What makes us IU fans so hard to please?

[jdailey1981 155]

Because we are IU....Plain and simple. We were instilled knowledge in us from youth that IU is the definition of basketball, and to always hate that team in west lala land and that team from the sec.

Even more so, for those of us who are old enough, who have seen what our program has done and can do, and we are getting furious because our team is not what it used to be, and is no longer taken serious. Times have changed though, our program will not be the clean program it used to be thanks to cellphone samsung, and national championships, or even getting in the NIT, are no longer a certainty year in and out.

I for one am tired of hearing about Syracuse, pUKe, UM and Mich St, and wisc, talk smack, but unfortunately, they have earned the right to do so. The only way to silence them is to beat them, and the only way to do that is for IU to use the same mentality it used to, straight in your face, fast, cram the ball down your throat basketball. Reach back onto the cobwebs and pull out a jar of old IU basketball, crack it open and get a taste of what it was, and strive to bring it back.

IU used to be one of the toughest programs in the nation. Coaches would tell their players "You better bring your best. We are playing Indiana." These days are long gone, and now teams come into AH thinking they will have an easy win. I long for the day our program will come back to those days, but the question is, how long will that be?

What are your thoughts as to what makes us so hard to please?

[weaverswonders6 388]

You nailed some of the points.  Most IU fans know the game of basketball and have a ball in their hands by the time they are crawling/walking.  Watching what we have now on the floor, I get sickened by the utter lack of offensive movement in the half-court.  

 

I really don't think we are that hard to please though.  If/When we have a coach (maybe Crean will end up being the guy) that takes us to the tourney year in and year out and challenges for national titles every 3-5 years, I think we'd be pretty content as a fanbase.   I look at the run Knight had, making it to the championship game every 5 years or so up to 93.  I'd say most of the fanbase was pretty united behind him until the mid-late 90s.  I look at Coach K at Duke.  Made the tourney every year since 82 (can't count 93 or whatever when he was out most the year cause he left the team 9-3) and has 4 national titles (making deep runs every 3-5 years or so).  Everyone will have their quick outs, but I think most people just want to challenge for BiG championships, make the tourney year in and year out, and make a deep run every 3-5 years.

[Buck Naked 451]

IU fans are just fans. There is just more of us. Remember the word "fan" is short for "fanatic". I remember living in Evansville arguing with seemingly intelligent people about why UE wasn't competing for national titles. ( Just for the record I was arguing that UE would never win one) There are some irrational IU fans out there. We all can be at times I guess. From cradle to grave, most Hoosiers are all about basketball. IU is just our outlet. You want to see irrational, come to SEC county during football season. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[NOLA Hoosier 1,267]

You want to see irrational, come to SEC county during football season.

 

Living in New Orleans, it's alllllll LSU. Oh and when Alabama plays LSU, forget it, you'd think it was the Super Bowl.

 

I am an irrational IU fan. I was brought up around fervent Hoosiers...my parents were my age when IU was winning championships in '76 and '81. I came around in '84 and I kid you not my first word was "Uwe."

 

I started really watching with Calbert Cheaney, Pat Knight, Greg Graham, Damon Bailey. Pat Graham is an alumni of my high school and dated the girl who lived in the house before I moved in, so the basketball goal I grew up playing on has a lot of history on it.

 

I have IU deep in my veins, so I guess I really expect too much out of our teams. 

[jdailey1981 155]

I live in Tennessee....Phil Fulmer's hometown also. Lol

[weaverswonders6 388]

I live in Atlanta and I get the SEC comment....I guess they have every right to be though, when you play and cheer for the best conference in America for football.  Last night's game aside, SEC teams have won the last 7 national titles and I believe will just flex their muscle with the new playoff system.

[weaverswonders6 388]

what makes us IU fans so hard to please?

[mdn82 25,510]

IMO, I am at the crossroads age for IU basketball.  People younger than myself don't remember winning at a Duke level.  People older than myself, that is what they always point to.  When I was younger (I am 31), we had basketball camps.  All of the time.  We didn't know what soccer was.  I joke about that now, because I never knew in this area we played soccer until I was older.  Now, its all kids play.  Nothing wrong with that, but consider IU was like how SEC is described during game day.  That is the way basketball was once thought of in this state.  I honestly remember that thought process start slipping when it seemed Knight no longer cared who he pissed off in the state.  Again, for those of you younger, know he had a Saban like grip on this state.  Then, so you are watching his detail oriented offense, which is based on discipline.  You go to these Branch McCracken camps which preach fundamentals.  You play summer league, fall league, school ball, which all preach ball movement and fundamentals.  Then, you grow up and watch a team that spent 30 years based on these principals becoming the polar opposite of it, it is hard.  Change is hard.  I am not saying Crean can or cannot do it this way.  I am just saying, you had every high school in this state playing the RMK way because he won.  That is how this STATE was taught until about 15 years ago.  IMO, Crean has an uphill battle all of the way.  You can do everything right.  Everything.  But, if you try to tell people in this state what they are seeing on the court is the way, then you will see we are hard to please.  

[JSHoosier 19,835]

We know what this program has accomplished, and what it can do.  We know we should be able to get talented players, partly because we're located in the heart of a recruiting hotbed.

 

I disagree that making the NIT isn't a certainty, with the types of players we can bring in it absolutely should be even with young teams and a NCAA bid should be a minimum expectation.  That's really not asking much when you consider the tournament was expanded.

