Dave from Dayton

Iowa can score. Bad defense from Iowa. If IU can defend some. Get the ball inside. And just outscore Iowa...

Indiana players clearly want this game.

Tonight starts the rejuvenescent wins to the dance. Go IU!

Have a new bourbon to sip. I know that IU can win. But will they?

Yeah. Working hard. Just not working smart.

Excellent post. Agree wholeheartedly. And think if IU Administration had calmed RMK when interacting with others...especially in public or with media personnel...him coaching the Jared Jeffries team. OMG! Sampson can absolutely coach and recruit. But some of his player selections...compounded by lack of discipline and monitoring...was tragic. Man, he can get it done, though. I know people liked Tom Crean and the play faster stuff. But, he was not great about X's and O's. It was just flying to the hoop. Works very well if they are flying and not making mistakes in matchups...what tactics?

Not a trio, and not classic style: Bobbi Humphrey's Fancy Dancer is a seamless collection of seven tracks that cruise the distance across soulful fusions of funk, Latin grooves, electric jazz, and gauzy vocal choruses... quoted from All Music. Love her flute. Try Bill Evans Trio: 'I Fall in Love Too Easily'. Duke Jordan: 'Two Lovers'. Art Blakely: Just pick something...anything...with or without the Jazz Messengers. Kurt Rosenwinkel: 'You've Changed'. Cedar Walton: 'Blues for Myself'. Wynton Kelly Trio: 'The Fall of Love'. Bill Taylor: 'Solace'. Lestor Young, Oscar Peterson Trio: 'Stardust'. Charlie Parker Quartet: Anything at all...

Darren Wolfson of KSTP in Minneapolis reported point guard McKinley Wright, Minnesota's Mr. Basketball, told him "he has a spot at Indiana, if he wants." per Could top Dayton recruit follow Archie Miller to IU? (indystar.com) Wolfson reported the above on a Monday. The very next day, Archie Miller was on Dan D's radio show: On Tuesday, however, Archie Miller went on the Dan Dakich show to discuss some of his various goals with Indiana. With the potential roster spot on the table for Wright, Dakich appropriately asked about the possibility. “McKinley Wright is obviously signed with Dayton,” said Miller. “He’s a fantastic player. Minnesota state player of the year, and I hope he goes to Dayton. He went to Dayton for the right reasons and I’ll probably leave it at that because my job isn’t to recruit him anywhere else.” With Miller’s somewhat deflective statements, it will be interesting to see how things play out. Miller was certainly right about Wright being a fantastic player, as he was recently named Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota. Could Dayton commit McKinley Wright join Archie Miller and the Hoosiers? - The Crimson Quarry I also read a story reporting the same in the Dayton Daily News. It was reported, if I remember correctly, that the recruit related Archie Miller and the 'offer from IU'. Archie Miller then 'seemed to get the word from IU Administration' (which I do not know as a fact, I will admit) that we don'[t do that at IU. The 'story' the recruit gave in the press sure did not seem like the offer was halfhearted. I would intuit that it may have been premature, for sure. It sure did not pass the smell test at the time. And certainly, Miller's reliance on smart, team playing athletes and great ball handling all was lacking throughout his IU stay. Sux'd bigly. McKinley Wright is still playing in the pros overseas. Was on the PAC-12 All Freshman Team; and 3 times All-PAC-12 Team. Not drafted into the NBA but signed with the Minn. Timberwolves then Dallas Mavericks. I say that's Miller's fault for failing at IU. True. But, I still have sour grapes about the lack of support, apparently, from the top at IU, for the reasons that I posted elsewhere on this thread. I just can't decide which head coach hire by IU was the worst: Davis; Sampson; Dan D does not count in any list; Sampson; Crean... I think the worst is all of the above. That and the IU Administration. Wholly Deflated Basketball, Batman! Now throw the ultra-sloppy handling of the RMK firing and last few years. Just shoot me. Never mind. We don't have any good shooters that shoot. Well shoot. Instead of shooting long 2s and attempting a few 3s...IU should always draw a foul and HIT the 3s. (Except when the opponent does it...I have never metaphor that I didn't like.) /s

Frangibles bend over 74 Indiana starts winning streak 76 (at home) Xavier shoots well. A veritable bullseye. Flagrant 2. Fran yells: "The ball got bigger and bigger. Then it hit me." Fran hits level 4 in the first half.

