TrueHoosier62

Tom!! Welcome to B'town Banners!!  :yes:

You guys are rockin' the joint! Great replies. Carry on.

16. Joani Crean texts you, telling you to "shut your damn yapper about my husband!". Yup, you're gonna get Creaned.

LMAO! 

The only proviso I would add to your post is that assuming you included the team Crean inherited, which was either already on the way out the door, or did so after he arrived for reasons not related to Crean's questionable recruiting practices, those numbers would be a bit skewed. I'm not fan of what Crean does with recruiting, regardless of it being common practice elsewhere, but also wouldn't want his defection ratios misrepresented. Regardless of whether Stan Robinson's departure is directly attributable to "Creaning" or not, there's little doubt that Crean builds these things in to his approach to recruiting, and therefore, his "intent" is at best, suspect.

I'll throw in five bucks if Stan kidnaps Tom and hauls him somewhere east. I don't really care where or how far, but east. I can see it now. Stan is driving an old Buick with expired plates through the back roads of Connecticut, sometime around 2:00 in the morning. Stan nearly takes out a vagrant who had the misfortune of standing on a sidewalk at the wrong time, while Tom quietly sleeps. Being awakened from his slumber after the car bottoms out after coming off the curb, he turns to Stan and says, "Hey Stan, I've been thinking about you a lot since last weekend. A whole lot". To which a very nervous Stanford Robinson slams on the brakes, throws open the door, and "Creans" poor Tom, right in downtown Chester, population 5,342.

LMAO!  :lol:

To me, Damon Bailey was the epitome of a Hoosier. He was driven to excellence, and played with his IU heart on his sleeve. He had such a mad jump shot, and such a winning, can do attitude. It was just so infectious to his teammates.  It makes it all the more difficult to watch our current squad play, with only a fragment of the heart, desire, and commitment to excellence in all facets of the game, and to IU's legend, that Damon had. That is not living in the past, but it is realizing how much we've lost through the years, due to poor decisions and a loss of commitment to the basketball program at the Admin level. Seeming lost too, is a commitment at the high school level to properly coach and develop well rounded kids like Damon. Too many kids come out with god awful games, long on athleticism, and well short on fundamentals.

"Grades" are so passé, an encumbrance upon the learning process, and the last vestige of an archaic points based system of determining winners and losers in the school of life. I on the other hand, being enlightened and progressive, have decided to give awards, as awards infer a positive message.   First, a team award:   The "Christopher Reeves Award", given each year to the team that exhibits the highest level of immobility on defense.    *Honestly, could any team possibly be more deserving of this prestigious award than IU?   The "Indiana Cattleman's Association Award", presented to the coach or Athletic Director of a major University who demonstrates a professional level of competence in overcoming negative press with world class bullsh*t:   *This was actually one of the closest calls I've ever had the misfortune of being involved in, as Dick Vitale and Jim Boeheim were certainly worthy nominees. Still, if bullsh*t were a Country, Tom Crean would be China.   The "Emperor Nero" award, for displaying an absurdly high level of indifference to one's home burning to the ground. Recipient: Fred Glass.    *Fred couldn't be here this evening to receive his award, citing a previous commitment to Outback Steakhouse. Accepting for Fred, first runner up, IU President Michael McRobbie.   The "Abraham Van Helsing" award, for courage and mercy. Recipient: The Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team, who through their courage, unselfish nature and Christian charity, drove a stake through the heart of IU's undead like corpse.   The "Little Orphan Annie" award, given each year to the person or persons who're able to see the sunshine through the clouds, wins through the losses, and team development where there is none. Winner: Tom Izzo. As the award's name sake was also blind, we felt this was doubly poignant.   That completes our award ceremony for 2015. Thank you, and good night.

LMAO. :biggrin:

I see from ESPN's bracket analysis page that we have <1% chance of winning the whole thing this year. Thank God. For a moment there I thought all hope was lost.

I don't know what you guys are on about with SSQ. He loved me, and often professed a strong desire to bear one of my children. While admittedly, I was flattered, I explained to him that like most of Tom Crean's teams, there were too many parts missing from the equation for there to be any success. At this, he referred to me as a selfish bastard, and never spoke with me again. Ah well.

Thank God. At least there will be someone who can administer last rites on Friday.

Arguments like the one made in the diatribe by catsh*t, mean nothing at this point. Until Crean either gets the sack or takes a walk, he's the coach at IU. IF or when he leaves, it'll be for many reasons:   The AD finally came to his senses. The trustees, never in full possession of any sense, still know what diminishing cash flow means. The Alumni, seeing that Crean's continued employment at IU is senseless, began to throttle back donations The fans, rich in common sense, pointed out that mediocrity at IU is unacceptable.   None of this, by the way, denotes a classless fan base, including teenagers acting like teenagers at a high school basketball game. Classless is poisoning ancient oak trees on your closest rival's campus, like Alabama did to Auburn, or repeatedly throwing the players under the bus to cover up your own shortcomings on the court.

