TrueHoosier62

Jesus, this is nuts. I wrote a scathing opinion, based on the topic, and got villified for daring to call it as I see it. Do i sometimes see things as "black and white"? Sometimes, I sure as hell do. So pull up your big boy pants and get over it. The responses to my original post were far more demeaning, smarmy, and belittling, (not that I care one iota, but as a matter of observation), than anything that I wrote. I might also point out that I was providing my opinon on CTC, not on any one person on this forum as the rebuttals clearly were aimed solely at me. Disagree with me all you want, but don't question my motives or intentions or accuse me of being a troll simply because my arguments piss you off. Save that word for the people who you know for a fact are only here trolling, not for those who've been here for a number of years and you just don't like what they have to say. Additionally, If we're going to allow people to speak their minds here, (and I believe that you do encourage that), then the replies have to be disagreements in principle, not avenues to denegrate or dismiss dissentors. Otherwise, you can hardly expect things to not escalate in a hurry, be it this thread or any other.

Amen Frodaddy10. Preach it.

Did I really say I hated Crean? I don't recall saying that. I might have said he wasn't a good coach, or that he's not capably of winning a Championship, but you're the youngster here, so perhaps your memory is better than mine. Thirty years ago or 10 years ago, it doesn't matter. Time can't erase the greatness achieved by former teams and coaches, and which current teams and coaches will be measured. Surely you're old enough to understand that concept, yes? Troll? Nope, not even close. I'm just not they type of person who can look at the mess that's running up and down the court these days and make excuses for it, or pretent its some burgeoning championship calibur team. You don't like absolutes? Ok. I apologize. We have the same chances then, of winning a championship, as does Nebraska. Better? Relax, take a deep breath, have another beer. Enjoy the evening. We're only expressing opinions here, not debating world affairs.

Let's get something straight. I was a part of Hoosier Nation, then migrated like others to that mistake of a site "who's name must not be spoken", then back here to B'Town Banners, after it got up and running again. I know perfectly well, the type of people who are here, and they're the same people who were saying the same things years ago. They just want to get along and sing kumbayah, and think lovely thoughts of basketballs being dribbled though flowered meadows in March whilst someone sings "We shall Overcome" on a flute. That's fine, I suppose, if we were talking about Champaign, or West Lafayette. Not Bloomington.   "We understand his limitations as an ingame coach"? Really? This is your sum total assessment/critique of the coaching capabilities for CTC? I'm not a Crean hater, but I am old enough to remember what actual greatness resembles, and he ain't it. Coach Knight was. His teams were. If I'm in the minority, so be it. But he has the titles to show it. Crean doesn't.....and won't. That is one thing that has become patently obvious by now. If that upsets the milk and cookies crowd, sorry.

Bob Knight, please come back. They know not, what they are doing.  

Our team has a better chance of having their way with a busload full of nuns than they do of making the tournament.

No, that dude doesn't hate Indiana. That "dude" simply refuses to drink the Koolaid. Those who want to pooh pooh criticisms of the team, and pretend all is just fine, are the same kind of fans that one can find in wonderful abundance in West Lafayette.

I know, I feel the same way.

I couldn't care less what anyone thinks. If the product on the court is lousy, or the coaching decisions, in my opinion, are lousy, I'm going to boo, be it at Assembly Hall or Mackey Arena. That doesn't make it classless, or tasteless. It doesn't make me less of a supporter of the team. In fact, it probably makes me more of one, as I care enough about the product and the school to call a spade a spade. I've watched enough of Crean's teams now, to know he doesn't have what it takes to win a National Championship. Even last year's team, while everyone was saying we were going to win it all, wasn't good enough. Crean is 25% coach, 25% snake oil salesman, and 50 % cheerleader. People will, and are beginning to get tired of his "rah, rah, rah" approach to coaching, which isn't really coaching at all; It's hype, and very little else. Recruiting is going to become more difficult, not as a result of what a recruit may or may not hear from the stands at Assembly Hall on any given game day, (you really think they haven't heard booing before?), but because they no longer believe Crean is THE coach capable of taking their game to the next level. To a recruit, the voice of the cheerleader in charge is beginning to fade and they're beginning to look at the product on the floor; just like the rest of us. Neither party likes what they see.  They're slow of foot, and slower of mind. They haven't got a clue how to set a pick, or screen, and seldom even try, (This point alone makes me wonder how in the hell Crean became a coach). They have athletes, but not great basketball players. They move around the court, but they move without any direction or purpose or plan. When time is running down on the shot clock, they settle firmly in to street ball, and hope that their athleticism bails them out, which more often than not, doesn't. In short, they're a shinier, newer version of what we saw in the 70's and 80's under Lou Henson at Illinois.

