Old Friend

I agree with you. That was my point. Exactly, as a matter of fact.

I still believe the culture at IU is unique and it matters. I think the fact that former player support of MW is unanimous matters and I think IU is a different place. Can someone else win at IU? Yep. I think Sampson would have. But do we want that? I think Scott Drew could. But do we want a guy who lies to kids and families? I think Brad Stevens could. But obviously Archie couldn't. Crean couldn't consistently, Davis was a train wreck. Indiana has tried to move away from its past and the culture which built it. I guess I don't see any reason not to try the way myself and many others have supported. I've had enough of de-emphazsizing IU's most visible and marketable entity. Indiana is NOT "just like everybody else," and to me it's time to act like it. I like the set up, too.

Hey, Bow. At the risk of someone changing my answer spending 4 years blabbing about things I didn't say just so he can follow me around like a child and criticize me like he has nothing better to do.... I like it. I talked to a friend last night who is very close to Butch Carter and by proxy Mike Woodson, and I know the IU basketball "family" is behind it. That matters to me. Woodson wants the job and won''t listen to any of the exterior BS. He's not afraid of the task at hand, believes in player development and local recruiting. I like all of that. Archie wasn't willing to work a room or really change anything. Woodson will be. If you take the names off the resumes, I love Matta and would stack his resume against, say Matt Painter's. Woodson has 20+ years of NBA experience with teams that got better when he was the head coach. Players respect him and like him. That matters. A reality? I wanted Brad Stevens. He was the holy grail. But on second thought and looking at it after stepping back, he really hasn't done anything Woodson hasn't done save coach in college successfully for a short time. Woodson played at Broad Ripple, played at Indiana, and played in the NBA for 10 years. That will resonate w kids whether they have heard of him or not. He may be the most under-rated player in the history of the Big Ten. He was a 2000 point scorer in only 114 games at Indiana. He was Big Ten player of the year having played just FIVE Big Ten games his senior year. As Dakich said today, Woodson has dealt with the egos of Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin. He can handle players' mommies. The minutiae won't bother him. Matta will help him with the ins and outs of running a college basketball program; and I think that combo will really be fun. My opinion? I think Indiana - shown by Matta w Woodson, are getting back to their own culture (no longer running it like a mid major), and at the same time, running IU men's basketball like a top tier basketball program for the first time in 21 years. I see a whole lot of questioning and doubt above; and I had it too at first reaction. Having had some time to think about it, I really like it and think he deserves this shot. The "family" will now be united and that can do nothing but help. Edit : Bob Kravitz doesn't like it which means I love it. He and so many others are so damned unable to look beneath the surface. Why journalism guys like he and Zac Osterman (whose experience is playing Madden and NCAA Basketball on XBox) are asked for their input on sports. I digress..

The second fact doesn't take them down from blue blood status. Just like it hasn't for the Knicks. Just like it hasn't for the Montreal Canadiens. Both blue blood programs. Same as IU. Recent success / failure doesn't affect that.

180* wrong. Blue blood means historic. Foundational. All time championships both national and conference. Programs that built and shaped what we have now in every sport (the Knicks, for example are a blue blood NBA team). There is no "momentary" blue blood status; nor is a team "still" a blue blood. You either are or you aren't. In college basketball, it's Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, probably Duke and probably UCLA. For example, what will it mean for college basketball as a whole if Purdue becomes a national powerhouse? Not a whole hell of a lot. What will it mean when Indiana does so again? You know the answer as well as I do. Reason? College basketball's better when Indiana's good. Same as college football's better when Notre Dame's good. Why? Blue bloods have that kind of clout. And they always will. It's not a temporary condition. There's a reason IU is RIGHT NOW the #3 revenue generating college basketball program even as bad as they've been. You're making up your own definition and then arguing against it.

You aren't alone at all. Guys who are dead set against him aren't watching how he beats people. He just punished Illinois and his team put on a clinic doing it with inferior athletes. He is doing this with an entirely new group than went to the Final Four; but somehow he wouldn't succeed here? He does everything Brad Stevens does. I think he'd be terrific. He's a basketball coach. Not just a recruiter.

Best news I could have asked for. Hope everyone is well.

