IU Basketball News and Notes

[Stuhoo 79,726]

14 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

Good article. I remember well the back and forth on whether Crean’s summer programs and practices were too much, weighed along with how well he / his system developed guys.
This is where the idea that some throw out that it was just the players, like Vic, it was entirely the player not the development, comes up empty. A guy like Vic had an incredible work ethic, but so do many guys at this level, it’s how they got here. How that work ethic and athleticism is developed can be the difference in whether the same player ever reaches his potential. Troy for me is a big example. Wildly out of control early on, all athleticism, by the time he got himself into the NBA he had a fairly good outside shot, a much much better handle and a far better understanding of the floor. 
 

All true, but also worth noting that Vic’s body broke down at a pretty early age.

[maharkn 1,686]

Good article. I remember well the back and forth on whether Crean’s summer programs and practices were too much, weighed along with how well he / his system developed guys.
This is where the idea that some throw out that it was just the players, like Vic, it was entirely the player not the development, comes up empty. A guy like Vic had an incredible work ethic, but so do many guys at this level, it’s how they got here. How that work ethic and athleticism is developed can be the difference in whether the same player ever reaches his potential. Troy for me is a big example. Wildly out of control early on, all athleticism, by the time he got himself into the NBA he had a fairly good outside shot, a much much better handle and a far better understanding of the floor. 
 

There is a video on YouTube from pinsons podcast, he interviewed Juwan Morgan and they talk about it

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[DChoosier 7,859]

On 5/10/2024 at 1:56 AM, steubenhoosier said:

And it's not just NE Indiana that is ignored, it's the entire northern part of the state. RMK use to get lots of guys from around South Bend and "The Region". Abernathy, Laskowski, even Dakich. We have gotten one in the last 15 years or so-- the kid from South Bend that was supposed to be a great shooter, and turned out not to be so much. Basically, anything Marion and north is being ignored.

That’s three guys Knight got from up there, during our absolute heyday when IU was a huge draw, in 29 years.
Were there many more? I don’t think so but I’m too lazy to look it up.

[LamarCheeks 18,066]

On 5/9/2024 at 12:56 PM, steubenhoosier said:

And it's not just NE Indiana that is ignored, it's the entire northern part of the state. RMK use to get lots of guys from around South Bend and "The Region". Abernathy, Laskowski, even Dakich. We have gotten one in the last 15 years or so-- the kid from South Bend that was supposed to be a great shooter, and turned out not to be so much. Basically, anything Marion and north is being ignored.

I'm from "The Region." Pretty much the only guys I recall Knight getting from there are Rich Valavicius (Hammond) and Dan Dakich (Merrillville) -- and Valavicius left after two years. I guess you could maybe consider Matt Nover (Chesterton) as being from  "The Region," but most of us who grew up there really didn't really consider Porter County part of it. 

[Demo 19,624]

50 minutes ago, DChoosier said:

That’s three guys Knight got from up there, during our absolute heyday when IU was a huge draw, in 29 years.
Were there many more? I don’t think so but I’m too lazy to look it up.

If we’re talking about the whole northern part of the state rather than just Northwest, Delray Brooks was from up there. John Flowers was from Fort Wayne. Other than the ones mentioned in the above posts I can’t think of any others off the top of my head. I have faith in someone around here digging into that a little bit. But even in RMK’s heyday Anderson always seemed like kind of the northern border of IU instate success. 
 

Edit- out of nowhere Tracy Foster popped into my head. He was from Fort Wayne or somewhere up there, I believe,

[HoosierX 1,523]

10 hours ago, Demo said:

If we’re talking about the whole northern part of the state rather than just Northwest, Delray Brooks was from up there. John Flowers was from Fort Wayne. Other than the ones mentioned in the above posts I can’t think of any others off the top of my head. I have faith in someone around here digging into that a little bit. But even in RMK’s heyday Anderson always seemed like kind of the northern border of IU instate success. 
 

Edit- out of nowhere Tracy Foster popped into my head. He was from Fort Wayne or somewhere up there, I believe,

Tom Abernathy and John Laskowski were from South Bend.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 83,982]

11 hours ago, Demo said:

If we’re talking about the whole northern part of the state rather than just Northwest, Delray Brooks was from up there. John Flowers was from Fort Wayne. Other than the ones mentioned in the above posts I can’t think of any others off the top of my head. I have faith in someone around here digging into that a little bit. But even in RMK’s heyday Anderson always seemed like kind of the northern border of IU instate success. 
 

Edit- out of nowhere Tracy Foster popped into my head. He was from Fort Wayne or somewhere up there, I believe,

Homestead HS which is pretty much suburban Fort Wayne.

[Demo 19,624]

15 minutes ago, HoosierX said:

Tom Abernathy and John Laskowski were from South Bend.

Jesus, how did I forget THOSE guys and yet Tracy freaking Foster popped into my head. 

[Demo 19,624]

Just listened to the Hysterics podcast from last month with Rabby and Tom Crean. Even if you don’t love the Hysterics’ schtick, and I’m with you, it’s one of their best ones and worth the time. Couple of things: 1) It was done after Rice’s and Tucker’s commitments but before any others. Rabby said he had heard the Rice to IU stuff as far back as January and took it seriously enough that he started watching Wazzou games that early. Would explain why they never pushed hard on Daquan Davis or other PG options. 2) I’m a big fan of Crean talking ball. Some really interesting insights on UConn and the evolution of coaching in the NIL era with a lot of emphasis on the changing role of assistants. Good, good stuff. 

