TOM CREAN FIRED

[Walking Boot of Doom]

So 3 more years of mediocrity is preferable to potentially finding the next great IU coach and giving him a 3 year interview?

Yes. Better than doubling down on a guy who really has proven nothing, even less than what Crean had proven at Marquette.

[Walking Boot of Doom]

So one season should be why we keep him? Notv the other 7 that have shown he can't build a consistent winner? He couldn't do it at Marquette and he can't do it here. You have to look at v the body of work and his isn't good enough. It isn't even close.

What body of work is good enough for Indiana to consider investing $3 million a year, for 3-5 years? Right now, we know what we have, and Crean's leash is pretty much year-to-year. You bring in a new guy, and we'll have to give them another few years before we can really judge them. Even more time if they've never coached in a top conference with a body of work to look back on.

[X-Hoosier]

What body of work is good enough for Indiana to consider investing $3 million a year, for 3-5 years? Right now, we know what we have, and Crean's leash is pretty much year-to-year. You bring in a new guy, and we'll have to give them another few years before we can really judge them. Even more time if they've never coached in a top conference with a body of work to look back on.

Well either we're going to be mediocre under Crean or be mediocre with a possibility of something great happening under a different coach. That's the risk you have to take at some point.

[MadAboutIndiana]

Crean is about to win a second Big Ten title and fans want to bring in Bryce freaking Drew?!?! What

[KelleyHoosh]

IMO it doesn't really make sense to want to get rid of Crean right now. He has us in the B10 title hunt, thats not mediocre. If we get a share, that'd be 2 in 4 years, definitely an acceptable rate. Granted those lows were really low, but with better roster balance, the lows may not be as bad. Crean has shown the ability to adapt, perhaps thats something he may fix going forward. 

 

Going forward, it makes sense in my mind to keep Crean because when theres the next big coach thats available, its a lot easier to cut ties with Crean than be locked down in a deal we just signed with a new coach who didn't get a fair shake here. 

 

This is all a moot point, because Crean is staying through next season at least, whether you like it or not. Barring a terrible off the court incident.

[Chips&Dipo]

Crean is about to win a second Big Ten title and fans want to bring in Bryce freaking Drew?!?! What

I told my friend that some people were suggesting this on here. His response was similar.

[Walking Boot of Doom]

More food for thought, Indiana fans are not going to be satisfied until we have sustained success. Because of Branch McCracken and Bob Knight, that means multiple national championships over the course of a multi-decade career. We want Coach K, plain and simple. Here are all the coaches in HISTORY who would have satisfied Indiana fans, and we've already had two of them:

 

Titles - Coach
10 - John Wooden
5 - Mike Krzyzewski
4 - Adolph Rupp
3 - Bob Knight
3 - Jim Calhoun

2 - Branch McCracken

2 - Henry Iba
2 - Phil Woolpert
2 - Ed Jucker
2 - Denny Crum
2 - Dean Smith
2 - Roy Williams
2 - Billy Donovan
2 - Rick Pitino

[Brass Cannon]

I don't care if he wins the big ten if we lose in the round of 64 again.

[Chips&Dipo]

He hardly had the same resume as Drew does. And I never said its not a gamble. But Crean is the equivalent of betting on black and red. At best we break even with him.

You are right. Groce and Crean have had NCAA tournament success (granted not as much as we would like) where Drew has had success in the Horizon league.

[Walking Boot of Doom]

Well either we're going to be mediocre under Crean or be mediocre with a possibility of something great happening under a different coach. That's the risk you have to take at some point.

Or the possibility of being even worse. I don't feel like taking a chance at taking a step back.

