GnarlyNormEllenberger

No doubt. Point well taken. There was plenty of originality to what was said in that letter. It was personal. You could tell he meant it. And I'm glad he did it, whether it was instructed for him to do so or not. He's already earned a fair amount of respect in my book. He clearly understands that playing FOR Indiana University means a lot.   I'm just not sure if this exemplifies leadership (as other have mentioned), which the team needs in droves. HOWEVER, it does exemplify accountability. And that's a step in the right direction, for sure.

I think it's like if you're 15 years old and at church and you see the 85 year old Mrs. Jones sitting in the corner. You don't know her personally that well, but your mother always said that Mrs. Jones has always thought a lot of you. Your mom then instructs you to go over and say hi to Mrs. Jones. So you do.   Now, Mrs. Jones is pleased you spoke with her. It meant a lot to her. And that's nice. But did you do it because you wanted to? Did you do it because you felt it was what you needed to do? Or did you do it because your mother prodded you to do so? Would you have taken the initiative to speak to Mrs. Jones had your mother not asked you to?   I'd say the difference is between following orders vs. taking initiative. There's a big difference between the two. Especially when it comes to leadership on a basketball team.   But that's just my opinion.

Athlon has us 4th in the Big Ten, a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament and losing in the round of 32.   I seriously doubt that would be enough winning to make up for all of the bad publicity the program has received the past couple of years. Especially when it is likely you'll face more rebuilding after losing another 5-6 players in the off-season due to graduation and the NBA.   When President McRobbie reprimanded the whole athletic department for misbehavior, that spoke volumes. Make no mistake, this is a PR issue for him. Of course, nothing is set in stone. But I have a hard time believing that he'll defend Crean should the high-priced donors demand a change after the season.   So, yes. I could see a situation where we would (hypothetically) win 25 games, yet this would still be Crean's last season.

Crean's quotes from an IU press release on 05/02/08 following the dismissals of DeAndre Thomas, Jamarcus Ellis and Eli Holman...   “Our staff if going to ensure that anyone who attends this University and wears the Indiana uniform will make this privilege among their highest priorities and not treat the opportunity as an entitlement,” added Crean. “We fully expect our student-athletes to accept the responsibilities academically, athletically and socially that come with representing one of the top programs in college basketball history.”   Has the coaching staff lived up to their own standards listed above?

I can assure you that our university's athletes get high priority and attention when it comes to resolving university matters (assuming this is an IU issue, not the NCAA.) If it's taking this long, there's a solid reason behind it. Regular John Doe student would take a lot longer to resolve, I promise.   Regardless, I hope Patrick becomes eligible for this year. I really like what he brings to the table and could be a huge asset to our receiving corps this year and beyond.

Some thoughts...   -The narrative that Newkirk can't shoot seems overblown. Yes, he shot poorly as a sophomore. But as a freshman he shot 46% from the field and 43% from distance. Is he Steve Alford? No. But let's not act like he's Stan Robinson or Jeremiah Rivers, either.   -Newkirk is a point guard. He's supposed to be a facilitator. He had a 2:1 assist-turnover ratio as both a Freshman and a Sophomore. Not superb, but decent.To compare, Robert Johnson, was a little over 1:1 last year.   -We are going to need experience for the 2016-2017 season. Newkirk will be a fourth-year Junior with some success vs. high-level competition. And a year working under Crean.   - What '16 point guard that we're recruiting do we honestly believe will be assuredly better of a pick-up than Newkirk? Yes, Curtis Jones and Bruce Brown look to be solid players. I'd gladly take them. But both are more of Top 50-60 players as opposed to the instant-impact McDonald's variety. And just by doing a little bit of reading on those two, you see the label "combo" guard as opposed to true point guard. Seriously now... do we honestly believe that they, as freshman, could give us more than Newkirk as a fourth-year Junior at point guard? Running the team, defensively, etc?   I'm just afraid some people see him as scoring 5.9 PPG and shooting 38% as a sophomore and just assume that's all he'll ever be. I think that's a little unfair.   My opinion.

  Very interesting.   I'd throw in the fact that even though Evan was real close with Musselman at Arizona State, he still chose to transfer to IU while Musselman would have been on staff at ASU for his final season there.   My opinion: If Eron Gordon feels he's truly wanted at IU, he'll be a Hoosier.

Perhaps, but the runners-up are remembered a whole lot more than Sweet 16's.   Regardless, I appreciate the lively debate between posters. A lot of solid info is being presented and puts me in the mood for basketball season a lot more than watching strength and conditioning videos.

Ball movement and player movement. Or the lack thereof.   I'd call it a player AND system issue.

This looks like a puff piece thrown out by the athletic department trying to create optimism after a bad year.   If they wanted to write this article, they could have done it last year at this time when the numbers would have been even more impressive from a cumulative standpoint. It's like they're trying to make last year not look as bad as it was by puffing it up with stats from the previous two years. Why did they stop at a three year cumulative span? Because four years ago wasn't pretty.   In my opinion, the athletic department is trying to prove that we did not necessarily take a step back last year.

  Agreed. However, I hope he's put in a position that really utilizes his strengths. I honestly believe he could be a factor at the "4" because of his toughness and ability to mix it up in the paint, but his lack of shooting and ball-handling makes me wonder if Coach would put him there for long. I'm just afraid he may be forced into the "5" and he'll struggle because of his height.   But the kid is a junkyard dawg and I'm glad it looks like he plans on staying here.

