Old Friend

Fact : Over the last 4 seasons, his team is 38-34 in the Big Ten with an average finish of 6th. That is not good enough at Indiana.

And isn't that a pathetic testimonial?

I get it. Believe me, I get it. My problem is I'm too old.

Great and fair question...but I don't follow it closely enough to have the answer. There's a winner out there somewhere...might be a DII guy? Might be from some small conference? Brad Stevens was a nobody until he became the coach at Butler. Nobody had ever heard of him. That guy's out there somewhere.... But I want a genius. Defensive? Offensive? I want a guy who can both game plan and adjust. Sorry for the cop out!

Eh. I don't need to see the highlight from the Mike Davis team that led to the last 15 years of misery. Without this win, Indiana does not give Davis his extension, never has to hire Sampson, and probably never hires Crean. We'd have had a far different path had Duke won this game. This is not a "sweet dreams" moment for me. It's the beginning of a nightmare. Great win, but it got the wrong coach an extension.

My God, why does everyone think we need a "name?" Crean was a "name." Sampson was a "name." We need a basketball coach. Let a good coach become a great hire. We do not need to win the press conference.

Let's look at the Alford thing a little more closely. I don't care what level a coach comes from. I want to know what he can do and whether or not he can recruit the right kind of kids and win. So let's break this down a little bit. (And yes, I know Crean gets a breakfast pass for his first 2 (no...not 3) seasons at Indiana. Alford .667 overall winning % Crean .608 Alford 6 conference titles, 18 Top 4 conference finishes Crean 3 conference titles, 7 top 4 finishes Alford 9 seasons with single digit losses including a 31-1 season. Crean 5 seasons with single digit losses, best of 27-6. Alford Seventeen 20-win seasons. Crean Nine 20-win seasons. Neither have had much post-season success; but Alford at Indiana seems a better fit than Crean. is it a home run? No. But I don't think we'll ever get a home run hire on the surface. We may get a coach who turns into one. Indiana needs someone who understands where he is; and Alford will absolutely recruit Indiana and the surrounding area better than Crean will; and that by itself translates into some degree of success. Alford took over an Iowa program that had been mediocre forever; and maintained it, basically. But his final season, he was 25-9 and never missed the post season after year 1. Crean missed the post season in year 6. Iowa has always been Iowa. No matter who the coach was, Alford's 25-9 season there in 2006-2007 was Iowa's best since 1983, so he made SOME progress. Crean was the coach when IU pulled out from under Sampson, but he took 4 seasons to even be decent. That should never happen at Indiana, and the fact he gets a free pass for the 3rd season infuriates me. Anyway, I don't think Alford would be as bad HERE as some of you. I think the circumstances and locale matter....and I also think we need an Indiana guy in that seat.

This is correct. Nobody will lock it down, but whoever the coach is needs to understand you can build a hell of a team that wins consistently if you just recruit kids (from here or anywhere they teach basketball in a fundamental, "you don't all need the ball" way) that understand the game as well as the sport. It's just not that difficult.

Any and every team that's consistently tough is more than Crean's Indiana teams can handle. Wisconsin is the epitome. They sprint back on defense and take away transition. That's all any team has to do because IU's offense is so incredibly elementary and basic. I have said this time and time and time again, going back to old sites years ago. Look at IU's numbers v Wisconsin. It's just not that hard. Even when Zeller and Oladipo were here, we had 4 assists in a game. Tonight we had 7. You're just not going to beat that team off the dribble, and they take away transition. It's been the same story for years; and I simply cannot believe Tom Crean can't see it. Watch THEIR offense (15 assists, by the way...7 turnovers. We had 7 assists and 12 turnovers). The story against Wisconsin is the same every damned time....and our $3.1 million dollar clown does nothing about it. Is it really that hard, Tom!??

I echo that. Salute. Thank you for your service. Now...bring some good sh*t, soldier. Welcome.

His answer was incredibly tasteless. What a colossal prick. "I love my energy?" My God, what an embarrassment.

The problem with this is the eyeball test. What do we see? 1) Turnovers are not okay. Bad shots are not okay. Poor defense is not okay. Lack of movement is not okay. Kids not paying attention is not okay. Complete lack of discipline is not okay. Everything off the dribble doesn't win consistently without superior talent. I don't care what Dan Dakich says, much of this is on the coach. 2) The Syracuse game is mentioned above. Butler had beaten that zone the year before with Shelvin Mack stationed at the FT line. A kid who can make a 15 foot jump shot. And DID. Couple of reversals, maybe a baseline dump, back to the high post....shot or dump back to baseline. Butler wins. We put Zeller there. First move of that game, he drives from that spot into the zone, gets his shot blocked, and we struggle the whole game. Zeller hadn't taken 8 jump shots from there in his 2 seasons. Why was he in that spot? That's what happened. Eyes see what happens. Crean's been at Indiana 9 seasons. In season 6-9, his Big Ten finishes have been 8th, 7th, 1st, 10th. Which is the fluke? Bob Knight set the standard at Indiana. Like it or not; he did. In years 6-9 with him? 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 1st. Which is the fluke? I am really tired of any argument that says we need a big name coach or one of a very small list. We do not need Donovan or Archie. I'd love Stevens. We'd ALL love Stevens. But he's not coming. Ship's sailed. We need a great basketball coach. He can be from DII for all I care. There are a TON of great basketball minds out there. Crean simply isn't one of them. Crean has been past the sweet 16 once in 18 seasons. That's not good enough at Indiana. Sorry. It's not. Edit : If any IU fan will accept that there will be "a few down years," they should go root for Illinois. If Indiana is indeed a traditional blue blood and an elite program a la Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky..."a few down years" will and should NOT be accepted. I completely reject that. Duke hasn't had a "down year" since 1983. North Carolina hasn't had one since 2003, and when they had a couple by their standards within 3 seasons (and STILL didn't miss the tournament), they fired their coach. Kansas' last "down season" was 1989. Why do we accept 3 down seasons in 4 and give our coach a pass? I simply don't get it.

