Old Friend

I'm a believer in some cases.

I don't think I believe my own prediction, but.. Indiana 67 Rutgers 58

I'm not sure this is good news. At all.

Watching the effort and execution with which Purdue plays after a tough start; the bar has been set and he should accept no less from Indiana's players. They either understand where they are or not. The more I watch Purdue, the more upset I get because Indiana is at least AS talented. They are such an incredibly different team than we are, and there's no way that should be acceptable on any level.

To me, the team lost momentum when Phinisee went down. We've played a lot slower; and we just don't execute well enough to "x and o" with good teams. We're better when we play faster; and when we slow down, we're Godawful. Opening things up may give them a boost, simply because there's not as much brain involved. It looks like paralysis by analysis to me.

See above. "Who, me?" It is so very unlike Josh to say things for the simple reason of stirring things up. Or..not.

It's always been his M.O. Then claim "who, me?" The whole team sucks at the moment. It starts at the top and filters back a few years. Doesn't matter what zip code a kid comes from...if they won't play with effort and won't guard people, they'll lose. Generally speaking I will stand by what I've said for years and that guy can keep coming at me (stalking me) all he wants. Then deny he's done it for years. Go for it.

I said last April that if Indiana counted on McBob for any kind of significant role on this season's team, we would be in huge trouble. On a team that can't shoot and struggles to score, he is absolutely worthless. He has 15 points on the season and 4..FOUR in the last 13 games....in 234 minutes. FOUR points in 234 minutes. On a team that struggles to score anyway. Why is that guy ever on the floor? Why? Maybe it's his 7 assists over the same time period. Or his zero..ZERO free throw attempts. Or his 6 turnovers. That must be it. He only has 6 turnovers in the last 234 minutes played. But wait...you mean he has more turnovers than points? Hhhhmm...then THAT can't be the reason. McBob over the last 13 games and 234 minutes is 2-15 from the floor, zero FTA's, 7 assists, 6 turnovers, 4 points, 13 fouls, and 33 rebounds. That's not bad...33 rebounds. 12 steals and zero blocks. And he plays about 21 minutes a game. Is anyone really expecting him to be a leader?? We have so much dead weight on this team it's comical. Between McBob, Fitzner, Moore, Anderson, Forrester, and Green...half our roster is absolutely worthless. Leave alone what seem to be career ending injuries to Thompson and Davis and we've got no help on the way. It's beyond embarrassing.

Firing the lowest hanging fruit helps nothing. It would simply make some pretty angry people feel better. Fred Glass is not the problem. McRobbie is a lot closer to that answer. We're stuck until he gets a clue or leaves. God bless John Ryan.

What does hiring Archie Miller, who was a good hire at the time according to almost anyone who spoke on the matter have to do with Fred Glass' ineptness running IU Athletics? He is doing his job exactly as the administration wants him to. He didn't come up with the kumbaya, we don't want athletics to define the university garbage. McRobbie? Board of Trustees? There's your blame. Glass is asked to run a business in the black; make everyone feel good; and use "one team" as his mantra. NOBODY cares about winning anymore. That's what makes me absolutely sick. We blew up our culture 19 years ago. This is what it looks like. This isn't on Glass. Bring on Michael Lewis.

Another reason Green should go away. Listen, it's not new for IU basketball players to go out or have a few pops. It's also not a bad thing. But they have to learn that being an athlete is a privilege and with that privilege comes some expectation. If you don't meet those expectations, there are consequences. Been true forever. I feel badly for Davis, but he is now immobile and likely will never be what he was; but damn...get away from the kid who's suspended. At least in public immediately afterward. Nobody needs guilt by association.

At Dayton, Miller had lots of positionless players. Lots of length. Won with defense. His 2015-16 team that went 25-8 (his best overall record) shot 34.7% from the 3 point line and 46% from the floor overall. Only .668 from the FT line. Defensively, they allowed just .404 from the floor and somehow, amazingly, opponents shot WORSE from the FT line than Dayton did that season. His 2013-14 Elite 8 team had incredibly balanced scoring. 4 kids over 9.5PPG and nobody over 12.2. 4 more kids averaged 3.4 PPG or higher. That team shot a little better, but allowed a little better, too. The 4 main scorers were between 6'4" and 6'7". My point is, I'm not sure that same style will win at Indiana. This isn't Dayton and it isn't the Atlantic 10.

Yes! Of course Kansas is also on this list. Mea culpa. Brain cramp. Fife gets the Indiana culture. Doesn't matter to me how long he played for Knight. I heard Lewis on the radio last week and was ready to play for him or send all 3 of my sons to play for him. He'll be a head coach. There's no need to tell kids how great it is to play at Indiana. Not the point. Indiana is either a special basketball school with high expectations and a reputation for playing a certain way, or it isn't. There is no "new legacy." How's that working at UCLA? Indiana has a built in culture. This is the state school in the basketball capital of the world, and we have kids who can't shoot and don't give effort. That's bull $hit as far as I'm concerned, and I don't care at all if some disagree. We're either special or we aren't; and if we aren't, our expectations for hanging "banner #6" should be no higher than those of Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, etc. Personally? I have no interest in that.

