Maynard

Regardless of the outcome of this game a vote of confidence wouldn't surprise me a week before the inevitable departure of Coach Crean.

I do indeed!

Marshall is the same age now that Roy Williams was when he left UK for UNC.

I've got to disagree with you here. I think in this instance the reporter asked a question that he had no business asking in this situation. Crean's denial isn't a matter of integrity in this case, it is a matter of protecting his team. Those kids deserve his best and the best chance to succeed in this tournament. He could have just been shielding his team from the distraction. It could be up for debate whether or not he acted in the best way, but being put on the spot is difficult.

This coincides perfectly with the Missouri AD statement. Its almost as if they have spoken to each other...

This is the best kind of denial. He is leveraging his position. He is going to make more money. Tell the press you love coaching at IU, tell the Missouri AD that you will "give him an ear, but that a move is unlikely." Either that or he flat out said something that wasn't true because he was deer in headlights and wanted to protect the players.

A quick thought on the "Crean deserves credit" line of thought. What Crean deserves is the nearly 30 million dollars that he has been paid under contract. If the point is that people shouldn't hate Crean after he leaves, I would argue that no one should be hated for being a bad coach. KS deserves to be derided not because he was a cheater at Indiana, but because he was a cheater in general. If Crean comes back to Assembly Hall he should be applauded, but Crean didn't make some self sacrificial move to "save" Indiana basketball. He took a higher paying job at a better company. He deserves a fair look at his tenure at IU. His work has been done with integrity, which I should appreciate, but its also something that we should all expect.

Halftime interview Bennett talks about the need to tighten up their defense. Pitt was without a field goal for the last 7 minutes of the game AND only scored 23 points in the half. Plus he didn't cry or clap at all during the interview. Interestingly enough, he is coaching against a guy that was on the list for a lot of IU fans last time around.

Tony Bennett was my first choice. Then I saw this picture of him clapping on the sidelines; now I am not so sure. I was encouraged by the thought that it most likely did not come after a turnover, terrible shot, or other mind numbing play.

It occurred to me that perhaps the way that Crean got his extension was by insisting that the negotiations took place in close quarters. It would be so uncomfortable that you'd pretty much give him any sort of contract to get the negotiations over with.

It is the "Show Me State"

Me neither Treesh. If IU has already made the decision to part ways with Crean, keeping this ambiguous Donovan talk alive helps too many people. 1. It helps IU in their coaching search in general, by leveraging Donovan's "interest" in the job during negotiations with other potential candidates. 2. It gives the fan base the idea that Glass and his cohorts really shot for the moon this time, but couldn't get a commitment out of the notoriously wishy-washy Thunder Coach. "The pull from our great program was really strong, but you know how Billy is, he just couldn't commit." type thing. 3. It doesn't hurt these boards any in the short term. Though, if all of this Donovan stuff is proven wrong (which is virtually impossible since no one is going to ask the Thunder coach next October if he was pursued by Indiana) it could hurt the credibility of the boards in the long run. It seems like a low risk high reward thing to put out this 'information' on Donovan, even if there have only been a few quick phone calls between parties.

I couldn't agree more with this. Its not said a lot, and maybe I am alone in this, but it is NOT Crean's record that bothers me. It is the way that IU has gotten to that record. Carelessness, lack of attention to detail, players not living up to their potential or responsibility as teammates. Take for example, the Syracuse game. If IU played well and Syracuse played lights out to beat them, that game would never be a reference point. Sure people might general comment about not getting past the Sweet 16, but they wouldn't bring up that game. I was just as upset about the game before that when IU played carelessly against Temple and almost lost, or their play in the B1G Tourney that year. I expect more, but I would be considerably less upset if Crean was maximizing lesser talent and arriving at the same record. I just want a coach who pays attention to details. Puts a high priority on fundamentals, and doesn't give games away.

I would take Marshall in a half second. Under no circumstances can Crean stay another year. I would take a year of an interim coach before abother year of Crean. Hell go after Tony Bennett head assistant (Sanchez?) he was once an assistant at IU and has to have learned something in the last 8 years!

1. Bob Knight did not run the same system his entire career, it evolved with players and rule changes. 2. Many of the top college coaches use techniques that Knight made popular to this day. 3. A guy running Bob Knight's system has set a few coaching records in the ACC over the past several years. I understand not liking Knight's personal, but it's important to have perspective on just how much he meant to the game of basketball. From a strategic standpoint he may be the most important College coach of the last 75 years. And yes, his ideas and concepts are still relevant today.

Probably my favorite response of all time. Thanks for the laugh!

I say IU hire Cheaney with Fife as his head assistant and brings Bailey back as well. If Alford wants to be the head equipment manager that's cool. Of that doesn't work out they should see if Jerry Sloan is available.

But does he clap annoyingly on the sidelines? DWS Thankfully the choices are not just Crean vs Alford. I think the whole thing is closer being done than we know, and it's not Alford.

Fwiw here is my take. 1. Crean is gone A. The soft landing stuff is a consistency among several sources. The media reports, which would be an essential part of any soft landing. B. The comments by Doyle and the wording of Forde piece go a long way toward making the national conversation positive for Crean. 2. The pursuit of Donovan makes sense, as does his turning IU down. The time was right for him 2 years ago. The time is right for IU now. IU made a final push, Donovan couldn't commit. 3. It's hardly back to the drawing board. Indiana is/will be the best job on the market. I wasn't even a Donovan guy, but after getting swept up in the excitement, its easy to be let down. I expect a strong push from Alford and a coaching search that will wrap up in the next week. I say Indiana comes out of this with a quality coach. I'm hoping for Bennett.

1.Bennett 2.Bennett 3.Bennett 4. Anyone not named Crean 5.Anyone not named Crean or Alford

I feel like, after this trying evening the tank train needstation a rallying cry. Something like "play bad for Brad!" "Bomb for Billy" "Tank it for Tony" etc

Pull the trigger IUHahn82. On the wedding and the candy stripes!

Clearly those of us who care enough to be on this site are serious IU fans. If Crean returns then we will have to start some sort of formal therapy group. I grew up in the 80's, in a family that watched each game, recorded it, and then watched it two or three times until the next game on the schedule. One year, when my dad was laid up with a back injury, my mother was irritated by the poor signal and ended up falling off an icy roof trying to get the antenna in a better position. When I met my wife, on our first date I told her that things do not get scheduled during IU games. Last year, with the Duke game, I hit my limit. Even when Crean's teams "play well", they don't do the fundamental things all that great, the issues are just covered up by great shooting or the flash of a guy like Victor or Troy. Of course I hope for both, but I could really get behind a team that was low on talent, high on effort and I. I could proudly cheer for an IU team with a losing record, if the losses weren't from carelessness. After the Duke game I didn't watch Indiana for 5 straight games. I didn't even know they were on a couple of times. I am certainly losing my fire under Crean. If he is back, I will definitely be done watching IU. There is nothing he could do next year, including winning a title that would change my mind about him. The idea of a new coach has me completely fired up. I am willing to give ANY non-cheater a chance.

Have you watched any of his press conferences or interviews? I admit that his teams are sometimes not very pretty to watch, but they compete as hard as any team in the nation, and their system is predicated on making the right decision.

Have you watched any of his press conferences or interviews? I admit that his teams are sometimes not very pretty to watch, but they compete as hard as any team in the nation, and their system is predicated on making the right decision.