Old Friend

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.

People are surprised by this?   The IU administration is getting exactly what they want.  

I think he's a baseline guy.    A cutter.  He has the ball in his hands way too much, and he takes way too many jump shots, especially early in the shot clock.  I've never once seen him come off a screen to catch a pass while he's on the move toward the rim; and I'd love to see him used as a baseline cutter more often.  When our kids drive, and it was blatant today, they do so to score.  Even over help.  Troy, behind that help could be a huge weapon along the baseline.   (Drive, draw help, Troy cuts behind help, scores.  Doesn't need the ball, takes high percentage shot, uses his athletic ability.  Doesn't have to do things he can't do)     I think he has too much freedom, and because he CAN handle the ball, he's allowed to do so far too often.  He can be far more effective without the ball than he is; and I would like to see him use his quickness more often when he doesn't try to create for himself.   There have been times he's been used to cut behind zones, and he's been effective that way.  He strikes me as the kind of player that doesn't understand how to let a game come to him, but when he tries to play catalyst and it doesn't go well early, we lose him.

And herein lies a huge problem.  Our fate is determined by a low basketball IQ guy who isn't a good shooter or decision maker.    He has regressed this season, and hasn't improved anything about his game; nor has Crean used him in ways he can be most effective.   

That was his Butler contract, not his Celtics contract.   He said yesterday in at interview while at the Butler game his kids want to go to Butler when they're old enough....he's a midwest guy, and I think a college coach at heart.   The NBA is a players' league...and I don't think it's any more difficult than that.  The issue is timing, and everything about that is speculation.  Nobody "knows" anything.

#Willingtowait

Everything about him is speculative, but there have been some things said by him over the years which indicate he might be interested in the Indiana job were it ever available.   If it's NOT available, he's not a candidate.  And he'll never say a word about it.   If it IS available sometime, I don't believe it's as big a reach as some people think it is.  

Just wanted to give you props because this is such a great way to put it and I think everyone needs to see it for 2 reasons. First, so people don't go crazy if it's NOT Stevens and then panic when it's not someone we've all heard of; and second so people are patient with the end of season process because failing Stevens, there is no "slam dunk" guy out there.   

We cannot extend Crean under any circumstances, and whoever our next coach is will not be someone this obvious unless it's Stevens.    Glass has a hard time ahead of him, and I don't envy his position.  But he cannot look at Tom Crean and see a long term answer.   He's not that stupid.

Welcome to Indiana Basketball.

1)  If anyone disagrees with Crean's half court offense being absolutely awful at this point, I would love to see a reasonable explanation of why.  They either stay on the perimeter and throw up a 3 or drive to nowhere with no purpose.  There's no movement or screening off the ball.   No set to get a particular shot.  Everything is random.  Everything is ad hoc.  There's no flow, no purpose, and no specificity.  No system.  It is awful.  It's BEEN awful.  And it will always BE awful under Tom Crean.  He is not predisposed to look for good shots within the flow of a half court offense.  It's not how he coaches.  Thirty (30) three pointers is way too many.  Living and dying by it.  Same old, same old; and this point is now 7 years old.       2)  Lots of home cooking by officials.  I think that's a rule in the Big Ten.   3) There is no way we should ever lose a game by 20 points when we turn it over just 11 times.   That's a combination of horrible shot selection and awful defense.  Our post defense reminded me of Mike Davis' philosophy - let 'em catch it, do whatever they want, and hope to block a shot or hope they miss.  Costello was 10-12 from the floor and had 22 points.  We allowed him to do whatever we wanted with little challenge.  And...surprise...never adjusted.  Didn't we have a discussion about Crean's ability to adjust this week?   4)  If Williams or Bryant think they're anywhere near NBA ready, they're lying to themselves.  Williams in particular was Godawful.  Pathetically so.   5)  10 FT's.  Ten.  When you settle for bad jump shots, you give yourself no chance to win on the road.   Granted, MSU shot just 12, but they also pounded the paint and got good shots all day, mostly the last 30 minutes.  They cut, they drove to set something up (instead of driving to throw up a prayer like we did), and they showed how you execute an offense.  And...they shot 58% from the floor because of it.   Bottom line, we are (this is a broken record) a very good team when we're allowed to run and when we play in transition.  We are awful in the half court.  And our defense is just terrible.   None of this is new.  Groundhog Day was two weeks ago, right?

If we lose all 4 "tough" games, we'll be lower than an 8.  We go 4-0, we might be a 2.   We then win the BIG Tournament?  (Or get to the final, the decisions are made before the final game is over)  We can even be a #1 if other things fall correctly.      There is no way of knowing right now.   Too much of our "meat" still left on the bone and too many teams jumbled together.    We can be a #11 in a play in game or we can be a very high seed.   And I can make a reasonable argument for both given what happens the next 2-3 weeks.