IUCrazy2

I don't doubt that at all. I am just saying that the fanbase now is not ignorant of basketball or somehow less than it was in the past because people's patience has basically worn out. "Back in the day" things looked more rosey because they were. People were not getting as bent out of shape because we were winning. Alot. The malcontents also did not have easy access to each other without the internet. News came through the paper or the Inside Indiana you got mailed to you once a month. You usually knew who we were recruiting by the announcement that they were going to Indiana. You just cannot compare the two eras and use one to bash the other.

You are barely older than me and I grew up in Indiana as a die hard fan. The difference between the fans then and the fans now is one group was cheering for a guy that won a Championship and went to the Final Four every 4 or 5 years and the current fans are rooting for a team that goes to the tournament itself about once every 4 years. There are stories about IU fans throwing trash at the Purdue bus on the way out of town and things like that from the past. There is just a whole bunch more opportunity for the fan base to show its @$$ now.

Perception is reality. They ran Rick Barnes off after what? 17 years? We have had 4 guys come and go in that same timeframe. Smart got 5 and got out the door while the getting was good. We canned Miller after 4. I agree Miller was his own worst enemy here at Indiana, but perception is again reality. He was a hot name coming out, did well at Dayton, and this job ate him up in 4 years. He got a payday out of it but he is going to most likely go back to a mid-major program for his troubles. People notice that stuff. It sucks. In my heart of hearts I think the Indiana job is one of the best in the world given the right support and the right coach. But 20 years is a long time in the college basketball world. It's been 9 years since Zeller. We had another nice run or two after he left, but the way the administrations of Indiana over the past 20 years have handled this program has been a complete, utter, and total disaster. The fanbase is getting the blame, but it is the decision makers fault.

Because they can and do pay a bunch of money for that. We have much more of a pro type of situation here. The coach wins or the coach has to get the f out. We are kind of in a catch 22, losing as much as we have for a program that feels the resources and such should have lead to better results leads to anger or apathy. IU has screwed this up so bad that the patience just is not there anymore. If you are winning at your school and they are paying you $2.5 million a year (or more) how much more do you require to take this risk? This job just set Archie Miller back quite a bit. And the dirty truth that I don't think our Bob Knight obsessed fanbase or administration can come to grips with is that the holier than thou stuff ties one of our hands behind our back before we even take the court. We reported for phone calls...you can say the other stuff about Sampson, but we narc'ed on a coach for phone calls. The administration does not really give off the "we will help you win" vibe while also giving off the "you will be judged harshly and quickly if you do not win" vibe. I hope Dolson actually has a rabbit to pull out of a hat, his @$$, or wherever...because appearances are that this program is in some really big trouble.

CBS article was arguing that Marquette is a better job. Texas has a ton of money and a little less scrutiny. The basketball program is a distraction. Indiana's leadership screwed the pooch with this program. College coaches are informed through the grapevine and from reading the same stuff we do. How do you think Sampson, Crean, and Miller talk about their time hear? We already know what the media is saying about us. If we end up with an "Indiana guy" or some other WTF hire, that should tell you how this job is viewed. It is criminal what has been done to ruin this brand since Knight was let go.

But he probably does have some connections to some other schools. I hate him. Think he is a wretched ****** of the highest order. But I am concerned.

Either Dolson is playing some 8d chess to throw people off or we are looking at being royally f---ed.

To add to what you said, I also get the impression that when guys are talking about needing an "IU guy" that they are disqualifying anyone who happened to play at Indiana after 2003 from that talk as well. I am with you, I want somebody who "gets it" in that job and I want the players to embrace the program and vice versa. That being said, you get the distinct impression that "Get an Indiana guy" is just code for "Get a Knight guy".

God I hope not.

The same people. And say Miller pulled a rabbit out of hat and got a 10 seed in the tournament. We wouldn't get the Texas treatment if we decided to let him go then, we would get the Indiana "your expectations are just too high" treatment on steroids. "He showed improvement, that fan base is just not patient enough. They really need to realize where they are at in the pecking order these days." Texas though...fire a coach that gets you to first Final Four since before the Korean War and has 2 more Elite 8 appearances along with making the tournament like 17 times and then turn around and fire his replacement after a tournament run and not a peep. The national guys suck @$$. Someone posted somewhere about Indiana just needing to embrace our role as the bad guy again and I agree. They will not like us, time to get a guy to give them a really good reason to hate us.