I'd say this makes perfectly good sense, despite my earlier statement about the hiring. 

  Wilson had the opportunity to hire a top flight, up and coming DC. He didn't, or we'd have heard of him before. Hell, for that matter, someone outside of Wake Forest and Air Force would have heard of him. Have you heard any buzz about the guy, any SI writers singing his praises, anybody else in the Big Ten wishing they could only land such a stud DC for their team? Have you seen anyone at any of the recruiting sites say that his player and that player was leaning towards whatever school had Brian Knorr as it's DC? No? I didn't think so either. Only those persons who continue to live in and willingly accept the "we can't expect to land a great coach at IU" mentality, will think this is a good and acceptable hire. Merely "acceptable", (in addition to his father having been a previous head coach at IU), is what got us Mallory. If the new guy takes us from 127th place in the defensive rankings, to 110th, or even 90th that would be an improvement, but it would hardly justify the hire, as we'd still suck on that side of the ball, more than 75% of the teams in the Country.

  You know nothing then, about the "climb the ladder" mentality of anyone in business, and coaching is nothing, if not a business. IU would have been a perfect proving ground for someone from those schools, who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to rise through the ranks in any reasonable length of time. You suppose defensive back coaches, linebacker coaches, line coaches, are just sitting there waiting to be the next DC and a comparable school? Not hardly. Wilson has proven with this hire, that he has a blind spot in his coaching mentality, and that blind spot will cost him his job. Brian Knorr; he should have hired Brian Wilson.

  No offense taken, though your lack of details as to why it's such a "stupid" post, makes me wonder.

Only the IU football program would look at Air Force or Wake Forest as a source for help on defense. I mean, really! Are we saying that there wasn't a single person willing to come to be the DC of the IU football program, from a team with a legitimate history of excellence? No one at FSU, LSU, Auburn? Hell, we could have offered the waterboy at Alabama the position and we'd have been better off than either Mallory or this new guy, Brian Knorr. I wonder if Glass had any say or input in to this call? It's like we're in the movie "Groundhog Day" and every day is the life and times of Charlie Brown. Well, it tells us just how much Wilson values a defense; and by extension, his tenure at IU.

News out of Memphis this morning is that Odom has spurned both Indiana and Arkansas' offers to become their DC. Next....

As long as there are those of us still living who remember the Knight coached teams, everything that Crean throws out on the floor will be measured against them; fair or not. IU fans are some of the best, if not THE best in the country. We know good, well coached basketball when we see it. Win or lose, the Knight coached teams always gave us a feeling that no matter the opponent, we had a fighting chance to win the game. That doesn't mean we would, or did, but we all felt that even on a down year, we could beat a DUKE or UK. It might be because everyone played out of their asses that day, or coach Knight came up with another brilliant game plan, or any number of other intangibles, but we'd go in to games knowing we could win it.    Conversely, Crean's teams remind me of those put together by Lou Henson, Gene Keady, or Dr. Tom Davis at Iowa. Henson and his side kick, Jimmy Collins, could get some of the best talent out of Chicago; nationally recognized talent, and make them a fundamentally sound, competitive team. They'd be tough to beat, until they got in to the tournament. Same for Keady and Davis. Their teams just didn't seem to ever develop to a level that one might seriously expect them to compete for a title, despite all the talent that went through their programs. It's entirely possible that Crean may be in this mold.   The team this year, young and inexperienced though they may be, is fundamentally flawed. They don't handle the ball well, they don't shoot the ball well, they don't play defense that scares anyone, and for some reason, they don't appear to go "all out". They don't have an identity that separates them from anyone else. They do have talent. Like Henson, Keady, and Davis, Crean has put together an amalgam of talented players, that aren't getting appreciably better as the season progresses.   I like coach Crean, and I think, to a point, he's a good coach. But, as he said one time, "It's IU". As such, that puts us above 95% of the basketball programs in the Country, with or without him. In short, I don't think he should be fired yet, but neither do I think Glass should drag his feet if it appears things are not progressing long term. 

