schoosier

We definately need to get out and run every chance we can even after a made field goal. What concerns me most though is personnel and depth, and we won't be as deep as years past. Conditioning should be a main focus preseason; long runs like Deandre Thomas use to make to get in fighting shape. As far as offensive sets, this would be the best year in Creans tenure to employ the dribble drive. We are guard heavy and along with Troy have excellent slashers to get to the basket. I would probably start Devin at the 4 and use him up top to set screens in this offense. He needs to focus on his mid range game this summer as well as his passing. I don't think we will see a lot of true man to man defenses, probably a lot of gimmicks to counter our strong guard play. As far as defenses to use, with our quickness one would think full court press. I think overall depth may keep us from doing this the full game man to man, but I like the idea of some form of trap with ball pressure. We need to speed things up but also protect the middle where we will be vulnerable. We could use a combination of a 1-3-1 with Devin up top or even a psuedo(sic) man to man run and shoot where we force the ball to the sidecourts and trap just accross half court. Troy will be a key for us on d as he needs to improve on ball plus his rebounding numbers need to go way up. If Crean wants to get into half court d, we will need to use a zone where we can pack it in and protect the middle. Inside will obviously be our weakness so whichever d is used needs toprotect this. Also, with size being a concern, all hands on deck defensive rebounding so the transition to fast break will be tricky. Of course our opponents will want to take away from our strengths but I think this will be a good starting point going forward.

Funny how you can reply back when its just banter but not when we actually talk basketball. Still waiting for your basketball related answer and definately not upset as you mention. Would you employ a press this coming year to max out our guard talent? Just asking another question.

Hwy, how about a basketball discussion? 1. Based on what we have coming in next year and returning players, what offenses do you feel would be best to use so that we will maximise our strengths? How about defense? 2. What do feel Crean needs to do to improve on his wins from last year? If you do not think he needs to do this than reread question 1. I will patiently wait your response and give you mine in kind.

Oh no, I can't be far behind. On my defense, I never quote anonymous sources that aren't first verified by hwy1.

Maybe he heard it from deep throat. Can he take the fifth or do you plan to hold him in contempt if he doesn't answer lol.

I just did but its raining in my part of the country lol. We all see the state of the program differntly and I only responded to those that quoted me. Fair enough?

I certainly think it is healthy to agree to disagree and my choice of words for realist could have been doom and gloom, doomsday prepper , or some that others have used. I just feel the culture of IU basketball from the coach to AD to some of our fans is my thread title. I would be willing to bet that even those of us who disagree here on many topics could sit together and still cheer on our team God willing and spirits flowing. Although you and some others may even disagree with that.

No excuses from me for the third time which I think you read. No amount of you repeating it makes it true but keep changing the subject. Creaned got booed because he cannot sub. You brought up class or lack of so I don't need to defend it. But when you have to bring it up because you disagree with another poster shows you lack it. Why don't you defend Crean with the class you are so easily to point out to others. That's right, its getting very hard to keep with the company stance.

No excuses for booing the coach who can't create a rational sub pattern. The same vitriol you show towards anyone that doesn't share your views show exactly which one of us lacks the class you so highly value.

Sorry I misunderstood what you were saying and I agree there are two schools of thought. Stan and Troy will both have to prove they can shoot consistently as they can drive with the best of any in the B1G. Hanner can also dunk with the best so I'm fairly certain he would dunk from two feet away. Can he make post moves and finish or pass is the big question and in two years we haven't seen enough of this to answer yes. I am more than willing to discuss strategy and this is where I'm coming from.

[quote name="TheStillman" post="61703" timestamp="1398193921"]BINGO.  Really do not understand what people want from Crean and Glass.  You ask them to give some answers as to why all this is happening and in the same breath you say no more excuses.  If they would have a big press conference with answers on why all this is happening you'd say they're just making excuses.[/quote I don't recall ever hearing a coach make excuses for winning. Winning big is what we want and what is expected at IU.

