IU Bud

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.

It would be refreshing to see an IU player stay and improve a little each year and be a key player in year 4.

I offered many reasons for the visit. I don't need to "chill out". Point out where I said I was concerned about the commitment? Just the opposite.  

The visit sounds unusual, but there could be a number of reasons for it.  Maybe Crean is making sure the family understands the schedule of events moving forward.  I heard somewhere that there is some paperwork needed to get Bryant enrolled.  It sounds like things that could be done over the phone, but not a bad idea to meet the recruit again after his decision..   Maybe Bryant's mom had questions and Crean wanted to meet in person to discuss.  Maybe UK is reaching out to Bryant and Crean wants to solidify our commitment to him.   If Calipari is doing this, it is time to take the gloves off.  Coaches typically don't turn other coaches in for recruiting irregularities.  UK surely has them.  Maybe we should start getting serious in WWW's involvement with many of UK's players. 

If Z leaves, we would have to replace him with another guard. I suppose someone would propose that Troy could play a guard, but they would be wrong without a lot of work. Remember trying to turn Hollowell into a pg?  That failed miserably.   If Z left, what are the odds we would get a better player more ready to step in and play at this time? Who is available?

Yogi JBJ Troy HMP Bryant   I would rather see Holt start in the place of HMP, but Crean would never do that. The reason for this lineup is so we would have RoJo to come off the bench for Yogi/JBJ. Having two players inside allows us to do more things. I remember the way Jeffries and Newton worked together. When the ball got inside. One defended the ball while the other would come over and block the shot. We put a lot of pressure on a single post player without having help inside.   Holt is a better rebounder and scorer than HMP. HMP gets the start simply because of his experience.  Holt and Morgan could take minutes in the 4 wile backing up Bryant. If we start 3 guards, they will get worn down and our depth with Davis/Holt/Anunoby/Morgan/HMP would be wasted. Start HMP or Holt and we can use or build more depth.   2016 has to be the year to bring in pg's.   I may have a breakdown if I see Hartman playing inside this year. Put him on the wing where he can score and defend.

I hope we don't start 3 guards if we get Bryant.  I truly believe one reason are offense has fallen flat the last two years is our freshman hit the wall in the 25th game or before. We need to start two guards and use Zeisloft and one of the returning sophomores off the bench. I hope they all play an equal amount of minutes.   The small forward will be basically Troy and Hartman. Maybe one other person will fit at the 3, but there won't be many minutes left over.   Under your scenario, without seeing Bryant, I would still expect him starting in the post with Hanner backing him up. Everyone else will fight for the 4 spot. There is no reason to start or play 3 guards unless it is needed to match-up better.  How nice would it be to have options?  We have to get a good post player. I prefer Bryant, but I would welcome Maker.   I still think we will get another guard for next year 

I have thought that Crean could be successful if he would learn to recruit and coach a team that is strong up front and can shoot, drive and defend in the back court.   He seems to understand 3/5 or 4/5 of what it takes to be successful over a long season of banging. We would be much better if we always had more than one in the post with strength and length. A running mate that could muscle down a rebound while the post player is defending the rim and contesting shots inside is something we are missing.   I remember Jeffries and Newton, Cody and Watford, or Thomas and Garrett as duos that controlled the paint and worked well together.  You also have to have a good backup for each one. We have Hanner and Holt and they never play together. If they did play together, we would have no depth because April has been in the dog house all year. Imagine if April would have gotten a chance and Davis could have played as a starter with Hanner. That isn't a Final 4 front court, but it could become a competitive one in time.   Down the stretch, RoJo and JBJ looked tired and beat up. It is a grueling season for a freshman, especially when you have to play against bigger and stronger players all the time.

Teams that would have given Evansville Reitz trouble are falling. Reitz will destroy Franklin Central tonight. Pike and Bloomington South are also gone. Is there anyone left that will give Reitz a tough game?  At this point it seems only Reitz can stop Reitz!

My son and I are heading up there to watch my Alices beat Evansville Memorial in the Regional championship. Haven't been in that gym since my daughter played there.

Went to the Evansville Reitz vs. Evansville Harrison game.   Reitz 107  Harrison 94   Closest winning margin Reitz has had against one defeat. Southport rematch isn't going to happen. Reitz likes to grab and bump. Foul trouble or a big front court is the only thing that will stop Reitz.

I plan on going to the Reitz vs. Harrison expected match up in the Sectional. I know Reitz will beat Harrison, but you only have to be better once in the tournament.  Any team can be beaten, but nobody has come close this year.

