Dakich: Blackmon couldn't guard a chair

[8bucks 6,266]

I really think this is more about the coach than the hoosierness or Midwesterners we recruit. I do think a better coach could tighten his recruiting radius and have better results than we have had under Crean. Hard to really argue that the kids have not been a good fit when I am not convinced the coach is equipped to get the most out of them

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

You can look up the rosters as easily as I can, right? I think my number's low, but I don't need to do the work again. I already did before I posted that. Look it up. I'm not degrading others' opinions. I just don't agree with them, and people who are a lot more educated on it than I am don't either.

I have very little to stand on? Really? Check out Knight's record. He didn't leave Indiana, Ohio, or Illinois for his first 17 years, and then finally got Hillman from California before Smart and Garrett. That's fact. He then got Haston from Tennessee and Fife from Michigan, but both were great fits for Indiana, as was Moye from Georgia - he was a poster child for the right kind of kid..look up his commitment press conference. Knight did his homework. He did NOT on Eggers, Mandeville, Reed, etc. He let his assistants - including Dakich - do that so he could go hunt and fish with D. Wayne Lukas and Tony LaRussa, and it bit him badly. He got back involved in the late 1990's and built the roster that eventually went to the Final Four. Again, that's what happened. Not an opinion.

Here's the problem. You tell me I degrade others' opinion, but then you give me the line of my having nothing to stand on. Yeah....I do. It's called history. We won multiple Big Ten and national titles with Knight never getting on a plane to do a recruiting visit. The argument is made all the time that "things have changed and we need to be national now." Really? Why? Where's YOUR leg to stand on? Why do we need to be national?

What if we'd been able to recruit Gordon Heyward, Matt Howard, and Shelvin Mack? What if we'd had Hummel? Harangody? Trevon Blueitt? Luke of Tyler Zeller? Sean May? Conley and Oden? Bryant McIntosh? PJ Thompson? Zak Irvin? Stuart Douglass? On and on and on and on and on. Look who we recruited instead. Start with Jessean Gray-Ashley, and Ben Allen...then move to Stanford Robinson and Max Hoetzel. Do we need Thomas Bryant if we can get, for example, Swanigan? Do we need Hoezel if we can get McIntosh? It all has to fit, but there's more smart, able talent around here per capita than anywhere in the country, and it's not close. Giving you evidence is not degrading your opinion. It's supporting my argument.

Seriously...do your homework like I have, and look up the kids from within 200 miles of Bloomington who have, in the last 20 years, to be great college players. Stop with the easy references like Hartman. We all know he's a role player. It's not like he's the sole answer to my point. Of course you need top talent, but you also have to have kids who understand the game, and the way it needs to be played at Indiana for fans to buy in. You've been paying attention the last 16 years, right? What has the diluted local focus done for Indiana? Where's your evidence it's worked? The list above is the tip of the iceberg.

Can we talk about the current basketball environment or do we need to go back to when Knight coached for your arguments to hold?

[Josh 12,449]

Again old friend...if you think Knight's teams were more successful than Creans based upon where his players were from...then you don't understand sports.

[biteoftheapple 4,115]

Again old friend...if you think Knight's teams were more successful than Creans based upon where his players were from...then you don't understand sports.

That is only one small part of what the, man said.

[TheWatShot 13,490]

Again old friend...if you think Knight's teams were more successful than Creans based upon where his players were from...then you don't understand sports.

 

Is that really what he's been saying? I think his point is that Knight at least had an area he focused on, and it worked out extremely well for him. Crean is all over the place. There's no structure in anything he does, and the results speak for themselves. 

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

I have very little to stand on?  Really?  Check out Knight's record.  He didn't leave Indiana, Ohio, or Illinois for his first 17 years, and then finally got Hillman from California before Smart and Garrett.  That's fact.  He then got Haston from Tennessee and Fife from Michigan, but both were great fits for Indiana, as was Moye from Georgia - he was a poster child for the right kind of kid..look up his commitment press conference.  Knight did his homework.  He did NOT on Eggers, Mandeville, Reed, etc.  He let his assistants - including Dakich - do that so he could go hunt and fish with D. Wayne Lukas and Tony LaRussa, and it bit him badly.  He got back involved in the late 1990's and built the roster that eventually went to the Final Four.  Again, that's what happened.  Not an opinion.

 

Jim Thomas? Uwe Blab? Jim Roberson? Todd Meier? Or did Knight stay in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois and have them wander over? Not to mention Magnus Pelkowski, Andre Harris, or Todd Jadlow.

