Is Banner 6 a realistic possibility?

[Gordon Bloyer 13]

1.) Who the hell is Gordon Bloyer? I don't even see a post in this thread from which to "quote" him.

2.) Do we have a realistic shot at winning it all next year? That depends on if you can believe that Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Louisville, North Carolina, and about five other teams, all fail to qualify for the tournament. To me, that doesn't seem realistic. If they do make it, then you have to believe that a Crean coached team can out play, and out smart any of those teams, and their coaches. Is that realistic? I don't think it is.

Listen, I'd love to hang another banner in my lifetime, and I love the fact that Thomas Bryant is coming to IU. I love the fact that Yogi is staying and saying feisty things. But as long as Crean is the coach, I have a hard time believing we'll be able to field a team capable of beating even one of those teams when it counts, much less two or more, as would likely be necessary.

Sorry if I sound like a wet blanket, but I'll reserve my optimism and hope for next year's team until I see them do something that Crean's teams have yet to show in seven previous years; sustained tenacious play, lights out defense, and mental toughness.

Hmmm? My real name is here and yours isn't. The question isn't who I am, the question is who are you?

[IUHoosier5 1,483]

Hmmm? My real name is here and yours isn't. The question isn't who I am, the question is who are you?

Okay, this is actually pretty funny and witty

[Alford Bailey 12,349]

That article doesn't refute my point that you need more like a top 15 defense to win a national title.  Here are the defensive efficiency rankings from that article for the last 10 champions (at the time):

 

9

14

4

4

1

12

5

5

5

19

 

As you can see only one ranked outside of the top 15, as a matter of fact of those 10 only 3 total ranked outside of the top 10.  The team that won that season ranked in the top 10.  If anything that article shows you need more like a top 10 defense or even top 5.

 

The next two champions?  10 and 12.  So in 13 years of data only 4 champions had a defensive efficiency outside of the top 10 and a lonely 1 outside the top 15.  Now admittedly the first 10 data points are of the time of that article and the last two are after the season ended.  The point remains even if we did improve to top 50 in defensive efficiency (and I highly doubt we improve that much), the stats say that's not good enough to hang banner 6; actually it wouldn't just be an aberration, it'd be an aberration of an aberration.

Great points and why I say Crean never wins a title. As much as we love our run and gun offense, defense still wins championships.

[IUHoosier5 1,483]

Great points and why I say Crean never wins a title. As much as we love our run and gun offense, defense still wins championships.

Whose to say that the defense can't improve? I guarantee the focus this offseason will be on my defense, and if it isn't, Crean really doesn't know what his teams greatest needs are

[HoosierTrav 7,729]

Whose to say that the defense can't improve? I guarantee the focus this offseason will be on my defense, and if it isn't, Crean really doesn't know what his teams greatest needs are

I dont think anyone is arguing that the defense cant improve, I just think its a long shot to think it will improve enough to make us national title contenders. For example. the addition of Cody Zeller took IU from 143rd Def Eff. to 84th in the first year. The second year they were 28th. Thats a 115 point swing that took 2 years. We currently would need a 200 point swing after 1 offseason. Possibilty? Sure. Realistic Possibility? No. 

[Darko240 15]

It is a possibility if we see one thing.  And that is a true dedication to defense like we had with the 2013 team.  We need Blackmon and some of the other habitual offenders to actually play defense.   This includes the coaching staff  as well adding Deflections back into their vernacular.

 

There are stats that back this up,  I don't think any team in the last 25 years has won it all with a sub 30 defense.

 

End of Story.

[mdn82 25,510]

It was a good article. Justshows though that we'll need an astronomical leap on the defensive end to hang #6.

I wonder how a 30 sec shot clock will skew offensive/defensive numbers. Probably not much defensively but offensively you will have to be top 15 due to the added possessions. Might make it possible where top 20 defensively is good enough. Which we have never been.

[HoosierTrav 7,729]

I wonder how a 30 sec shot clock will skew offensive/defensive numbers. Probably not much defensively but offensively you will have to be top 15 due to the added possessions. Might make it possible where top 20 defensively is good enough. Which we have never been.

I was just thinking about this. I think Crean could become an elite college coach if they were to move to a 24 second shot clock. I'm not sure the 5 seconds is quite enough to shift the tide though.

[mdn82 25,510]

I was just thinking about this. I think Crean could become an elite college coach if they were to move to a 24 second shot clock. I'm not sure the 5 seconds is quite enough to shift the tide though.

I can agree with that.