I perceived, correctly or incorrectly, that IU did not support Archie Miller in certain ways. He had a really good guard recruited to land at Dayton. Coach Miller and that recruit discussed the possibility of asking out of that commitment and getting a new LOI and scholarship at Indiana. Archie then, within a week or so, changed his mind about offering a scholarship. The recruit got out of his LOI with Dayton and went..ahem...elsewhere. IU then had Josh Newkirk. Not the best point guard in the Big Ten. A lot less talent than X, today. Why did IU not allow Archie to bring in his recruit? We also had some locker-room issues left over from previous years. And was Archie Miller able to 'Crean' them to control that? No. Why? Because of the Student-Athlete Bill of Rights or some such. That and the APR. And was Archie Miller's recruiting allowed to reach out? Well, contrary to what happened with Tom Crean...burning bridges with Indiana high school coaches, Archie did focus on Indiana. With mixed success. I reflect on what the post, above, says about Glass upping Miller's budget. I did not hear or see that. Interesting. Tom Crean had a huge recruiting budget. Flew everywhere with assistants. Made offers with anyone who made eye contact. At UD Archie got the teams to perform better than the sum of their parts. Archie failed that at IU. Why? Was it that the Indiana players were brought in under a different coach and scheme. (ie. Run faster. vs Methodical and Pack line Defense.) Fans were used to flash. Booed Archie and the team. Blame to the head coach. Routine. Fans wanted the Crean flim-flam flash back. Well, vocal ones did. Social media loaded up on Archie Miller. Without a point guard that was one of the best in the Big Ten and a team that did not buy into the pack line defense. It was over. Archie Miller, in my opinion was not a flash in the pan. He was the flavor of the year as a mid-major coach that turned Dayton around and got into the NCAAT and graduated players. Now people, some on this site, are suggesting up and coming coaches as prospects. That was Archie Miller. He was not a good fit at IU. Could he have been? Under different conditions? Those are not the correct set of questions. I did not have Archie Miller on my short list when his name was announced. I thought, like a lot of fans, that he knew his X's and O's. He was a great coach at Dayton. But we wondered if that would transfer well to Indiana. Could he recruit? Could he handle players with larger egos? Could he handle a P5 basketball first large university? It was a huge risk. But the Administration was trying something different. A successful mid-major, when others were not interested. That and/or they had serious warts that Archie Miller did not have.

I refuse to ignore the Little 500 race. Or that other one in Indy whatever it is called...held on Memorial Day weekend.

That may be your perspective. I think that the reason for the program's implosion is the fight at the top over Bob Knight's monetary influence over alumni and fans vs the politics in the statehouse and the Administration at IU and jealousy when chasing the almighty dollar and power while using education and political correctness as the weapons. Sampson was unfortunately hired while on probation then not monitored. Remember, it was not the fact that he was turned in...but the fact that he cheated in spite of being on probation. If one ignores the issue that that secret would eventually bring IU down, then that is foolhardy. IU did not have to self-prescribe our sanctions as severely as it was except for the incompetence of management at all levels. But remember, RMK was dealt with in a somewhat analogous fashion. Lots of blame there, myriad issues. I do think that bigotry most likely was involved because of Herbert and Sampson being minorities flexing muscle. But I am not an insider. And the jealousy and bigotry need to be dealt with in step with and understanding that the largest connection with the University after graduation or even without graduation is sports.