 

How much of Knight's recruiting do you think was a conscious choice not to recruit the coasts and how much was due to the nature of recruiting before the internet? Most schools recruited very locally at the time because it was difficult to recruit elsewhere unless the recruits were huge names. If Knight had the resources available to him that Crean does, do you think he'd spend 99% of his time within 200 miles or he would be recruiting players like Thomas Bryant? Do you think the inability of players to closely follow other schools helped Knight recruit?

 

For example, if it were 40 years ago, would Grant Gelon be a Duke fan? Or would his exposure to Duke have been limited enough not to form an opinion? Could Knight successfully recruit a Thomas Bryant? Or would TB's limited exposure to Indiana combined with the recruitment primarily taking place through phone calls and letters make it more difficult for Knight? Was Kent Benson heavily recruited by other schools? Or was his recruitment limited because he didn't show up on 247?

 

The recruitment models are just so different now compared to the 70s and 80s that comparison isn't really fair. It may be notable, Bob Knight did not continue his local recruitment model at Texas Tech. Nor does it appear he recruited Indiana kids to come play at Texas Tech. 

 

Edit: And let's please not pretend Coach Knight never recruited kids who turned out to have issues. Players were kicked off his teams too. Was that because he didn't do his homework? 

[Josh 12,449]

Is that really what he's been saying? I think his point is that Knight at least had an area he focused on, and it worked out extremely well for him. Crean is all over the place. There's no structure in anything he does, and the results speak for themselves.

The results on the court have nothing to do with where the players are from. It has to do with the coaching. Knight could play a team completely from Uranus and beat a Crean team completely from Indiana.

[AZ Hoosier 6,277]

Is that really what he's been saying? I think his point is that Knight at least had an area he focused on, and it worked out extremely well for him. Crean is all over the place. There's no structure in anything he does, and the results speak for themselves. 

 

Old Friend also talked about Knight doing his "homework" on the kids that he was recruiting... and he included supporting information about players who were recruited when he went hands off to go fishing and left the "homework" to his assistants.

 

Regardless of where Knight, Crean, Calipari or Coach K is/was recruiting, it is incumbent upon them to do the work - check the background, the grades, the possible issues running afoul of the law, etc. Clearly, either Crean has been extremely lax in that regard, or he just doesn't care about (some of) it.

[Josh 12,449]

I don't thik the recruiting is the problem. It's how he handles them when they get to campus that is.

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

Old Friend also talked about Knight doing his "homework" on the kids that he was recruiting... and he included supporting information about players who were recruited when he went hands off to go fishing and left the "homework" to his assistants.

 

Regardless of where Knight, Crean, Calipari or Coach K is/was recruiting, it is incumbent upon them to do the work - check the background, the grades, the possible issues running afoul of the law, etc. Clearly, either Crean has been extremely lax in that regard, or he just doesn't care about (some of) it.

Did Bobby Knight ever have to kick kids off the team? Maybe even 3 at the same time while putting another 5 on probation? Did he do his homework then? Or have any players who were suspended for academics, then lose their scholarships temporarily for academic reasons, and then failed a drug test and still stayed on the team? Maybe someone who flunked a few courses, lost his scholarship, got a walk-on spot, and then was kicked off the team for academic reasons?

 

Is that Knight doing the homework wrong or was he extremely lax in that regard or did he just not care?

[mdn82 25,501]

Old Friend also talked about Knight doing his "homework" on the kids that he was recruiting... and he included supporting information about players who were recruited when he went hands off to go fishing and left the "homework" to his assistants.

Regardless of where Knight, Crean, Calipari or Coach K is/was recruiting, it is incumbent upon them to do the work - check the background, the grades, the possible issues running afoul of the law, etc. Clearly, either Crean has been extremely lax in that regard, or he just doesn't care about (some of) it.

I don't I am that extreme on either side cause it's a Crean problem to me but absolutely every coach in America does their "homework" as you put it. Different coaches just look at different things. It's not like Crean is lacking for information about his recruits. He actually has an easier time accessing information with Twitter and just the Internet in general.

[mdn82 25,501]

He also did put the Flintstones together. He can put a championship caliber team together. He just can't coach them. IMO

[Uspshoosier 44,673]

Just watched the game again, dakich also called yogi from Indianapolis one of the truly great players or point guard in Indiana basketball history. i personally don't think he holds bitterness against the iu program