[FortWayneHoosier 5,919]

being only 22, i really dont remember much of knight i was only 8 when he was fired. I started to watch when eric gordon and dj white were playing, so ive only been a fan for a few short years. I saw what happened when sampson was thrown out and when crean came in. So im really only familiar with creans style of play. So from a fan thats basically only been a fan since crean, i cant really compare; but i do know enough to know that some of things he does in game are not right. his sub patterns, the fact he doesnt change the lineup, and not feeding the post!!!! My short years as a fan and many more to come, i get why the older guys are so passionate, because at one point and slowly but surely are one the best programs in college basketball. I too got used to winning last  year when we went into msu, and mich and other big teams and won. it stinks right now because weve been spoiled, but i have faith ctc will make adjustments. lol sorry for the rambling

[hoosier716 13]

I still can't understand why we didn't hire Steve Alfred. He would have continued the toughness of Bob Knight and IU would be much better off.

[JSHoosier 19,835]

I still can't understand why we didn't hire Steve Alfred. He would have continued the toughness of Bob Knight and IU would be much better off.

Who in the hell is Steve Alfred?  If you mean Steve ALFORD, then he really hasn't shown much as a HC and has limited tourney success.  I think it'll be interesting to see how he does at UCLA, but I wouldn't want him at IU yet.

[Brittad2014 8]

I'm 18, so the only thing I know about Bob Knight is from stories I near from my family. But I near them every year, so I feel like I grew up with that era of IU basketball. My favorite story is Knight telling reporters it should've been the second year they went undefeated in '76. IU fans are so hard to please, in my opinion, because traditionally we've won. I have a poster on my wall quoting James Naismith saying the basketball really got its start in Indiana. That's a lot to live up too, and honestly I don't think Crean is cutting it. We've got loads of talent on this team, but it isn't being utilized. If we could develop the natural talent that these players have, we would be a much better team, but that's all on Crean and his staff. I remember Mike Davis, I also remember hating Mike Davis because my mom hated Mike Davis. I was too young to understand basketball, but it's how I bonded with my parents. I remember Samsung and the reports of him bailing on us mid-season. I remember Dakich, and my heart really goes out to him. He was trying to coach a group of guys who didn't want to be coached by him. Media was surprised some of the players showed up to the plane for the next game (I want to say it was a Penn State game, but I can't be sure). I think that was the lowest point for IU. Then Crean came, excited or not, those next three years we're brutal. But we stuck with it, because this was Indiana. These past two years have been a whirlwind of excitement, I still get nervous watching the UK game, or the game at Michigan last year. So I'm not ready to accept a less than average team, when the team has the potential to be great. Crean needs to shape up or get out, I may have the unpopular opinion here but he's already had his building years. He needs to stay on top.


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[All_Hoosiers 873]

Crean's problem is that he lost basically everything that built the program, and didn't recruit players that were good enough come right in and play really well.

These kids are athletic beyond belief, but simply don't know how to play basketball yet.


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[KingPG21 6,583]

I still can't understand why we didn't hire Steve Alfred. He would have continued the toughness of Bob Knight and IU would be much better off.

Really? What has Steve done to show that IU would be much better off with him as a coach. 

[Will_Padgman 194]

That's a lot to live up too, and honestly I don't think Crean is cutting it. We've got loads of talent on this team, but it isn't being utilized. If we could develop the natural talent that these players have, we would be a much better team, but that's all on Crean and his staff...

 

...So I'm not ready to accept a less than average team, when the team has the potential to be great. Crean needs to shape up or get out, I may have the unpopular opinion here but he's already had his building years. He needs to stay on top.


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I'm interested to know a few things from your post. Not looking to start an argument, mind you, but rather understand what you see and how you see it.

 

1. You say Crean isn't living up to Knight's standards. Who else in the college basketball coaching sphere can? I only see a few, and they aren't leaving where they are because they enjoy it there, so who could come in and truly live up to these expectations?

 

2. You say talents aren't being utilized, and if they were we would be a much better team. Can you elaborate on those and how they would change the team that much?

 

3. As All_Hoosiers mentioned, Crean lost what he had built with. How can someone expect similar results from a team that loses so much to graduation or the draft?  

 

Just things that I find interesting when people talk about them, would love to know how differing thought processes work. Thanks

[Dalton26 16,892]

[quote name="Will_Padgman" post="28426" timestamp="1389129342"] 3. As All_Hoosiers mentioned, Crean lost what he had built with. How can someone expect similar results from a team that loses so much to graduation or the draft? [/quote]

Let me ask you a question. Isn't that Creans job to replace those players?

You don't see Duke or UK using that excuse. No matter what they lose they both expect similar results every year. The "we lost so much" excuse is just that an excuse. That is the Head coach and his staffs job to replace those kids and keep winning. Next man up if you will.


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[Hovadipo 55,152]

I feel like, as Indiana fans, we should be able to spell Alford. Speaking of Alford, I feel like he would fail here. Just think about the (probably unfair) expectations he would have coming in due to his success as a player. I'm not sure, or willing to speculate on, how he would fair here, but my guess is that his results would disappoint relative to his expectations.


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[All_Hoosiers 873]

Let me ask you a question. Isn't that Creans job to replace those players?

You don't see Duke or UK using that excuse. No matter what they lose they both expect similar results every year. The "we lost so much" excuse is just that an excuse. That is the Head coach and his staffs job to replace those kids and keep winning. Next man up if you will.


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UK and Duke get one-and-done players. There's a reason those kids are one-and-done, and I wish Crean would bring some to Indiana. Until he does, I would never call Crean anything above a good recruiter. 

[mdn82 25,510]

I feel like, as Indiana fans, we should be able to spell Alford. Speaking of Alford, I feel like he would fail here. Just think about the (probably unfair) expectations he would have coming in due to his success as a player. I'm not sure, or willing to speculate on, how he would fair here, but my guess is that his results would disappoint relative to his expectations.


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Not only that, he has done done worse than Crean in more time.  I love Steve, but he wouldn't do any better than Crean.