Duke has hired a lot of Duke players to stay part of the program....and UNC has always had lots of their former players around that program, too. There are 5 true blue blood college basketball programs and 2 of them have a long history of cheating. UCLA and Kentucky. The other 3 are Duke, North Carolina, and Indiana. There are lots of teams and programs that have achieved a high level in the last 30 years, but go back 60-70 years. That's the list. Indiana has lost a lot of luster for many reasons in my mind. One of those is going far away from our culture in favor of Mike Davis, Kelvin Sampson, and Tom Crean. Jury out on Miller, but we look awful at the moment.

I don't disagree with this, and regardless of what I have said above, he isn't and wasn't ever the guy I wanted hired. But.... Blue blood programs like Duke and North Carolina who have generally kept things "in the family" have had a large amount of success Indiana simply has not. UCLA has not. Dakich's comments I agree with are the ones when he says we have become just like everyone else. We had a culture. We had expectations. The University let the drop in favor of east coast money, "diversity," "bigger names," and myriad other reasons. I will say this, however. Mike Davis was also a disaster for this program. Kelvin Sampson was also a disaster for this program. In some ways, Crean was a disaster for this program. I didn't ever want Dakich either, but he would have been no worse than who we hired. We bring back Michael Lewis? Dane Fife? Someone like that as the hire if Archie doesn't get it done in a couple of years? We'll be better off than we have been. I know many if not most will disagree, but I'm convinced. There's a culture at Indiana that's been largely ignored for 2 decades and look where we are.

"Same as everybody else."

No. His being a Knight guy is why he wasn't considered. You may not know the story, but it's far more than an excuse. There is a chronological sequence of events that began in September of 2000 that have led us directly to the point we are now. These things happened. Decisions were made for reasons, not all of which have been made public, but no less accurate. Indiana University has itself and only itself, the board of trustees, the presidents it's hired, and its policies to blame for the state of the basketball program.

Disagree. He's not there because of things well beyond his knowledge. He never had a chance at the job because he was a Knight guy and because IU's administration was convinced Tom Crean was their guy, Had zero to do with whether or not he had the answers. He's absolutely spot on as far as I'm concerned and I don't have any idea why so many people think he's wrong. We've tried it every other way we can, and look where the program is. You're selling him way short if you believe his answers are created sitting at a desk. Not like he played and coached at Indiana for 18 years or whatever it was.

Because nobody has expectations anymore. People can love or hate Dan Dakich, but he is exactly right. Indiana has become just like everyone else because it's all about kumbaya. One team. Blah, blah....bleccch. Give me a break, Bring me a coach like Knight who got pissed off when the team didn't play well, win or lose. Who heaped expectations on the players and the program. So many people said the game passed him by. I remember "Knight time is over..it's a new Day..vis" Give me a damned break. This is an embarrassing display game after game.

The way I see it, Cliff, Jake, and Anderson are bad. They may improve, but they're not going to improve much on "bad." You either have spacial awareness or you don't. You either understand angles and gaps or you don't. You are either physical or you're not. Anderson played 3 minutes tonight. He had 2 turnovers and a foul. That's it. Forrester played 2 minutes. Had a block and a turnover. Moore showed more than that, but he's also a sophomore. As a team, we shot 38.3% from the floor. (This is not aimed at you) I don't care who your players are, you have to be good enough as a coach to get better shots than that against a very average defensive team. To me, there's a lot more wrong than simply waiting for bad players to get older. And I am losing patience watching us walk the ball up the floor into bad shot after bad shot. When we do run, we seem to rush shots. There's no middle ground. No efficiency anymore. We held NW to < 40% shooting as well...good enough to win almost all the time. Unless your offense is incredibly anemic. And Indiana's is.

Archie's teams at Dayton had many similar-looking players. Long and athletic. Sometimes good enough if the defense is great; but if they can't score? A difficult way to win. As much as I love defense, and I grew up with Bob Knight; his teams also led the Big Ten in scoring almost every season. They got, and made good shots. The long athletes I see on Indiana's teams cannot and do not make shots. Granted, many are not Archie's recruits; but scoring 55 points doesn't win, and I couldn't care less about their ranking or efficiency. 63, 51, and 55 points in the last 3 games while looking absolutely awful doing it simply needs to change immediately. Archie needs to bring in kids who can make shots. Kids who will sprint. Kids who will buy in. Romeo? Glad we got him, but he just doesn't give maximum effort all the time. Purdue did. And won by 15. It's just not that hard. Given the way our team has looked for a couple of weeks and the suspensions, injuries, etc..... This would be a great thing for the players and coaches to take into account. http://kentsterling.com/2019/01/22/answer-for-archie-rebuilding-indiana-basketball-is-recruiting-to-a-specific-culture-iubb/

Crean recruited with a shotgun. It was common for him to have 40-50 offers outstanding. He could get guys to say yes...but I always tired of people who called him a good recruiter. He was actually awful at building teams. And as you said, some of his guys are guilty of bad attitudes and low basketball IQ. That said, I'm watching us walk the ball up the floor and get no good shots unless we dump it to Juwon down low; then chuck something up with the shot clock at :02. So far, Archie has convinced me of exactly nothing.

I'm sorry....Archie's offense is garbage. And his offensive philosophy is worse. I am sick and damned tired of watching Indiana walk the ball up the floor, weave or dribble for 30 seconds, and throw up some bull$hit shot as the clock ticks to zero. We should have been up by 20. And if Langford thinks he is remotely close to NBA ready, he's crazier than the guy who compared him to Abraham Lincoln. McRoberts is an offensive liability. Absolutely awful offensive display from a team that looks like it has no clue.