Comments on: The Morning After: A brief time of sincerity

By: silkyslim

silkyslim — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:01:52 +0000

Well said, MattJ.
Too many expect the IU team to always be top 10 or better, the reality of the situation is IU made a big mistake on the former coach and NOW are rebuilding & are on the upswing from a program left trashed.

I also love to watch the progress and won't be like those bandwagon jumpers who only support the team when they are winning. I support the team, period, & continue to hope they re-establish the integrity & tradition (& wins) that IU rightly deserves. They WILL get there, they are just a work in progress. Patience & support are required, and they will get mine.

By: HoosierInTheVille

HoosierInTheVille — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:30:14 +0000

Great post Eamonn. I just wanted to say how awesome it is to come to this blog after a 25 pt beat down and see nothing but positive thoughts from everyone. Living in Louisville, I have to deal with these crazy Kentucky and Louisville fans who think their teams are sent from God himself every day. There are hardly any Hoosier fans here, so this website is my haven. Thanks everyone.

By: Kelin Blab

Kelin Blab — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:06:03 +0000

Oh the horror of set plays in college basketball. Lets let the kids run up and down the court and do what they want…after all they are freshmen and know everything already. And his enthusiasm is annoying I want a coach who sits there like phil jackson, says nothing, acts like he doesn't care and makes too many phone calls.

You have to be kidding

By: NC Fat Boy

NC Fat Boy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:40:07 +0000

There isn't a great coach out there that doesn't teach DURING the game? They do their best to simulate game situations in practice, but there's nothing like game experience, actually playing different players and teams and that is going to generate unique situations.

These are kids! Crean's had them for weeks. Sounds like miracles are expected. “One returning non-starting player”.

Yes they need encouragement, all the time, good and bad. They're not going to win half their games, and they need to be encouraged period.

I don't want to watch Butler

I'm watching Indiana. And supporting the Hoosiers and Crean.

Brave man to criticize Crean so early…. yes, we'll see if he's a good coach this year, the key will be how you measure that. There are many ways to measure that, pick your poison. I'm interested in seeing growth, both as a team and individual player growth. Has nothing to do with wins. Jobe may not be what anyone would consider a 'project', and I'll admit, physically, he's impressive. Athletic ability and talent he does not have. But, I've seen marked improvement from the first exhibition games. Same for Pritchard… much better than the first games. Williams and Story are coming along too, Roth is growing.

So far Crean gets an good grade, after all, we're 7 games into the season….

By: hoosierfan27

hoosierfan27 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:12:16 +0000

Crean's a spaz? You're a moron.

By: ChronicHoosier

ChronicHoosier — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:04:27 +0000

I feel you, E. It ain't easy transitioning from high-level, Big 10, NCAA dancin' hoops to barely D-1 ball. As Crean keeps repeating, it's all about measurable improvement. Maybe I should hire someone to count the cuss words I let fly each game and see if I'm measurably less incensed with our team as the season rolls along. I don't think my chances for improvement are as good as, say, Dumes learning to stop forcing plays that aren't there or taking shots only suitable for Eric Gordan, but it might be fun to try. My wife keeps asking me why I get so mad when even she knows we're awful. Aside from the fact that a Michigander would never understand this Hoosier Passion, I can't answer her. There's no way around the masochistic forces which make me expect this team to outperform their lowly reality. I keep trying to follow Crean's words and seek out “measurable improvements.” The zone D is coming along better because we're talking and rotating more effectively. Great. We're seeking out contact and boxing out better. Awesome. The spurts of energy to start the game are stretching further into the half. Outf*#kingstanding!!! And just when I think I'm getting better, we turn the ball over on consecutive possessions. We emerge from a time out only to take the dumbest shot of the night. We think it's a good idea to force a 1 v 3 fast break. We chuck up a 28 footer 7 seconds into the shot clock when nobody is in rebounding position. Maybe if we could stop doing these things, I'd be better at this whole “measurable improvement” perspective. For the time being, I'm with you and Jimmy V. Being a Hoosier fan is a gift. Watching Crean do all he can, short of alchemy, on the bench is a gift. I guess suffering through this season is a gift, in as much as we'll leave it knowing what it feels like to be a fan of all those neophyte teams who've willing come to the Hall in the pre-conference season to get rolled mercilessly. When this whole thing is said and done, I can only hope it will make being a Hoosier fan an even bigger gift. In the mean time, anybody want to count my F-bombs at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday?

