TrueHoosier62

  I'm sorry to hear that your wife is not well. Prayers your way.

Wish I could be there, but living in Minnesota makes it a bit of a drive. One day though....

Natty, Don't forget the Pro side of things too! Season begins one week from today!

Glad to see everyone coming on board with Nick's pickem' game. It's always more fun with lots of people.  Keep in coming!

Thanks Nick, I've signed up again and my picks are in!     I encourage everyone here to participate. It's a great deal of fun to play throughout the season against your friends here at Btown Banners!

Hey guys,   For the last two or three years, I've been part of a Yahoo College Football Pickem' contest, started by somebody who was or may still be on this board. I hadn't yet received the weekly distribution notification to start this year's season, so I'm wondering if that person is no longer running if, and/or if someone else might be?  Anyone here know anything about it?     Thank you for your help. TrueHoosier62

I'm not convinced that Knight would have retired by now, had Brand, (the traitorous bastard) left him the hell alone, so the point of whether Pat Knight would have replaced him is moot. In my opinion, there's no way that Crean would ever have been hired by Knight. No way, no how. Crean is too superficial, too greasy and two milk and cookies for Knight, so he'd have never even been considered. A former player under Knight most likely would have been considered and I suspect Alford would have been that player. There's no doubt in my mind that under Knight's direction, the 2002 team would have won it all. He'd have more than compensated for any physical shortcomings we had against Maryland by whipping the ever loving dog shiat out of Gary Williams' coaching.  I know there are a LOT of CTC fans here, but as far as I'm concerned, we'll never get back to championship basketball as long as he's the coach. We'll always vacillate between very good and underachieving. Frankly, if I were the AD, I'd fired CTC tomorrow, then ask coach Knight what it would take for him to return to coaching. Money would not be an issue. After re-establishing our program as it should be, an orderly transfer of regimes, with Knight also directing that, could be set in motion. Just my thoughts. 

I realize that when one takes a "personal" leave of absence, it's "personal" for a reason. Still, just thinking aloud, (mainly because I'm bored), I wonder if this is medical, psychological, (depression), or relational, (issues with coaches, girlfriends, family, etc).

I don't know if I'd classify this year as a "put up or shut up" year for IU football. The team is still developing, particularly on defense and the schedule isn't very favorable. I'd say next year, it's more likely we ought to see some serious improvement. Perhaps with a few good breaks we can reach bowl eligibility this season.

I  think Nate will do just that, leading us to our first bowl game in years!

This is the kind of shiat I like to hear. Recruit a bunch, winnow out those who aren't going to do what you thought they might, and bring in some more. Eventually, if you keep your standard high enough the product WILL get better. Glad to hear Wilson taking the right approach.

I remember when Knight was here, players had a role, and when they stepped out of their assigned role, they quickly found themselves on the bench. That wasn't just a Knight trait, but a fairly common practice among coaches that demanded discipline of their players and equally demanded that the good of the team was worth more than anything they brought individually.   We had a player named Jason Collier back in the, (I think) late 90's who was around 7'. All he wanted to do was chuck it from the three point line. He was typical of some players coming out in those days; guys who were built to play center, but wanted to be a guard. Knight was having none of it, and chewed his ass off frequently. Eventually, I think the kid transferred to North Carolina and may or may not have made it to the NBA.    In my own opinion, Zeller was similar in that he was tall enough to play center, but wanted to be a forward, (I never considered him a "tough" nosed center). Ditto for Vonleh. Great talent, great athlete, but not nearly tough enough under the basket. Crean simply doesn't demand from his Centers, a level of toughness and commitment to that role; he's too afraid of pissing them off.

To be fair, IU has never produced centers of note that went on to great careers in the NBA. In fact, I can only think of one, (Benson) and that was over forty years ago, (and he could hardly be classified as a star); everything else has been guards or forwards. Neither Crean's system, nor his coaching are conducive to developing Centers; recruits see this first hand, and hear it repeatedly from rival recruiters. As I said earlier, until Crean lands an average player and truly develops them in to an NBA caliber Center, he'll struggle to get anyone to even visit, must less commit.   Vonleh not getting the ball on a consistent basis was all on Crean. There simply was no excuse for it. If it was Ferrell's job to do so and he didn't, then Crean should have sat him on the bench until the tiny receptors in his ass told the grey matter in his head to "get me the hell off here, get back in the game, and follow the damned plan"!

