LamarCheeks

I don't always put a whole lot of stock in what Dakich has to say. He seems to have a beef with IU -- or goes out of his way to be critical. Maybe because he wasn't considered for the job after Sampson was fired? Somebody posted a podcast somewhere on this site with an interview of a recruiting/college hoops guru who said we had three realistic candidates for the job after Crean was fired: Archie, Holtmann and Chris Mack. From what this guy said, Holtmann wanted no part of the fishbowl that is IU basketball. He said if all coaches are considered equal, Mack was the best choice for us -- because he has a bigger personality than Archie. But I also saw somewhere on this site someone (who seems to have pretty good knowledge of the inner workings of the program) write that we contacted Mack and apparently, he wasn't interested. So that pretty much left us with Archie. I will say this: I kinda agree with your last statement. It seems like these days, players want to have a relationship with their coach and on the surface, Archie seems to be a hard guy to to get to know. Obviously, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but it does seem like Archie's gonna be more Tom Landry (very little relationship w/players) than say, Coach K.

Interesting dilemma for the Hokies here -- on many levels. Even though they've beaten Duke before, I don't think they will Friday night -- and it would only get tougher without Outlaw. I'm sorta of the opinion that having marijuana isn't a huge deal, but rules are rules (depending on what Tech's are). Buzz Williams is most likely on his way to Texas A&M a few days after the season anyway, so does he suspend the kid or say, "I'm leaving anyway, let's go for broke..."

I have no doubt Justin could be a good perimeter player. He's very athletic and he's a pretty good ball-handler. But when you play on the perimeter, a big part of your game has to be hitting perimeter shots. Those two kinda go hand in hand. And he just couldn't. He'd have a game every now and then when he'd hit a few (MSU for one), but that was it. For the most part, when he was on the perimeter, he was absolutely no threat to score. He'd have the ball just outside the top of the key and nobody would guard him -- because they knew he couldn't shoot. Wanna be a perimeter player? Make outside shots!

I will be very interested to see what happens with Forrester, Moore and Anderson. They had 22, 20 and 14 games, respectively, in which they never left the bench. And when they did play, they pretty much looked lost. Moore was a Crean recruit, but the other two are Archie's guys. With only 13 scholarship players -- essentially 11 this year because of how limited Race was and how Hunter didn't play at all -- you've absolutely got to get more from your bench. I'm guessing by season's end, our 7-8 main guys were just worn down. I guess for those three there are three options: Work your a$$ off to get better, transfer or be happy riding the bench. Wonder what it'll be???

This is women's coaching carousel news, but it's somewhat interesting. MaChelle Joseph fired at Georgia Tech. She says it's because she called out the administration for Title IX violations, Georgia Tech says it's because of player mistreatment. Joseph is from Indiana, is a former Indiana All-Star and went to Purdue ... https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/machelle-joseph-fired-georgia-tech/hH8W6QvPduR8ItGgzXvQ4N/

Fitzner had been contributing some quality minutes lately and we couldn't shoot for sh-t tonight, so I was really puzzled as to why he didn't play one second. Throw him out there for 5-6 minutes and see what he can do. If he's the Fitzner of the middle point of the season, sit him back down. If he's the Fitzner of late, give him some run. That made no sense to me.

Absolutely love what JuMo did for us this year, but whether it's high school, college or NBA ball -- it's all about 3-point shooting these days. Our only effective offense this season was pounding the ball down low to a 6-8 forward. That CANNOT be all you have. You have to hit 10-15 from distance in a game to be successful -- and we just couldn't do that. Most games, we'd struggle just to hit 5 or 6. Simple math tells you that when you're getting 2s and the other team is getting 3s, you're gonna lose. And these guys might not be good shooters, but I think they can be. ... Victor Oladipo couldn't throw the ball into the ocean his first two years and that summer between his sophomore and junior seasons, he worked his a$$ off and became a very good shooter. It can be done. We won't have any more success next season if we cannot hit from the outside. It's that simple.

We're (5-13, 38.5 percent) actually shooting a better percentage from distance than they are (11-29, 37.9). But they've hit more and hit them when it matters.

I think that's the ballgame, folks.

Juwan with two really, really, really bad plays under our own bucket.

How the eff do we foul with 2 seconds left on the shot clock and they're nowhere close to a good shot!

De'Ron -- YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE THAT!

I'm still flummoxed at how our guys have absolutely no touch around the rim. Durham makes a really nice move to get a nice shot, then just bangs it off the backboard.

I guess according to Dakich, a guy hitting Morgan's arm as he goes to the bucket, is just a "Hall Call?" No, Danny Boy -- that's a foul.

Phinisee used his body and the rim for protection on a layup. ... What a novel concept!

Instead of playing like it wants to go to NYC, this team is playing like it wants the season to be over.

Normally, I cringe when Fitzner comes in. But we can't shoot for sh-t tonight. So why not put him in, set a couple screens for him and let him chuck up 2-3 3-pointers? If he can't make one, sit him back down. It can't be any worse than anything else we've tried tonight.

Man it would be nice to have a three point shooter.

1 on 3 doesn't work for you, Devonte. Pull the ball back.

At some point tonight, we're going to have to hit a jump shot. ... Maybe two. ... If the best we can do is a layup or dunk, it's gonna be a loooooooong night.

Terrible shooting so far. Other than a couple FTs, I don't think we've made more than a layup or dunk.

Wonder who uses more black hair dye: Gregg Marshall or Coach K?

No. 0 is a no-go again.

I have to admit, this made me chuckle ...

Can't explain it -- not feeling good about this one. Hope I'm wrong. Shockers 67 Hoosiers 62