8bucks

The fact that the defense looks improved and Wilson has built strong offenses except this year should allow him another year. Assuming we will have the defense is still be good next year and the offense will bounce back next year. If Wilson is still a jerk behind the scenes then he may wear out his welcome quickly though.

I agree but it is within reach. If he can average 16/17 those scouts may overlook that for now. Hard to say yet but it is not too hard to see how it could happen.

Harris averaged only 12.9 as a freshman and many thought he would leave. If I remember he was projected in the 10 to 15 range. I think Blackman can eclipse that average this year. The draft may be stronger than the year Harris could have come out but it is not outside the range of possible that Blackman could be 1 and done

I found it frustrating to hear Glass suggest there is only so much they can do. They have talked to the players and yet they kept getting out of line. I am sorry but when punishment does not work you ramp it up or adjust so that the message gets across. It is like that parent at the store who tells the crying kid they will get it if they keep it up. The kid keeps it up and the threat changes to ill get you candy if you hush. Yeah I do not know what goes on behind the scenes but what irks me is that Glass suggests now, after what 6 transgressions, now they are serious. No more mr nice guys. If they do better going forward great but when players do not fear the punishment you have to ramp it up.

This is a good time for counter argument with your set of facts.

Since Assembly Hall opened IU has been in the top 15 in attendance. As we have bad years we drop from top 5 to top 15. Certainly a drop but the bigger drop is in funding.

May have been some empty seats but this little blurb reiterates how strong attendance has always been. The Hoosiers are among the most storied programs in the history of college basketball, and considered to be a blue blood of the sport. A 2012 study listed Indiana as the third most valuable collegiate basketball program in the country.[4] Indiana has ranked in the top 15 nationally in men's basketball attendance every season since Assembly Hall opened in 1972, and often in the top five.[5] When asked if Indiana basketball fans were the most passionate in the country, ESPN commentator Dick Vitale said, "I don't think there's any doubt about it. They eat, sleep and drink the game."[6] Basketball sportscaster Gus Johnson called Assembly Hall, "the Carnegie Hall of basketball."[7]

I think attendance stays up at Indiana even during our down years. Now money does not keep coming in from donors and that is what grabs the attention of ADs.

Is just making the tourney enough? It seems to me based on our talent making the tournament should be expected, not a big accomplishment. What if we make the tourney the next 5 years and over that time win just 2 tourney games? Is that enough. Yeah hypotheticals but I keep seeing making the tourney as some threshold to keeping Crean. That might be the bare minimum but I expect more. He did it before when he built the 12-13 team so I think he can, but the recruiting downturn has me concerned. Just making it this year, without some strong encouraging signs for the next few years would be disappointing.

Further, if we are all in on several guys and miss and then bring in lower rated guys then it is clear we are not getting our primary targets.

Based on this though is there ever a point when a fan can express their displeasure?

I think Coach has lost a lot of support over the last year. Some of it amongst us fans (I was a supporter last year at this point) and some amongst the trustees but more importantly some with the donors. Many if those who supported are not necessarily adamantly against him but we have jumped off the bandwagon and are considering things closely. I think the group who have jumped can be won back but it goes beyond a winning season this year. It starts with on court performance though. I thought prior to the Davis injury that we should end the year in the top 25 (20-25 range). I think it is very important that this team be playing very well by the end of the year (a lot of talented youth that will get better as they play). This is step 1. Without this we are coach shopping. Then comes the tournaments. We must not only make it into the tourney but play well there. What does that mean. The year we played UK and lost is a good comparison. We played well at the end of the year and represented well in the NCAA. We also should do well in the BT tourney. In both tourneys we really need to play above our seeding. Yep that is tough but things are sort of stacked against Coach and he needs to exceed in the tournaments to help knock those things down. Still it does not stop there. We need to see that we have very strong talent coming back and we need a balanced and talented group of high end kids to Commit. Not be high on Indiana but to commit. The future needs to be exciting not questionable. I think things are stacked against coach and there are possibly some trustees thinking a change is imminent. Because of that, I think the above list, though challenging, is where we need to find ourselves in April. I did not mention off court issues. Those obviously need to end as well.

This has been done in the past and the number of games suspended typically reveal what the punishment is for. I know folks looked at this last year with Hollowells suspension.

I agree. He may get another year or two but this QB situation is on him. Defense does look a little better. We can run well. The passing game is his specialty and even if you lose your starter you should be stronger here.

If all those other schools doing this why the focus on Indiana? Why is PTI talking about us? You can say well it is because the kids got caught. Well if you assume our guys got caught on their first offense then maybe you have a point. In the end we have had 6 guys arrested or failing drug tests that we know of. That is too many in 8 months.

That is fair. I think he was an above average MAC coach. There are a lot of ESPN experts that were fired coaches. Our own Lee Corso on the football side. I think they bring a perspective we cannot and they do warrant the expert title but you are right in that some assume expert means great coach.

I am not sure how he would do as HC but when you look at his records you really have to understand what your talking about. He took over a Bowling Green team that was terrible. Built them up and after the '02 year when they were 24-8 he took the West Virginia job. After a few days there he found out they were not interested in a clean program and he was able to head back to Bowling Green. Once back there his recruiting took a bit because everyone now assumed he would leave again. He managed a respectable 5 more years and had a team late that was expected to compete for the MAC again but his top player got injured. His time at IU should be one we are thankful for. He took no prisoners and dealt severely with trouble. I would not put him on my interview list for IU but I think your wrong if you think he cannot coach.

What would be the benefit of firing Crean now? Will discipline and behavior improve? Will the product be more attractive to the next coach? I think Crean has lost too many supporters to continue into next year but I worry the team will implode further if he is removed now. Let him run things for the year. Make the contacts with the potential candidates and take time with the change.

Basketball4IU made this point when they started posting. It was suggested that the inconsistent discipline for some who failed drug tests was a problem. Further they pointed to the walk ons leaving as an indicator that there was trouble on the team. Basketball4IU kind of came out of no where so it might have been hard to believe him but many simply dismissed him because some Of the initial posts focused on walk ons. There were many who discounted this simply because they were walk ons.

Crean better hope some kids and coaches from programs with strong talent in 15 and 16 like him a lot too because he may not be here for those 17 kids.

Which if true suggests that Glass is involved too.

Yeah not real sure how to feel. Nate getting hurt was unfortunate but he did not look great before that. None of the backups have looked ready. TC has been incredible to be leading the country with such an inept offense around him. I think the line from Hoosiers works well here. "I am trying real hard to believe you know what you're doing here".

No see posts above yours. More than an appearance thing.

Those are the facts. No doubt but it also happens to be another hit to the basketball program. These things have to stop. No I not judging this to really be a big alcohol event like HP. No I am not thinking we should even entertain getting rid of Holt or Davis. I do agree with Doyle though that the Indiana basketball program needs to stop being the recipient of bad mojo. Whether self inflicted or accidental, the frequency is hurting the program and Crean.

Some know but do not want to talk about it. Some who seemed to know suggested looking on Purdue's message board So if you want to know what some are suggesting look there. I have no idea myself but since there has been limited encouragement from IU for him like they did for Hep and the asst or strength coach who had the spinal injury then I suspect it is not a pleasant situation.