Old Friend

Eyeball test doesn't lie. Lots of guys here know what they're seeing; and anybody who's coached at the high school level can easily teach the game the way Crean's teams play. It's just not that hard; and the half court offense struggles to find decent looks on a consistent basis. You can teach a fat kid in flip flops to move. The comments are indeed hyperbole. Just a line that says "Crean's offense is embarrassingly easy, and we don't guard, anyway." Same was true under Davis. I went to a game v Notre Dame one time, and they played a very simple 2-3 zone. We lost 46-45. Our offense was to flash a guy to the high post and look to kick opposite. The problem? The guy at the high post kept his back to the rim, and never ONCE turned to look at the baseline, and we had guys open down there all night. But....we never looked, ND never really allowed our offense to do much; and we scored 45 points in a loss that any decent high school coach could have avoided with the simplest of adjustments. Basketball is a very simple game. Crean teaches spacing well. He teaches tempo well. But there are so many little things that seem to get missed, and talent has masked a lot of his deficiency, along with weak scheduling.

Man, is THIS exactly right,

I would simply say move. Maybe set screens with a purpose. Stop taking bad shots. Maybe?

If Davis is getting better and Bryant is regressing and has the post footwork of a middle school beanpole, what's the real story? It's not "Crean develops big men."

I truly want to know what Doyel is watching. We need to go to Bryant more?? After watching that garbage the other night, who would say that? He is getting better and better players? Who? Where? Has he seen our class next season? Our players are...okay, but better and better? We had 2 lottery picks three years ago. Better? Where? Crean's record is what it is. He has been past the sweet 16 one time in 19 seasons. In 11 seasons in a BCS conference (C-USA was a BS conference when he was at Marquette), he's finished above 4th place in his conference twice. When is that good enough here?? The bar has been lowered if what Doyel says is accurate.

His post footwork is so bad, it's laughable. He has no chance as an NBA player now, and wouldn't for a few years. His perimeter game is okay, but nowhere near NBA ready.

This is a kid we need to get. There are no if's, and's, or but's about it. Crean needs to succeed with the best local players, or this program will flounder. I don't at all mean to be negative or beat a dead horse, but I firmly believe Indiana needs a local flavor to succeed as a program. Lots of reasons for that, and I am 100% convinced.

Crean never used him the right way (Zeller). Cody never took a jump shot, and Crean's putting him in the middle against that Syracuse zone was the dumbest possible decision. That needed to be Oladipo for myriad reasons, but Zeller had no chance to succeed there.....but there he was. That single game and single decision is enough for me to think Zeller would roll his eyes about Crean. Yes, Zeller was able to show his athletic ability (Crean had him consistently run to the rim, which is a good call), but he limited Zeller in other ways. Not until he became an NBA player did he develop a short range jump shot. But you park him at the FT line against a good zone. I still can't believe that decision. Hell, Butler showed a year or two before how to beat it with Ronald Nored at the FT line. Why would Zeller be there and not on the baseline?? I digress..

Thank you. Sheesh...I feel out of the loop. If anyone really knows basketball, at least from my chair, it's pretty clear we're paying a guy $3 million annually to do very basic things on the court. Things any good high school coach could teach, and certainly any college coach with a brain and a little talent can adjust to. Personally, I know lots of alums who are upset Crean does so poorly recruiting in Indiana. Let's face it....lots of fans want to follow recruits, and we can't do it because they all go elsewhere.

I feel like there's a code being spoken, and I haven't cracked it. Who is the janitor? What's 41? What tweet? Good grief....if we can get Crean out of here and hire an actual basketball coach, let's do it. Whether it's with a janitor or a maid. 41 of 839. Twitter or Facetime or an Apple 2. A Merlin. Whatever.

Yeah..hard to argue.

Here's the problem as I see it. I expected us to lose this game. Even when we had a lead. I knew we wouldn't execute or make the plays necessary to win. The bar has been lowered. We are 1-3 in the Big Ten, and I expected us to lose a game we really could and probably should have won. Oh, by the way? Thomas Bryant is a horrible post player. Awful. His footwork is atrocious, he's weak, and he's one dimensional. Freddie McSwain is worthless. Does every shot he takes get blocked? 14 turnovers. 9 assists. Loss. Does nobody on the coaching staff see this pattern? Our starting point guard has one assist. That's almost hard to believe until I remember our offense doesn't move or screen. We shoot 9 FT's, they shoot 22. Um....there's a reason, boys. We can't guard, and we don't attack. Oh, and our post players are awful in the post against decent defenders. We out-rebounded them. Got 7 more FG's. And...we lost. Wash, rinse, repeat. I expected us to lose. And I find that so incredibly sad.

Like I said, the bar has been lowered. The eyeball test matters. We may win by 40 today and look great doing it. Doesn't change anything.

Can agree with you...some. We didn't play on the road at 3-4 teams in the top 5. I think that matters. Totally on board with your last comment. I just fear we are now on a slope downward. Crean has made it past the sweet 16 once in 19 seasons. I don't think that's coincidental, and I think he has a ceiling....which I also think he's hit.

