maxwell

I don't know.  I think Colin had changed the help defensive tactics.  I believe he is just going to block shots from here on out...sprint down the court and stroke a deep 3!   :wink:

^^@Old Friend, I understand your desire for Brad.  I could be wrong; however, I just don’t see leaving Boston anytime soon.   Even if he were to leave Boston, we will not be the only player throwing millions his way.  People talk like IU would be an obvious choice for Brad after Boston.  I’m not suggesting you here.  I’m just saying in general.  I believe it would be a tremendous fight just to land Stevens if Tom Crean and the administration decided to part ways.   I believe CTC will earn the extension just after the 2017 season. You say what he has done this year doesn’t matter in comparison to his career resume.  I totally disagree.  I believe that this team will do enough to have Crean back next year.  If he comes back with Thomas they will seal the deal, it’s just my opinion, but I feel your window of opportunity for Brad or anyone else will shrink to the size of a very small pane. I know many will not agree with this, but I believe at that point Coach Crean will be flat rolling with too much momentum through 2018.  Not only do I like the guy, but I believe that he more than deserves all the success that he is about to have in the next year and a half.  I'm hoping and expecting that momentum to continue on right there in the Izzo house tomorrow.

Thank you for your very well written response.  I’m obviously a supporter of CTC  I feel that he has been making strides for over a year to bring IUBB consistently into the conversation when comes to the B1G championship.  I feel Brad Stevens is not a prospective coach here due to the fact that when he agreed to coach Boston, he didn’t set out to try it and see how it would work out.  He is not coaching there to have a mild representation of success.  He is the type of professional that is driven to own a level of excellence for both he and his players and imo this will probably not happen within what we would consider a “reasonable time frame”.   As I was expressing my opinion of Brad, I’m really thinking the exact same things are true of Tom.  A couple of not-so-great recruiting classes and a less than desirable start to this season have tarnished the perception of the work and coach he has become.  The key here is what he has endured and grown from during this tough time span.   I like your list here and would like to add a couple of comments in regards to CTC and our team.   1)   Win consistently.  Be a player every year, and make no excuses. Tom Crean is well on his way to doing this very thing this year and has a tremendous foundation laid to follow it up with another strong season. 2)   Avoid being in the news for off court stuff, and if it happens, it happens once and people know you've got it handled.  Valid point here.   I feel Tom has not only taken care of business here, he has also admitted to instances that he wish were handled differently.  I feel he has positive momentum here based on the kids and families that are coming into the program. 3)   Every once in a while, and often enough for people to see it as a pattern, win a game because of your plan, your adjustments, and your execution.  We all are going to see what we want to see here.  I'm sure I can do a better job of looking at such patterns more objectively.  In my opinion this may a bit of a challenge because it seams like there should be a different set of objectives for each team based on how you are trying to impose your strengths on the other teams weaknesses.  Crean after wins continues to praise his staff and players and seems to minimize the self edification in my opinion.  I also like the way his players take the spot light that they receive during post game presses and shine the positive aspects that their team mates bring to the table.  That takes class and character to drill on those characteristics that the kids do this almost habitually. 4)   Be great at something.   Whether it's changing defenses to take away a player or a team's favorite way to score, halftime adjustments, etc. 5)   Avoid living and dying by the 3 point shot.  Have an offense you can go to and get good shots consistently.  6)   Focus recruiting on kids who will fit your system and who understand where they are.  All should be high basketball IQ guys and leaders.  Combining four, five and six here.  This IU team is great at knocking down the three and Tom Crean is recruiting players that either shoot or compliment those types of players very well.  Of the 19 highlights on this video, just less than a third are 3 pt plays.  It's very clear that we a building in other areas outside of the 3pt shot.  Is this a good source to prove my point? Absolutely Not! There are many other stats that better support or destroy my belief about our offense.   But do understand…. I’m Luv-N me some Don Fischer!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl6yOMNJpc8   7)   Be great with the media.  Our man Bobby Knight was always great, right?  I really don't have strong views here other than to have some input from our fans on coaches that always handle the media well after losses.  One of the best I've listen to was Fran.  And that was not this year.  So I would love to know the coaches that handle this to the professional level our fans feel it should be dealt with. 8)   When people walk in the building, they should know what they're going to see.  9)   Set publicly high expectations and own them.   "Our goal is to win the Big Ten."  [8 &9] I agree there should always be a standard.  I feel Tom is always pushing for a higher level of consistency.   10) Coach to a level, not to results.<-- This is what I like most about what you’ve posted.  The idea of concentrating on the process of development in sports is very important to me.  That is why I embrace the difficulties this team endured in Maui and even the late loss to PSU.  I feel our guys are making great strides in the defeats AS WELL AS THE VICTORIES.  There are some very important defensive and rebounding issues we still need to grow in despite the fact we beat Iowa and this is something CTC has suggested in his pressers for those fans that don’t always write him off as a bunch of “coach speak comments”.   Btw I personally don’t have a problem with his referencing that he needs to study the film.  I find it humorous when people get worked up over this as I see other coaches reference it often considering the small amount of time I listen to opposing coaches and their pressers.  Get the most from every team, regardless of the roster.  Imo this becomes a matter of a coach working within a set of his personal preferences and I struggle to see how most fans feel they have the insight to direct any college coach with this personal preference.  The opinions of long-term goals and immediate results are just going to differentiate to much imo.   Thanks again for your response! I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

