HoosierTrav

Each year it gets worse. Indiana fans have been divided into two groups, it seems. Those who refuse to lower the bar and those who are increasingly building their tolerance for mediocrity (or worse). I consider myself in the former category. Mediocrity would be much easier to swallow if the coach was making a mediocre salary. Some say we aren't being fair but that is ridiculous. When you are in the top 7-8 paid coaches in the country, you HAVE to perform to the level of your paygrade. Its not about fairness. I'd say that its extremely unfair for us to have to pay this type of money out when we are getting the results we've been getting. It's highway robbery. I'll NEVER feel sorry for a man taking heat when he's grossly under-performing and making roughly 3.5 million a year. Bringing up things like his character and trying to back you into a corner with the emotion of the rebuild does nothing for me. Its a business operation. You have to completely remove emotion when making business decisions, or you're vulnerable to make very costly mistakes. Mistakes that cost you to the tune of $12 Million + the possible buyout money of the coach that the fan base is demanding. CRAZINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No offense but I think you're being paranoid. You're assuming wrongdoing when its more than likely that there's none. Barnes has been Biggies guardian long before anyone, let alone scouting services, thought he'd be where he is today. We'd be CRAZY to back off this kid. Let me ask you this: If he's such a big risk, why hasn't Izzo backed off? Why is Coach K turning up the heat? Two programs that are as clean as a whistle. I for one dont like seeing these kids get away. I especially hate when our own fan base makes the most ridiculous assumptions of wrongdoing. If there was the slightest chance of foul play, Coach K and Izzo would move on. Especially Duke! They have other options. Cant say the same about us. We NEED this kid.

Yeah, I've never had the pleasure of meeting him. I dont want to speak on his character, as i've never met him. I just hate the way they moderate the comments section. Nothing personal. My reference to the "ass kissing" was more of a slam against the people who are so obviously sucking up to him at times. Its like that guy in the meeting who excessively sucks up to the boss. Its annoying for everyone involved. Thats all. I'm sure Alex is a great guy. Never heard otherwise. I really like his fathers work as well. Excellent sports journalist.

As soon as I seen that Illinois was a dog to michigan, I placed my bet on Illinois. Book it. Illinois by 5+ in Ann Arbor.

I refuse to believe that Izzo wanted the IU job. Not because it never happened, but because I don't want to fathom living in a world where it could be true. Could you imagine Izzo at Indiana University?!?!  I just cant anymore.........

Yes. I was punished by ITH for apparently attacking some other posters. I dont recall it being that way. I was upset after the Eastern Washington loss and bashed Crean. Then a flood of posters started attacking my character, I obliged, and POOF! I ended up on, what I feel is a far superior IU basketball site. I did learn to mince my words from that whole exchange though. I wish I would have found this site MUCH EARLIER. ITH does a great job but I hate feeling like a pariah every time i feel like voicing an opinion that doesn't line up with theirs. That and the surplus of ass kissing that goes on between the fans and the sites founder was nauseating to me. ANywho....... I really do love this site. I've been passing it along to many of my friends.

As far as recruiting goes: NOBODY outside of Calipari has been better than Miller at Arizona. That dude flat out gets it done in recruiting. I think he will win big eventually too. Bennett is also grossly outperforming Crean as of late. Looks like he's on his way to back to back 1 seeds in the tournament. Thats impressive. Only a matter of time before he starts luring that Virginia talent to stay home.

  I'm not sure why I keep using Michigan Football as a reference. Maybe it's bc I see so many parallels between us both. Tom Crean is our Rich Rodriguez. Good but not good enough. I've been told that Mark Few was a top choice but that he declined interest due to the pressures of our fans. That's just something I've heard. I also remember Lon Kruger and Jay Wright being mentioned as possible replacements. When Tom Crean was announced I was surprised. I didnt hear his name a lot. I remember immediately researching his stats at Marquette and viewing Marquette fan sites. I felt sick afterwards. The stats and records never stood out as someone deserving of this job. The worst part was that the Marquette fans seemed relieved that he was gone and were eagerly looking forward to finding out who the next coach would be. If you go back and look at the Marquette fans criticisms of Crean, you'll find that they are IDENTICAL criticisms that IU fans have.  Man I really wish that Glass would have held off on the extension.  

This is something that you coul very easily do for yourself if you obtain a subscription to KenPom.com. I know you mentioned that motivation was low, but its fairly simple on your part. He provides all of the numbers and you can almost guarantee that you are giving yourself a very accurate representation of your teams odds against said opponent.

If he's worth his salt he does. The company I work for always does this to make sure that they aren't losing valuable pieces due to something we may have done or not done to keep them. Most of the time a better offer came up and there wasn't any hard feelings. The other times, we were able to fix the issue and keep the person on board.

I'm worried about the game at Nebraska. This is our first true road game in a hostile environment. The Georgetown game couldn't have been scheduled at a better time. Lets hope that we get something out of that game other than a bruised ego.

These kids are all high on IU but they are higher on UK. Paul Scruggs has went on record saying his favorite team is UK.