Have been thinking a lot about what's wrong with IU Basketball at the moment, and rather than post a diatribe, I'll simply put thoughts in bullet form and let you guys fire away. * Shotgun approach to recruiting rather than specific targets building rosters. * Obvious lack of leadership on the floor, and few kids seem to understand or care where they are * Big wins when shots fall, bad losses when they don't * The formula (take away transition and make them guard for 15+ seconds) to beat Indiana is pretty well known. * Recruiting kids that know the sport and have skills with the ball, but none that know the game or make anyone else better. Nobody who really understands how to play(my issue with this is known, and I still say Crean's lack of focus on Indiana and the surrounding area is a huge mistake. There's a reason most D1 powers recruit Indiana heavily. Many have disagreed with me; I have yet to be convinced. Crean spent 10x more on recruiting last year than Wisconsin did,and 12x more than Butler. For what? There have been, in the last decade, more than 150 D1 players from within 200 miles of the Bloomington campus. I still don't understand the national shotgun. Like I said...fire away) * Inability to adjust when primary options aren't there * A brand of basketball many from this area just don't like watching. Turnovers and bad shots are accepted as part of the game * A seemingly complete lack of discipline or accountability * Discipline problems off the floor a few years ago meant Crean was on a short leash in the eyes of many. He had to win, and a Big Ten title last season helped.... * But the simple fact is, he has been past the sweet 16 just once in 19 seasons, and people are starting to realize why * The bar has been lowered. Expectations are not what they once were, and it's frustrating to many. Crean seems to do....just enough, * Substitution patterns are confounding, as are the kids who seem to have the ball in their hands when it matters. * Lots of talk. Little to back it up. Lots of worry about who might go to the NBA, and it seems to trump success of Indiana's team right now. * Whining. See : Bryant. * We're used to defense around here, and this team flat does not guard. * Finally, I think fans are seeing that our recruiting has really dropped off, and the next few years look bleak unless something changes, and tolerance for mediocrity is waning. Yes, we won the Big Ten, but we all know it was in part due to a weak schedule. The eyeball test is still pretty reliable. One man's opinion.

Indiana just hired the offensive coordinator from Tennessee. I don't care about anything else...I trust that, given UT's success. Indiana is moving very much in the right direction. Now, we need some horses. Go recruit some talent on that side of the ball.

I don't think he's a good coach. If this team achieves what you asked, it'll ONLY be because we make shots and teams let us do what we already do well. It will NOT be because of anything Crean does. He's not changing. There's a reason his teams have made it PAST the sweet 16 just once in 19 seasons. Does anyone think that's a coincidence? I just don't understand why that's okay at IU.

I'll ask this question again, as I liked the dialogue it created last time I did. When is the last time anyone said Indiana had the best coach in the building when we played a good team? Tom Crean has a system. He spreads the floor, recruits kids who he thinks can succeed in a catch and shoot offense, and runs a decent secondary break. When teams take that away, as Wisconsin consistently does, Indiana loses. I haven't looked everything up, but I know for sure that in the Butler, Louisville, and Wisconsin loses (and I think Nebraska, too), we've had more turnovers than assists and more turnovers that our opponent. Why? Because we have nothing to fall back on, Tom Crean is being paid millions of dollars to recruit mediocre recruiting classes, have teams devoid of basketball players who understand the game, a team now devoid of leadership, and an offense so elementary, a 6-6 team can come into our building and beat us. His team can't guard. His team doesn't play fundamentally sound and makes consistently poor decisions with the ball. We put-rebounded Wisconsin tonight by 7, and we made 4 more FT's. As usual, turnovers and horrible shot quality got the best of us, and we got beat. (Seriously, I have never seen a college team settle for or have to take as many bad shots as Indiana does. If we don't get a good look in the first 8 seconds of the shot clock, has anyone else noticed how much we struggle to get good shots in the half court??) The pattern is very obvious, and the flaws were there when Verdell Jones was here. Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo, and Yogi Ferrell (and frankly, Dwayne Wade) can mask a lot of deficiencies, and I'm sorry....but Tom Crean is not a solid basketball coach. He might not be even top 5 in this state.

I don't know anything about him, but any time you can get a guy who's had some level of success in the SEC and can recruit? You've done something good. I know some don't care for him, but Indiana will never, ever win as a primarily defensive focused team; so a good offensive mind is needed. If he can recruit and build something worth watching, he'll do just fine at Indiana

The one game. What have we lost, 5? Like I've said consistently....when we make those quick, bad shots, we're all but unbeatable; and Butler has not had really good teams a couple of years. Indiana should not consistently lose to Butler or Wisconsin, but...we do. For the same reasons. They take away transition, rebound, and make us guard. That's the formula...and has been against Crean's teams.

Crean makes way too much money to have an offense completely reliant on transition. There's a reason Butler beats us every time we play them.

1) A leader. Someone who understands what to do, how and when to do it, and someone who understands what Indiana Basketball is about. 2) An offensive system. Period. If transition 3's aren't falling, we have nothing. Never have under Crean. 3) An attitude. We are generally a soft team, mentally and physically 4) Someone. ANYone to tell these kids turnovers are not okay. Neither are quick, bad shots. 5) A point guard who can actually handle the ball and run an offense 6) A basketball mind (an x and o and game plan guy) on the bench 7) Help defense that has any chance to help Our 2017 recruiting class is very weak, we still don't have a point guard, we have nobody signed for 2018. Anyone else seeing some red flags, here?

Yes. I did. Thank you! I knew someone would have my back.

Shot quality and timing matter. Just because someone is open doesn't mean it's a good shot. Let's not over simplify. "Why" matters.

14 TO's. 8 assists. We can't even get a good look. Lord knows how many quick, bad shots were missed, which are basically turnovers. 32% from the floor? Really? Against a team that played nothing but man defense? The footwork of our post players is atrocious. Embarrassingly so. We play way too fast. We don't put people in position to succeed. We don't move. We over dribble and don't dribble with purpose. We have no half court offense. We have no leadership. There is no accountability. Did I miss anything?