Old Friend

One mediocre defender can be masked. We won't play many teams with 5 guys who can beat a defender one on one and score enough for it to matter. No defender is going to be THAT bad. If a kid is a lights out shooter, we need him. Not necessarily THIS one; but I wouldn't hold out for a "complete" player if we can get a great shooter. Romeo is not a very good defender much of the time. Sheehey wasn't, as another example.

I'm telling you....Dakich isn't as wrong or as bad as a lot of people seem to think he is. He calls it like he sees it, and I think his viewpoint and my own are close on a lot of things. "Experts" don't generally have any more knowledge than fans do. Some of them have never played competitive sports in their lives, so I KNOW they know less than I do. There's a lot more to sports than highlight films and things you can measure with a stopwatch, tape, or scale.

Amen to that. Absolutely 100% agree. Been true for a long time and I've called a lot of people out for believing that simply because a kid wears "INDIANA" on his jersey, he should be a terrific college player immediately. I don't know if you know my history or not; but things got very heated on another board because I said : Tijan Jobe, Bawa Muniru, Mike White, Jessean Gray-Ashley, Ben Allen, and a few others were stiffs and that Crean spends most of his time trying to out think the room. Lots of guys believed exactly as you said....that players were better than they really were because they were OUR players. Probably the same people who stalk on Twitter and then boo kids when they pick other schools. Embarrassing to say the least.

I was very on Phinisee's side a couple of years ago, so I'd say I was one giving him praise. I don't know if it was me or someone else you're referring to; but I knew he was a solid player who would be a terrific college guard. Franklin will be a solid college player too, in my opinion. Watching both, I honestly don't know what Romeo can do that Franklin can't. Romeo may have done it for 4 years; but as a senior? I'm not sure I would buy Romeo was a better player by any significant margin for that one season. And Franklin's longer and plays better defense.

I never saw one person who thought Gelon would contribute as a freshman. That said, your overall point is correct. Fans expect freshmen to step on campus and play like college players; and that happens far less frequently than not. It's why teams that have seniors (without a roster of one and done's) generally do well. Who has said not getting Keion is fine because we have Franklin? Are you creating things so you can argue against them? It's a little surprising that you'd bring up a point that says "how much better Keion would have made us" a season after Romeo....didn't. I'll bet you anything you want to bet Indiana wins more than 15 next season.

I'm going 180* different on this one. Player development will now take a front seat, and coaches who can take raw talent and develop it will have the advantage. Victor Oladipo is Indiana's best example (although credit for his development goes to the coaches for that 19U team he played for and not Crean, but for the sake of the story....). As a freshman? Not close to ready. As a junior? The #2 pick in the draft. The reality is there are really only a handful of kids who are NBA ready, and not that many more who are G League ready out of high school. College basketball players, like college baseball players can develop and get better; and it'll be more common for everyone to be pulling on the same end of the rope. I think recruiting becomes MORE valuable than it is now; and I think it'll become more localized, which will help Indiana.

I'm convinced "experts" are self titled. He plays in 4A against D1 kids every night. I saw him score an easy 30 in 24 minutes against Lawrence North 2 weeks ago. He's good. Much better than Anderson.

Not quite...but close. Phinisee has an IQ I could see a long time ago. Franklin started as a 4 and ended as a combo guard, so it's hard to be that confident in his IQ as a guard. We'll see; but he's freaky long, very athletic, he can guard, and he's git terrific vision. He's better than his ranking....I'll say that. He is not the "shooter" Indiana needs, but he can shoot.

Who are "they?" See above.

Here's where we differ. I saw Anderson last year and I saw a kid stand around and who I said openly on here wasn't ready. I said Phinisee would surprise because I saw him several times. Same with Franklin. I do have an idea on Franklin because I have seen him and seen him against D1 kids. You may not have; but it's not foolish at all if you have.

Hell froze over tonight. You and I agree.....except I'm here to tell you, Franklin will play and he will contribute,

Completely and absolutely disagree. Have you seen him play?