Or it could be coming from the top of the mountain. I guess its whether you're a sunshine pumper that all will work out and Crean will lead us to a National Champs or a realist that looks at a National Champ and knows Crean will never lead us there. We both love IU basketball so there is some common ground, and I agree with you I don't know what everyone is thinking. I will say I've never heard an Indiana fan boo one of their own players and I think it was for Crean.

I haven't seen JB play so hard for me to know his game other than highlights. Our entry passes to the post have been terrible in the Crean years, so saying both Troy and Stan can do this is a stretch. Its also a stretch to say Hanner can finish based on 2 years of watching him play. I just made a comment based on how I think teams will play us next year if we have great shooters.

Not one fan booed our players so you are categorically incorrect in saying that. Unless your master substitution coach instituted a policy this year where the players subbed themselves. If this would have happened I have no doubt they would have done a better job then Crean. Your last few statements proves my thread as you are already making excuses why we didn't land Cunningham and to my kniwledge he hasn't chosen a school yet. Recruiting misses our the fans fault; I've heard everything now.

Let's see. The only players to my limited knowledge Crean held accountable were Jeremy and Hanner. Jeremy needed to get his head straight, was suspended, and responded well? So much so he transferred. Hanner was held accountable for an on campus drinking and driving and held out the huge sum of 2 games. Would you say he responded well also? Do you have proof Zeller and VO specifically came back to Bloomington because they respect Creans insight, or could it be that both wanted see friends or girls and now have the means to do just about anything they want?

I don't follow Purdue but I bet his fanbase appreciates it. That and the fact his last placed team kicked our a$$ this year.

You will have to ask the man who said it.

Probably not but after 2 years in the program I have yet to see Hanner hit many shots period. What you will see imo is very tight man to man with an emphasis on help side defense in the post. The tight man to man out front will take our shooters out and the helpside d will neutralize the driving abilities of Troy and Stan. Unless we plan on throwing a lot of alley oops which Crean has no history of doing much of any here, I just don't see how Hanner will help us in the paint other than rebounding. We will also likely see a lot of triangle and twos where Yogi and JB get chased and 3 other defenders play zone. This limits the amount of driving by Troy and Stan and you give them any shot. Plus, normally rebounding would be a concern in this defense unless you consider how small we will be next year.

I'm as alive as the best, most knowlegeable fanbase in college basketball. When 17,000 others see it in person is justification. Keep polishing that turd.

So I bet all of our opponents will make sure we get really good looks from the outside. Our solid options in the post will make them have to play us this way. A shooter makes more of a difference than a lottery big? Keep em straight I don't quite understand unless its your excuse for why we didn't win last year...no shooters, too many turnovers. Exactly my point in this thread topic.

And I take it as a compliment just as the 17,000 other fans did during a home game this year. Did you happen to see that one? Certainly you would have to agree that my calibration is in line with what they saw? If you didn't, maybe you should take off your rose colored glasses.

I'm flattered but I don't get paid 3 mil a year to have to explain or better yet, come up with excuses as to why a team that included a lottery pick and another 1000 pt scorer failed to make any post season tournament. Motivating players probably is better done in practice if you're gonna rip them vs a post game presser where you're team failed to perform yet again.

Its all a matter of opinion, but how about... 4. The lights were too bright or we're just freshmen. Its Indiana was his excuse for leaving Marquette.

Davis winning with Knight players is an excuse for the success he had for one tournament. Just like Steve Fisher winning a championship with Frieders players at Michigan. While I certainly did not like the way Davis did anything relating to Indiana basketball after his one run, I won't deny what he did or make excuses for why he won. Just like Creans championship last year. He won when he had to and he has his banner to show for it.

It does correlate to winning and you see it with the best coaches. How many times when Mich St plays poorly does Izzo take the blame? Does he make excuses? His idea of throwing kids under the bus was shown after their poor performance getting beat in the tournament this year and you know what he said? Nothing to take away from UConn but our team did not play their best. That's what you get from a championship coach. Now if you think this upcoming year looks promising then I want some of what you're drinking. We have no post options at all and three wing freshmen are going to make a difference when we made the freshmen excuse all last year.