Old Friend

You know what?  You're absolutely right about consistency.  I let myself get caught up in the hype a little bit, and I don't normally do that.   You are 100% correct and I agree with you.  Thanks for the shove back to reality.

I don't know if there have been harsher critics of Crean than I have been.  Since the Verdell Jones days when I watched our offense just stand around and stand around some more, settling for bad shot after bad shot; I was very hard on the guy.  Even until early this season, I was very critical because I saw the same mistakes.  The same bad shots, lack of movement, and lack of adjustment getting us beat time and time and time again.  The same lack of defensive focus.  The same laziness and carelessness with the ball.   Coincidence or not....James Blackmon gets hurt, and something changed.  I can't blame Blackmon because I have no idea if he is part of the problem or if his injury was simply part of a catalyst that brought about changes.  But Indiana is different now.  They play differently.  The execute better.  They are better defensively.  They don't turn the ball over as much.  They don't take nearly as many bad shots.  They look like they're having fun.  They move the ball more and to better spots.   People move more and move with purpose.   Example : a few weeks ago, we were talking about how we might better use Troy Williams.  I don't remember what comment I made, but Hutch asked me specifically what I'd like to see from Troy.  I felt he was handling the ball way too much and trying to do things a little outside his skill set.  I said I wanted to see him used more as a cutter.  Off the ball, with the ability to make plays when Yogi or someone else drew help; especially with him (Troy) on the baseline.   I'll be damned if the very next game, that's exactly what his role was.  Purdue, I think.   And he blew up.  Not that I know anything, but it was pretty obvious Troy was pressing and had the ball too much.  Someone else saw that, too.   Point being, Crean's making adjustments and making changes to the team I think have been almost universally positive.  I used to (again, as recently as December) care very little if I missed a game because I didn't like watching us play.  That's not true now.  And it's not because we're winning.  We are Big Ten Champs.  And that's my bar.  To be in that conversation year in and year out.  Winning at a higher level will take care of itself.  I am not a "national championship or bust" guy.  Too many variables.  But if we get to a point where we're a player in the Big Ten every year, post season success will happen organically.   Crean backed off the players.  He's allowing them to be fresh and also to play more "free."  Within their own skill sets, but with ability to make plays.  Things have changed, and whatever happens tonight shouldn't affect Crean's status.  Unless Brad Stevens wants the job, Crean should be the coach at Indiana for as long as he wants it...assuming this is the new normal; and that's a huge assumption.  I've come around enough with him.  I reserve the right to be hard on him and criticize him, but I am off the "fire Crean" bandwagon.  He's earned the position.    Just in time, and his seat was getting blistering hot; but he made the changes, and I give him a world of credit.  

I have always felt that professional athletes who get paid to do what they do...get paid to win...get paid to excel are available for anything fans want to do within reason.  People can judge for themselves the class or worthiness of said hecklers, but toward professional athletes who people pay far more to see....and who reap benefit from that payment?  That's fair game.   College kids don't need to hear that.  People who boo kids are a low form of life as far as I'm concerned.  College athletes are kids.  Immature, not-quite-fully-developed kids.  Immature, usually unsure of themselves children.  OG Anunoby, for example, is 18 years old.  He can barely vote.  Can't buy beer yet. Teenagers don't know sh*t.  They make mistakes.     The only reason to even get on a kid is due to lack of effort.  Of all the things we CAN critique, I don't think effort is among them in this program's recent history.   One man's opinion, but I think booing a kid says a ton more about the guy doing the booing than it does about the kid.  You cannot teach class, and booing a kid is classless in my mind.  To me it screams "I am the lowest common denominator."  Beneath intelligent people.  

Tough matchup, but Crean still screwed that one up.  Didn't follow the blueprint to beat that Syracuse team.    For THIS Indiana team, the question is easy.  Can a team take away our transition game, and defend the 3 point line?  If they can't, Indiana will beat any team.  If they can and do, Indiana can lose to any team.  

Missed him on the list..   Thanks.

15 guys on that list.  Niego is a walkon.  Gotta' lose one more.   Priller?

That's because in recent history, Wisconsin has been the most efficient and consistent team in the country.  

We're not bad at the moment.  I'd say save the second half at Michigan State and a lackluster final few minutes v Purdue, we've been pretty solid for a couple of weeks.  We also lost to Penn State  the game following Michigan.  Since then?  We've been pretty solid in my opinion.

A few things..   1)  We are getting the most from what we have right now.   That was not happening in the pre-conference part of our schedule.  I'm not there every day, but it's pretty obvious something changed.  Crean's seat may have gotten really hot and forced him to look at some things and make changes.  I don't know, but they have.  Which has led to this team achieving what it can.   2)  We have a McD's all American and lifetime assist leader at point guard.  We have a McD's all American in the post.   We have a freak athlete on the wing.  We have solid role players and many who can shoot.  Our freshmen have matured quickly, and they're athletic.  I don't think we've over-achieved at all.  In fact, I'd say Crean (because of his history here) was a reason Indiana wasn't picked very high.  I mean, seriously, his resume doesn't necessarily say "can win the Big Ten" on a consistent basis.   But again...he's made some changes or adjustments in the way he's coaching that have been really effective.     3)  Let's face reality.  The Big Ten's not very good.  As deep and experienced as we are, we SHOULD be in this position.   I think, anyway.