2014 8th Place 2015 7th Place 2016 1st Place 2017 10th Place Which one's the fluke? Anyone who makes the argument that Crean has won 2 Big Ten titles is certainly correct. But...it doesn't tell the whole story. Are we happy with one good season in 5, never making it past the Sweet 16? Are we Indiana or are we Iowa? Iowa for my whole life has been okay once every 5 years, but never makes any national noise. Who are we, Mr. Glass? Mr. McRobbie? Who do we want to be?

We do not need a "top guy." We do not need a name. We do not need a guy who's got a pedigree. We need a basketball coach who fits. Who recruits kids with high basketball IQ instead of just kids with ball skills. We need kids who will buy into defense (let's face it, Butler went to two straight title games under Brad Stevens because they were top 3 defensive teams both years. The first season, no team scored more than 61 points against them ALL SEASON until Duke scored 62 in the final) and the communication that goes with it. See: Ronald Nored, Kelsey Barlow. Neither close to the athlete Blackmon or Newkirk are; but both understood positioning, hands in passing lanes, and simple effort. We need kids who will make good decisions with the ball and value each possession. We need kids who buy into what the coach says and not (like Blackmon) refuse to go into the huddle during a timeout. We need a mix of kids who are good with the ball and kids who know how to play without it. We need big men who have good post footwork and don't need to shoot 3's. A coach who can get those things done, along with x's and o's and all the PR stuff will win at Indiana. It does not have to be Billy Donovan. I don't follow anything closely enough to tell you who that guy is, but Sampson and Crean were both "names" who had been to a recent final four and had "pedigree." Indiana needs to get this hire right; not worry about whose name is on the list.

No idea. Not everybody who has any kind of inside scoop or who knows someone is willing to share what they know. I'm sure not.

The janitor isn't the only one with it. He's the only one sharing it

East Tennessee State just won the Southern Conference. Hanner Perea and Peter Jurkin made the NCAA Tournament following a 27-7 season. Transferring to ETSU from Indiana was an upgrade for two guys who were supposed to be part of "the movement." The level to which this makes me sad is astounding. What has become of this basketball program? Are the standards really this low that a 10th place finish in the conference just two years after an 8th and a 7th is good enough to keep your job at Indiana? Well, at least we made the Big Ten Tournament.

Then say what you mean.

We never had Billy Donovan.

Where is the "love" button. So accurate. The problems the team had 9 years ago are the same problems this team has. Poor shot selection, turnovers, lack of movement.... When we have superior talent, we can overcome those things. When we don't....

I like your thought process, but an IU guy wouldn't focus his recruiting nationally. You can go get a kid or two, but there is so much talent in Indiana and the surrounding area within 3 hours of Bloomington...Butler and Purdue are getting WAY too much of it. We seem to get 3* kids like Kentucky gets 5* kids; and it's not working. Every kid Crean recruits needs the ball. He asked last month why the players don't know how or when to cut. Well....first of all, none of them grew up playing without the ball; and second, nobody's teaching them when, how, or why. Indiana fans like Indiana basketball; not everything off the dribble. That style only wins if you have superior talent, and we do not. He (or any coach) needs to understand where he is. I honestly don't think Crean gets it. Everything else you said, I agree with.

I don't follow it closely enough to have a list. There are a ton of great basketball coaches out there. Dakich made a point the other day that whoever the next coach is needs to be an "IU guy" so he understands both expectations and atmosphere; along with understanding how important it is to recruit Indiana. I agree with the reasons....but I don't know that there's an "IU guy" who fits the mold. Wittman? Smart? Eh... Not sure I would buy into those guys at this point. Alford has always been on that list; but he hasn't had great success; and I don't see him leaving UCLA. Fife's not ready. So, as far as an IU guy? I don't think there is one of those guys ready. Someone mentioned a guy like Lawrence Frank...I don't buy him, either.... Long answer; but The obvious names are not the ones I want. I don't want Billy Donovan or Archie Miller. I could buy into Chris Holtmann, but I don't think he's leaving Butler. I just think you go get the best basketball mind you can find; and a guy who's a PR whiz, can X and O; and someone who understands where he is. Davis, Sampson, and Crean clearly did and do not. No coach at Indiana should prioritize recruiting efforts ANYWHERE but the state of Indiana first. That's my opinion; but I think a pretty valid one; and the coaches since Knight have vacated that priority to the detriment of the program.

I am flabbergasted at the love fest for Chris Collins. The guy's won just 55% of his games and this will be his first winning record in conference. He has never coached at post season game at any level. His Big Ten winning percentage is 42.3, and until this season, his best finish was 9th! Fellas....let's have a little dignity. We are still fans of Indiana. I don't think we need a name guy, but I DO think we need someone who has proven he can win consistently at some level. We do NOT need a guy who's having his first successful season. Do we really want a guy whose team has scored in the 60's seventeen times this season? Even when Knight was here and defense was a priority; we led the Big Ten in scoring every season. Chris Collins?? We can do a lot better than the flavor of the week.

How in the holy hell can you ***** about fouls when one team gets the ball into the post, plays with pace, and attacks the rim while you slow down and take jump shots? A third of our shots were 3 pointers. Our post footwork is atrocious. You have to be smart and fundamentally sound to draw fouls on the road. We are...not.

Why is Kyle Guy at Virginia? That one baffles me, too. Why do we lose so many kids to Butler? Indiana's brand has taken a huge hit; and Crean is not the guy to rebuild it. Simple as that.