What would you say are the three to five most important components of this formula that is considered to be a multi-faceted animal?  Who are your top three candidates that would excel in this multifaceted formula that would be possible replacements for Crean when/if he and the administration decide to part ways?

I'm curious. Have you or anyone else heard anything as to how Newkirk is doing in practice?

IUBB & CTC has beat more ranked teams than any other B1G in the last 4.5 years.     -------------- I've been under the impression that we are a fan base victimized by CTC.  Turns out we are now victimized by the Troll Yogi'sBicep because he dare raise the question at what level of success does it take for Crean to be accepted by the naysayers.  imo That's funny.

To whom are the options wide open?  Has Cuban changed his mind? Has Glass changed his after CTC’s turnaround this year?

Thon tells a little bit about his story:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTHLZiOUqc

I liked:          1)  The way our guys fought and clawed their way back at the end of the first half.          2)  The way we knocked down free throws on the road.  Especially Bryant.          3)  These players and coaches putting themselves in a position to win at Wisconsin.          4)  Select posters that are really looking at this loss objectively.  I realize that if for some reason things were to completely go south, there will indeed be high volume he77 raising; however, I've been pleasantly surprised by the support of the changes that have taken place.   If rules permit,  I would like CTC take these guy to a wide range of gyms through out the state & have the players shoot with difficult lighting conditions in each of the places they practice.  With the exceptions of Yogi last night & Nick Z in Minny I'm not certain we've really had anyone to really light it up from deep.  I'm not complaining here. Nor am I in any kind of panic mode.  The cooler outside shooting percentages on the road is something that has been on my mind a bit since Maui.  Does anyone have recommendations on what this team may try to stay hot when they have a variety of backgrounds to look at when playing on the road?

Nice first post!   I may have read a similar post that touched on this idea last week in another forum.  The post did not mention anything about Thon; however, CTC creates additional options and opportunities if he has Davis backing up Bryant with a minimal amount of time of them playing together.  I like your ideas on the player combinations.  Lets hope that Thon sees the development in the players of this team and desires to take advantage of the opportunity here.

  uhh... two national championships?

I agree with you here.  I also better understand where Brass is coming from with his concern for the execution of a consistent result.  Freshmen improvement, future balanced rosters, defense, screens, and post feeds all have me stoked for the continued development of this team.  With the players and families that are here currently combined with those that are to come, I believe Crean and staff are the verge of great things with consistent results.

If that were the case, what solid coach do you plan on pulling in here considering a firing post a national championship?