I read an interesting blurb about the coaching vacancy at Alabama today. Of specific interest was this excerpt:   "Alabama disagreed and parted ways with Grant on Sunday. Grant arrived at Alabama with high expectations after his tenure at VCU that saw the Rams upset Duke in the NCAA Tournament in 2007, but those results at the mid-major level didn't carry over to the SEC.   Grant went 117-85 in six seasons at Alabama, reaching the NCAA Tournament once in 2012. The Crimson Tide brought in highly touted prospects during Grant’s tenure but struggled to translate recruiting successes into wins due to off-court issues, transfers or injuries".   Sound familiar at all?

If this were true, then a bigger fool than us would have been Boston, and I don't think that organization makes many mistakes.

I don't know of anyone who actually "hates" Tom Crean. Indeed, I've not seen many people on this forum, even those who've been quite vocal in their displeasure with the product on the floor, who personally hate coach Crean.  This has become very much like that date that everyone has had at one time or another in their life, where you don't want them to go away made. You just want them to go away.

By "cement", do you think he means shoes? I'm all for it if he is. Hell, I'll even buy the "Quikcrete". It's usually on sale at Menards this time of year, during their "Basketball Improvement" sale.

Dream scenario for me:   Kentucky and Purdue players approach center court for the tip off. Both teams are tense as the referee strides to the circle, preparing for the jump ball. Willey Stein looks at AJ Hammons, and says, "How do you like your Nexus?", to which AJ replies, "Not half as much as I like your mother"? Stein commits three personal fouls and one technical for choking, within the game's first ten minutes; Purdue builds a 10 point lead by halftime.  In the second half, Calipari, sensing that the game and subsequent unbeaten season is slipping away, offers any of his players $1,000.00 to take Hammons out at the knees. It isn't until Calipari contacts each of their agents to assure them that he's "good for it", that they agree to take action. By this time however, Purdue has built an 18 point lead, and although Hammons is carted off the court, Purdue's subsequent five guard lineup is able to withstand Kentucky's late charge, hitting 10 straight free throws down the stretch to derail Kentucky's magical ride. The Wildcats return to the land of toothless women and inbred children. On the bus ride home, tired, dejected and frustrated, many players wonder aloud if they could have gotten more money had they gone to Syracuse.   Purdue, on the other hand, having lost AJ Hammons to a broken knee cap for the rest of the tournament, gets soundly thrashed in round three by a game Buffalo squad, 93-57. 

Doesn't matter if we're good enough now. We're in the dance................................so let's dance.

41, I'll offer up a different perspective.    The fact that Kentucky is undefeated, having played what most observers would say is a "soft" schedule, will do them no favors. Yes, they'll have a favorable path to the final four, but unless there's a helluva lot of Cinderella upsets, someone larger, and more complete than anything they've met to date, will await them once they get to the elite eight. And that assumes they get to the elite eight. Winning 34 consecutive games does involve a bit of luck, (even for the great teams), and sometimes lady luck shuts the door in your face when you least expect it.

Absolutely wonderful post, and classy introduction. Like many here, I've watched with great admiration, your WSU baskeball team over the past several years. Your program, under coach Marshall, exemplifies so many of the traits that our Hoosiers used to display in vast abundance, most notably, defense, intelligent play, and mental toughness. Nowadays, our main focus, (indeed our only focus), is hoping that the three point Gods shine favorably upon us for 40 minutes. If your team's play demands that we also be attentive, defensive minded, physical, mentally tough, patient, and tactically clever, you're asking too damned much!  Had you not been paired to play us, I'd have had no problem whatsoever rooting for the Shockers to take out Kansas and Kentucky. Best of luck to you, and may the team who makes the least number of errors, win.

Outside of Kentucky, everyone else seems perfectly beatable. I don't know what it is, but I've never witnessed so much putrid basketball in all my days. Even the supposedly good teams looks marginal. I say we're in, though it's hard to feel any pride in that statement.

Well, IU shot .292 last night against Maryland, continuing their overall decline in 3 point shoot percentage over the past month or so. To Maryland's credit, they played good perimeter defense, but our legs were so tired, (we weren't moving our feet on defense), and our shorts were too often hitting the front of the iron. Unless we shoot 40%, we just don't have much of a chance to win, as the other aspects of our game aren't developed well enough to compensate.

Alford had a pretty good day against Syracuse.....