Assuming Smith stays, there are 80 total minutes available at the 4 and 5 every night. Davis, Jackson-Davis, Hunter, Thompson, and Smith can eat those minutes in a hurry, and Smith and Hunter can play the 3 as well. That leaves out Forrester and Moore who many said should play THIS season when we had no depth. Moore's done. Not sure about Forrester.

I think a lot will change, and I don't even expect Green to BE here, let alone start. Franklin or Hunter would start over him, anyway; and I think over Smith, too. I know I'm betting on a healthy Hunter; but.... I'd bet on Phinisee, Franklin, Durham, Hunter, Davis. Hunter by the way is 6'7" 220. Morgan as a senior is 6'8" 230.

I've been positive a lot...maybe not game to game; but a lot more than for you to be surprised! Give me SOME credit! Yes...player development will be key and we'll all know how Archie and staff are doing very quickly. We need to start by an expectation of at least 75% FT's as a team.

More to chew on. This season : Romeo was exposed as a pretty limited player. DeRon Davis was coming off an achilles tear and was pretty immobile most of the season. Phinisee went down in the game that made Indiana 10-2. He said himself he didn't feel right until about the Iowa game we lost in OT. That mattered during the bad stretch in Jan/Feb. Indiana expected to have Race Thompson and Jerome Hunter this season. Not having them made us thin almost everywhere. McRoberts had a bad back and simply couldn't do what he did even a year ago. Green's antics for several games cost Indiana opportunities....bad shots are turnovers. As good as he was late, he was that bad for most of the season. Fitzner, Moore, Anderson, McRoberts, and Forrester were dead weight. Gave us nothing. Morgan was our only productive senior; our juniors were coming off injuries, one got suspended, and that same kid is a playground kid. So basically....Indiana played with one great senior who is a limited 5 and has very little outside game; two juniors who couldn't really lead or effectively play their roles most of the season, one sophomore who improved; one who didn't but showed flashes; a grad transfer, and a couple of freshmen. That's just simple truth. No excuses...that's what we had. Next season? Durham - an improving junior who bought in and plays with effort. Also has a leadership gene Phinisee - we saw what he can do when he's healthy. Davis - Senior, and will be back to close to 100%. Could be a dominant post player Hunter (I believe he'll play and be healthy) - He's good. A solid player who will surprise many Thompson - An effective role player who will also play with effort Smith - Wild card. So much potential Franklin - I'll say it again, we won't miss Romeo as a player. Franklin can essentially do what Romeo did. He won't get the chance to average 17, but he could if we needed him to. I saw him score 30 very easily against Lawrence North, who has a few D1 kids on its roster Jackson-Davis - He'll be good enough to help; not just contribute; and with a healthy Thompson, finally gives us quality depth in the front court. Something we did not have this season. Some combination (or not) of Green, Anderson, Forrester, Moore. Don't need any of them except "good Green." We add another piece or two, I like our chances to be much better a year from now.

Like I said, Chicken Little.....talk to me in 11 months. Right now? I'm sure you think the worst.....I can't be proven right or wrong until at least next January; so laugh now. But remember, and look me up then. You can gloat or apologize and I expect whichever one is appropriate.

Let me see if I can instill some sanity into this mess. 1) No team...not Indiana, not anyone can effectively handle just one "1 and done" kid. The reason is simply because that player will almost always have a different agenda than his team mates; and at this stage after almost 20 years of below standards basketball? Indiana needs program kids. Unless we want ti become UK and get a bunch every season, Indiana is better off without one and done players; and the ones they DO get need to have more than a right hand drive to the rim. Just sayin'. 2) Next season, Jerome Hunter will play. And he's good. I saw Arman Franklin play a few times. We will not miss Romeo one bit. You all can call me crazy if you want to....and I know some will. But talk to me in 11 months. Franklin is at least as athletic, a better shooter (although I wouldn't call him a shooter),and has a left hand. Davis will be a year healthier. Thompson will be healthy. Phinisee will be healthy. And TJD is very good. I doubt we'll have to worry about Clifton Moore and perhaps 1 or 2 others...Indiana will be a better team next year. By far. 3) There will be another addition or two. We won't know those names until we know who's leaving; but I'm here to tell you the sky did not fall tonight. Brooks choosing UK means nothing to IU or the direction of IU or the downfall of IU or that IU "lost a player." A kid who transferred to La Lumiere for basketball only reasons chose UK for basketball only reasons and he wouldn't have been a long term fix at IU any more than Romeo has been. Breathe folks. And please stop the incessant negativity. Purdue lost tonight. Rejoice in that consistent mess.