You do realize he's made significant changes, right?  He's done a few things many people were calling for him to do (quit driving the kids so hard, focus more on defense, "do what we do" which is run, space the floor, move the ball, etc), and we're better because of it.  This is the first season in his 8 year tenure Indiana is better in late February than we have been at any point in the season.   You have to acknowledge the whole story, here.

Indiana wins the next 2 games, Crean's the COY.  And he'll deserve it.  He might get it with a 1-1 finish.   He's clearly made drastic changes in his approach.  This is the first team of his I can remember that's peaking late in the year.  That's better in late February than it was in mid-December.  He deserves a hell of a lot of credit, and I've been one of his biggest detractors.  I also said I wanted HIM to improve just like I want to see players improve, and he's done exactly that.   I give him tremendous kudos for his ability to (finally) figure things out.  

Perhaps.  I don't claim to know reasons behind things, but I will never understand why we go to New York to get a 3* kid early in a recruiting period.    I don't understand Tim Priller, Peter Jurkin, Stanford Robinson, Guy-Marc Michele, Emmit Holt, or any other off the radar kid from some other geographic area.   The way I see it, the lower part of your roster should be filled with glue guys.  Guys who understand the culture and the "why."  I may be the only guy on this site who thinks the way I do, and I'm cool with that.   Gelon may be a bottom of the roster guy, and he's damned sure not on the 2016-17 roster to help us win a title.  If he ends up being Matt Roth, he can help later in his career.  I am far more okay with Gelon than I am with Priller or Robinson.     I think any coach at this level needs to be able to promise the top of his roster playing time, and I suppose for immediate impact kids, I'm willing to expand my thinking a bit.  I used to be "5* kids only from out of area."   Might not be realistic.  But at Indiana - and Indiana is unique, I think we need enough kids who understand exactly where they are.  I think we've had too many who didn't.   If that means the bottom of the roster is filled with Indiana kids who may or may not have any kind of impact for a couple of years, that's what it means.  And I know one thing for sure....OG Annunoby and Juwon Morgan know where they are.

That's gonna' end up being a solid add.  We'll be a deep back court next season.   Green and Jones should be able to help immediately, too.  As much as Yogi has improved, depth should be able to cover for him.  Now in the front court.....  Bryant ain't ready, but that may not stop him.  Williams is inconsistent and still needs to develop a perimeter game, but that might not stop HIM.     In the meantime, let's go win the Big Ten.

Old "friend."  I am not that old!!

I've made this comment before, and I'll stick with it because I still think it's applicable.  A head coach is responsible for so many things...most people really don't understand the breadth of the job..   It's unreal the things a head coach has to do and be aware of.  If Crean's responsible for 200 things, he's either really good or pretty good at 190 of them.     If Indiana is allowed to play in transition, Indiana is all but unbeatable by any team in the country.  They are that good in that particular phase of the game. But over time, I think the formula to beat Indiana now is the same as it has been for 7 years : take away transition and force them into a half court game.  That has not changed no matter how many games we win.  Purdue allowed transition last night, and we scored in it multiple times.  We hit threes in transition on a routine basis, and that's our best offense.   Wisconsin routinely takes that away.  Penn State (of all damned teams) does a good job taking it away from us.  (I've seen that done a couple of ways, one being a team plays so efficiently on the offensive end and position their players in such a way that our guys aren't in position to run, or Butler and Ohio State (a couple of years ago when they beat us here) were terrific at rotating back and getting to preferred spots quicker than we did.)    Michigan always lets us run.  We usually beat Michigan.  Illinois usually lets us run.  We set shooting records against Illinois.  Ohio State this year let us get out and run.  We blew them out of the building.  Etc.   Wisconsin in game 2 took transition away, beat us, and we had just 6 assists the whole game.  Seems to happen a lot against Wisconsin, and even our 2012-13 team got beat there, and had just 4 assists in a game.  (Maybe it was the year prior...but it happened)   Penn State did it to us and does it to lots of people at their place - held us to 37% shooting because we didn't get "our shots."  And we got beat.   Some teams have our number, and there is a definitive formula for beating Indiana.  So my take is while I think Crean has improved some things and I think he's now earned the right to get away from the "fire Crean" talk for now, I still see a half court offense that will really limit our post season expectations, and I see some things like poor shot selection (why were we chucking three's against Purdue up 10 with 4 minutes left) and at times poor defensive rotation / help that have seemingly been here since Crean's arrival.  The good is getting better.  We're forcing our tempo more than we have the last couple of seasons.   But....the holes in our program have not been addressed, meaning the formula to beat us is very obvious and has been similar for many years.  Which is why I'm not completely on board with him.  I'm a 7.8 out of 10.   