Too early to tell.   We could be better. Adding Anthony Lee from Temple would be a great stop-gap. Maybe another post-graduate with experience. Perhaps Josh Cunningham could be a Will Yeguette type of player?   Personally, I'd be very content if we added Lee, Cunningham or another post and Harris from West Virginia. it gives us help this next year while also giving us help later on.   But Yogi, Stan, Troy, Devin and Hanner have to improve. The lack of improvement from our sophomores this past year really hurt us because we needed them to step up. If the guys don't improve significantly, we may see more of the same.

Assuming he is a solid student, I'd love to have him.   It doesn't matter that he wouldn't be eligible next year. We'd have a kid who averaged 17 PPG at West Virginia waiting in the wings. That's worth assuming a scholarship for. It's building for the future.

That's why many were disappointed with last year's tournament letdown because those loaded rosters don't come around too often. 2012-13 was our chance to win it all, because we had the horses. But we came up short. The reasons for that have been discussed plenty and I won't get into that... but now it's unknown as to when we can reach that level again.   The one thing Crean will have to work on in the future is to make sure we don't completely lose half of the roster like we did last year. We had a bunch of guys on the team this year who weren't anywhere near "ready" for success. True, you can't do anything about graduates and lottery picks. But Remy Abell and Mo Creek would've helped this team a lot. We needed better shooters, ball-handlers and experience on this team and they would have helped tremendously. Abell said he wanted more playing time somewhere else, which made absolutely no sense to me because he may have been a starter for us.   The fact is, at IU there is an expectation (or at least there used to be) that you're supposed to make the NCAA Tournament every year. If there's a year we do not, I would hope it's sandwiched around several years of successful, championship-level teams. Making the tournament only 2 of 3 years just won't cut it. Or at least it didn't used to.

Fans need to keep their emotions in check, for sure. You either want IU to win, or you don't. But the internet is a perfect platform for people to say things they'd never say/do in person, so you have fans being very disrespectful. And when you have a program that is as popular as IU Basketball, those "fans" embarrass themselves and the fanbase as a whole.   As far as the article goes... I don't know. I guess I have a hard time believing the "sabotaging" fans don't exist at Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Michigan State, etc... so if the players are that worried about themselves or teammates or coaches being heavily scrutinized, big-time college ball probably isn't for them. I really don't see the fans being much different at any of those schools. That doesn't excuse the actions done by some ridiculous "fans," but it simply acknowledges the sad state of the world we are in at the moment.   I think the author may have given him more recruiting accolades than maybe Crean deserves, in my opinion. I mean, he's brought in talent, for sure. But we had one point guard last season, i.e. one main ball-handler. That was it. We also had just one guy who could regularly play in the post. That was it. (Yes, I loved Fischer, but Crean wasn't playing him much at all to begin with and I guess I'm a little skeptical believing that he would've earned significantly more minutes as the season progressed.) I mean, we weren't deep at two very important positions.   Anyway, recruiting is just part of the game. At least that's what I've always thought. I would think that's why many are upset. But it's just my opinion.

Troy Williams: 7.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG. I really like the way he has played in the last few games. You can tell he is gaining more confidence and is starting to play like it. This is good, because for much of the Big Ten, he looked like he was very unsure of himself. The further away he was from the basket, the less effective he became. But he has athleticism and good size which you can't teach. He's starting to put things together and has the potential to be an upper-echelon Big Ten player.   My Hope For Troy This Summer: Become an absolute gym rat with Stan. He had a nice freshman season, but he has plenty of room for growth. Obviously, his shot needs improved. 6/29 from 3 won't cut it. Doesn't have to be Jordan Hulls, but if he could get to 33%, that would help significantly. Develop a mid-range game as well, because I have a feeling he'll get some looks there. His A/T is 1:2, so passing and ball-handling needs A LOT of work. There's no reason he can't get that down to 1:1 at the very least. And he "can" be a very good defender. Continue to work on defensive principles, footwork, etc. Stay engaged.   Stan Robinson: 6.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG. Some games he looked like he was our third best player, other games he played like an overwhelmed freshman. But like with Troy, he had a nice season for a freshman. I was surprised at how easily he could get to the basket. The home games versus Wisconsin and Iowa showed how much of a force he can be. At the same time, there were multiple times during the year when he would make extremely careless passes that would lead to two points on the other end.   My Hope For Stan This Summer: Pretty much the same as Troy. 3/16 from 3 is bad. Have to get better there. His A/T is about 1:1.5, which definitely needs improved as much as he handles the ball for us. Become a defensive menace. No reason Stan can't be on the All-Defensive team next year because he has the tools. That will help his offense, too.   Devin Davis: 2.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG. Like Troy, he's finished the year relatively strong, even though his playing time has been sporadic at best. The post move against Illinois may have been my favorite IU play of the year. But he's undersized and was picked on defensively on many occasions through switches or post-ups. By the way, he has 0 assists this year. ZERO.   My Hope For Devin This Summer: Become a junkyard dog. Get bigger and stronger. We'll need him in the post next year, so he's gonna have to be tough to make up for his lack of height. He's a solid rebounder, but he needs to be tenacious. Work on defensive footwork/principles. Continue to develop hard-nosed post moves. Get to the charity stripe. Be able to hit a 12-foot jumper. Better passing from the post/ better handles.   My Hope For Collin Hartman This Summer: He's just limited in what he can do. He's not big and he's not quick. Become a reliable shooter. Facilitate the offense. Keep things moving. Be in the right position at both ends of the floor. Be the smartest player on the floor.