[BigBaller23 11]

I think there has been a lot of teams with a lot less talent to go on to win it all, so it is certainly a possibility. I think it really depends on how good our guys will mesh next year. I think there were time where our guys were a little aggravated by their teammates and our chemistry was a bit off and we weren't able to play our best ball. Also, a HUGE factor in the amount of success for our Hoosiers is going to depend on how well TB can defend and rebound. An inside presence on the offensive end would be nice as well, but we need a real big man who can defend the other bigs in the Big10. I wasn't too impressed with his defense or rebounding in the Derby Classic or the All American game, but that doesn't mean much, it is an all star game after all. I think HMP is not a Big 10 player and I think he will have little to no impact on our teams success. He has the worst basketball iq I've had to bare witness to in the last several years. He doesn't know how to defend guys his size or bigger. He doesn't know how to put himself in position to get a rebound. He is absolutely terrible with his back to the basket. The best way to utilize him would be off the pick and roll and toss him a lob near the rim, but we rarely saw that. He caught the ball with his back to the basket much too often, which is more of the guards fault to tell you the truth. If they can teach him how to rebound and utilize him to the best of his attributes then he might be of some use. All in all, the Hoosiers have as good a shot at winning a national championship as anyone else. They're going to have a great team.

[BigBaller23 11]

One hang up of mine is how we finish the year. We can't fade down the stretch and play our worst going into March and expect to get the job done. Unfortunately that has been a trend.

EDIT: Not to mention if our defense doesn't take an astronomical leap it won't matter.

I agree with this 100% Every single year it seems like we fade down the stretch. They need to keep the fire they have at the beginning of the season.

[GloryDays 5,913]

I was just thinking about this. I think Crean could become an elite college coach if they were to move to a 24 second shot clock. I'm not sure the 5 seconds is quite enough to shift the tide though.

 

    Please, no 24 second clock!

  I think I'd rather have a different coach than watch quasi NBA games with this one.

[davewood 119]

Please, no 24 second clock!
I think I'd rather have a different coach than watch quasi NBA games with this one.

A 24 sec clock would be awesome. More possessions, faster pace, and teams won't be able to stand around the perimeter for 20 seconds. While we're at it, let's actually jump for the ball on a jump ball.

[JSHoosier 19,809]

A 24 sec clock would be awesome. More possessions, faster pace, and teams won't be able to stand around the perimeter for 20 seconds. While we're at it, let's actually jump for the ball on a jump ball.

Instead of standing around for 20 seconds we'd just stand around for 10 or 15.

No thanks, I have a better solution; we run an offense that actually moves instead of this street ball crap.

[GloryDays 5,913]

Instead of standing around for 20 seconds we'd just stand around for 10 or 15.

No thanks, I have a better solution; we run an offense that actually moves instead of this street ball crap.

Thanks JS,couldn't have said it better

  What i have always loved about college basketball was the strategy and the adjustments made in the heat of battle.

What a shorter clock does is minimize the impact of coaching and reward the team with the horses.

Wisconsin beat Ky in the tourney by being able to run offense thru a set until they had a mismatch.

 Ky was more athletic at every position but with the time to dissect a defense Bo was able to exploit that.

 I myself would hate to see that taken away for a faster,so called more exciting game.

[JSHoosier 19,809]

Thanks JS,couldn't have said it better

  What i have always loved about college basketball was the strategy and the adjustments made in the heat of battle.

What a shorter clock does is minimize the impact of coaching and reward the team with the horses.

Wisconsin beat Ky in the tourney by being able to run offense thru a set until they had a mismatch.

 Ky was more athletic at every position but with the time to dissect a defense Bo was able to exploit that.

 I myself would hate to see that taken away for a faster,so called more exciting game.

Blame it on the casual fan that just wants to see points, points and more points.

[Old Friend 8,389]

I'd just rather see efficient basketball instead of someone dribbling or standing for 20 seconds if we don't get something in transition, no matter what the shot clock is.    Most kids don't know how to set or use screens off the ball anymore, and very few point guards know how to get the ball to someone coming off a screen, whether it's a shooter or a cutter in the paint.    Very few players catch the ball and don't dribble at least once.   The teams that play efficiently generally win against teams that don't.   Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Duke, and Arizona...all Elite 8 teams, were all in the top 20 in FG%.  Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Duke, Michigan State, Iowa State, Villanova, Virginia, and Ohio State - all highly seeded teams, were in the top 25 in assist/TO ratio.   Wisconsin averaged 7 TO's per game!   Ranked #1 in the country.  There's a reason they're in the conversation every single year with only a couple real pro prospects coming out of there.  Indiana, conversely, averaged 11.5 and 124th in the country.  

 

I still  think offensive efficiency and taking good shots is the way to win basketball games.  It doesn't matter what the shot clock is or if there's a shot clock at all.   Ball movement, people movement, shot selection, and kids who can put it in the hole.   I'll take that formula any time over dribbling and counting on success coming from kids with the ball in their hands.