Eh. His personal life is his personal life. We had a president of our country receiving.....Lewinski's under his desk in the oval office. We can tolerate a football coach's problems. I'm sure McRobbie hears it. I'm also sure he doesn't care.

Sometimes conversations morph. Better to just deal with it and don't be "that guy." Do you eat all of one thing on your plate before moving to the next thing? Do you truly expect people to say "oh....there's a thread about this..let's go there?" Sometimes...conversations change topic and direction.

I don't disagree with any of that. I was simply answering the question "why isn't he fired yet?" Here's the thing. Regardless of how upset fans are, Indiana consistently ranks within the top 10-20 in money collected by its athletic fundraising arm....in our case, the Varsity Club. Indiana Sports Properties is still one of the wealthiest in the country. This is fueled almost entirely by our rabid fan base. The boosters may have their limits, but they have not yet spoken with their donations or lack thereof. So..what limits are there? We don't yet know. Our president keeps score with money and stature. Not wins and losses or true successes. Hence, the Kelly School's drop in status; the influx of east coast kids and their dollars; as you mentioned, drop in status and results with men's basketball; firing a winning football coach because he wasn't politically correct and treated the precious athletes like a meanie. Look no further than the school in Lafayette. They hire a president who's a true leader FROM Indiana who expects and demands excellence throughout the university. Indiana has an Austrailian dude who couldn't care less about sports or IU's tradition; and who doesn't realize or care that his most marketable entity (and it's not close) is men's basketball. I think Archie cares and I think Glass cares. I also think Glass and McRobbie screwed the pooch with the athlete bill of rights, and I find it laughable that Glass is surprised nobody else has followed suit. Glass is a problem...no doubt. But the root of it? The core? It's McRobbie and it's the board of trustees. The last thing I want right now is Archie Miller to be fired or even worried about it. What I DO want are people like McRobbie; Dr. Michael Mirro; Pat Shoulders and that stupid mustache of his, Harry Gonso, and Donna Spears (who is an "associate broker" with Coldwell Banker. Yes....she is a realty assistant and a trustee of Indiana University) to give a damn. To care about excellence throughout the university. I want Quinn Buckner to speak up instead of giggle like Dr. Hibbert on The Simpsons. I want Cindy Simon-Skjodt to demand excellence in the building she just spent $45 million improving. I want the athlete bill of rights torn up and athletes to be held accountable. I want coaches to be unafraid to hold their players accountable and unafraid of the crap that comes from the snowflakes who don't want their babies yelled at by coaches dependent on their performance in order to keep their jobs. The problems at IU definitely include Fred Glass; but they are hardly limited to him. Pat Shoulders and Michael McRobbie are far worse culprits.

She is absolutely right, and some Indiana fans are very guilty. It's embarrassing. There are Twitter stalkers out there who hide behind keyboards and either fawn over kids or insult them. Neither helps; both hurt; and do nothing but embarrass real fans who understand we're talking about kids. 17 year old kids. She's right. Grow up.

Because he is doing his job as defined by the president and board of trustees. IU is in the black and many bought into his athlete bill of rights and guaranteeing scholarships...signing off on it, even.

Have to remember, he's not visited Bloomington since September or something. UK was his last visit. We're never going to get all of the players; and there are other scholarships out there..this is just the biggest fish left. I don't mean to put the banana in the tailpipe, but I won't be surprised if we don't land him. Love it if we do; but I think UK's a tough out for Brooks.