You know as well as I do you're in part referring to me, and given what another guy said last month, I thought I'd make an appearance for no other reason than you two still seem obsessed. You've always done exactly what you did here. (and if "stalker" is name calling, then yep. It fits a couple guys, and I'll stand behind that as long as I need to) It's cheap and it's a narrative....not reality. THIS is why I left and only rarely post anymore. Making some claim that I can't "take it" is laughable. Who "took" more than me over the years? I'll wait. I did so because I knew damned good and well my first point below was accurate and the ease of narrative vs. truth is time tested. 1) I'll give you a week. A month. As long as you want to find a single time when I insulted someone without being personally insulted first - and I don't always mean in a single post. I mean given history. I'll wait on THAT, too. Same question re: condescending. I'm condescending toward YOU simply in response to the way you always treated ME. Something about not being able to take it?? When have I done that without it having been done to me, first? You included and don't lie to everyone and give it the "who, ME?" BS. You know better and so do I. Stop it. You're civil to me, I'm civil to you; and I promise there are only a handful of people where condescension has entered the fray. I'll call a spade a spade. You can either take it or you can't. 2) My story on Archie was consistently that we needed to wait until he had his own players to judge him. I never - as far as I know - claimed anything. He's very obviously a good coach. Is he the right coach? I know I never claimed that. And he's got about 3 weeks to make some changes because his team is awful to watch, and I know a whole lot of influential people, including one woman whose name is on the building where he coaches, have had enough. I also know the support from administration has been sub-par, and all of the blame isn't on his shoulders. That's for another thread. 3) In response to your bunk mate a couple of weeks ago, who also claimed I said Tom Crean would be great at IU, that's another laughable narrative and a flat assed lie, just like my saying anything but the above re: Archie. "I can teach a fat kid in flip flops to stand still." "You can't win the conference and then finish 10th." "Tom Crean can get kids to say yes, but he can't build a program." Any of that sound familiar? THAT's what I said, among myriad other things. Since his first season when I watched his offense stand still; and for his entire tenure we could only score consistently in transition.

1) Jump 2) I said from the beginning it wasn't a good idea to judge Archie until he had his own players to fit his system. He has his own kids and plenty of talent. You can see the results as easily as I can; and the "why" is equally obvious. 3) One of the reasons this board became impossible to stay with is the foolish notion that someone's ego or style somehow makes him wrong. Dan Dakich has been spot on, dead on the head of the nail 100% right about this program for years, and I have said as much for a long time. The body of evidence from the masses who don't want to hear it from him is massive and should at some point be eye opening because he's spot on and has BEEN spot on. Go to 1070 the Fan and listen to the podcast from today (Jan 15th). He sums it up perfectly with support from former players and I completely agree. I promise so many people will listen to how he says it and call him an idiot. Like Groundhog Day. But he's right. He's 100% right. And....I've been telling you all he's been right for YEARS. Style points are for losers. Where are we now? 4) The other primary reason this board became impossible is I promise the same couple of gutless trolls will quote this (or they'll at the very least start typing before they realize I'm talking about THEM and stop) and come with some lame personal attack because for whatever reason think they have to quote, rebut, and criticize everything I say - regardless of how true it is - because of some snowflake personal agenda. They can't help themselves because it's their theater and their only act. You know who I'm talking about and so do they (one in particular who I never saw add one damned thing to this board. I didn't post for several months and THERE he was nitpicking and trolling as soon as I did. Literally within minutes. Same cast of a few characters bobbing their figurative heads in agreement and reveling in themselves. Still with the same pathetic material as if this board and personal attacks is what gives them their juice. After 4 months. No thanks. I have no time for moronic idiocy like that. Get a life, clowns). You all can keep him. His normal 4 word posts are riveting. I hope the rest of you have an incredible 2021 that's far better than 2020 was. Archie's not the guy. I know it just like you know it, bleed....Jump.

Armaan deserves credit for that, but thank you.

Whatever. Semantics, and certainly not with any volume. See : "same guys bitching about the same sh*t." You and Josh. What a shock. Return to your miserably negative and vindictive life and keep congratulating yourself on how smart you are. Same guys. Same sh*t. Predictable as the sunrise. Laters.

