know I sure am) are sick of hearing Crean say "I need to do better" and then nothing changes, sick of him saying "the players aren't listening" when identical problems have plagued every team in his tenure.   There's a reason I don't post as much on the other board, I'm sick of the sunshine pumpers constantly lowering the bar just so they don't have to admit that this team isn't well coached.  So they don't have to admit that coaching is part of the problem this team has.  So they don't have to admit that the critics were right when they said his system doesn't move or utilize bigs.

It's about time this team got into the top 25. I notice their game tonight at Purdue has been postponed due to the crappy weather. The ladies will put a beat down on Ohio State Saturday. BTN will be in AH for the game. Boy, I hope my power is back on by then.

We didn't beat ND or Illinois. Who cares what the post would be if we had beat them.   People are having issues because this team still doesn't look very good on the court for anything but a 3-4 minute stretch here and there. We said at the beginning of the year to give them time to figure it out and get better. Well we are now halfway through the season and there hasn't been a ton of signs of significant improvement. Most are saying they are willing to give him until the end of next season, with what we believe we are going to have. But still even with returning players including Noah and incoming players, saying they will be a top 10 caliber team seems like a bit of a stretch given what we have seen this year

Because I know he's coming back. Fact. 

Tom VanHaaren ‏@TomVH 18m ESPN 300 WR Dominique Booth (@DDBooth_) will announce his decision live on   http://ESPN.com  Tuesday at 7pm ET. #Indiana #Mizzou

It always amazes me more people didn't see the article (or at least give weight to it) Gary Parrish wrote for CBS last summer when Stevens left for Boston. In it he wrote that Stevens made it very clear that he had no interest in recruiting the way you have to at a big time program, and that was part of why he wanted to be in the NBA and not at a major college program. I'm not sure if IU, or any other big time program aside from Duke (let's be honest, Duke is different), would ever be a real option for him. Heck, he may be an NBA lifer regardless of how his time in Boston ends. If NBA GM's are good at one thing it's recycling head coaches who have already failed.   As for Crean, I'm still behind him, but like many, my concerns are growing. I think that one of the marks of a good coach is that he adapts his system to the players he has rather than trying to fit square square pegs into round holes. From a big picture perspective that's probably my biggest issue with Crean.

Crean said "it's Indiana", one of the top programs of all time.  A certain level of expectations comes along with that.  Bob Knight was a large part of Crean being able to say that, and I will not lower my standards just because Mike Davis was an idiot and Samsung can't run a clean program.  We should have much higher standards than being a "top 30 team pretty consistently" and making the tournament should be considered an absolute minimum.

I don't want to belittle anyone because we are all entitled to our opinion, but anyone that thinks Crean should be fired soon is an idiot. You can not build a program without stability ( see IU football). National championships are not our birthright anymore. It's a different day. Nationalized recruiting and cable TV has changed the game. Judging Coach Crean by McCracken or Knight is unfair. That program is gone. Knight, Davis and Samscum took care of that. That being said, IU should be a top 30 team pretty consistently. That's what I'm watching. After next year I'll know if I want Coach Crean gone. I was expecting a down year and have always felt that IU wouldn't make the tourney. This team has fight. I like that. Next year the seat could start getting warm... Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Like I said about a month ago I think his seat will start getting a little warm if we miss the tournament, that is looking quite likely at this point. If we win only say 5 conference games I think he'll start getting a little toasty. This team is pretty talented yet they are just so awful to watch, they makes the same mistakes over and over again, thats on the coach to correct. I don't wan't him fired this year but if this continues next year too my mind might be changed. The media is starting to pick up on the deficiencies us fans have been talking about for a while, thats usually how it all starts.