TrueHoosier62

I've given up making any blunt albeit honest observations about either Crean or the team in general. It usually elicits too many arguments, and I'm the one that ends up hearing about it. It's much easier to sit here quietly, and watch things unfold. They are what they are.

Flying back from England last week, I watched a movie called, "This is where I leave you". Not something currently out at theaters of course, but the first time I'd seen it. I thought it was pretty funny, especially Tina Fey's character. The whole cast really created put a great deal of fun in to the word dysfunction.

Looks like a good kid and would be a good get for us.

I humbly submit that I was wrong about this team. I still think we lack an interior game, make too many dumb mistakes and  are fundamentally weak, but 14-4 is what it is. I know virtually nothing about Maryland other than they're 17-2, and well ranked.   IU: 67 Maryland: 69

I think the topic of this thread would have better been stated as "IU versus MSU Postmortem".  We had all the vitality of funeral home.

I have to agree, that was a brutal comparison.

I hope Tevin has a great career in the NFL, but I'm concerned about his durability.

Astute observations, though I disagree with the idea that HMP's offense isn't necessary. While we're proving we can hit threes, we're also proving we have nothing on the interior, (neither scoring nor defense), and that will get exploited on a much grander scale once we start playing, you know, quality basketball teams.

No, I called him that for being highly condescending and disrespectful in his reply to my post. Though his reply was more subtle, it was still very clear what he meant, and in that respect, it was no less vitriolic than mine. I'm sorry that I replied in such an inflammatory manner, but I'm not sorry for having brought to his attention his equal lack of respect for another person's opinion. Too many people here get away with the dismissive and disrespectful replies simply because they're subtle about it, but that is why threads like this one, or "Should Crean be fired" get out of hand in the first place. I come here to discuss IU basketball, not to debate my competence or diligence in researching my opinion.

JayBob, Remember too that just because some of us post a negative appraisal of the team, or the coach, or the state of affairs, it shouldn't become a source for personal attacks/rebuttals. I've been encouraging when things are worthy of it, and negative, when things have warranted it. My posts, no doubt, cause consternation amongst some of the other, more rose colored glasses wearing members of the forum, but they're no less valid, and therefore should be no more open for personal attacks than theirs. In short, if we're going to warn posters like myself against making inflammatory remarks, there needs to be a likewise attention paid to the more subtle digs at posters who don't share the sky is always blue mentality. They may not be as easy to target as mine, but they're every bit as dismissive and disrespectful. Thanks, Truehoosier62   P.S. Would have sent this privately, but apparently, that is not a possibility, (at least, according to the site).

In order to believe anything, there has to be a reason to do so. Do you really believe that next year's team will be better, will be able to challenge for a Big Ten championship or I dare say, a National Championship? Do you believe it or do you only hope so? Most of us older IU fans have seen first hand what championship teams look like, what they play like, how they're coached, how they respond to adversity, how they develop teamwork and cohesion over the course of a season, how they develop toughness and character, and how they eventually turn it on come tournament time. I don't know of too many of those older fans who can look at the current make up of the program and say with any degree of honesty, "Yup, this is a championship team in the making".

That's because Glass enjoys the circus.

Win or lose this year, Crean isn't going anywhere; Glass' undying devotion made that apparent. The question is not whether or not I'm rooting for IU to fail in order for Crean to be tossed, (that won't happen anyway). The question is, will this program be any better a year from now, or two years from now, given what Crean has assembled to date. I don't see how anyone can honestly believe it will be.

I'd have been more inclined, had I seen anything important enough to warrant typing a proper response. Mostly, your dismissive , bio laden but otherwise desolate post warranted little more than what you received.

And you should quit sounding like a sniveling little sh.t. I've watched more IU basketball and Big Ten basketball games than you've even dreamed about. While you were filling your Pampers with the tripe you bestow here, the rest of us were watching McCracken, and Knight teach the game of basketball. Like too many Crean apologists, you think the rest of us should just turn a blind eye to the mess that he's created and assume all will be well in the end. I've watched too many basketball teams, for too many years to be willing to buy in to the slop you're dropping. Stop embarrassing yourself.

