IU Bud

I spent two weeks in Portsmouth, UK. There are a lot of D-Day displays and things to see there about the invasion.  There is a museum on the beach and things to see. They have a church without a roof that they have left as a tribute to the bombs that were dropped during the war. 

I have no doubt we will use a 3 guard starting lineup. Crean can't resist. Only having 4 guards means that there may be times when CTC plays a 2 guard lineup with a shooter like Hartman in the game in place of JBJ or RoJo. I would rather see this than Hartman backing up Williams in CTC's version of the 4 spot. I would rather have Holt, Anunoby, back up Williams.  Bielfeldt can back up Bryant. I am not sure if Morgan will play a 4 or a 5. Maybe both if he shows he can .  Bielfeldt gives us a known product that will be the most ready to play from day 1.   Bielfeldt is a basketball player. Hanner was an athlete. Hanner is your man if you want to get a play on a top ten countdown. Bielfeldt is your guy if you want a basketball player that will play an all around game for 10 - 15 minutes per game. I would like to congratulate our staff on turning HMP and Davis into Bielfeldt and a shot at Thon Maker. 

He seems to be a good rebounder. Sounds like a solid defender. His stats aren't that far off from our starter last year in fewer minutes per game.    Glad to have him. Hartman won't have to play the 5 this year!

I know the next summer session is coming up and most, if not all, of the players will be back this month. It would be preferable for Max to be in Bloomington when the team comes back to town if he is going to decide to play for us.   Technically, he can wait until the fall if he wanted to. Realistically, he would be behind if he did that.  

It would be pretty likely he chooses Florida and goes with the coach that signed him originally.  He had good stats in juco.  I like hearing we are at least in contact with him.

There are classes and students on campus now. Hanner and Davis would have been working out and I assume taking the first summer session classes  This week Watford and Sheehey are in town working out.  They would be good to work out with.   My point is, Max delaying his decision makes it harder to get Max, or another player we may be looking at, to be on campus.  Team chemistry is born in the summer workouts. Being together without all the other school activities and distractions creates a training camp environment.  Leadership grows out of the players organizing their informal workouts.   My cousin just started as an assistant coach at VU this spring.  He started this week working with players that have come back to campus. 

The players should begin to show up on campus for summer classes.  While they are on campus taking classes, coaches can work out with them individually.  As a group, the team can play in unorganized team activities that would include conditioning and playing against each other in scrimmages and pick up games. I would expect a transfer like Max would benefit from being on campus with the rest of the team.

I am trying to remember the background that Glass came from. I believe we were having financial issues and he was more from the business side and got the program out of the red.   I think the time has come for us to hire an AD from the sports side that has been in the trenches and had to maintain a top program.  I like that he is an IU guy.  So is Chris Reynolds.  I hope to have him back as an AD some day.   Glass made a big financial commitment to Crean. He has to honor that decision or face the scrutiny of wasting a lot of the University's money.  Glass knows if Crean has to go with several years left on a contract, he could be next.  Crean needs to do a better job so Glass can keep his job.

If Max is so in the bag for Iowas State that he is waiting for the announcement to be official, he should just go there. Sure I want to have him play for us, but we need to move on. Today before the Hoiberg announcement would be when he should pick us if he is going to.     I would wait 1 hour after the Hoiberg presser and offer the next best 5th year transfer with the message that we will take the first person that accepts the offer.

So, now they are starting over. It will be many years before they are competitive. Too bad they can't start out playing in the lower divisions.  They will get killed.

I guess he is waiting to hear the official word that Hoiberg is going to the Bulls. Could he also be waiting to see who the replacement coach will be? It could take Iowa State some time to form a search committee and name a new coach.  Hopefully, it was Hoiberg or nothing for Max.     I would hope his decision, or lack of one, would not prevent us from taking another quality 5th year transfer. You snooze, you lose.

A good rumor is one that is believable. Thibodeau would never work for Crean, ever!

For what it is worth, Iowa State boards are beyond speculation about if Hoiberg is leaving.  They are speculatiing on who is going to replace Fred.  Their point is he could have ended speculation long ago with a statement that he wasn't interested in the NBA.  Most feel he has been waiting for a chance like Chicago or Minnesota. Both spots are open.   I would be surprised if he isn't meeting with the Bulls today.