[str8baller 5,056]

21 hours ago, Demo said:

If we’re talking about the whole northern part of the state rather than just Northwest, Delray Brooks was from up there. John Flowers was from Fort Wayne. Other than the ones mentioned in the above posts I can’t think of any others off the top of my head. I have faith in someone around here digging into that a little bit. But even in RMK’s heyday Anderson always seemed like kind of the northern border of IU instate success. 
 

Edit- out of nowhere Tracy Foster popped into my head. He was from Fort Wayne or somewhere up there, I believe,

Jared Odle, Luke Recker, Jay Edwards...

[steubenhoosier 792]

8 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Jared Odle, Luke Recker, Jay Edwards...

If we’re including Marion… Lyndon Jones

[ebridges24 2,417]

9 minutes ago, steubenhoosier said:

If we’re including Marion… Lyndon Jones

beat me to it

[BeerBQ 261]

9 hours ago, Demo said:

Just listened to the Hysterics podcast from last month with Rabby and Tom Crean. Even if you don’t love the Hysterics’ schtick, and I’m with you, it’s one of their best ones and worth the time. Couple of things: 1) It was done after Rice’s and Tucker’s commitments but before any others. Rabby said he had heard the Rice to IU stuff as far back as January and took it seriously enough that he started watching Wazzou games that early. Would explain why they never pushed hard on Daquan Davis or other PG options. 2) I’m a big fan of Crean talking ball. Some really interesting insights on UConn and the evolution of coaching in the NIL era with a lot of emphasis on the changing role of assistants. Good, good stuff. 

I didn’t listen to the Rabby episode, but the Tom Crean one was really good. 
I think Crean is a really good interview. 

[Demo 19,624]

7 hours ago, BeerBQ said:

I didn’t listen to the Rabby episode, but the Tom Crean one was really good. 
I think Crean is a really good interview. 

Agree. I think the media side is his niche. I don’t love when he does color on games, he’s a little verbose for that, but he’s a terrific studio analyst. 

[Dave from Dayton 2,964]

17 hours ago, Demo said:

Just listened to the Hysterics podcast from last month with Rabby and Tom Crean. Even if you don’t love the Hysterics’ schtick, and I’m with you, it’s one of their best ones and worth the time. Couple of things: 1) It was done after Rice’s and Tucker’s commitments but before any others. Rabby said he had heard the Rice to IU stuff as far back as January and took it seriously enough that he started watching Wazzou games that early. Would explain why they never pushed hard on Daquan Davis or other PG options. 2) I’m a big fan of Crean talking ball. Some really interesting insights on UConn and the evolution of coaching in the NIL era with a lot of emphasis on the changing role of assistants. Good, good stuff. 

"Crean talking ball'...yeah, there is that.

Yeah, talked like a machine gun. He could sell corn to the Amish.

Typical Tom Crean: 'For us, we have to learn how to compete in games like this for longer periods of time and we have to learn to take things from a game like this. You can look at the glass as half full or you can look at the glass half empty. I choose to look at it half full as much as possible.' 

'They got into the depth with us a little bit and we weren''t nearly as good getting our hands up on shots. We can''t be a step off, we have to get up into people and force them to make the next pass. Wisconsin is as confident at the end of the shot clock as they are at the beginning, that''s one of their strengths. You can''t relax.'

Tom Crean was a go faster and play harder coach.  He was not a tactician or a strategist.  He was like that in Marquette and Indiana...   Once in a while he could build a fire.  But he would not stack the logs.  

[ebridges24 2,417]

9 hours ago, Dave from Dayton said:

"Crean talking ball'...yeah, there is that.

Yeah, talked like a machine gun. He could sell corn to the Amish.

Typical Tom Crean: 'For us, we have to learn how to compete in games like this for longer periods of time and we have to learn to take things from a game like this. You can look at the glass as half full or you can look at the glass half empty. I choose to look at it half full as much as possible.' 

'They got into the depth with us a little bit and we weren''t nearly as good getting our hands up on shots. We can''t be a step off, we have to get up into people and force them to make the next pass. Wisconsin is as confident at the end of the shot clock as they are at the beginning, that''s one of their strengths. You can''t relax.'

Tom Crean was a go faster and play harder coach.  He was not a tactician or a strategist.  He was like that in Marquette and Indiana...   Once in a while he could build a fire.  But he would not stack the logs.  

Cliché Dave!

[str8baller 5,056]

9 hours ago, Dave from Dayton said:

He could sell corn to the Amish.

Lol… 

I remember going to a local alumni event when he was first hired and he was making the rounds. I took my father who knows a little something about sales having done it for several decades at a F400 company. Afterwards I remember my dad saying, “I have no idea if he can coach basketball but he has a future in sales if he wants it.”  
 

I throw Crean in with Davis: maddening when they’re the coach which makes them hard to like in the moment.  But as more time passes I can’t help but sort of like them as people. It’s not a sin to take on a job bigger than you and come up a little short. Crean specifically seems like he still supports the program to a degree.

[Demo 19,624]

https://x.com/allasley/status/1795169708880142715

[Napleshoosier 10,139]

Fun take on IU from two Michigan State dudes!

[Stuhoo 79,726]

14 hours ago, Demo said:

https://x.com/allasley/status/1795169708880142715

No accident that our leader will be between those two.

I tells ya and I tells ya again….Myles Rice will prove to have been the single biggest factor in IUBB winning more than 25 games next season. He’s really good, and more importantly he will make everyone else better.