Gone for almost a year and it's the same guys bitching about the same sh*t, (it's seriously like Groundhog day) with the same complete lack of understanding about the bigger picture. We'll know a lot more about things when we hire a new president. Hint to the same cast of characters. McRobbie is the problem. Not Archie. We can keep up the carousel of coaches if you guys want to. That will never matter without the right support, and boys.....we don't have it under McRobbie. Think bigger. See you in a year.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it weren't. Kevin Warren is not close to qualified to run an athletic conference. I don't care how many law degrees he has, the personal and competition elements of it are incredibly beyond his realm of leadership. I know he was the COO of the Vikings, but he shows about as much understanding of how to run the Big Ten as sportswriters do about covering sports. It's really sad what the Big Ten has become. It's now a politically correct, err on the side of extreme and over-caution, let's try to please everyone, kumbaya, over-thinking, over-assume their position of leadership in college sports bastion of ignorance and "everyone gets a trophy." God, I miss John Ryan, Ralph Floyd, and Wayne Duke.

The leadership of the Big Ten conference is an incredible joke. Commissioner Warren is as far over his head and out of his element as a man can be. The Big Ten's in trouble.

Your last indicates the problem with this site, our country, and Americans as a whole right now as far as I'm concerned. It's as if democrats are supposed to, by some unwritten law disagree or oppose everything republicans do and vice versa. There's no room for dialogue, no room for civil disagreement. Politics used to be two political parties basically wanting the same things, just taking two different roads to get there. Ideas were discussed and debated. Americans chose party sometimes in duality in the same election based on who might be a better leader locally, nationally, etc. Today? Everything is political. Everything seems divided along political lines, and the incivility/crudeness of disagreement is disgusting. Politics has become a cesspool. Republicans aren't evil people. Democrats aren't evil people. There are loose cannons and morons on each side; and it's as if we've let those people define an entire party to the point of people acting flat out vile toward one another. Why is it you feel as a democrat it's an exception to compliment someone on the other side of the aisle? Do you feel as if supposed to "swipe left" every time regardless of circumstances? Compelled to align with democrats along the party line simply because you generally agree with the democrat platform? Serious question. If "yes," I hope you can see the problem with that and the division it's causing. I generally lean the other way, but I'm pretty liberal socially. I don't have a problem complimenting a democrat. For example, I think Mayor Hogsett has done some really sound things here in Indianapolis. I wonder why it seems so difficult for some to give any credit to a political opponent?

Next season's leader is going to be Brunk. It's in his DNA and it's in his work ethic. He'll be the vocal leader. Others (Durham, Phinisee, TJD) have leadership qualities, but they'll lead more by example. A team only needs one vocal guy and a bunch of others who work hard and lead with their actions. Indiana has all of that next season and I don't know that I see a weak link, to be honest.

You know...nobody even mentioned it, so if it was around then, I had no idea.

Spanish Mackerel, caught in a bay near Ft. Myers. That is my oldest son....he was 17 when that pic was taken last October.

Most on this board have been very happy to pass on him for what he is not. I don't think you ever pass on a kid who has the skills and IQ he does, but I'm not a college coach.

Bloomington South is a 4A school and plays a good schedule (Top 50 in Indiana this past season. Silver Creek was outside the top 100. Should we make the same argument against Kaufman?). EVERY high school player plays against "weak" competition compared to what they face in the Big Ten or anywhere else. What are your expectations for players against other high school teams? You can't play against the best players in the country in high school games, and the guy just won Mr. Basketball over some pretty stout players including Galloway, Tony Perkins, and others. Referencing Graham is a little misleading from a few perspectives. You mentioned injuries, and that was a factor. You left OUT that he played with some pretty solid players. Cheaney would probably have won Mr. Basketball if he were healthy; you could have made an argument for Greg Graham, too. Then Henderson, Bailey, Evans....how was Graham supposed to be a "star" when he WAS in fact, injured much of the time?

https://www.hoosiertimes.com/herald_times_online/sports/college/iu/mensbasketball/the-maturation-of-mr-basketball-anthony-leal/video_131c6d8c-7b6f-11ea-887a-4fea31503b9b.html

This will make people happy (sorry if this was already posted) https://twitter.com/TrayceJackson/status/1248669029260296192?s=20

Lander doesn't re-qualify, IU will land 4 in a row, and might anyway depending on who's the 2021 leader. I met Leal at the IU - UM football game. He played AAU with a kid I coached, and talked with me for a little while. Shorty answer, I'd take 12 of him. I'm excited for this kid.

I never saw a single mention from anyone that said "Crean can't recruit" as a standalone comment. Crean couldn't build a roster effectively. I saw (and said) that a lot, which is why he has never won consistently. But "Crean can't recruit" on its own merit? No.

Are you looking for black helicopters?