I am with those that will have to take some time to warm up to him if he picks us.  Of course I will support him because he was in our program, but that will come after I see him on the court busting his butt for the team.   I would be just as happy at this point with a similar player.  I don't think there is another out there this late for us to use as plan B. I would be okay with a graduate transfer guard for one scholarship.  We need to get the best available player at this point. It is like picking in the late rounds of a draft.  You aren't getting an impact player, but you might find a solid bench player.   I have thought since the end of the NBA season that Thibodeau would be leaving and Hoiberg would replace him.  Let's see if Max follows through and comes to IU when it happens.  In the meantime, let's keep kicking the weeds and take a good player if this drags out too long.

Chicago will act quickly before Minnesota gets too involved.  He has history with Minnesota, but he inherits better talent at Chicago.  Of course replacing a coach that went to the playoffs in the 5 years he was there would seem to say the expectations will be high.  Either way, I don't see him staying at Iowa State.  

It is only a matter of time before Max decides between a program like Indiana or football school that plays basketball.

If we have another big transfer in mind, we should be going hard after them.  Max doesn't seem to have us as his #1 choice.  If his heart isn't at IU, we should move on to someone that really wants to come here. Whoever comes in will know they are playing behind Bryant.

At first I thought that maybe it was the climate in Arizona he liked. The program was the least of the schools mentioned, so it had to be something else.  Then I remembered he has been living in Canada. Btown would have better weather than Canada.  It isn't like he is going to be in Bloomington forever. 

There is little chance anyone would start over Troy. Maker could come in early, but only an injury would allow him to start.  Crean won't change his starting lineup at mid-season, but it would be a fun group to watch. 

I would compare Thon to Cody in the ability to run the court, but he handles the ball better than Cody. It is hard to tell from a clip like this, but he seems to have good hands.  He can also face the basket and beat someone off the dribble. His frame and ability  reminds me of Kevin Garnett.    If he were to come in at mid-season, he could find a way to help.  He might not start over Troy, but he would be an awfully hard match-up off the bench.   Imagine if we could kidnap Crean so we could see Williams, Maker, and Bryant on the court together with Yogi and JBJ!.

Max was going to make his decision after the Memorial Day holiday. It is after Memorial Day. It's Indiana. It's Indiana. Forget about if Hoiberg is staying and pick us already.  

I had seats on the floor for the 5 game package.  I focused on HMP playing defense. He had no sense of what other players were trying to do. He reacted and often too slow.  It was almost as though he waited until it was too late to help.  His awareness of what was going on around him was very low. Defense was only part of it.  He never learned to play in the post.  Holt was a better offensive player in the post on day 1 and will get better on defense.   I was curious if HMP would have left had he graduated.  After Bryant signed his LOI, I was kind of hoping he would leave so Holt would play more. I don't think loosing HMP will have anything but a positive effect on next year.   Teams don't seem to be breaking down the door to talk to him.

It was a great race. The best cars ended up at the front. Pags and TK would have added to the drama, but ran into trouble.   SNC sounded better live than when I watched the race on TV. I don't want to see a new group do this every year. I hope this is part of a new tradition. Florence Henderson can keep singing as long as she wants. I want to hold on to some traditions as long as we can.   They better figure out a new way to give the call to start the engines. I don't think Mari Hulman George appreciated the assistance. We had to come home and see what went on. It looked and sounded strange live and looked bad on TV.   Honda has a big problem.  The rules don't allow them to make the big revisions they need until after the season is done. The big engine cover and dorsal fin doesn't seem to be helping. It might have helped Penske in the early 90's, but it doesn't help now.   That was the best fight at the front I have seen for a while. I focused on the top 6 all day, but was surprised the way JP worked his way from the back. I can't wait for next year!

I don't know why he would have fought for the Big Ten exemption so hard if he didn't want to play in the conference.  I don't know where his best place is for opportunity, but we have to be hard to turn down in that field.   I hope he announces soon.

It is about time!  How long has this investigation been going on?  I thought the NCAA had swept it under the rug and forgot about it.