TheWatShot

Crean closing strong…lol.

Does anyone ever see these game threads and think to themselves, "Man, we're still playing games?"

Time to fan the flames…here is a PM conversation I had with someone two years ago: Him: So i got a call from a friend of mine who has ties with iu basketball. I was not going to post it or even let anyone know until i just read your post from the UK fan. I heard the very same thing about 3 hours ago. Billy Donovan. I was told that IU is talking to Billy and their is mutual interest. I was also told that Crean is "moving money around." I am not sure what that means but i can only assume it has to do with the buyout. Crazy. I do like the idea of Donovan. Outside of Stephens he brings instant credability to the program. Anyway, take it for what its worth. I dont feel sure enough to post it but when I read your post i almost fell out of my chair. Thought i would let someone know. Me: I can't remember where, but I heard about Donovan being interested a few weeks ago. Here's hoping it happens. IU would be set for the first time this century. Him: Would be an amazing hire. This was the post I made that prompted this conversation: Got this off another site, posted by a UK fan: "The following is from a friend of mine in the know. They are spot on when it comes to who will commit to UK way before its public. In other words, they are in the business. From them (not me): Crean gone this year and There is mutual interest between IU and Billy Donavan. Florida has apparently broken some promises to him regarding facility upgrades, etc. it's a football school and IU would be perfect for him." And now, to throw cold water on those flames…the rest of the conversation, a few days later: Me: I know it's only been a few days, but have you heard anything else? Any kind of timeline to this stuff? Him: No. Sounds like it was 3rd party feelers for both sides but IU is not willing to pull the trigger. I'm hoping "not willing to pull the trigger" was code for "not sure we want to give up on Crean just yet" and not "we don't want to go big."

1-12 in the Big Ten, 5-20 overall…games like this are why the fanbase can't get interested in women's basketball.

If I remember right, Bennett's reason for not taking the job in 08 was that he didn't feel he was ready for a job on such a big stage. He was only 38 at the time, so that made sense. I would hope he's not still bitter about his sister getting fired. She was 57-93 at Northern Illinois and it was a different administration that fired her.

Always got to be mindful that there are plenty of people out there who would love to screw with our fanbase. Make sure the account is verified (blue and white check mark next to the name). Last month, somebody created a fake Adam Schefter twitter by spelling it "A-d-a-r-n" noting that the r and n bled together and looked like an m.

It's a fake account. Notice it has 3 o's in hoops.

We were working on dribbling with our weak hand one day and our coach said "Man, some of you probably couldn't pee left-handed!"

You have to win 5 games to win the NIT. Not happening, especially with a group of kids who will probably be checked out by then (if they aren't already). Oh yeah, and it's a tournament. We know how Crean usually does in those.

Article about Caleb Swanigan's recruitment that talks about why he picked Purdue, and why he started off with MSU: http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/02/15/caleb-swanigan-purdue-boilermakers-player-year Basically, he wanted to go to California, but Barnes wouldn't let him. Barnes pushed Purdue because it gave him the best chance to play power forward instead of center. Swanigan had sworn off Purdue due to their continued lack of interest in him during his early high school years, and wanted to play at Cal because he knew a couple guys there. Barnes insisted he go to Purdue, so to compromise, Swanigan picked MSU. Barnes wouldn't give in, and Swanigan finally chose Purdue. I remember speculating on TOS at the time that it seemed odd a guy would drop MSU for Purdue, and wondered if Barnes had anything to do with it. Of course Boiler being Boiler, threw his usual hissy fit and said there was no way that could have happened. Looks like it did.

Also thought it was telling how good Northwestern looked against them the other night. In 4 games without their top scorer, NU won that game, and they were ass in the other three. Like I said earlier, the Badgers peaked in January.

I think they're getting it this year. Wisconsin just looks beat. I know they're playing without Koenig tonight, but they just haven't had a good performance in weeks. It all started when they shot like 20% against Rutgers and needed an epic choke by Rutgers to win. At least we got to share the Big Ten titles lead for a year...

Second game in a row a Michigan player bounces the ball off his foot and out of bounds…and it stays with Michigan. Lol how do they do it?

Wisconsin peaked in January. I think the Big Ten will come down to Maryland and Purdue.

People…please stop referencing the buyout and when it drops. If Crean somehow stays, the buyout will have nothing to do with it.

Does the 3 second violation exist anymore? Northwestern had 3 dudes literally camping in the lane for 7-8 seconds while one of them dribbled and pump faked repeatedly under the hoop.

I would imagine they do whatever they can to breed success in all sports, as any athletic director with half a brain would try to do.

I want to see it get to 1,000.

The moment I knew Crean wasn't the right fit was when we lost at home to Iowa after being up 10 in the second half, in his third year. We have the ball, down one, 10-12 seconds left and inbounding under our own hoop, and Verdell Jones WALKS THE BALL UP THE FLOOR. Seriously. Iowa was roughly equal to us at the time, and that game marked their second consecutive season sweep over us, with different coaches. Then there was a game where we actually beat Wisconsin, we had a 4 point lead with a minute to play, he subs in Austin freaking Etherington for Noah Vonleh. Etherington guards the 7 foot Frank Kaminsky. Wisconsin immediately saw the mismatch and jumped. 3-point play, lead cut to one. We won that game in spite of Crean and everyone knew it. Crean later admitted to "over-subbing." Another classic case of him getting so caught up cheerleading and frantically pacing the sideline that he had no clue what was actually happening on the floor.

Not a coach, but a pitcher on my school's baseball team once got taken out of a game after sucking, and proceeded to punch the concrete wall in the dugout (with his pitching hand). He didn't pitch again that season.

They looked more like a team that had done nothing but run suicides the day before the game. Which, given what we've heard about Crean, wouldn't be all that surprising.

I'd be in favor of it because it would mean fewer media timeouts.

Here's the timeline of Crean's entire contract while at IU: -Crean was initially given an 8 year deal, through 2016. -After a few months on the job, he went to Greenspan and bitched that it was worse than he thought, so he demanded an extension. 2 more years were added, taking it through 2018. I vividly remember the widespread freak outs on our old scout site because people feared this meant a multi-year postseason ban was coming (the NCAA announced our probation in November that year). -November 2012, right before our season opener, Glass announces a 2 year extension, taking the contract through 2020. Now we play the waiting game...

Just updated my original post. Our RPI dropped all the way to 93 after yesterday's game. lol

If it happens, it would be the third time Crean was swept by Northwestern. 3 times. In 9 years.