Old Friend

What you think? Absolutely not. If I did, I wouldn't have the history of posting things I do. Again, you can think whatever you want.

I don't care one bit what you think. I've been around high school and AAU basketball for 20 years and my opinions are formed based on experience with that. It's not like I'm making things up based on nothing. Sheehey made solid contributions. I never said he didn't. I said we didn't have to go to Florida to find a kid who would make solid contributions, and it's an example (whether you like it or not) of Crean recruiting in areas he never needed to. He was fired in no small part because he spent wildly on recruiting and didn't produce results. That's fact. Not arrogant. Think whatever you want. I couldn't care less.

You're talking rankings. I'm not. There are players every season around here who would or could have given us what Sheehey did over 4 years. i also didn't limit it to in-state. But for giggles and examples..., Terone Johnson was a combo guard from Indy; Aaron Craft was from Findley, OH (maybe 2:45); Russell Byrd from Ft. Wayne; James Siakam from Carbondale, IL (went to Vanderbilt), Donnie Hale from New Albany, Josh Sewell from Louisville..plus a couple dozen kids from the Indy metro area who are 6'5"ish who can play a whole bunch. Sheehey was fine; but he wasn't someone we needed to go to Florida to find.

Feel free to leave old business 7 years in the rear view mirror there, Boogaloo. Not sure who you're trying to impress with this, however I'm quite sure my reputation here can stand on its own merit save 2-3 guys.

You are most welcome. Curtsey.

Whatever, dude. That's un-necessary, and I will very happily provide you with several years of evidence to the contrary on this board. That's a cheap shot at best and says a lot more about you than it does me. My point had nothing to do with rankings. If yours did, good for you. You compared a Mr. Basketball to Crean's looking for a diamond in the rough, which is nuts; but if pointing that out means I'm upholding a reputation, that's what it means.

Jordan Hulls was Mr. Basketball. Come on... OG had a terrific AAU season between junior and senior year. He was a 4* recruit in some services. So was Morgan. Sheehey was nobody he couldn't have found within 2 hours of Bloomington. Devin Davis was also highly rated. None of the players on your list other than maybe Anunoby have out-performed their ranking. Oladipo was a 3^ who became the college basketball player of the year and #2 draft pick. Can't agree with any "if's." If my aunt had a sack, she'd be my uncle.

I would argue he found one. In 9 years. And that kid was at DeMatha (not exactly hidden) with a better work ethic than most of the world. Lot of others wore jerseys and made contributions of one kind or another; but most flamed miserably.

Clifton Moore is another in a long line of kids that fit "Tom Crean out thinks the room and searches for next diamond in the rough" mold. If were capable of truly helping Indiana, even in the longer term, he'd have seen at least a decent number of minutes by now. He is marginally better than Tim Priller.

You can drop the mic and close the topic as far as I'm concerned. Well put. Indiana needs to be in that "every year" conversation. As soon as possible.

If we can make jump shots, they have a tough time with us, too. Morgan is a nightmare for them; and Haas can't guard any of our guys if we bring him away from the rim or get in transition. They've not played well in the last couple of weeks; and with a game under our belt and a little momentum; they're get-able.

Proof the NCAA couldn't care less? Vanderbilt has two top 15 recruits next season; another top 60 kid; and may land a fourth player who's in the top 5. This is the same as Northwestern adding these kids. In one class. Nope. Nothing to see here.

I'm a golfer. Give me EST all day long.

That was the most momentum killing, brain dead, careless, two steps backward, horse crap effort I have ever seen. McRoberts needs to sit. He's terrible right now. Giving IU nothing. He isn't even a threat to score; and he makes things harder for everyone else because nobody has to guard him. Turnovers when he DOES have the ball; and his defense has waned considerably. He missed at least 3 box outs which led to points. Green equally bad. Two steps back for him. Same with Durham. McSwain. Not a single rebound. NOT. ONE. Awful. And he allowed 3 tap outs in the first 5 minutes. How many second chance points does a team have to allow on another team's floor before they get it? That was pathetic and I hope Miller lets them know it.

If he can't see what's happening and buy into it, he's not looking or he's being told what to see. Sorry, I don't buy this angle from him at all. There is only one team in the Big Ten playing as well as Indiana right now. Archie came in and immediately got interest from Romeo and his family; and a team playing at a level this much higher than it was in November would get the attention of any decent basketball player; as would the level of recruits committed to and with interest in Indiana. Vanderbilt is 12th in the SEC right now. They have not won a road game. They have a losing record. If the decision is Vanderbilt and he's truly giving Archie "one last chance,"I would seriously question both the sincerity with which he has allowed Indiana and Kansas to recruit him, and his motivation for choosing a school. All due respect? I think this whole process stinks; and I'm laughing harder at the guy last week who said he has "definitely" decided and it's Indiana. Truth be told, Indiana is in a great position with or without him. Better with him, obviously; but Keion Brooks is sincerely interested, and the list is more impressive by the week.