[Brass Cannon]

More food for thought, Indiana fans are not going to be satisfied until we have sustained success. Because of Branch McCracken and Bob Knight, that means multiple national championships over the course of a multi-decade career. We want Coach K, plain and simple. Here are all the coaches in HISTORY who would have satisfied Indiana fans, and we've already had two of them:

Titles - Coach
10 - John Wooden
5 - Mike Krzyzewski
4 - Adolph Rupp
3 - Bob Knight
3 - Jim Calhoun
2 - Branch McCracken
2 - Henry Iba
2 - Phil Woolpert
2 - Ed Jucker
2 - Denny Crum
2 - Dean Smith
2 - Roy Williams
2 - Billy Donovan
2 - Rick Pitino

It would be tough to do so we shouldn't try to improve. Makes total sense. And I'd settle for an Izzo or somebody who can coach defense.

[Brass Cannon]

Or the possibility of being even worse. I don't feel like taking a chance at taking a step back.

So your paralyzed by fear? If they are worse we fire them like UK did.

[Hovadipo]

It would be tough to do so we shouldn't try to improve. Makes total sense. And I'd settle for an Izzo or somebody who can coach defense.

You make finding a Final Four-caliber coach sound *really* easy.

[Walking Boot of Doom]

It would be tough to do so we shouldn't try to improve. Makes total sense. And I'd settle for an Izzo or somebody who can coach defense.

No, we shouldn't rush into another bad coaching hire which would further damage the program's image. It does make complete sense.

 

I too would TOTALLY settle for Izzo. Man, wish we could do better than someone who has only been to seven Final Fours though...

[Walking Boot of Doom]

So your paralyzed by fear? If they are worse we fire them like UK did.

After 3-4 more years of less than mediocre basketball, bringing in terrible recruits, hurting the program, making it less attractive to other coaches, making it even harder to find a Final Four caliber coach.

[chitown hoosier]

If you take a chance on a coach that has not proven they can win consistently in the big leagues and it fails than Indiana will never get back to blue blood status. The recruiting alone will be a huge struggle. If a coach like Donovan or Stevens is willing to take on the job than I'm all for replacing Crean. But I cringe to think that IU could easily become a Minnesota or Illinois. It looks like Crean will have the talent to succeed next year. 2017 recruiting will be huge and will determine if Crean can keep winning consistently or not.

[KelleyHoosh]

I don't care if he wins the big ten if we lose in the round of 64 again.

So you're basing your assessment on his coaching ability based on a single elimination tournament rather than the course of an entire season? The tournament is a crap shoot. Should Duke have fired K when they got upset by Mercer? Or in the beginning of his tenure before he really won? You can't just be a revolving door as a program. Its a bad look and makes you less appealing to top applicants. Nobody wants to work somewhere they get fired easily and if Crean wins 2 Big Ten titles in four seasons, who will want to step into this role? 

 

I get that the product on the court has been frustrating to watch at times. But I really think that a lot of the fans need some perspective about the landscape of college basketball. Relative to 90% of programs, IU right now is pretty damn successful.

 

It would be tough to do so we shouldn't try to improve. Makes total sense. And I'd settle for an Izzo or somebody who can coach defense.

Are you trolling? As Walking Boot has demonstrated, there aren't a ton of Izzo's laying around that we can just pick up. The guy is a legend and hall of fame coach, you can't just make someone the head coach of Indiana and think they're going to be able to fill those shoes

[Brass Cannon]

If you take a chance on a coach that has not proven they can win consistently in the big leagues and it fails than Indiana will never get back to blue blood status. The recruiting alone will be a huge struggle. If a coach like Donovan or Stevens is willing to take on the job than I'm all for replacing Crean. But I cringe to think that IU could easily become a Minnesota or Illinois. It looks like Crean will have the talent to succeed next year. 2017 recruiting will be huge and will determine if Crean can keep winning consistently or not.

We have done that 3 hires in a row. But yes the 4th hire will be too much.

[biteoftheapple]

Personally, I would not hire Bryce Drew to be even an assistant here. I also cannot accept settling for CTC. Its more than 2 titles in 4 years. Its actually 1 in 7, going for 2. He is not ever going to take us to the top. Why settle?

[Walking Boot of Doom]

We have done that 3 hires in a row. But yes the 4th hire will be too much.

So you're willing to settle for another mediocre hire?

 

See what I did there?