8bucks

I don't think we are overachieving. We have several upperclassmen that start or log heavy minutes. We have 2 McDs still playing. We have a senior AA point guard. We are not lacking at any position. Given how we started the year, some may think we are overachieving. This is not a knock on Crean either. In fact it is good for him to have been able to build a strong roster and overcome a bad start and an injury to the top scorer. If we can keep guys from transferring then I see no reason we can't have a really strong 4-5 year run.

I agree but we have trouble feeding him when we aren't guarded. Harder as the apply pressure. Wonder if he will bring TB out higher to get touches

With Z I agree. Cannot play them together in important stretches.

Niego actually had a good groove for a bit. Couple of assists and a steal

Yep. When you pressure our perimeter players and bump cutters our offense looks disorganized.

Remember all the games we did not even get a shot off? I was kind of glad to see we got 1.5 good shots at the end

Uhh, did you know that Vic was one of the most improved Hoosiers of all time. Your comparison ignores his incredible advancement between those years Look I love Cody and they were 1a and 1b which probably split the vote for us.

Same with Vic. Without him we are average as well and he over performed vs expectations.

Cody was pretty much the same guy his soph year. He came into the year with a ton of hype and did not live up to it. Had a very good year but i Vic was far more valuable to us

I agree but if we finish the year like we have others it will get interesting. Especially if we play poorly in our final 3 BT games, the BTT and the NCAA like we did in the 2012-13 season. I think we are more likely to finish with a bit of a run this like we did in 2011-12. During the offseason we cannot have a lot of the core pieces leave either. If they all stay we should be able to build for sustained success.

Yeah no ill intent at all. Some wondered why he was not getting more attention via the rankings and I wondered if his competition played a part. Seems like AAU is where kids find a chance to perform against higher competition and if he did not do as well there as he did in HS then maybe that played a part Was just asking though out of curiosity.

What level is his competition?

PU got more aggressive on the perimeter defensively. Helped to big us down.

We're we picked in the middle of the pack? I thought we were generally picked in the upper quartile.

We were similar. Decided to increase the odds and adopted our girls.

I am following on game tracker while out of town but we have way more free throws than them. 16/23 to 0/4 Maybe those were first half

Would be great but that just seems an afterthought to Crean.

Had Bennett came and had the same success as he had at Virginia, I reluctantly agree with MDN82 that Indiana fans may still have doubted if he were the right guy based on tourney results. There would be more unity than now but still there would be doubters. The question we have to ask ourselves, and then later remember, is would a guy with high frequency NCAA top 4 seeds but mediocre NCAA results going to be OK here. IF he can break through and get one championship them the mediocre other years are more tolerable. It is more likely that we find a frequency guy than the master X and O guy. I would love the X and O genius but acknowledge it will be hard enough finding the frequency guy.

My plane got delayed so I googled some articles related to our search when we hired Crean. Related to young coaches, those many of us think do not have enough experience, I was surprised to find that Bennett only had two years experience at Washington we we talked to him last time. "Pros: After his father Purdue Person retired two seasons ago, the younger Bennett took over and in his first season led Washington State to its most wins in school history (tied it at 26), won AP Coach of the Year and Naismith College Coach of the Year. This all after WSU finished dead last in the Pac-10 a year before. This year, his team has the second-highest rated defense in the country at 56.1 points allowed per game and have advanced (so far) to the Sweet Sixteen — beating Winthrop and Notre Dame by a combined margin of 49 points. He’s young (38), he’s up and coming, he’s what IU could really use to jump start the program. He’s helped recruit the likes Devin Harris, Kirk Penney, Alando Tucker and Brian Butch while at Wisconsin. His father’s ties to Bob Knight might help reconnect a certain segment of the Indiana family too." "Cons: Too inexperienced? This is only Bennett’s second year at the helm of Washington State. Sure, he’s done a stellar job in his first two seasons, but do we need a larger sample size before we know he’s the real deal? Would it be a mistake to pull a trigger on a guy who’s still largely untested?" http://www.insidethehall.com/tag/tony-bennett/ He had two good years at Washington finishing 2 and 3rd in the PAC 10. Many on here think BS is the only guy. I think he is the best guy but some of the guys on this list could turn out to be like Bennett. Many will not. I can't wait to see what Fife does but that does not mean I would call him for the IU job.

Good list. Probably hard for a young coach to be on this list since the minimum number of years (5) exceeds most of the young guys tenure. Get much past 5 years and your not too young anymore. Good list though

Seems all of your posts in this thread are combative. Several of the names mentioned in here had comments about them not being ready for an IU level. This thread just did not seem to have all the Crean hate and seemed a good discussion until you and Brass took it south.

The conversation seemed pretty open and respectful initially. Most of the discussion was about sharing info on young coaches. It is not like people were saying all these guys are an upgrade. Seemed like a good discussion. To bad we can't have a good discussion about good young coaches without people thinking we are claiming they are obviously better than Crean.

Part of the reason Yogi is tired, or played tired, is because he has been guarding the opponents top player as well. He chased Iowas Jok all around the court. I did not get s chance to watch MSU. Did he guard Valentine or another good player in that game?

There was also a rumor that he asked for more money and we said no. No idea what is accurate except he is a very good coach

Is it easier to build a powerhouse in the NBA or in College? I would argue the latter assuming you are deciding between a top program in each. In college you can stock pile talent, in the NBA you have to fit under a salary cap. In the NBA, a bad contract is very hard to overcome, in college you encourage a kid to transfer. In the NBA you have a GM or President who chooses your talent whereas in college you choose your talent. Granted Ainge seems to fit well with BS but that may not always be the case. Not saying IU is better than Boston or that he would leave for here but I think a great coach can build s powerhouse in College easier than in the NBA.