Thomas Bryan'ts significant improvement in defensive footwork & positioning has/will earn CTC & Staff their well deserved stay in 16/17.  Barring injury and the small percentage chance that he will leave for the NBA, next year's team will provide Coach Tom Crean a healthy extension.   The momentum is real! :popcorn:  :popcorn:  :popcorn:  

That's a ton of free throws.

Just as long as he kept it shut long enough for Walton to teach Dan the fundamental differences between man-to-man, 2-3 & 1-3-1 zones, that would be great.

Our son hasn’t played organized ball for a couple of years, but the environment could not have been better for us to celebrate his thirteenth birthday as our guys absolutely took Thad’s boys to the wood shed on Sunday.  He got player autographs.  OG and Doc Libby were gracious to allow him to have pictures taken with them.  We even had a short unexpected exchange with Fred Glass as he was heading into the gift shop.  This is going to be an awesome season and we are very excited about the momentum the staff and players are putting together.   In my opinion there is no reason to be concerned about Z.  I know there was some discussion earlier in the thread.  Somewhere like around an hour and twenty minutes prior to game time the dude was making nice cuts without the ball, catching the pass and knocking down treys from the baseline, wing and top of the key.  We are very fortunate to have very good shooting depth on this team.  About the time someone begins to cool off, Nick will be as hot as ever.  Get well soon James!   Btw my son did convince me to play a little horse, pig and some 1/1 last night in the driveway.  It is amazing the inspiration a little OSU butt kicking will give to a teenager and his father.  I feel  41 should consider the sponsorship of Alford, Wayne, Safety, Stu & Sons.  I think that would be a great return on your promotional dollar.  We are always good at spending someone else’s  money.  J

I like how this lad moves with a low center of gravity on both ends of the floor considering his height.

^^^ @WCH  I agree with most all of your above post.  To the degree in which Troy can tighten up the handles I would like to see this play continue because feel recently he has improved:  1)  a better sense of knowing when his driving lane has been closed off.  2) when the decision is made to make a pass, generally, he is making an accurate passed that puts his teammate in a good shooting position.

Tremendous story in itself:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/bigten/2014/11/05/college-basketball-fran-mccaffery-patrick-mccaffery-iowa-cancer-diagnosis/18558257/   @Pap:  Thanks for all the time you put into this.  This is great stuff. Not that I put near as much stock into the star rating system as I did at one time, however, I feel it is interesting to look at the strong start Iowa has had and the star rating of their 16 class. I hope by the season's end many will appreciate CTC's efforts in the 15 class as they continue to make huge strides of improvement.  Speaking of improvement, is it just me or has anyone else noticed here of late that when we commit a turnover (ok got it... we still need improvement here!) there seems to be much better body language from the rest of the team rather than a hang dog wuss look of "oh, you let me down again"?  I feel there is a genuine development of emotional stability and respect among the players on this squad.  btw I'm out of control stoked for these next two games.   Go Hoosiers

Nice first post and your username is awesome!

Welcome Back!  Thanks for serving our country.  

LOL -- Too much time over in the "Buy or Sell" thread?

I'm a buyer here.        1) Great team chemistry.  Look & listen to both James & Thomas as they took the spotlight and shinned it on other teammates when they were complimented last night during the post game presser.  There was nothing wrong prior with team chemistry.  I just feel we are looking at a whole new level.      2) Two years of forced small ball gives this team many options when Bryant is out resting.  ie The movement of our perimeter players W/O the ball is tremendous right now.  The options CTC [HoosierTravs new avatar after the F4] has this team running off the horizontal cuts is becoming very interesting.      3) I realize that people have not seen from our freshman in the last few days the production that we had from them in the exhibition.  I'm convinced they will take hugh strides by the end of January.   This will all be easier to judge after this next tournament.

Yo...HELLO!  This x 1000 baby.  Anderson is a beast!  He will absolutely change the way we recruit in the future as well as finish out the year in our tournament runs imo.  These guys have more air in the lungs and are running on a higher octane fuel.  I love it.   ---- The momentum is real!