pumpfake

That guy seems like an obvious troll. First post on that site. User name of "General's Revenge". Probably Twin Degrees/Ducati or some other disgruntled BK zealot.

Who knows. Perhaps he convinced VC donors to put pressure on Fred.

Indeed he does. If we get saddled with yet another mediocre hire, all because some big-wig insists on hiring his friend it will say an awful lot about the Athletic Department and our place in the college basketball world.

Wow. That's actually profound and sound advice. Iowa fans weren't sad to see SA leave and it appears the UCLA faithful feel similarly.

Sadly, I can't rebut any of your points.

Yes, that is one fact that will probably always stick in my craw. Also, we've had one taste of the Izzo coaching tree - do we want to have another?

Here's a question that ran through my head last night: How would you compare Alford at IU versus Painter at PU? (Both are former players and experienced coaches, with modest success in the NCAA tourney).

I'm sure DF would like to have an interview (and FG said he'd listen to former players). That said, IMO, Fife makes no sense at all and would be the most risky choice possible. Absolutely zero accomplishments as a head coach (unless you count a .478 w/l percentage at IUFW) and hasn't held such a position for several years. He could be a great choice for #1 assistant (I'm not sure what the ranking is on the MSU bench). If BD is a grand slam, Dane Fife would be advancing to first base on a dropped third strike.

I can see FCTC being a real possibility at OSU. They just lost a coach, due in large part because their AD was being stingy. With Pickens deep pockets the AD may decide to hire a name coach and give him a decent contract. Also, as I understand it they (OSU) were all offense and little defense this year - sounds tailor-made for a certain out of work coach.

Ever since talk of BD possibly being interested in the job, I've figured it wouldn't be or wasn't simply because he could get more money, but more a case of realizing he really enjoyed the college game more. After getting a taste of the NBA, he may have come to the conclusion that college ball is more his cup of tea. I hope that's the case and he comes to Bloomington. Adding a couple of seasons of NBA experience to an already accomplished NCAA resume makes him the perfect hire.

Somebody contact Sage Steele and have her kick that dude's fat butt.

Yea. I don't see any way anybody connected to the program, who knows things would offer that information to the media or (even less so) some obscure blogger.

Perhaps confirmation he expects to replace Matta?

I somehow managed to get away for a couple of hours and was at home construction site. One of the workers was off to the side, looking at his phone and all I could think was "I wonder if he's an IU fan, or better yet one of the insiders". LOL

Well that certainly came out of left field, LOL. The only shred of credibility I'd give that is the thought that the choice often seems to come out of nowhere. That said, speculation, conjecture, guessing, clickbaiting, etc. is most of what we're seeing. Nothing wrong with following insider info and holding hope (as my avatar proves) but no one should feel any kind of certainty until FG introduces his guy.

As a very casual follower of the NBA, he may also realize that unless you really stink and get double-lucky on a top 3 draft pick or are in a town that is a 'destination city', you have very little chance of winning a title. The top players hold all the cards and love to chase championships, small market teams may get a taste of success but are generally destined to play for something other than all the marbles. [The above is my opinion/view of the NBA and I may be wrong, but is OKC a place where the superstars are going to want to band together and play for rings?]

True. No one likely believes we'll have the pieces to make a run at a FF next year, but the roster will be infinitely better than what FCTC had in his first season. Again 'IF' he is named, we should know within a season or two what kind of play to expect and whether or not he can recruit here.

That's a really, REALLY good point. Why would you spill the beans on a deal involving someone you are friends with? Not unless SA wants him to (and if that is the case, it would be more likely to negotiate a pay raise from UCLA). Otherwise, he'd be a real 'slappy' as he loves to say and show himself to be a real publicity *****.

While I hope not, I don't know if we'd ever know that for sure. When the guy is announced, you know it will be characterized as "we got our guy, he's the one we wanted from the very start" sort of thing.

After reading through the many comments on that article, all I can say is wow. Imagine how unliked a coach has to be to have his team in the position UCLA is at this time, with an incoming class as highly ranked as the one they have coming next year and have fans eagerly anticipating his departure and gleefully speculating on possible replacements. I've looked around at a number of teams message boards and have yet to see a single poster from a non-IU site opine that SA would make us any better than what we have been recently.

OK State would be a tremendous destination for FCTC. It's a football school and would be a much lower pressure atmosphere. Pickens is quite generous to his Alma mater and that could be great for him (and indirectly us). Thirdly, it's a team that succeeded with lots of offense and little defense this past season, tailor made situation IMHO. And finally, brother-in-law John could use family visits as an excuse to scout the football team and it's opponents.

I've seen that it's primarily for the clandestine negotiation function, allowing parties to truthfully claim they haven't talked to or negotiated with another team/individual.

I was pondering this scenario yesterday and came up with a bit of an off the wall idea: If it's a case where a deal with an NBA coach can't be negotiated or finalized until after their season (and that would be the tip off because of the long delay), could he have an agreement with a former IU guy like Wittman or Woodson to be named the new coach but really as just a seat warmer until later? It would throw off the press, particularly because it'd hit those "double checks". Of course, I suppose there'd have to be some contractual craftsmanship and I believe that could be detected by the public/press since it'd be available for inspection. Hopefully, Fred will do whatever it takes to land the right guy.

I think this will prove to have been a great hire for ILL. The quality of coaching in the B10 just improved and hopefully will do so even more sometime in the next 6 weeks or so....

You never can tell. I used to date a girl who was a big UK fan and she was VERY nice.