Actually, I agree with this post...somewhat. I had been referring to the period from 2000 - 2008. IU churned through 5 head coaches in that time. RMK, MD, S, DD, TC... IU, most likely, reached out to a number of top coaches. I remember discussion about Few and others. No dice. So IU went with Tom Crean. Damaged goods... Heck I knew about Crean. Lived in Wisconsin for years after living in Indiana. IU just was not attractive to prospective coaching hires. Why? Because the Administration was not in support of sports. They had thrown RMK under the bus. They set Mike Davis up to fail. They set Sampson up to fail. Dan D never ever was considered HC material because of his less than excellent personal charm. So yes, IU then held on to Tom Crean because they were apparently afraid of more churning. Plus every so often Tom Crean was competitive at the top of the Big Ten. But, they could see that he could not sustain it. Flim-flam salespeople do not necessarily make great strategists or tacticians. Some think that Archie Miller was a flash in the pan. I lived in Dayton and attended a few UD games and watched a lot of them. Archie Miller is a good coach. He was successful before UD. He was incredibly successful at UD. Took a UD team that Brian Gregory had screwed up and left the cupboard bare. But in my opinion, IU Administration did not support Archie Miller as they have Coach Woodson. Nuff said. I say give Coach Woodson time. Sure, he is human. He has screwed up in recruiting guards and shooters. And that platooning substitution is controversial. But there are benefits, long term, to that platooning strategy. (From his perspective, I guess. And I am trying to see it too.) Am I happy about any or all of this. No. But I am afraid of churning coaches...throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Unless the Administration has an experienced winning coach lined up. Yeah, right. $8 million a year and a buyout. With the prospective coach wondering about the support from the Administration. That is why they hired Archie Miller and Tom Crean. This is so very messed up. I think that they could get the money. I just doubt they could land THE coach. I speculate that they have tried multiple times. We would not know.

Thanks. Senior moment here. Corrected the original to reflect Michigan.

Your post: "So an intern turns us in for sanctions…. Then your comments above…. In summary - The biggest decisions for Indiana basketball are made by people who should never be making them " Not really sure what you believe at this point. The post may be taking things out of context. And the reasons for turning IU in probably are multiple. Probably an attempt at damage control. Possibly in an attempt to manage the PR. Possibly to spit in the fact of those that were pro basketball at IU. Possibly part of a plan to devalue the IU basketball brand. Possibly some politics in the IU Administration and/or in the statehouse. Maybe some bigotry. I do not know. Regardless it was a disaster and some in the Administration probably were giddy. Look there.

I really dislike what Dan D says and how he handles himself. But Dan was not involved directly in recruiting. Seems, after multiple people questioned his involvement, her really did not twig onto the phone calls and lots of other stuff. Heck, he had just gotten hired and the stuff hit the fan within a few months. Not likely his direct involvement in blowing a whistle. Dan is likely so darn clean he could do ads for Mr. Clean. Not kidding. But he is an 4$$. But he is perfect. Just ask him.

Google it. It was in the news. And discussed on all the fan sites ad nauseum. Do some homework.

Stop, please stop speculating something that has no facts recently on this thread or this board. Common sense says that the intern would have told superiors. If I remember correctly that is in fact what happened. Then the Administration investigated by looking at cell phone usages. You want to excoriate an intern on rumors for likely the decisions of higher ups? And there was an assistant that gave testimony against Coach Sampson for the NCAA. And that assistant coach actually helped make calls. Remember when Tom Crean went off in the handshake line up at Michigan* on some assistant coach. Tom yelled that that assistant had taken down IU but was an involved cheater on the illegal phone calls? That assistant had gotten a negotiated deal with the NCAA, got no sanctions, and threw IU and Sampson under the bus. *Error corrected. Google it.