Indiana players are being talked to. I imagine that is what has Dakich happy. That has not happened the past few times. My opinion, if we were going to hire any of the Indiana guys that get brought up here, they would already be the coach. Look how quick Marquette moved on a guy that was in the tournament. If Dolson ends up hiring a Mike Woodson, who he could have had on board last weekend, while allowing uncertainty to pile up and players to begin seeking options, he would be about the most incompetent AD in America. Benefit of the doubt, I don't think he is that dumb. Our target is either 1 of the 16 guys who cannot talk yet or he is trying to go another route... and there is an obvious name still there for that second option but I really don't want to go down that wormhole again this weekend. If we end up with someone not from that final 16 or he whose name cannot be spoken, then I will really question WTF Dolson has been doing the past 2 weeks. Rumors are he has known he was going to be doing a coaching search this spring, he should have been laying groundwork already with a couple options.

You want to talk about hiring a guy based on a couple tournament runs....that guy's record is pedestrian as hell. I suppose he could have just taken awhile to get going, but that is another Archie Miller type of hire IMO.

Yeah, that is a hold up type of post.

Hopefully he is talking to the guys and not just saying it on Twitter. We do need to get this show on the road soon though. Yeah, the transfer market is there to be taken advantage of this year, problem is, all but 16 teams are done playing this year and anyone with a coach is already reaching out to guys. We're a ship adrift at sea at the moment. Yes, patience, we want the right guy. But I don't want to lose 2 or 3 years to rebuild because we sat around too long. At this point, whomever the hire is better be someone from a list where they have not been completely available for weeks. Like if it is truly a player being looked at, f-ing hire him already. If we are waiting on someone, I hope we have some real assurances of interest. Every day that ticks by puts the next guy at a disadvantage to every other coach who is already in place.

You missed the news this morning. The Stevens hype train revved back up this morning (I kid).

Possibly. You are knowingly hiring a guy with one arm tied behind his back when you hire him though. That is a handicap that no one else on the wish list has. He might be able to recruit other areas to make up for that but for him it becomes, "I must recruit those other areas" where as to everyone else it is, "I have an option to recruit those other areas." And I am totally open to casting a wider net, it feels like some of the Indiana kids are coming in with a sense of entitlement that they have not earned (that is my impression, so don't kill me). However, I would like to still have an option to get them without having their high school and AAU coaches being a negative factor. Drew will make that the case.

"Hi Scott, this is Indiana Elite calling, nice hire you made there in Drew. So just letting you know that I will be letting every single player that is in my program know what this guy did to Perea and what kind of snake he is. Additionally, I will do everything in my power to keep him away from my kids. He has shown me in the past that he doesn't have their best interests at heart." That is a bit over the top but you better believe that there is a grudge there and having Indiana Elite steering the best players from this state to another program would make this job more difficult then it should be. Look what happened to Crean when he lost the support of the Indiana coaches. The recruiting dried up. Now we can build a roster off of guys outside of Indiana, but that is much, much more difficult then having a home base to fall back on.

Drew pissed off the biggest AAU program in the state by threatening to deport one of their players. I just don't see that happening. That is nuking one of the most important bridges for an IU coach before ever setting foot on campus.

***hole

You have a fair and valid point. I am 42. I was in the 2nd grade when we last won a Championship. Knight got fired my senior year at Indiana (I was 21...nearing 22). I think the last time we missed the tournament from that point looking back was 1985. I don't remember that season at all. That means that the connection to Knight is mostly going to be remembered by people who are 40+ years old. His firing was an inflection point for the fanbase. When I was 12 we had just gone through a period where IU fans watched a championship, saw Edward's, and had the beginning of the Cheaney years. By the time I was 13 we had been back to the Final Four again. Over a 5 year period. I have a 12 year old now (which is why I bring this up.) His last 5 years have been Crean and Archie garbage ball. And he has zero interest in watching Indiana basketball. The past 21 years have put a huge dent in the fanbase. Anyone who does not believe that is kidding themselves. The further we get from that inflection point, the older and older the die hard portion of this fanbase gets. I don't think young fans are impatient. The have constantly had it thrown in their face how awesome this program can be their entire lives. Twenty One years since Knight was fired. Our last Final four run is almost 2 decades old. The guys that made that run are about my age. I was in school with Fife, Coverdale, Hornsby, Jefferies, Moye, Newton, etc. These younger guys have been extremely patient. Some of them have been patient their entire lives.

We are stalking a black SUV at the moment. We are certifiable.

I am 42 and was in middle school when he played. I think that the 12-14 age range is just kind of the prime geek out for sports guys fan age. You start to get a little older and realize these are 18-22 year olds who are kids turning into young men, so the idolization thing goes away. But middle school me would argue around the lunch table for days about how much better Cheaney was than those losers at Michigan. He didn't win a title at Indiana, but to this day he is far and away my all time favorite player.

Wore #40...scored a whole bunch of points....

Well if it is Woodson, it will be entertaining to watch how many of us throw ourselves off a proverbial bridge of despair in the wake of the announcement.

Isaiah?