Myrmidon76

Havoc to me is just like any other junk defense. If you beat the scheme, you beat the team. Its a nice story and all, but just another junk defense.

I get what you are saying and I understand your desire to verify information. Its difficult to accept what someone says when the words "trust me" are involved or its on a message board. I understand your skepticism.

Not sure how questioning the validity of the information as this point makes the information less truthful. I imagine all the sources and the mods (along with the fans) wished this stuff was rumor, but it isn't. I understand the reaction to lash out at bad news or disappointment, but those reactions don't change reality. The staff was mismanaged which led to the players being mismanaged...unfortunate. Crean still has a chance to right the wrongs, but he has to make moves involving his staff, or this problem will not go away. Maybe it might impact recruiting in the short term, but long term program health is more important. I think its safe to say his job depends on what he does to correct the issues. I wish him luck...he's gonna need it.

I support the program. Not coaches. Not players. I have supported those who are a part of this program until they force me not to. Its concerning to see so many worried about criticism. Our recruiting has been great...its the team development that is concerning.

Bingo.

I don't ever see failure as a good thing. That doesn't mean that one shouldn't learn from failure. If you really want to become a complete coach, team, or player...learn from your failures and demand improvement. Crean has the chance to show he has learned and with a buyout the size of Jupiter...I have to accept that he has a chance to show us. I still believe that there needs to be some staff changes to really solidify the message though. If I learned anything this year from this squad, it was that the message from the coaching staff wasn't getting through. That's usually a sign of mixed messages or a lack of displayed leadership by the head coach to the staff. I know coach likes his guys and its really cool to see a head coach recognize his staff during the good times, but I have yet to see anyone on the staff held accountable for actions that are reserved for the head coach. Coaches coach and assistants assist. 

I am more curious as to how UNLV is landing the talent they are. I have seen this movie before and it didn't end well for the Rebels. If Goodluck didnt pickIU over a frat party incident, thats cheap and immature. When kids find reasons NOT to come over reasons to come, those are called excuses and excuses aren't worth squat. If kids find a place they like and has all the things they are looking for, then go to that school.

I will always believe the other guy if Tom Lyles is involved. Glad Trey chose to drag that leech of a father elsewhere.

If kids were viewing this stuff, I hope they would understand that Indiana and its fans are different. They are different in ways of student-athlete expectations, of coaching expectations, of community committment expectations. Indiana is so much more than just winning basketball games. Success is great, but success without honor to yourself and those you chose to represent is not really success. Crean has been the guy to pull us back from where we were, but everybody knows that while the rebuild was indeed hard, sustainment is the true measure of a coach. This year disappointed me in its rapid decline from the success we enjoyed last year. I mean, my god, we went from winning the Big Ten (the good ole days) to diving headlong back into the end of the Davis years...in the space of 1 season! As much as Crean earned the criticism this year, he has a chance to quiet that talk by keeping the APR scores high, keeping kids from getting arrested or failing drug tests, continuing the outreach he has established with the community, and win with honor. The ball is in his court. If Crean can surround himself with people willing to challenge him and some of his decisions..things will work out, if not....thats not on me or anyone who used good ole common sense and statistics to reach conclusions about him.

Curious to see the number of "pro sets" TSU runs....you kn ow...cause they work so well.

East...east coast. Point stands...I don't think he has shown the ability to recruit away from the east. I am not being a jerk when i ask who has he brought us that wasnt from out east? I can't name one guy. I don't consider that a good thing if he is our Director of Recruiting.

This is a snipe...but when has Johnson shown the ability to land any recruit outside of the east coast? I hope Crean is point man for Lee.

As long as its Crean and Buckley doing the recruiting of midwest ball players, I have no issues. McClain hasn't produced one viable big man and I have no faith in Johnson's ability to recruit outside the east coast aau circuit.

I haven't a clue what Silver is referring to in regards to Dakich. I have always felt that Dakich actually started the rebuild process. For all the things that Dakich is to be disliked for, his removal of the poorest elements of that team is not something I consider to be a negative about him. Dan did what needed to be done...and he made it a little easier on Crean in the process. I know it was a few years back and things can be blurred with time, but Dakich actually did the program right by doing what he did.

Glass texted that we werent going because "We're Indiana". I hope he keeps that in mind when considering why we offered a spot in the CBI to begin with.

13-14     F      Too much inconsistency. Very little (if any) team growth (even though individual players did show growth). A year removed from an outright Big Ten title (didnt we even raise a banner to start our season because of that....bleh). Too much rapid decline for a program like IU to consider cyclical or acceptable.   12-13     A-     Early exit in the tourney results in the minus, but I can not overstate the accomplishment of an outright Big Ten title. We faded at the end to hold on, so the early exit didn't really shock me..but a year to be remembered as a good one overall. Big time success starts with big time conference success.   11-12    A+     Beat Kentucky. Re-establish the program, over-achieve in the tourney. Players became a true team. Benchmob was established (which seems like a distant thing these days). Foundation for success.

Just spare yourselves the nonsense of dealing with coulda,woulda,shoulda's. I had no issue with the hiring of Crean. The man did bring us back from nowhere. That being said...I think his best job has been just that...bringing us back. I just don't see a scenario where IU is top 10-15 year in, year out with Crean at the helm. We have far too much tape out there about how to beat us and very little tape on how we can adapt/adjust. As well, I will say I am sick and tired of junk defenses from supposed 5 star talent rosters. If they are that good...why can't they play man? As much as folks were distressed about our lack of offense this year, my concern has been the predictable defense we have exhibited since 2010. Lets make some changes, lets hope Crean takes this heat as a chance to learn and grow and become the top coach we are told he is.

As bad as I hated to think about what we would be without Noah next year, that late foot injury allowed us a glimpse. I am not suggesting we were a better team, but the sky didn't fall and it allowed Davis to come alive. Look ,we did a terrible job of feeding the post as it is. I don't think that our post feeds are going to get better as we add a black-hole shooter looking to go pro. Go make some money Noah...just don't blame us when things don't go as planned.

Cant buy out Crean. Replacing an assistant is by far the best option here. Influence from within. Fife or Lewis as an assistant makes sense. We can have all the threads in the world about who we would like to replace Crean and while the topic is worthy of discussion, in reality it isn't happening. I choose to think about something that actually could happen. Replace an assistant to make it crystal clear that things better change quickly or we will buyout the first chance we can.

BOOM!!!

Are there any records of percentages back went Iowa won 4 in a row to get in? I seem to recall them being out one year due to their final record, but they won the tourney and got in. I guess my point is that I know it can be done. To be honest, I think the worse the odds are, the better it bodes for the team. They act like a bunch of crazed dogs in "must win" type games this year. Hopefully, the boys can channel that for 4 games! :)

I am a skeptic by nature. When HSN "transitioned", I wanted to wait and see what the new site was going to be like before I did any sort of registering. It didn't pass the smell test to me. Dunno where I heard of this place exactly. I think it was linked somewhere to me from a friend from ITH.  I judge sites based on "spiral effect" of threads. If they get hijacked relentlessly and the end discussion is always the same, I don't hang around. I mean who really wants to hear the same drivel over and over again?

  Exactly what I was told as well. The classes stick together away from practice. At the beginning of the year, there was no cross-class relationships...I hope that has changed. Not digging on Crean, but I know that part of his recruiting talk is about family...we need that atmosphere back to really, really become a force in my opinion. Divided teams find more ways to lose than win.

  Considering I got my info from a players direct relative...multiple times throughout the year saying pretty much the same thing..I don't think I am out of touch. What you see and believe is what you see and believe. If the friendships have grown, thats great. I welcome it. AllI can go off of is the words of a close-close relative who expressed concern that only groups had developed within the team and that the chemistry between those groups wasn't that good. I tend to agree with the relative directly because of the transfer, multiple player suspensions, and (sadly) a player getting arrested. If the kids have taken the time to put things aside and help each other grow...I welcome it.

I don't have any specifics, but I do know that this team suffers greatly in the chemistry department. I know what you are thinking "Well, duh. Look at the turnovers and periods of confusion during games." While those things are quite accurate, the chemistry I am referring to has to do with off the court. I have been told on more than one occasion that this team doesn't have a true "glue" guy. I have been told that the guys don't exactly hang out together. I know that Fischer struggled with that big time. He would have been fine on the team from a year ago, but not this one. When there is a lack of upper classmen (reference the Senior Day...when was the last time you saw more walkons than scholy players being honored) that can put things together and show the young guys how to not just be a team, but a family....things are going to go south. I will spare all of you the rehashing of events this year, but all of the off the court stuff comes back to there being  no sense of family anymore. I mean...my god..Raphael Smith is staying with Vic down in Orlando during Spring Break so he can find an apartment...thats family....to me, thats whats missing most form this team.