Thanks.  Better news than I expected.  Someone told me today it was a knee, so a mild ankle sprain is - well, not "good news," but lacking a better term....   Thanks for the update.

Late to the party, but I'll take an "ugly" win like that all day long.  There were times we were perfect.  Times we were awful, but never wavered defensively.  Had a couple of bad sets, but the effort was there.   As was execution most of the time.  The transformation of Yogi Ferrell this season has been neat to see.  His decision making and getting the ball where it needs to be WHEN it needs to be there is so much better.  I still cringe at a shot here and there, but he's becoming a leader.  As recently as November, I truly questioned that about him, but he's improved.   Kudos to Bielfelt.  What a difference that kid has made to this program from a leadership perspective.  Leave alone the minutes he plays, his toughness makes us better.    God, I love beating Purdue.  I hope our chess team kicks their a$$.   Bryant looked like he's finding his sea legs playing against bigger players; and both Morgan and Anunoby have really bright futures.  Those two give max effort all the time.  An imperfect game, but a great win.   Big Ten's ours to lose.     I am out of the loop....has there been a report on Robert Johnson?

Woody and Chad Austin, and there is no second place for me.   I see lots of Cardinal, but he was a "love to hate" guy.  A Dane Fife.  Hate him.  But respect him.  I have no respect for either Austin.  Classless, dirty, disrespectful punks.  Both of them.  

I think it's pretty good for an iPhone.  If I were Hartman, that's one I'd keep.  

You should save the one in the middle and send him 2 copies.  One for him to keep - it's a great shot and I bet he'd love it - and one to sign for you.  Seriously....I bet he'd dig it.

Really good win for many reasons.  Far more patient on the offensive end.  I still say (and I think I've made this comment in one form or another over 100 times now....I need a new act) when we are in transition - and when we move the ball and space the floor, we can stay in that mode for 10-12 seconds - and take "our shots," we are almost unbeatable.  Crean is exceptional teaching floor spacing and ball movement in that mode.  I love watching our team play when we can run and space the floor.     Nebraska had a good plan, but really had no chance to execute it for 40 minutes, and for all the talking we do sometimes about Indiana's poor defense, Nebraska is flat out wretched on the ball and in help stopping the ball.   One of the worst teams I've seen, and we took advantage of it.   But we were patient in doing so, which is a credit to all involved.   Nice job.  Nice to be in 1st place.  Now the fun begins.  

The administration has changed.   Different president, different board of trustees, different AD, different people pulling the strings.   I don't have any idea what the climate would be, now.  I have nothing to gain by making anything up.  Just a random factoid I happen to know within a huge picture.  Nothing more or less.

It's not a "claim."   This is exactly why these damned boards are so maddening.   Nobody knows anything, and everybody wants to know everything.   You feel I should out a legitimate source (and friend) because some guy on a chat board doubts what I said?   Doesn't work that way.  I'm not sure now why I said anything, and I'm very sorry I did but I have no history of making things up, and I'm not doing so now.  What I said happened and why it happened is exactly what I meant.  The IU admin got what they wanted.  They had plenty of chances to hire big names, Pitino included, and elected not to.  That happened.  I don't care if you feel like you need every answer defined for you so you believe it.   Especially if you're going to publicly call BS for your own special interests. I know what I know.  I don't make "claims" about things to get attention here.  Don't need that.  If I did, I'd be a newspaper reporter.  You don't know what you don't know, and you're not going to find it with a Google search.   You can leave it alone now, or you can keep pressing to some end.  What that end is, I don't know.

Then go have lunch with one of Pitino's best friends who happens to hold a very highly esteemed position within the IU Foundation.  I don't "have" to do anything.  You can doubt if you'd like to, but there are plenty of people who can substantiate that, and while I don't know everybody or everything, I do know that to be 100% factually accurate.   You're not going to find it anywhere publicly.   What,....you think Pitino called the Indianapolis Star??   

Yes.  This.  But men's basketball in particular.   Example : And this is 100% fact.  Rick Pitino called/contacted IU each time the job was open.   After Davis and after Sampson.  Both times, he was told no thank you, because "Indiana did not want another coach with a name too large."   i.e. another Bob Knight.  Not that I want Pitino, but the example doesn't change.  The administration wanted a lower profile for men's basketball, and it's very obvious they chose it despite the crap we've all been put through.   Athletics is the world's window into universities.  That's just the way of the world.  Nobody has to like it, but it is what it is.  Indiana can deny it all they want, and they can admit as many east coasters as they want; but at the end of the day, IU's most visible entity is men's basketball.  And the administration has intentionally allowed said entity to dwindle in popularity and visibility.  What I don't know is to what end.