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I think one reason Troy has not been turning it over as much is that he is not being asked to drive as much. Yogi controls the drives far more since JBj went down. Troy will still drive occasionally during half court sets but not nearly as much. I think this change came from Crean. If you have been close enough to hear Crean has often been on Troy "we have to drive that ball". "Got to get more drives" ETC. Even his halftime talks with TV he has mentioned that a lot. That focus encouraged TW to drive even when the lane was not there. Since the injury, he has spent s lot more time on the baseline and when he gets it outside he has been shooting more.

We have the talent and I think Crean has shown he can coach good teams well during the season. If we can keep from fading down the stretch we should be considered a contender. Another good week and we will find ourselves in the top 20.

I think the last ten or so games matter for us because it gives us a chance to get some wins vs top 25 teams. We have some nice momentum and confidence is high. That will help as we enter the meat of the schedule. Hopefully though as teams actually start to play better D against us, we can keep moving the ball well. Right now teams are playing so far off is we can pass around the key with very little difficulty.

I agree. I defend DD often but he needs to shut it on this one. Not like DDs time at IU was all rosy and successful

I remember your story. It matches what a lot of broadcasters would say when they watched practice the day before and the joked about how hard we went at it during the walk through. Stephen Bardo was asked the year after we lost in the sweet sixteen if he thought Crean wore the team out. He repeated some of what you shared and echoed the effort our players put out in practices. Kelvin Sampson commented to one of his assistants (Dakich) that Creans teams were known to wear out at the end of the year. Hopeful this is an area where he has learned over time and has a better plan.

Anyone hear what DD said in response to this tweet? [attachment=3269:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1453489312.464613.jpg]

I would love to see a strong finish. While not the norm for Crean teams, we did finish well Cody's freshman year which propelled us to a strong start to the following year. Unfortunately that year we also finished poorly. I agree that we seem to have improved on the defensive side and that will help carry us when the offense struggles.

Last year we started the Big Ten season 5-1 with wins over two top 20 teams and two road victories. We set an Indiana record with 18 3pt baskets made in beating Maryland by 19 points. We did not finish the season well. When we finish a year really well then some Optimus will rightfully build with me.

We used to walk over from Wilkie to the games. Plenty of balcony seats in the package but it was packed up there. It was cold back in the 80's too.

Really depends on where in balcony. First row seats up there are not bad at all.

My response was in response to Pap who seemed surprised some were still finding more fault than silver linings. I think in general many of us are but the midseason quizzes have historically not led to great endings. Yogis Bicep had a post a few pages back saying Crean had earned his approval for another year. That precipitated the responses discounting things until we finish the year. As for me, I listed my criteria in this thread and am open to another year but the standards are pretty high. For now, it is fun to watch them play.

This is the Fire Tom Crean thread after all. I have seen a couple posts suggest he has done enough to have their support for next year. That creates the fury of response in this thread. [attachment=3252:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1453318809.646567.jpg]

Ok but if you lost Biedeldt would you feel pretty good about just having the freshman? I would not. The plan for the year was to have two, maybe three more bigs between HP, DD, and EH.

Fair point but after watching him play this year his offense is something I think we can replace to some extent. He was most lethal as a shooter and we have others who can pick up that slack. Not a complete replacement for sure and I will admit our PPG may drop without him. TC talked about how he makes teams spread out the D to account for him. NZ, RoJo and Colin have to fill that void. Some games they have others they have not. Fortunately we have depth at that position. Defensively though playing him and NZ together was impossible. I think we gain some there. Had JBj been a big I think his loss would have been bigger. A team that plays good to great D will allow you to win games when the shooting goes south. We have seen that recently.

I am fine with that too. Make noise is subjective and labels are not always reflective of potential. This team has talent and beginning of the year it was fair to assume an overachieving year meant elite 8 or better. I see no reason to change that unless we enter the NCAAs a top 8 seed overall. Then we have to exceed that.

If you are making a "keep him" decision based on midseason results then you may never be ready to make a change. TCs teams down the stretch fade. It is a fact I have looked back and he has had two teams in his career perform better (win %) down the stretch. DWade and VO. I am open to keeping him IF: 1) we overachieve in the BT, BTT and the NCAA. 2) this is not the peak year. We lose a lot of seniors and possibly TW. The last few years we have lost underclass men (non NBA) kids too. Next year has to appear very likely to build upon our overachieving year. In a single year snapshot that is an unfair burden but since we have a lot of TC history to look at it is fair.

Were you the one who argued the same for Yogi last year (degree in hand and not coming back). Certainly different guys but I just don't think a degree matters much to guys who have pro ball aspirations. A degree is important but I would think they value that as an asset for later

After the Warford, Hulls and Elston group we have struggled to get kids to stay four years. Yogi is the only one of his class. Most of Troy's class is gone. I'd like to think we keep RoJo, OG and JM for four but if Emmit, DD, Stan, Max, JH, HP taught us anything it is that we have had problems recently keeping kids.

Do you think there would be an overwhelming opinion that losing Yogi, NZ, Max but adding Thon and we are a FF team?

This is pretty cool. Open spot and a need for another practice player. Not expecting him to play much but still would have been a thrill for anyone

Wonder how many of us thought that if all our guys came back and we added TB we would be a FF caliber team this year.

Pat tried and DV tried but a fan angle who wanted to try and influence him as the OP stated is a new angle. I mentioned Pat and DV as potential messengers for this new approach. They would not be trying to get him back based on their thoughts but based on a groundswell of fan support. They just happened to be the ones we found to deliver the message. I don't think it would work but I would be on board with one last attempt to bring him back. Maybe one of the message boards could sponsor the effort.

Pat knight works for the Pacers. Could try that route. Dickie V may be another idea

I wrote him a letter when he was at TT and asked him for a favor. I did not know him nor did I have any friend of his refer me. On the same day he received my letter he honored my request. At some point a letter like the OPs, a nudge from Vitale or something similar may year down that wall. I doubt it will happen but it is worth the effort. Unfortunately, not only is he stubborn, I also think he does not care. The reunion would initially be more for Indiana and the fans but I think in the end he would be blown away at the reception and it would mean a great deal to him too. Just not sure the path to his heart will ever open.

Coaching and developing a team of three stars is not what is hard to overcome (for the next coach). The fact that many already see TCs seat as hot and if he gets to the final year or two of his contract he will struggle to convince any recruit to come. That is what will be difficult for (TC) to overcome. That is why this idea of honoring contracts is garbage if assumed literally. Look at Wilson. We did not wait until his current contract expired before signing him to an extension. The same for a guy you don't plan to keep. Once you get to 2 years left coaches are fired or extended.