IU shot itself in the foot multiple times with Sampson. 1. Hiring a coach on probation is questionable to say the least. 2. Then not accepting the challenge of monitoring and controlling Sampson at the time of signing the contract and for his coaching time at IU is worse. Holy Crappola. 3. It was inevitable that scores of impermissible phone calls would leak. Someone involved would hear something and then it was in the phone records. Rumors of pot smoking and skipping classes and failing grades and etc...... 4. In my opinion, it was to put a cloud over the program or to bite the bullet. Neither was the choice of champions. 5. Once that happened. Oh yeah. Dan D. is such a treat. He could not recruit at BGSU because of over supervision and mental abuse...in my opinion. He got rid of most of the players. Controversy, yes. Right decision? I have my opinion, but that does not matter. 6. Tom Crean was on the outs up at Marquette. He could not sustain recruiting without Dwayne Wade. He did the bait and switch on some recruits and oversold every. darn. thing. He did not know an X from an O. He was quirky. And never would be consistent. But we hired him anyway. 7. That is what happens when you churn through coaches. What recruit would think that the new coach will be around forever? Got to pay lots more money to get the best...a tried-and-true coach. At IU? Lol.

Nope. Things went off the rails long before Coach Sampson was gone. Coach Knight was allowed to go off the rails. The world of sports was changing rapidly. Those that said that basketball at IU was getting too big for it's britches railed against Bob Knight. They used his unwillingness to be politically correct to oust him. Part of that was the Administration at the top was envious of sports being placed above Education at IU in their perspective. It also must be mentioned that RMK's success rate had dropped off...maybe because he wasn't personnally recruiting as much. They set RMK up to break the order from HQ. And he did. Mike Davis was a mistake. He just did not have the experience to be HC. Coach Sampson was also a mistake. Either he should not have been hired because of his probation and violation of rules. Or he should have been very closely monitored to assure that the violations were not repeated. IU failed on one or both of those points relative to the Coach Sampson issues. There is also an undercurrent of possible bigotry or jealousy here. Mike Davis, Sampson and Woodson all are minorities. Lots of the players are too. When some fans are crying for recruiting in Indiana first and to get 'high IQ' players vs athletes...does that mean something underneath? Why all the saber rattling about all of the previous coaches being ousted? I'm as guilty getting on one band wagon with a neat gimmicky idea. But there are a lot of nuances that I do not have a complete grasp of here. The rest is history. Without a guarantee, and without a doubt, coach hires are all leaps of faith. The Administration tries to reduce unknowns and risks...some of the time. Or should. My vote on Coach Woodson is not solid one way or another. Without a platoon of great guards and shooters and/or the development of them, this season is on the stink...somewhat. Is that due to a mistake in recruiting? Yes. Is that a fireable mistake. Yes. But should IU fire Coach Woodson for a mistake and then have to try to get a new coach and staff and team in place? I am definitely not ready to pull the plug on all of that. Churning through coaches is not a great strategy. Cutting and starting over is an option. I have no doubt that part of the reason Coach Woodson was hired is that he appeared to satisfy many of the issues related herein. But, can he turn this season around. Can he take IU basketball all the way up to be competitive near the top each and every year? The season is not over. Surprise, Coach Woody shortened the bench against Illinois. Surprise, the team played defense and were in the game until Reneau fouled out. When will IU average better than 70% at the free throw line? When will IU hit more than a few 3's at a rate above 35%? When will the IU team captain that has 6 years of experience keep his cool the whole game? Tuesday? Next week? Next season? Next coach, staff, and team?

I thought that against Auburn. I thought that against Nebraska. I thought that against Rutgers. I started to rethink that against Wisconsin. 'I have just begun to finish thinking' that at all. (Partially quoting my brother as stated by him while he was sleepwalking at the age of 3.) I have thrown the candystriped towel in when IU is playing on the road against ...anybody with a pulse.

Jordan Hulls' groomsmen disagree with this post.

I like long 2's. Hopefully, Sparks and Cupps can really get close to 30% of those. Shoot a gadzillion of em. We could score over 100. Don't worry about the rebounds...Woody has that covered. What's the game plan? I never even considered that getting a flagrant foul was intended to pump up the team. Great idea!

Oh, we got the joke. And it was funny. I was appreciating it by using a quote from AH (Animal House).

Forget it. He's rolling... From Animal House...