Just my opinion, but the reason we aren't able to convince centers to come to IU is because our coaches and our system don't develop them in to NBA caliber players. You can make an argument that both Zeller and Vonleh could have gone to virtually any college in America and had the type of collegiate career they had at IU. Similarly you can make an argument that their games were nearly NBA ready coming out of high school, essentially making their decision to attend college at all, a concession to the need for physical development  more than anything of substance they'd receive under Crean and Co. Until Crean shows that he can develop a true center out of a virtual unknown, the way he supposedly has done with guards, we won't be seeing too many five or even four star centers beating a path to Bloomington.

We'll get the respect, preferred TV's slots, attention, when we've earned it. So far, we're a fun offense to watch and little else. When we start to win games on a consistent basis, against the upper echelon teams in the BIG, then we'll get all the attention we desire. As far as I'm concerned, if being dissed by the powers that be instills a "we'll show em' " attitude in the team, I'm all for it.

Granted, some of these are "old", but they're still good:   A. Welcome to the Jungle-Guns and Roses B. Thunderstruck-AC/DC C. TNT-AC/DC D. Enter the Sandman-Metallica

E.) None of the above

From a coaching standpoint and considering the direction our respective programs are headed, it's his loss, not ours. Onward and upward.

LOL, When I first saw the thread title, my first reaction was, "Like I give a shiat"... I think you're right. Given the proximity between Illinois and Indiana, and Indiana's recent ascension on offense, it's entirely possible to nick a lineman or two from their previously committed, or yet to commit recruits. I've got to believe Wilson is already on top of this. He strikes me as someone who doesn't miss too many opportunities.

3-4 years would seem to be logical at most schools, but I'm not sure it applies here. We went and got a great offensive mind in Wilson, and understandably he responded by focusing mainly on that aspect of the program. Consequently, I believe we may now have one of the best, if not THE best offense in the league, (and possibly one of the better ones in the nation). Our flashy offense is just now, after four years, beginning to pay nice dividends in terms of recruiting, and in my opinion it won't be just that side of the ball that sees the benefit. Last year's defensive class certainly has the potential to become good, perhaps very good, but I'd wager the best is still yet to come. I'd say give this team two more years, totaling six for Wilson, and we should begin seeing our Hoosiers beating a steady path to bowl games.

The bottom line, as far as I'm concerned, is that we're recruiting better than we ever have, have better facilities, have better coaches and a growing fan base. In time, these factors will converge to either push us past the OSU's and Michigans of the BIG, or at least make the gap so narrow as to be a negligible factor. Rankings are so subjective anyway, and I like the team that coach Wilson is building. 

The kid sure does look like his dad, but doesn't look like he's 6'-2". I hope he has a cannon for an arm.

Welcome Titus! We look forward to cheering your efforts in the Cream and Crimson!

I can appreciate what you're saying, but too often the issues you mention as having been thrown at him were in fact conditions that his approach to coaching and recruiting helped to foster. Coaches everywhere have malcontents, inconsistent play from Freshmen, defections, etc, etc; so why should Crean be given a pass or an excuse for his inability to handle it? His two "amazing" years were only amazing in light of our recent history of utter failure. Would we have been just as excited about a trip to the sweet 16 in 1975, 1976, or 1980? Even in 1987, when we weren't expected to win it all, we would have been surprised and disappointed to have lost in the sweet 16. Nice that we got there? Yes. Amazing? No.  To paraphrase the Peter Principle of business: "Tom Crean has reached the level of his own incompetence".

You're probably correct, though even during some of his lean years, when talent wasn't there, his teams still played good ball and his coaching alone was worth 7-8 wins, perhaps more.