Chants. Big heads. Costumes. Some of the best seats in the building. Profanity. With the good comes the bad. I was embarrassed tonight. Embarrassed for Fred Glass and embarrassed for the student body. Assembly Hall was sterile for 38 minutes tonight. There were 2000 empty seats. The middle aged man in me (who will seem very old to IU students) says "when I was in school, we got 4 games." FOUR! And we didn't get to pick them. Two games were balcony, one main level, and one on the floor. We got to go....4 times. And we did. Even when we weren't very good. See : 1988. Students now get all the games if they want them. It was clear to me tonight they don't. We can't play Purdue every night. We can't play Duke every night. Sometimes....we play Maryland. On a Monday. And you generally blow it off. You want Romeo Langford? Be a better crowd than Purdue. You want a winner? Be louder than Nebraska. Tonight was a pathetic excuse for a crowd. The place was as quiet as if we were playing Northeast Arkansas during Christmas break. I don't know if students are entitled, have no clue where they are (perhaps with all the east coasters, but I'd like to think we can find 7000 basketball fans on that campus), or what...but this was far removed from any Indiana Basketball I have known. If the students don't want the tickets, limit their access and sell them to people who care about Indiana Basketball. Oh, and students? Stop with the profanity. It's sad. Off soapbox.

I'm not a fan of highlight tapes, but this one shows his lateral quickness and his explosion. He is a gifted athlete, though he hasn't always shown his full arsenal. If you look past the bad competition and focus solely on his skill set, you can see it here.

I would counter with "if we get Langford, he will." Between Langford, Morgan, Smith (who I think will be terrific), Green, and others....he may not have the specific positions; but he'll have what he needs. I can't either. I love what I see and more than that, love the buy in from the players.

I think the only place we differ is whether or not Phinisee is ready. To be truthful; and man crush aside, I think he is more ready now than Yogi was when he got here.

The interesting player will be Green. In the eyes of Coach Miller, is he a 1? Is he a 2? If a "2," I believe Phinisee starts from day 1, and will be a terrific 4 year point guard (** for those new to the board, I have a serious man crush on Phinisee, and I think he is a terrific player who has played 3 1/2 years as a distributor, not truly showing his full capability; and I learned some time ago he was the first contact CAM made after Romeo when he took the job here. I know I am over the top on this kid, and I also think I'm right about him. You may make fun of me at your leisure **). If Green is a 1, I think the whole dynamic of the team changes, and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Agreed. Phinisee will start, I think; and Romeo obviously would. I see no scenario where Hunter or Anderson start right away. Morgan and McRoberts will start next year without a doubt (I just don't see how you can keep him off the floor). I also thing Green probably will. And Davis if healthy.

All I know is if Langford comes to Indiana and Morgan stays (which I believe he will do), Indiana is in the national conversation immediately. Phinisee, Langford, McRoberts, Morgan, Smith, Davis, Green. That's a very strong top 7; but we still need some size. And it leaves out several kids who I think have a chance to contribute. We'll be deep if small.

You also said you didn't think it was. Done. I have no interest in arguing for the sake of it. I disagree with you.

The whole point of the debate began and ended with whether or not anything is definite. You confirmed it's not. Done.

You don't think Zion Williamson is relieved because he isn't receiving the boatloads of attention right now? I sure as hell would be. I believe this is as simple as you and I are approaching it from a different angle. Your argument seems to be (please correct me if I'm wrong) that this is about "clicks" and attention. He's a McDonald's all American. He will be an NBA first round pick. He will make millions of dollars. His future (assuming he stays healthy) is determined. I don't think he cares how many "clicks" he gets. I don't believe he gets his jollies holding a decision hostage while he enjoys his social media attention. Benefits? The biggest one is the elimination of the daily (hourly) distractions that he's dealing with. The very reason why is because he's uncommitted. That was a reason Williamson said he announced when he did. To eliminate the distractions; and I think he is completely relieved. I think if he committed to Indiana, he could focus more on his team now, and still maintain the absolute passion IU fans show him every single day and obviously every game. His commitment to Indiana now would multiply that by 100-fold, and if he is concerned with "clicks," he'd sure get them from Indiana fans all over the country Williamson would have too, had he chosen South Carolina. Part of the reason he's not getting as much attention now is he didn't choose his home state school (or one of them). If Romeo had definitely chosen IU at this point, can you imagine the attention he'd get? You were around when Cody Zeller committed. I remember clearly when Jared Jeffries committed. Hell, when Damon Bailey committed, ESPN came to Indiana regularly. I think you and I approach this thing from different angles. Simple as that. And I don't believe - this is the point of the debate - he has made (and certainly don't think he's let anyone know) a "definite" decision. If everything he's doing is as calculated as some say; why would he leak a "definite" decision before announcing it? Why would some random guy on a chat board know of anything "definite?" It makes no sense to me.