Reasonable evidence is present in both recent and past histories. The Big Ten has always been a big man's league, not given to suffering fools and little guards, easily, and it's been that way for decades. Small ball doesn't play well here, at least not in the long haul. Traditionally large, muscular teams such as Michigan State will eat us alive in the post, without having to sacrifice perimeter defense. This irony of this of course is that the team we've become is exactly like the teams we used to host back in the seventies and eighties. Small, guard oriented, turnover prone teams with a few sharp shooters, and no post play to speak of. With very few exceptions, we ate them for lunch. They'd go on to have their 20 wins, usually in a mid major conference, then get destroyed in the tournament. Now here we sit, with a small, guard oriented, turnover prone team, with a few sharp shooters.

Frankly I couldn't care less. If you are truly offended by what I wrote, (and for people who make that statement, it almost always means they weren't), then you very likely could be just as offended by the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, reasoning that "Goldi" had no right to invite herself in to the home a protected species, consuming what may very well have been the last of their already diminishing food stuffs, and finally relegating at least one of them to sleep on the floor, (whilst no doubt, she lounged on someone's Serta Sleeper). If you feel there are "better ways to express our non-conference schedule", then you should do so rather than feigning righteous indignation at another person's approach.

Anyone can look competent at basketball when the competition is as weak as Stephen Hawking, (the physicist, not a potential opponent that Fred Glass is trying to line of for future scheduling). Given our robust schedule, with the first nine games at home, against the likes of basketball juggernauts "Grand Canyon" and "Eastern Washington", we could be 9-0, looking every bit like a baby UK team, and we'll still get our asses handed to us by Louisville. Further, if we can somehow manage 6 wins in the Big Ten, we'll be just damned lucky. That gives us 15 wins for the season, and that's assuming we beat everyone, save Louisville, in our pre-Big Ten schedule. No doubt, we'll either spring a surprise or come close to it, and "Clappy the Clown" will act as if we're just a turnover or two away from being in competition for the championship. Certain fans will continue to support Clappy, because he's always so optimistic, and "brought us back from the abyss". And Fred Glass will continue to offer his undying support, and claim that Clappy isn't the problem at IU, the players are. And 15-20 wins a year will become our new target, our new measuring stick for success at IU.

If Marquette had competed in the Big Ten at the time Crean was coach, I'd be more inclined to think small ball had a chance against the likes of Ohio State, Michigan State. Unfortunately, I don't think it has a snow ball's chance in hell.

The same people who hated Knight, hate Dakich, and for much the same reason. Both were/are known to tell you like they see it, not how you perceive it. What Dakich did or didn't do in his time here as a player is irrelevant. It doesn't disqualify him from holding and stating his opinion, nor does it make his opinion any less valid. Even if Dakich is found to be hypocritical, it doesn't make his observations any less accurate. Crean's new found backbone with his players, (assuming for the moment he actually has developed one), still won't make him a great or even good coach. His teams will still lack cohesiveness, direction, execution and consistent drive. A back bone won't develop post players, make in game adjustments, or win a championship.  The only thing that may come out of his bullshitting is a delay in the inevitable.

What a crazy world it has become. I'd have thought the above sentiment was cut and pasted right out of a Kentucky basketball forum. No way I'd have thought something like this would eventually show up here, or in Bloomington. The basketball gods must still be pissed at us for having fired Bob Knight. Truth be known, we probably deserve it.

We didn't need to wait to see the video of Ray Rice actually knocking out his wife's to draw the obvious conclusion that this is what happened when he pulled her unconscious from the elevator. Crean lost control and it was evidenced by the product on the floor and the byproduct in the community. It was evidenced by kids being busted for drugs or alcohol, unexplained defections by certain types of kids, lost recruits, lost coaches, uninspired play. That's more than just saying that Crean is a lousy coach. It's saying to the apologists that a major implosion was coming. 

Sorry, but if you're looking for specific predictions, you should consult Miss Cleo. We didn't say Crean would be fired on a specific day, or that he'd be coaching a bunch of miscreant drunks. We just said he was a lousy, no talent piece of blowfish sh!t that couldn't coach a girl's checker tournament, that's all.

Preach it brother....

I disagree. To those of us who've not been blinded by Crean's glad handing, back slapping, rah rah, go get em' boys approach to coaching, (aka. the Crean apologists), we've been saying this day was coming for some time. He has never been anything more than a snake oil salesman, content to bullsh!t his way through his tenure at IU, and now it has caught up with him, the team and the university. That anyone would actually think these things were NOT going on, given the complete lack of discipline, focus and excellence on the court, the curious defections, the previous rumors and police reports, is the bigger shocker.