I think the thing that would concern me more than the departure of Luke Fischer, is the feeling that this program has gone past the "Honeymoon" feeling with Tom Crean. I think there's a chance that should this collection of players experience only marginal success, Crean could be in trouble. The recruiting has tailed off a bit, we've lost Fischer, and who knows who might defect to the NBA or another school after this season is over. 

I think each year there are several dissillusioned NFL position coaches or even DC's that would be worth considering. In many cases, they'd be high profile personalities, and they'd be better suited for evaluating talent at the collegiate level. My guess is that you could look at various teams who're out of contention for the play-offs, and who because the head coach may soon be gone, might yield some good candidates. Minnesota, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, numerous others. For instance, if Mike Singletary isn't retained as part of the imminent blood letting in Minnesota, he might be a good one to approach as DC. He has head coaching experience, asst. head coaching experience, is tough as nails, is a recognizable name, and would instantly bring credibility to the program. Recruiting would also get a boost. I'm not saying IU would ever, or could ever afford him. I'm not saying he'd ever consider IU. I'm only using him as an example of what one might consider as an alternative to Mallory. Then again, we could also hire a high school janitor, and have a similar upgrade at the position.

The thing I'm most concerned about is the lack of improvement. Not just from one year to the next, but within a single season. There should be some measureable improvement in fundamentals or execution regardless of whom you start. Our defense just hasn't shown it. People like to say that our offense scores so fast that the defense spends a lot of time on the field. Ok, I'll give you that. But one would think that just by being of the field of play that much, and through sheer repetition, we'd have seen them get better at something over the course of the season. One can say that Mallory was coerced in to using more freshman than usual in an effort to field more talent, fair enough. But did that talent improve at all? Can we say this defense is any better today than they were when camp opened last summer? I don't see it, I don't sense it, and I don't believe it has. The offense, while productive as hell, isn't unstoppable. Clearly, when our competition has been subpar, we've flown up and own the field. But Wisconsin didn't have an issue stopping us. We didn't score at Ohio State until the fourth quarter when arguably, down 35-0, they put their scrubs in against our first team offense. We were steady, but hardly overwhelming against Michigan State. Do we really think we'd be able to put up big numbers against an Alabama, Auburn, or LSU? What about Florida State or Oklahoma? Point being that our offense is top shelf only against mid level talent. It gets more positive reviews simply because it can put up some big numbers in those situations. Our running game is average at best, and benefits greatly from the passing game. But lets not kid ourselves. We would have to have a GREAT defense just to be competitive in a game against any of those teams mentioned above, because our offense would be shut down. I really wonder if Coach Wilson is the answer? There's a reason he was a coordinator for years, and not a HC, and I think we're beginning to see why.

 Actually, a "lapse" would be if we were to have a good year now and then. lol

Coach Wilson: "Doug, I don't know Defense from Dumplings, but I think part of our problem is gap integrity".   Coach Mallory: "Well it's not my fault, Coach, i made sure our boys left gaps all along the defensive line"   Coach Wilson: "You're an idiot Doug. Pack your bags and get the hell out. We've got the rotted corpse of Woody Hayes coming in, and he still can't be as brain dead as you are".

  ROFLMAO!

  I remember quite well, that game. Seems like it was only yesterday. Woody Hayes, like Al Davis in the NFL, lost it towards the end, and were never quite right. Still, he knew football in his hey day, and his teams knew something about defense.

If Mallory is out recruiting wtih Wilson, we have no hope; neither in improving our dismal defense, nor in landing anything more than marginal talent. He simply hasn't gotten the job done and it's time for change.

As bad as our defense played this year, they could tell recruits they're planning on digging up the rotted corpse of Woody Hayes, and most kids would consider that an upgrade over Mallory. Hell, we might even land an extra good linebacker from the state of Ohio!