mdn82

Very valid point nips.

Yes we are Olivia. Please stay on topic Olivia.

  While this is true.  These players were committed.  He knew who was gone if he came.  There was never a concern from the Harris family how he would get there.  Roth was going to be gone.  Most thought he was coming back.  When Buss didn't qualify they didn't have to make the move they were going to, that would have brought him in.  But I do know for a fact the Harris family wasn't worried about where his spot was coming from.  Beyond that, when the coaches tell a top 15 kid in the country he has a spot, one is open.  Its the others already on the team who would have been more worried.  At the time there was talk of Zeller paying his own way (but I don't know that to be true or not).  The only thing I know for certain this was never a concern. 

Incredible feat in today's game.

That has drove me as nuts as anything. IMO That is Crean's biggest issue. He doesn't know how to build a team. It's not an area recruiting issue. It's a type of person issue.

Thats fair but outside of VJ3 I think the others put up their best numbers on good teams. Part of having good player development is getting the workers who buy in. That is part of my character issue I have with recruiting. We aren't going after players who fit in to our strengths. Look at the 2012 and 2013 class. Pretty low turnout for gym rats. I count Yogi, Hartman, and Troy as the only ones considered "gym rats". That's like Shaka Smart recruiting finesse players to play his Havoc scheme. Wouldn't make any sense.

Ugh........

FYI GC after graduating Russell, Schwarber, Bryant, and Soler to the major league level for +25 wins this year vs last we still have a top 5 farm with 3 players in the top 50. So you are quite literally smoking crack on this as you have 0 clue what you are talking about. You talk shit about a lot of things you think you know. But the here and now of the Cubs isn't one of them. They are good now and for the foreseeable future. Deal with that fact.

How does the Cubs come into this rant? Can't wait to hear this gem.

I would probably disagree with that. The improvement of Hulls, VJ3, Williams, Yogi (the shooter), and even Sheehey minus his Senior year. I thought all of those players improved immensely in different areas throughout their time. Whether or not we like how they were used is another story. Jordy and his ability to stay on the floor at both ends of the floor were amazing starting with his Junior season. As a freshman I though he would be a sharpshooter at best. Yogi has improved incredibly as a shooter. Last year he dribbled less than his Vonleh season. Now the frontcourt? That's another story. I think Crean has spent more time trying to get them away from the basket than not.

My biggest beef with Crean beyond coaching has been character and roster turnover. Although if you depend on roster development as much as he does he would not be easy to play for. Character makes or breaks a team. Misses? Meh when you are going after top talent that will happen. Glad he is going after top talent. Can't stop going after talented kids just because they say no.

In fairness there was a slot for Gary Harris and it was real close to him coming here. That OV to MSU sealed it. Us having a slot wasn't the reason he didn't come here.

Yeah but these slants are going great!

Don't understand why we don't pull out a screen game with the inexperience

Yeah the other Lyle thread had a running tweet off between the two. Interesting to say the least.

He does because he was directly implicated in the book as well as text messages putting him there.

It's honestly not about how smart he or that team was. They just got it. I love Yogi the player but that class put us backwards.

oh now they just need Bartolo Colon and then you could say that.

IU 38 - PSU 24

If the Pirates don't come back from 4-0 against the Reds in the first game the Cubs control their destiny. It's weird cause having played the Reds before the Pitates did I thought they would smoke them hands down. The Reds have mostly controlled this series. Interesting day for sure. Cubs are rolling.

The defense we were able to witness was one that swarmed to the ball. They didn't sit back and wait for the offense to come to them. If we can continue to have that mentality we will be a very adequate defense. With the offense we have that is huge.

Not giving up yet.

Just realized we held Elliott to 79 yds on 20 rushes outside of 3 runs. Those damn big plays were a killer. ESPN in their article brought up OSU and their 500 plus yards but 3 turnovers. I am of the opinion if the 3 turnovers were a fluke then so were 3 runs (55, 65, and 75). Our defense did a hell of a job for the most part. Would it look better for ESPN if we took out all of the "fluke" plays? Would 322 total yards of offense and no turnovers make them look better? Just reading their recap it seemed as if it was not fathomable we were +3 in turnovers and it was flukey. Then they follow up 3 50 plus runs like that's not.

With you on this one Chuck. Our defense played their ass of but the big plays killed us.

Great game Hoosiers! Gives me confidence headed forward.