cthomas

The fifties and sixties produced some great high school basketball teams in the city of Indianapolis. Shortridge, Tech, Washington, Wood, and Crispus Attucks were all good most years. The sectional at Hinkle always produced great games. There is virtually nothing left of those schools and the landscape of Indianapolis is mostly unrecognizable.

Exactly. After what we've been through the last few years we are not jumping into the deep end of the pool. I really like the kids on this team and that has not always been the case. They are all easy to root for. Are they the most talented? No. But I like them. I like how we have won ugly with different kids stepping up. I like how they seem to support each other. Maybe they won't take us where we want to go, but I would rather hang with these guys than a bunch of kids just using IU to showcase their skills for the next level. Call me a dinosaur, but student-athlete still means something to me. These kids seem like student-athletes. If you read Anderson's comments before the Crossroads about how he learned he had to get better and grind every day, how can anyone not want him on our team representing our university. He didn't transfer, he went to work, and it shows. I'm old and not impatient and am willing to let it play out and let the kids develop. Maybe, probably, they won't hang banner number six, but I'll take them ten times out ten over what UK, Duke and the other OAD factories put on the floor. Winning is important, but how it's done is more important to me.

The rest of the season will not be for those with a faint heart or a thin skin.

If the committee is happy overall with the state of IU athletics, then continuity of the status quo will be the goal and the hire and mandate will reflect that. Only if the committee sees a problem will the hire represent a bold, new direction in priorities.

Jeez, not again! Think I'll step away from the keyboard.

I'm pretty old so you might have to cut me some slack from time to time. Senior moments are a real thing.

I'm pretty old so you might have to cut me some slack from time to time. Senior moments are a real thing.

People like McRobbie usually have enormous egos which makes them likely to exert their power and control to the very end. If he is retiring soon, the right thing to do would be to allow his successor to name the new A.D. The fact that he is not speaks volumes.

Just an uniformed opinion here, but if the problem lies with the BOT and it remains the same and it hired McRobbie and he hired Glass, what makes anyone think something different is likely? It seems a philosophy about priorities is in place and I would expect more of the same.

Bobby Wilkerson got KO'ed in the championship game in '76 and I think spent the night in a hospital. If I recall correctly, he didn't return to Bloomington with the team but returned later. But you are absolutely right that it wasn't a common occurrence or at least wasn't diagnosed. Probably more of the latter.

The original post was something about Crean being the closest to getting back to Knight which I took as a comparison between the two. If we are just talking about winning games, it's a different conversation. As screwed up as he was, Sampson was closer to Knight stylistically than Crean.

I didn't see anything from Crean that remotely reminded me of Knight. Good teams? Sure. Style of play or points of emphasis? Not at all.

If today's social media existed during Coach Knight's tenure, he would have been the most polarizing man in history. The "fire Knight" chants would have started in year one. He killed our beloved "Hurryin Hoosiers" and installed a deliberate offense and an emphasis on defense. I remember Assembly Hall cheering one time when the teams combined score reached 100. It was the polar opposite of what we were used to watching.

Excellent point. I remember several really hard fought games for the '76 team. To my eyes, the '75 team was better by a good bit. Miller, from a philosophical standpoint, is very similar to Knight. He's a fundamental, emphasize defense, and get to the free throw line kind of coach. So was Knight.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

And yet, as bad as we have apparently been, we still scored 40 points in the half.

I have to give Anderson a ton of credit for sticking it out and improving his game. He has taken more criticism than a young player ever should. Not every freshman is going to be a contributor from day one. His defense is light years ahead of last season. He has great size and strength for his age and is starting to assert his physical presence on opponents. I think he will remain an important part of this team going forward. I have seen growth in his game even as the season has progressed. And, please let us all remember he is just a third of the way through his sophomore season.

Butler v. Purdue should be interesting at the Crossroads.

Glad you are enjoying it.

Since Rob hasn't practiced or played all that much the last two plus months, I hope irrational judgments aren't made based on his play tonight.

Who among us have not had a similar experience one time or another.

Agreed. But it's more concerning when we can't defend the three OR prevent the drives to the basket for layups. Goodness, stop something!

Squash! Is that the game where they run up and down a field beating the hell out of each other with sticks?

YIKES! Sounds like a "what else you got" situation. After the Forrester experience, I might be inclined to cap that well and move on.

I remember when I expected the Hoosiers to win every game no matter who they played. If they lost, it was because they had a bad game. The other team was never better. Of course gas was a quarter a gallon and you could get a Coke for a nickel from the vending machine.