The Reitz vs Southport game that was postponed is still supposed to be played this weekend? I am not sure that is a good idea leading up to the sectionals. It is a shame they couldn't play it as scheduled.

Bloomington South will have to get past Evansville Reitz in the Regional. Reitz has destroyed some pretty good teams. The closest margin of victory has been 14 points on two occasions.   I am hoping the Harrison Warriors can knock them off. They slowed them down and only lost by 14 recently, but Reitz is just in another class right now. 

I agree about their schedule. I was hoping they would lose a lot of players and struggle next year.  Bo Ryan has built a balanced roster. They lose Jackson, Gasser, and Kaminsky. They will have Hayes, Dekker, and Koenig back. You can be sure someone else will step off the bench and contribute. They should come back to the crowd of teams in the B1G next year.

We are already over-signed by 2. We would need 4 to leave or give up a scholarship to add Bryant and Lyle. Let's pretend 1 player goes to the NBA.  What 3 wouldn't be coming back? Priller, April, Zeisloft, Hoetzel, Hartman?  Hartman should be back. Zeisloft should come back. Hoetzel has a chance to be a good player. So, Priller, April, and who else would have to leave?

How long has Crean known about Troy and Stan's positive drug tests? Could our interest in Lyle be a result of some plan to not allow one, or both of them back next year? Specifically I am thinking about Stan. The fake ID incident wasn't a major deal to me at the time, but he has now had a second violation. How many times can he get in trouble before Crean has had enough? Lyle would somewhat replace Stan by position and be an upgrade in talent.   There were posts in this thread as far back as October 26th with someone mentioning failed drug tests. Were there rumors about this before the announcement? I had no idea and hadn't heard a thing.   With these current issues with multiple players, someone with a questionable past should be given a wide berth.

This is much more than a fight. He started out with getting technical fouls, taunting other players, and show boating in his freshman year. Then he walked off the court and caused his team to lose an important game in his sophomore season. Then he threw a punch on the court and got in a fight before a big game with a rival in his third season. If anything, his actions got worse over time.   He may be an angel now.  Anyone who has played with someone with a bad attitude will know that the drama is sometimes not worth it. It only takes one player to spoil a locker room. We had that last year. I don't want to see another episode like that.

For those with questions about Lyle, I can help. My son and daughter both know the kid. My daughter played high school basketball and he got her phone number and used to text her .... a lot! It got to be too much. My son and I were going to the game that Crean, Matta, Belein (sp?), and others were going to be at. The game was against the school my kids had gone to. The winner of the game clinched a city title and at least a tie in the SIAC title. My son got a tweet from Lyle that he had missed the bus and wouldn't be playing. My son tweeted back that he didn't believe him. Lyle tweeted back that it was true.   The game was so big, his school moved the game to Evansville North as they have the biggest gym. A gym full of people were disappointed that the coaches weren't coming and we were robbed of watching a good game. We got there and Lyle was in the concession stand trying to get a free bag of popcorn. He was in street clothes and wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt. I commented to my son that I hope that means he isn't coming to IU. We sat down next to a parent of a player on our Harrison team. That is when we found out that Lyle had gotten into a fight with a team mate during lunch and was suspended. We told the parent about the story about missing the bus. My son has been involved with athletics and knew if you were suspended, you could not attend school events. Shortly after he said that, the Bosse principal came over to Lyle and they walked out of the gym together. He did not come back.   Despite Bosse beating Harrison early in the year in a tournament, Harrison beat Bosse by nearly 25 points and played everyone on their bench. Lyle cost his team a chance at a city title and conference title. The game the year or two before that he walked of the court, Castle High School came back while he pouted on the bench. Castle won in overtime. That eliminated Bosse from any conference titles and made it a two way race between Harrison and Castle.   In big games, he has let his team down in several situations. Why would someone get in a fight on the day of his biggest game of the year with a team mate? We heard it was pretty violent. He should have been thrown out of the Bosse - Central game that same year as he had one technical foul for taunting and threw a punch at Central's best player. After a long discussion they gave Lyle a common foul. What? As you can imagine the crowd was ready to lynch the ref.   The times I have seen Lyle play, if he didn't get T'd up, he should have. His on-court antics aside, I also know some things about his character from my kids. I do not want him near our locker room! I will be disappointed if we use a scholarship we don't have and give it to him.   Would he start in the second semester? Would he even qualify in the second semester?