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KelleyHoosh

Wake Forest Post Game Thread

By KelleyHoosh, in Indiana Men's Basketball

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Old Friend    8,389

Old Friend
Posted

Sigh.   I've been reading and trying to decide how upset I really am.   Here's the bottom line.

 

LSU had a down season, and people are screaming to fire Les Miles.  His seat is allegedly hot.  This is LSU football.  Nowhere near the football tradition that Indiana has in basketball; though obviously very, very good.    They do not accept mediocrity.  They do not accept losses which they feel can be attributed to coaching.  Maybe Miles is back next season, maybe he's not, but they started out 7-0, will still make a bowl game; and their coach is in jeopardy, even with a $3.8 million salary.  Why?  Expectations.  They can do better.  They SHOULD do better.

 

Indiana plays intramural basketball.  Crean coaches a brand of basketball that may be fun to play, but will never, ever win on a national level unless he's ripe with NBA players who also have some interest in defense or rebounding.  I am on record as saying Yogi Ferrell, as good as he is, can at times be maddeningly selfish, and can shoot or dribble Indiana right out of games.  He's been that way for 4 years, and never been told to stop taking bad shots.   

 

When Mike Davis was the coach, I talked all the time about living and dying by the 3-point shot.  Our team takes almost half its shots from 3 point distance, and many of them very early in the shot clock.  If you can't guard or rebound, quick shots will kill a team...and they did.   Wake Forest got 9 more shots total than Indiana did, and made > 50% of them because of the shot quality (A Clark Kellogg line).  They shot 10 fewer free throws and made just 6.  Indiana made 10 three pointers to WFU's 6, and IU made 10 more FT's.  That's a game you'd think Indiana wins by 12-15 points.    But sadly...no.  Indiana gave up 18 offensive rebounds.   How bad do you have to be defensively to lose to a team that makes just 6 FT's and has just 6 assists?   That's a question these guys, and this coach need to answer immediately.

 

This is not good enough.  I know...I know.  It's just one loss.  But it's NOT just one loss.  It's another loss to a decent team for the same reasons Crean's teams ALWAYS lose to decent teams.  Nothing's changed.  He hasn't improved.  And his team will never win as long as they play as Indiana has all season.   It's easy to beat Northern Yukon A&T at home when you shoot lights out.  Making shots in your home gym can give any team a false sense of accomplishment.  But in a strange gym against a team that can challenge you, you'd better have a system you can rely on, and you'd better do things that win games other than shoot.   Indiana does not do those things; and hasn't.  That's why this is more than simply "just one game" or "just one loss."

 

I want basketball players.  Kids who understand positioning, angles, time and score, spacing, help defense, etc.  Those things will always win, whether kids think it's "fun" or not.  Crean obviously wants to recruit kids who will enjoy playing at Indiana, but at some point, it has to be about winning on a national level.  The longer that's not a priority, the more Indiana becomes "just another school."   We are not there now, and nobody can convince me we are; but....Dakich makes fun of the administration and trustees all the time; and this is crumbling on their watch.  I don't know what coach we can get or who we cannot get, but Tom Crean isn't going to change.  His system and priorities on the floor are not going to change.  I think in year 8, we can all come to that very reasonable conclusion.   Yogi Ferrell shot 4-11 tonight, and neither he nor Blackmon made a 3-pointer.  Blackmon went 1-8 from the floor and had 4 turnovers.   That's just awful.  I mean.....seriously.  Awful.  Bielfelt and Hartman were the only ones even trying to match the physicality of Wake Forest, and coincidentally, each had 4 fouls.  I love Thomas Bryant.  He has got to do more in 28 minutes than 5 shot attempts.  Challenge THEIR post players who had 3 fouls between them.

 

To me, this was the same old Tom Crean bull spittle.  Lots of flash, very little substance, and yet another in a pattern of familiar losses for the same reasons.  It can change....we're only 4 games in, and we're not going undefeated.  I get it.   But man, it's getting tiresome watching this crumble....slowly because we haven't made a quality hire in 16 years.

ThompsonHoosier, theriverpilot, HoosierAloha and 2 others reacted to this

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Walking Boot of Doom    18,170

Walking Boot of Doom
Posted
If Tom Crean created his ideal player a la Dr. Frankenstein, it would be JBJ. Plays no defense, turns the ball over every possession, and willing to chuck up a three at any time.

The kid needs to commit to his own development instead of his draft stock.
Townie and Alford Bailey reacted to this

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Trish    11,505

Trish
Posted

i love IUBB..

 

I love the Lakers..

 

they both sort of stink.. (Lakers stink more)

 

both their coaches need fired

 

they both can't play defense

 

they are sometimes fun to watch 

 

 

i can't seem to win.. another year of my favorite teams being...the team same thing they were the year before. 

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Alford Bailey    12,350

Alford Bailey
Posted

i love IUBB..

 

I love the Lakers..

 

they both sort of stink.. (Lakers stink more)

 

both their coaches need fired

 

they both can't play defense

 

they are sometimes fun to watch 

 

 

i can't seem to win.. another year of my favorite teams being...the team same thing they were the year before. 

Its like I wake up and its the same day all over again...

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hoosha61    386

hoosha61
Posted
Above all else, my biggest problem was their effort. WF played harder the entire game. Defense is all about EFFORT. Tbh I thought this may have been Troy's best game as a Hoosier. If coach didn't blister the locker room paint after this I would be very disappointed. Why don't we press? It's early I'm not panicking. Colin and Rob need to start asap. I would just once like to see Yogi challenge a teammate when they need it. Sorry I'm rambling, but it's late. #GoHoosiers
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HoosierAloha    30,024

HoosierAloha
Posted

Above all else, my biggest problem was their effort. WF played harder the entire game. Defense is all about EFFORT. Tbh I thought this may have been Troy's best game as a Hoosier. If coach didn't blister the locker room paint after this I would be very disappointed. Why don't we press? It's early I'm not panicking. Colin and Rob need to start asap. I would just once like to see Yogi challenge a teammate when they need it. Sorry I'm rambling, but it's late. #GoHoosiers

 

Yogi is more worried about being their friend than winning games.  Where do you think he learned that?  Anyone on the team holding another player accountable would be nice.  Any type of leadership from the coaching staff to the players would be nice.

 

I'm still baffled they didn't see getting the ball down low worked almost every time. 

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