Southside

I think Archie was about 4th or 5th on my list. But he seemed the most obvious from early on to me. I remember talking to my mom at that time (she still lives in IN) and she asked me who I thought it would be. I said Archie. She's always been a Brad Stevens fan, and I told her I didn't see that happening lol. I told her I wanted Marshall and she had no clue who that was. She liked Crean though. Not that she followed BB or anything. I liked Crean too. Didn't think he hung the moon or anything, but didn't think he was all that bad. I wanted an upgrade, which I didn't see Archie really as a no-brainer upgrade. It was time to move on though. Overall, just not sure the admin/BOT was ready to all in on Hoosier BB till last season, which was likely unfair to both Crean and Archie.

I'm pretty sure I picked Archie to win the job when we were searching, but never got the warm and fuzzies from it. IIRC, I wanted some of the other big names floating around, and if not them, I think I wanted Marshall.

FYI - that was not my quote.

I'm assuming you're talking about Archie (and I agree). But I also often wonder how much the BOT and decision makers since Knight, actually cared about the BB legacy. For a very long time it just felt like they gave zero Fs lol. Feels different now the way they hired Woody, and let him fill out his staff. I love it. On Archie though... Never thought he was a bad guy. Just thought he was perhaps the wrong guy. Perhaps we thought we were getting in on the ground floor and getting a version of his brother lol. Perhaps it was just a lazy pick when we struck out on some bigger names.

Yup. At least the timing would suggest. Perhaps, but teams need bouncy spark plugs too. And shooting can improve. Not saying he's a can't miss prospect, but there's plenty to like.

I think we need a SF. He did say IU has been one of the most in touch, and he's known Coach Ya since his frosh year. I agree things have been quiet from an IU perspective. And the recent offers and timing likely mean IU is not it.

UConn offered recently as well. MSU has the #17 SF (96) in their 23 class TN has the #4 SF (99) in their 22 class, plus another 4 star SF. UConn has no studs in either class, but have 3 SFs on the roster IIRC. From a pure SF perspective, I think the best situation is likely IU. The timing though has me thinking MSU.... Haven't see anything though as far as leans are concerned. Hope Coach Ya has him in the bag. I like the bounce...

A large part of me finds this simply sad... in terms of where CBB has ended up. The other small part hopes we pay the most lol.

I think 2 of the 3 need to merge to stay relevant. It's safe to assume the B10 will pick off a few more teams from those conferences. SEC too. I know geo is less of factor from a trend perspective, but wouldn't doubt to see a PAC/B12 merger. The B12 will have a FL and MW team to go along with WV in a year or so. Expanding W would give them the biggest total market with only the B10 with comparable national reach. The ACC's TV deal will likely turn off teams from joining, just as it makes it hard for teams to leave. But FSU has already knocked on the B10's door, so it's not a line that won't be crossed. All 3 conferences are in jeopardy, but the PAC is ripest. If OR leaves, it's incredibly weak. OR and WA and it's easily the worst conference if not the worst already.

I wouldn't say the B12 offer won't go away. They're obviously being aggressive in their attempts to add, but you can only have so many lol. I agree many of the PAC are hoping for a B10 offer, but I think there are likely some that know it's unlikely they get a knock. Hats off to the B12 for pushing. They can't afford to sit back and be picky like the B10 and SEC. And they don't have buyout/TV-rights barrier that the ACC does. I guess I'm a little surprised there's not more merger talk.

Yup. Saw that too. Doesn't make much sense to me except for maybe the B12 once to go straight up the center of the US from TX to MN... lol. They have a nice geo column working for them, which stops at Iowa. . MN is one of the founding B10 members. I wouldn't cry or anything if they left, but yes, it would be a pay cut for them. IMO, they should focus on picking off the PAC teams. PAC is ripe.

Legend. RIP

Anyone know what degree he got?

Barely is probably a bad word to use, but his early dribbling was pretty rough at times. His body always wanted to go faster lol, and it just took some time for things to come together.

Very nice lol LOL... I actually was tempted to paste Woody's head on Bates, and change the number. Just didn't take the time.

Yup. And likely almost all muscle weight gain. Both needed it big time.

The old, "I'm going to crush this basketball" pose to show off the biceps lol.... All kidding aside, still happy they tweeted about it.

IDK. I think it's partly we just don't recruit big thick dudes lol... But I think we absolutely saw Race transform both his body and his play. BB is a bit tough to really grade stuff like this. Got to be careful with Gs for instance, as you don't want to risk changing the shot too much. That really goes for all positions, but most relevant to Gs and stroking wings. And some teams just recruit more for bully ball.

I think the pics are a little gimmicky. The before pics both have arms crossed, while the after pics have the flex arms pose lol.

Wowzers. that's great stuff.

IMO, we'll see three 20 team conferences. Perhaps 4. The B12 IMO learned their lessons, and will likely be the next to up their number. The PAC is totally vulnerable at this point, so you could see some desperation either from the remaining PAC teams, or the conference in general. B10 and SEC are incredibly strong right now, and the B12 is trending up (here in the now). ACC is in a weird space with their buy-out and future TV rights clause. PAC is totally in jeopardy.

I think there's a stark difference in the amount of practice and meeting room time, to the amount of total time spent by coaches. Recruiting certainly isn't measured. And it's vastly different these days. Spurrier was great in the day. Long time ago. And his comments are about team time. Not saying a HC needs to be 24/7. But we do need to competitive in whoever it is that's staying in touch.

Doyle and Dakich are both huuuuuuuuuuuugeeeeeee TOOLS... Sorry, just had to say it. Is this really tool vs tool?

In the polls I published, I used FB and BB, as well as academic rank, with a little input on market. BB is pretty decent impact to level of attractiveness, but it's not everything. It is something that could tip the scale if all other things are equal or close to equal. I think academics are perhaps overrated to an extent. IMO, as long as don't totally suck (fall out of a certain threshold), a non-AAU team would be fine (they could always join, and Nebraska is not). I don't mind them using the last 5 years. Teams that are down, are simply down. If they've been down for the last 5 year but kept their market share, then the attractiveness is still probably high. Kansas to me aside from BB, just stinks lol. Houston has both good BB and FB, and also a good market. While their viewership might not be where it needs to be, joining the B10 would almost instantly change that. The planned move to the B12 in 2024 has already changed some things for them.