LamarCheeks

Trey, pretend your name is Jim. No more treys.

Lander got away with a carry there.

Dude was outside the arc, but he was moving.

I actually the replay showed less of a foul than at actual speed.

Geronimo grabbed that rebound, was right under the bucket and didn't even hit the rim on his putback try. We have nobody who has any touch around the hoop!

WVU-Baylor going to OT. Been a pretty good game. I'll take 5 more minutes.

I remember people on this board were salivating about McNeil when he was a juco player. But did we even recruit him? ... He's just what we need.

It would be nice if we could get TJD back to playin' ball!

That's a tough one for me. I have a good friend who's a WVU alum and, of course, Baylor has our next coach ...

That 2004-05 season under Davis is still a little perplexing to me. Yes, we finished 15-14. Yes, we lost to Iowa. But ... We finished tied for fourth in the B1G, three -- yes, three -- games ahead of Iowa. Yet Stevie and the boys went dancing while went NIT-ing. To me, that's like the Cubs (yes, I'm a Cubs fan) winning the NL Central and the Dredbirds finishing 10 games back, yet because St. Louie might have gone 6-0 against Chicago, they make the playoffs instead.

FYI -- probably splitting hairs here, but Mike Davis was not fired. He resigned. Would he have been fired? Who knows? But he said later on he knew he wasn't the right fit, so he thought it was best to move on at that point. Regardless, had we hired Beilein then -- when we should have -- we would've never been in this mess now. Not necessarily advocating for Beilein now -- just sayin'.

Weird irony about Cuonzo. A few years back, Painter was flirting with Mizzou (though it seemed more of a ploy to get more $$ from PU). Had he bolted, PU was poised to hire Cuonzo -- at Missouri State at the time. In the end, Painter stayed at PU and Cuonzo eventually ended up at Mizzou.

No Armaan. No chance. We'll hang w/ 'em early, then as MSU kicks it up a notch, as usual -- we'll quit. Sparty 79 Candy Stripes 63

I used to think we could do something in the B1G tourney, but ... Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 22 times, shame on me!

This thread is trending toward Beilein now. And that's fine. But here's the thing nobody seems to be addressing: Does he want to coach college ball again? Sure, he's a proven coach and knows the game, but can a 68-year-old fellow recruit again -- or does he even want to? I got the impression when he left Michigan that he was pretty straight-laced dude as far as NCAA rules go, and was tired of all the blurring of the lines around him -- and that's why he took the Cavs' job. And he was pretty quick to leave that gig when it turned sour. I just got the vibe that he was basically saying: "I'm tired of playing by the rules while others aren't and I'm getting beat in recruiting. I've had enough of this BS." I'm just not sure he wants to be involved in what it takes to run a college program again. Obviously, I have no idea what's in the man's head, but that's just the feeling I got from what I've read.

I hadn't been paying real close attention, but I did not have JJ Watt-to-the-Cardinals on my radar ...

I initially was a big Thad Matta advocate -- obviously with the caveat that he's healthy. I thought after a few years away, he'd get recharged, get healthy and be ready for another run at coaching. But I'm really starting to cool to that idea. Seems as if he was essentially the victim of a botched back surgery. In reading about some of his troubles he had a few years back -- he could barley walk, he couldn't sit through a game, couldn't take his shoes or pants off after a game. Just doesn't seem as if he's recovered -- or recovered enough to be the top-notch coach he was before all this happened. I'm really cooling to him as a possibility.

VJIII had probably the No. 2 assist in the history of IU basketball -- only behind Daryl Thomas' dish to Keith Smart against the 'Cuse in 1987 at the Superdome.

Re Gregg Marshall. To those not on this bandwagon, hop on. Not only would we get a coach who is abusive of his players and reportedly has an ego the size of the state of Texas -- but we'd get Mrs. Marshall patrolling the stands at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, tossing back a few beverages and berating officials.

I didn't pay attention to the Senior Day stuff after Saturday's game, but a few people pointed out that Al Durham and Cooper Bybee were the only ones honored. Joey wasn't. Does that mean he's coming back for a sixth year? ... Heck, I think he'll be 32 years old and will be working on a PhD ... LOL!

Just saw that Hammond's own Irv Cross died today. I remember coming home from church on Sunday mornings to watch the Bears and taking in the CBS pregame show with Irv, Brent Mussberger, Phyllis George and Jimmy the Greek. Hard to believe that Brent's the only one left. RIP, Irv.

Here ya go ...

Anybody see the Tom Coughlin profile that the NFL Network ran during its "A Football Life" series? Like most of those programs, it was very interesting and very well done. It's not short -- 45 minutes or so. Tom's family and friends loved him. Media hated him. Players hated him. When he said a meeting was at 3 p.m., that meant you showed up at 2:50. And if you didn't, you got fined. And there were all sorts of archaic, old-school rules for which fines were levied. Finally, his family had an "intervention." They said, "Hey, you're a fine, loving, caring man. But we're the only ones who see that. Why don't you let others see it, too -- because you can't continue the way you are, or you never will have success." Tom made a monumental change, lightened up and won two Super Bowls. Michael Strahan said he went from hating the man to loving him and if he hadn't retired, wouldn't have wanted to play for anyone else. I don't know that Archie's a real hard-@$$, but I do think there's a real disconnect with his players. There seems to be no relationship. Or a very fractured one. At least that's how it appears on the surface. When players quit -- like against Rutgers and Michigan -- that indicates more problems than just X's and O's and personnel. If you don't like your coach, you sure as hell aren't gonna fight for him when the chips are down. Wouldn't it be something if Archie was given another year, underwent a Tom Coughlin-like transformation, created a LEO-like atmosphere within the hoops like program and started winning? I don't think we have the greatest players in the world, but I do think we have enough talent to be more competitive than we have been. We showed that against Iowa. I don't why, but I like Archie. I wish he'd succeed. But at the same point, I do realize we're slipping further and further into the abyss and something needs to be done ...

I can get on board with that. I also can get on board with Jordy and Vic coming back in those duds. We ain't got no guards! (Well, Armaan is pretty good -- but we need to keep him healthy).

When he left, it was a weird situation. It was decided that he would "no longer be the basketball coach at Ohio State." ... According to a story I saw, he was to be paid the final three years on his contract -- that period, presumably, has ended. So as of now, he has no income. Of course, when you were making $4 mil a year when you were working, and then $4M a year when you weren't working -- you can probably squeak by without an income.