MartintheMopMan

I don't understand your point. Yes? Exactly like how Indiana has done without Knight? That's what happens when strong coaches who are responsible for massive amounts of success leave the program. Do you think Wisconsin will continue to be successful just recruiting local kids after Bo Ryan leaves? Or in order to find success without a great coach they'll need to recruit elsewhere?

Yes? Did you?   You... explained how you think I'm the guy who talked about Hollowell up above?

I did not do that. You're confusing me with someone else.   I was referring to someone who took a point about National Championship teams and decided it fit their narrative better if it was about Final Four teams.

Though, as noted before, Grant Gelon is a Duke fan, not an Indiana fan. Do you think if Duke offered we'd beat them out?   And if local families want to see their kids play for a B1G school on the biggest stage, why would they send them here instead of OSU, Wisco, MSU, Michigan, or Maryland? And if they just want their kids in the midwest, why here instead of OSU, Wisco, MSU, Michigan, Kansas, Louisville, or Kentucky? We do not have the recent history to hang our hats on that any of those programs do. What do we offer local kids they can't get better somewhere else? And if we can all recognize the local schools are worse outside of the midwest, why wouldn't we go recruit where there is less competition?

Oh yeah, I that's why I can't name a single East Coast basketball school.   Oh wait, they didn't move Duke and UNC to another state? Well, UConn, Syracuse, are probably go-- no? Really? Are you guys sure about that?   And OSU recruits heavily outside the midwest (I mean, 3 kids from the deep south who aren't named April is crazy high). And let's see how Wisco does without Bo.

I honestly hope we get a coach who comes in and loses for 10 years with local kids just to end this ridiculous and outdated argument. Oh, except he'd probably get dismissed as an aberration (like poor IUPUI).   If you figure out how to get the kids Izzo gets to come here instead of to MSU after they watched Indiana struggle year after year for the last 18 years of their lives then give Chuck Martin a call. I'm positive he would listen to the advice. This argument relies on us living in some crazy world where Swanigan was aching deep in his loins to come here if we had just asked.   The local kids don't want us. What would you have us do? Sorry Tom Bryant, we can do just fine without you.

Man, someone taking what you say and changing the argument so that they magically win? That must be frustrating.

I'm a little bummed you only have to change the graphics and final question to make this about Indiana Basketball.   Maybe "Wisconsin" instead of "Ohio State" too.

Even a lower ranked Indiana kid is better than a high ranked kid from New York. Everyone knows that. It's all about the basketball IQ.

Now he confirmed it. This is going to burn UofL bad, they cannot just deny it as the ravings of a madwoman anymore.   And, OSU isn't going to punish Lyle for what he did, they can't control whether the NCAA is going to punish him.

I say recruit where you're going to be able to sign good recruits. If you think Swanigan is a real possibility, then focus your energy there, but if he's not then you go to upstate New York and recruit Bryant. Don't pour resources into a guy who doesn't want to come here just because of where he happened to be born.   And going with this, don't expect someone to want to come here just because they happen to be from the area.

Did you just move the goalposts back half the distance and then argue that you're correct because you were able to satisfy your new line? I'll bet Scobee wishes it worked that way. I mean, if I move the conversation back and say "Well, Final Fours don't make my point but let's look at Sweet Sixteens!" is that still really the same argument? Or "Usain Bolt should run the 1200 meter relay because he's really good at the 40"?    Who cares who believes is the "Best" team? Kentucky was the best team last year, where is their banner? Is this Btown Banners or Btown Moral Victories Because We Were Really The Best Team We Just Lost In The Final Four? Might as well keep Mike Davis then, at least he got there. Though, I guess Crean went there once too and won a conference championship! So, I mean, that means we're good enough right? Indiana's best team was arguably the 1992 Final Four losing team. You think when Cal Cheaney grabbed his seat he was like "well, at least we're better than Duke"?   And of course you disagree. Everyone who thinks the only reason we haven't won another championship is because we aren't doing everything exactly the same way Bob Knight does disagrees. But, unfortunately, age and an inability to adapt to a changing system means you're wrong. Sorry. You are never going to see a 100% local team winning the NC. We invented cars and the internet and telephones and figured out whole new ways to evaluate talent. So, no longer is UNLV a perennial loser because they can't find that many players in Nevada, they get to travel the entire country and take whom they want.   And I would say it baffles me how many people still can't figure out the world has changed and they're the ones who fell behind, but I have to go make a phone call that will result in a week of leaving messages because old people still think it's more efficient than an email since they've never adapted to the new paradigm.   Edit: And wait. You changed the goalposts and then DIDN'T EVEN DO THE LEGWORK??!!?! You based it on the names? Are you actually kidding me? No. Look back at the scholarship rosters, because that is the entire point. You highlighted Kentucky and you know darn well Kentucky is not recruiting locally, so why highlight them as a "midwestern team". If it's good enough to just have the team name be midwestern, then we've already got that covered. Find my post that did the legwork from a few months ago, the last time this argument which is a total waste of everyone's freaking time happened. There were a small handful of rosters that weren't helpfully annotated on wikipedia, and since I'm not retired, I didn't have time to look up every player. Maybe you'll get lucky. Even scholarship numbers are mostly useless (I mean, unless lumps like Jeremiah April are important to a championship), but who has the time to determine what players actually played? I mean, there are other things in all our lives besides this site.   Personally, I just don't get how IUPUI isn't rolling in Final Fours. They have almost all Indiana kids and the rest are from the midwest!

Oh. My inside source has been really lax with the info this week, I had to rely on Crimson Quarry.

For support to this, read Grant Gelon's IndyStar interview (hint, his basketball hero played at and coaches at Duke).   Also, no teams have won a national championship with a majority midwestern team in nearly 30 years.

They've been practicing all week. It seems likely they'll play.

I want us to beat PSU so bad it ruins Smackin' Hacken's entire future.   The once great empire who had one of the greatest to ever coach the sport but since then has dealt with a demanding fan base who is never satisfied with a coach but never good enough to bring in a truly elite coach. They still manage to recruit well on being a classic blueblood but haven't managed to really pull the old band back together - 20   The same thing, but in Basketball - 41

I don't know what you mean, but it had the cadence of a joke.

Like anywhere else, it depends heavily on administration. The Niners one is an amazing deep statistical analysis site. Ours is ok. OSU's is terrible.

WE ARE FOUR WEEKS AWAY FROM A BASKETBALL GAME!!!!!

Who do you think Dakich has on the Student Ethics Board?

Doesn't he want to be the third PG of the class?

I want to beat Penn State so every idiot I know stops saying we should draft Hackenburg. 

Pleased with the play, super bummed and worried about the two stars though.

This is about what I expected.

Same thing.