Chips&Dipo

I have learned two things from the recent higher compensation from the G-league announcement: 1. A lot of NBA/CBB fans are younger than I am and can't remember a time when the best high school players went to the NBA and therefore the NCAA will be just fine, and 2. People are really underselling the value for an 17-18 year old to be coached by some of the best basketball minds in the country.

I think the staff is really trying to sell to Brooks that if he comes to IU, he will playing the 2 spot. Hence the lack of urgency on getting a guard. Brooks is going to LL because he wants to play a guard. He plays a guard in AAU. He wants to go pro. At his size, his best bet to make it is to convert to a guard. If I was IU (especially after seeing it in AAU), I would be fine not getting any guards and showing Brooks that he will come in and play the 2. We would have a senior Greene or a sophomore Phinese at the 1. Probably Smith at the 3. Hopefully TJD at the 4. And either a high level recruit or DD at the 5. This is all my very uneducated and outside opinion though.

Crean agreed to do that charity dinner for him last year. Not trashing the event or the charity. Just my opinion that those things are related.

I really like McBob, but if he isn't going to take open shots when they come to him and slow down the offense as a result, I would much rather have a player willing to take open shots. Not that I don't think McBob has a role on this team, but there were times when he would hold the ball and wait for someone to roll off a screen when there wasn't anybody within ten feet of him.

Just a discussion!

Haha, like I said, I doubt 17 year old basketball players care about that stuff that much. I also love Chicago and have lots of friends that live in the city which makes it cheaper to go to. We make frequent trips up there as well. Sometimes you want a mint julip and lose money on horses! I would also recommend driving outside the city and checking out the bourbon trail.

I travel quite a bit, both in the US and international, though I haven't been to the PNW or Texas yet. I live in Indianapolis so Louisville is a nice quick weekend trip for us. The bourbon and horse racing culture can't be replicated else where and the food and art scene is a blend midwest and the south which I don't think you could get in the PNW, Texas, or the other traditional trendy cities (they have their own thing going). Plus musical acts like My Morning Jacket, Sturgil Simpson, Chris Stapleton and others have really put Louisville on the map. I have also been on the record as saying I believe that all places offer lots of different things to do.

Louisville is a very cool city. It has a great music and art culture, history and tradition that has been adapted to the modern times, and a pretty good food scene. My friends and I love going there. I am also 27 and into that type of stuff, but my general understanding with talking to strangers and reading articles is that Louisville is pretty cool for certain demographics. That being said, I doubt any of that stuff will will convince a 17 year old to go to a program.

With out knowing too much, I really think this is the best decision. Ramsey seemed so talented last year and playing him now sets us up for the future.

My only concern this year is at the PG. We have seen IU teams with good pieces that failed due to poor PG play.

I think IU has also been very unlucky though too. You say they got lucky with Hep, and we know how that tragically ended (I don't mean to seem to make light of that situation. Somethings are more important than football and obviously what happened to Coach Hep was terrible. Just saying it towards your point). It seems like every year something terrible happens: competent quarterbacks getting hurt, potential big wins getting lost in overtime by stupid lucky plays or bad calls, losing bowl games by (not) field goals, even Coach Wilson's situation seemed unlucky. And I know that other big time programs can recover from those types of things, but when you are a (below) average program trying to build momentum, those types of things can completely derail you and then kids graduate and you have to start all over again. I am a huge IUFB fan and I can't imagine being one of those reversible jacket people that love ND football (went to college with a lot of them), but IUFB is also by far the most difficult teams I root for. The highs would be considered mediocre by most standards and often times are that we lost to a good team by a little. The lows are EXTREMELY low though. All that being sad, I am eternally optimistic and expect good things from the program this year. Hopefully we gain get through the season without one of the extremely low lows and build some momentum. Go Hoosiers!

I think "if not the second best school" is a saving face comment. I mean, if he goes to Purdue, he probably doesn't want that type of quote hanging over his head. Got to be political!

About Indiana, "The best, if not the second-best school, in the state extending the offer to me, it means a lot."

It depends largely on what tv station it is and the other games going on that night.

New press box? Offices? Suites?

As some one who has lived in a small-rural town, a college town, and now a city, all have their own dangers and require people to use common sense and awareness to not put yourself in dangerous situations (which I realize for some people it is difficult to escape dangerous environments due to life circumstances). People that think one place is more dangerous than another by nature either a) don't get out much or b) have some bad experience in their life. Both are understandable, but we need to stop with the whole boogeymen mentality of inner cities and realize that there are a lot of good people everywhere and they live in all different places (albeit some bad but there are bad people everywhere too). Gun violence is never funny but the only people I have ever known to be victims of gun violence were from my hometown in rural southern Indiana, not my current home in Indianapolis. College towns can be really dangerous too (especially for women). I also believe everywhere has something special to offer. Every city or town is a home to someone and has its own culture, traditions, and experiences to share and enjoy. It would be cool if Matthew Hurt went to IU, but I am not overly confident. Guy has Duke written all over him.

DeRon's interaction with Scott Rolen was very funny. "You played for the St. Louis Cards? My dad played for the L.A. Rams for a minute." - DeRon "Dude, the St. Louis Cards are baseball man." - Juwan

And more recently, pedophile and sandwich pusher Jared Fogle.

Regardless of where RL decides to go, this guy will still be an @$$.

Drew is a good coach and Vandy is a fantastic school. They have had good teams before. Fans of all teams have this bad habit assuming that every time a player goes somewhere else other than their school, then that school must obviously be cheating. Kids go to a college for a ton of different reasons. Just be happy CAM jumped in late in the game and got this far with a high recruit. Wish the player the best of luck and a fruitful basketball career moving forward and then move on. It is entertainment for us, it is a life decision for them. EDIT: I don't know whether DG is going to go to Vandy or not.

Is this week the Kansas equivalent to Hoosier Hysteria? Or is it just a normal college OV?

I agree. The reality is that all the athletic facilities on campus were neglected for decades and now the administration is trying to play catch up. Hopefully that Ken Nunn money keeps pouring in