Kiss ANY shot at Thon Maker goodbye. This is what he liked most about the Kansas program was their strength and conditioning. They have now poached away our best shot at landing him. Who would have guessed that our program would have fallen this far this fast. We cant keep assistants and strength coaches. We are becoming a stepping stone program. Disappointing.

ANY man brave enough to feather his salad deserves significant harwood time. Something has to be beautiful on a court full of ugly.

I dont think you're crazy I just think you are too optimistic. Holt and Perea have the potential to be very good players but they are completely outmatched (no fault of their own) by true big men. Make no mistake about, IU needs size down low to make us a contender for any type of championship.

 I think you forgot the additional quotation marks on each side of big man.

 I respectfully disagree. First, most big guys are slower than the bunch. There's a reason bigs like Cody were revered for their speed and quickness. Not a lot of them. Secondly, You dont build game experience in practice. No matter how hard coaches have tried, no coach in the history of sport or coaching has successfully simulated the pressure  of when the lights come on in a practice. Hasn't been done. They do their best to blast boomboxes to simulate crowd noise and extend broomsticks to simulate length but its NEVER the same, or even close. Practice is used for creating habits and preparing a gameplan. Some guys are horrific practice players but are different guys on gameday. Granted, I prefer a player who takes practice seriously. I'm of the contingent who believes confidence is built during games. Only room for 5 guys on the court at one time though.

 Honestly, I wouldnt look too deep into this one for the sole reason that April has been plagued with small, nagging injuries since his arrival. I will agree that from the little time we've seen him, he displayed some good footwork and skill. If he's not truly being held out for health reasons than I do have a major issue with it. You only gain confidence by getting actual game experience.

Congrats Tevin! You were very fun to watch. Sorry we didnt put you in position to play in a bowl game in your career.

Indiana is finding itself in a very similar situation to that of Michigan Football. The next hire HAS to be a "homerun" hire, and a hire that the fan base dictates who it will be. For many Hoosier fans (including myself), Stevens is that "Homerun", for many reasons. The most important reason, to me, is the fact that he fully understands the IU culture, and his Butler teams resembled old IU more so than any team since the Knight days. This has been backed up by former players. A very small faction of IU supporters argue that there are no guarantees that Stevens wins at IU. This is a fair question, considering it cant be proven as fact until it happens. All we can do is try our best to make an educated guess. There are a few important factors that I look at when forming an opinion or guess at the level of success that Stevens would have at Indiana.   1.) Does he have a history of winning? Yes. A .772 win percentage in 6 seasons. 5 of which he made the NCA tournament. 2 of which he was consecutive National Runner Up.   2.) Can he evaluate, recruit, and develop elite pro talent? Yes. Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack. One of which is looking like an NBA all star.  Considering the resources he had at Butler, in comparison to what he'd have at a basketball blueblood like Indiana, I think its more than fair to assume he'd take it up a notch at Indiana. Given the fact that most blue chip talent is most concerned with being set up to go to the NBA, it only helps his case after being the Boston Celtics Head Coach. It says a lot that the NBA's most successful franchise chose him over many of todays elite CBB coaches.   3. Can he promote IU's brand in a positive light nationally? This is important IMO. You look at coaches Like Coach K, Boeheim, Williams, Self, Pitino, Calipari, and realize that ESPN and the national media all love thee guys. Stevens had become a media darling and more importantly a darling amongst his peers. This goes a LONG way for a young coaches credibility with players.   4.) MOST IMPORTANTLY: Does he put his teams in position to win games? He's been regarded as one of,  if not the best coaches in america at preparing his teams. Some of his colleagues have gone as far as calling him a genius, and a future HOF'er. I'll take their word over any skeptical fan's.   I will agree that it's unfair to Crean and the players to discuss at this point. We dont know for certain whether this team is an NCAA team or not yet, but could play a major role in distracting this young team from focusing. Our large and boisterous fan base harms us in many cases, believe it or not.  

      The Boston Globe wrote an article back in 2013 when Brad was making his return to Indianapolis. I remember reading it and thinking that him being our coach in a few years is a very real possibility. He loved Indiana Basketball growing up and idolized RMK.   http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/12/22/celtics-coach-brad-stevens-stock-rise-returns-indiana-for-first-time/5hFqlk8YFNPajWKZalHGcL/story.html         

Honestly I think you will see more 3 guard sets and 2 forwards. IF we land Lee, I see the Lineup looking like this:   PG: Yogi SG: James Blackmon combo: Stan/RJ SF: Troy Williams PF: Anthony Lee   I think we will see more of Stan in that combo guard role bc he will have the length and ability to guard any guard and most SF's

 I dont want anyone to confuse me for being a Crean supporter, bc I'm not. Never have been and I never will be. I do respect him as a man though, and will gladly wish him a happy birthday.

I really want this kid. Can't let Indiana kids of this level get away. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Looks as though Brian Snow and Evan Daniels has also switched their picks to Indiana. Either this is great news or some sick, sadistic trick towards all of HoosierNation. If Blackmon chooses IU, many, including myself, owe the kid an apology...... And a big thanks. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners