Demo

Any possession that ends in a Pinson jumper is a bad offensive possession.

Couldn't agree more. Maybe after Cuonzo throws a big check at Kevin Knox to come to Mizzou this week he'll throw a big check at Smith next week. Not to insinuate that Cuonzo isn't perfectly clean, of course.

South Carolina is certainly getting the whistle they would have wanted going into this. They've initiated offensive contact the entire game and gotten call after call. If they call the late game the same way UNC will win by double digits.

Alright, while I am confident he's the guy, that picture either makes him look crazy young, or I am officially crazy old.

Hadn't heard that one. That would really hurt. If he's not coming here he needs to be far, far away.

Agree. Might also keep us in the Mark Smith recruitment.

Very pleased. Terrific young coach. Midwest recruiting roots. Everything out there about him as a person is highly positive. What I really like, and this is the one issue I had with Donovan, is that if Archie goes on a long successful run as an elite Coach, he will be identified and remembered as our guy. Love that. We would have always had to share Donovan's success with Florida. Welcome Coach.

Something happened tonight that I did not think was possible: my loathing for Alford was so all consuming that I found myself sort of rooting for U.K. Steve Alford made me root for Kentucky. in the immortal words of Doc Holliday,"Now I really hate him."

You're right, and I've never understood those schools, particularly UCLA, compromising themselves for a B- coach. If you're gonna make a deal with the devil, the payoff better be a sure thing. When West Virginia brought in Huggie and his baggage, at least they brought in a legitimately great Coach. Payoff was obvious. Alford? Not even close.

You're right. There's nothing that SA can really do to change the narrative at this point. My problem with it is that defending a rapist, belittling those that disagreed with him, and trying to intimidate the victim, are not examples of poor decision making that can be learned from. They are examples of narcissism. They are examples of a man with a hole in his soul.

Agreed. There are several candidates I would be very happy with, most anyone else I would willingly support, and a single outlier that would be profoundly disappointing. I've lost my taste for worrying about it, though we'll see how long that lasts.

Not advocating for Fife in any way, would be a hell of a jump from a couple of years at IPFW and the 2nd chair at MSU. However, Roy Williams got the Kansas job at 37 with 10 yrs as an Asst for Dean Smith and zero HC experience at any level. Believe me, not comparing the two. Just suggesting that the right guy with the right qualities has a chance to overcome some deficiencies. And yes, I would take Fife over Alford.

Can't help you on this one. I will not root 1 day for Steve Alford. And I don't say that easily. I have been in love with IU basketball since I was 11, and I'm 55.

Florida is a terrible matchup for UVA. 2 tough, efficient teams, except 1 has demonstrably better athletes. I think if they played 10 times, Florida probably wins 7 or 8. I don't see any exploitable matchups for UVA.

Damn. Underwood is really, really good.

Come on dude, it's Brad Stevens. He walks in perpetual sunshine. He would never lie in a statement. He's too ......good.

Dayton's a really sound defensive team. You're not gonna get a ton of open shots. You have to make good looks. That's what he's talking about. I don't know how anyone can watch the game I just watched and not think that guy's really good. Think he's pretty well maxed that team's talent out. Very impressed. Wish he was a little younger. Other than that, not sure what there is to criticize.

Good coach. Worth a phone call, but that's all it would be. He's got a great job and he's built a long-term program. Not going anywhere.

Coach, Thanks for taking a gig a lot of higher profile guys ran from. Thanks for doing what was necessary to create a job that a lot of high profile guys will now embrace. Thanks for being incredibly gracious to me on the couple of occasions that I was fortunate enough to speak with you. I wish you and yours the best of success going forward. Hooking up in a Final 4 game would be ok with me.

Regardless of who my personal preference might be, I'm prepared to support the leader of the program next year, whether it's CTC or someone else. The only exception is Alford. His credentials are secondary. His handling of the Pierre Pierce situation ends it for me. He is less fit then Sampson to lead this program.

Agree with you completely on White. Terrific coach. The thing Underwood's teams do so well is constantly work their stuff until it creates the matchup they want. Then they're disciplined enough to just hammer it until the other team is forced to make a change. I'm telling ya, watch the OSU-ISU game on Thursday. Prohm's a legit guy and ISU can certainly win it, but I guarantee you it'll look like he's a step behind Underwood the entire game.

So now Mark Few can't coach? Not that 15k posts wasn't already a pretty good indicator, but this thread has become officially and unassailably nuts. Few is an elite coach. He would compete at an elite level in any conference in the country. Ridiculous to suggest otherwise. That being said, if he wanted to be somewhere else, he'd already be at UCLA. My guy in this theoretical is Brad Underwood. Watching that guy coach is an absolute pleasure. Like watching John Kresse when he was at C of C. Underwood is 1 of the 10 best coaches in the country. Would take him ahead of 90% of the name guys that this board seems fixated on.

Meaning Behind Username: -Nickname from childhood Approximate Age and Location: - 55 St Louis Are you a born and raised IU fan? -Yup. My father had a Master's in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue and even he was an IU fan, though I was actually an IUFB fan first. When you first knew you were an IU fan? -1973 NCAA tournament. Came to basketball late. Remember watching the Regional final against UK and just hating the look on Joe B Hall's face. So my love for IUBB and hatred of UKBB literally happened simultaneously. What sports did you play in High School and College? -basketball, golf and soccer Besides IU, favorite sports teams? - Colts, Pacers Did you attend IU? -played for 2 years as a walk on at Oral Roberts. Gave it up and spent my last 2 years in Bloomington. ORU played in the Hoosier Classic my Freshman year. We only lost by 9, but I remember sitting on the bench and thinking that there wasn't a single guy that IU played that I could guard. Of course, since they won the NC, that didn't make me rare. What is your favorite IU Basketball Memory? -That. Sitting on the bench watching that team. They weren't playing well yet, but a blind guy could see the talent. Also got to shake everyone's hand. Who is your favorite basketball player of all time? -Mike Woodson What is your favorite IU Football memory? -beating Michigan in 87. Who is your favorite IU Football player? -Anthony Thompson Best sporting event ever attended? -Colts-Pats AFCC game Best IU sporting event ever attended? -IU-Illinois game in, I believe, 86. Awesome crowd. largest lead by either team was 3. Just competitive as hell. Might be off on the year. What brings you to this board? - love finding a board with a breadth of opinion, and yet pretty civil about it. Haven't found a lot of those. How long have you visited/followed BtownBanners? Late '13

I agree with you, but I thought the conversation was about Bryant's future.

i guess it depends on how you and I are defining where his game is from a draft standpoint. Does his game extrapolated out over the length of a career translate to the NBA game? Sure it does. If you want to see his floor, Imo, this is it: http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3460/marreese-speights That's 9 years as a rotational 4/5, the last 3 with really good teams. Is that a star? Of course not. But I'm pretty sure if you told GM's picking in the 20's that they are going to get that production, they aren't all going to pass it up. And I think his ceiling is good bit higher than that.