By: ichaser

ichaser — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:26:09 +0000

What did people expect from this team? It sounds to me like much more than myself. Did I think we would get killed by Wake Forest last night? Well – yeah. By more than 20? Probably. Who is on this team? No seniors (worth mentioning anyway), juniors, sophmores (I may be barely wrong here). These are kids playing against men. What are people expecting? Yes they are bad – news flash? – not to me. Did I think they would be this bad? YES. I haven't ever seen a team start from absoulutely nothing like this before. This is a complete renovation that started just some months ago. We have walkons starting and playing major minutes, baseball players, and others who would never have dreamed they would be wearing an IU basketball jersey. We all know this is going to be a long season, but let's not be disappointed or surprised that we are going to get killed most games. It's all about the future – we got our coach and with it championships to follow. Lastly I was more impressed with SOME of the teams fundamentals last night than in years past. If we start making our free throws, some more wide open shots (preferably 3 pointers), and create 20+ turnovers like last night I believe some of these games will be closer.

By: mamalickaboobooday

mamalickaboobooday — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:25:31 +0000

My point was, you can teach without being a spaz. A college basketball player shouldn't need to be encouraged every single second DURING THE GAME. That is what practice is for. Watch Butler's coach Brad Stevens. He is a great TEACHER, yet remains pretty calm on the sidelines.

I like Crean and am saying this is a great opportunity for him to be one of the best… nobody gets a program like IU rock bottom and get's time to build from ground up

By: TomCoverdale's Eyebrows

TomCoverdale's Eyebrows — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:01:29 +0000

Are you kidding? It bothers you that he screams and claps and encourages and teaches these kids how to play basketball. Maybe your game is in the NBA.

By: bz

bz — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:59:52 +0000

i, as well, hate the phrase “at least they played hard.” but after last year, this phrase has new meaning. after watching a team that had final 4 talent go “up in smoke” and look like they were giving up, it's really is nice to be able to say, “at least they played hard.”

By: mamalickaboobooday

mamalickaboobooday — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:56:15 +0000

We will get to see if Crean is a good coach this year. The fact that I heard last night that he calls all set plays kind of bothers me. And his constant screaming and clapping bothers me. I hope that he hones his coaching skills this year. And don't give the the crap that they don't have the players… I don't care about wins and losses, but if they play good fundamental ball, this will be a huge benefit for all the players incoming in the next couple of years.

By: cooper

cooper — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:50:27 +0000

lets all face the talent on this team is not good and we probably won't win 10 games but I think it would be a disservice to constantly think oh well they play hard, they should expect to win and the coaches should expect them too. I also liked seeing Bernie Seltzer doing some yelling on the sidelines last night, I think its important to get called out on your mistakes, its how you get better. I realize save Pritchard and Williams and maybe Jones and maybe Dumes if he stops having Bracey Wright disease, we don't really have quality talent on this team, and every player has some glaring faults. I think they play hard but I don't think they are that disciplined, way too many turnovers. Jimmy Dykes whom I believe to be a moron really said it all when he said this IU team has the talent level of Chaminade.

By: Matt_J

Matt_J — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:37:20 +0000

For real. Even when I lived in the Midwest, I'd still listen to Fischer's call on the radio with the volume turned down. Especially on nights when Dick Vitale was doing the game. Nothing against Dicky V. He's great and everything, but if the outcome of the game wasn't what I wanted, I didn't want Vitale's nonsense to make it worse.

By: Matt_J

Matt_J — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:35:39 +0000

Yeah, this year the scheduling was a little more fair, especially in the match-ups. A lot of times, it always seemed like the middle-of-the pack ACC schools would be matched up with the bottom teams in the Big Ten while the Big Ten got the schools who you knew would lose anyway.

That being said, especially this year, the ACC started out with three wins without having to play the games.

By: JerryCT

JerryCT — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:09:52 +0000

I also keep thinking that these young men are learning something more important and lasting in life as they learn who they are in the face of adversity. I keep thinking that they all graduate four years from now and look back with pride at the life long friends and fans they have made. Look back with pride at the distance they have come from when they started. And then translate these lessons into a good life. Now that would be the biggest WIN of all.

By: CoveyDale

CoveyDale — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:02:04 +0000

i agreed with that up until this year.

besides IU playing at Wake, i thought the matchups were outstanding. UNC would've beaten the crap out of whomever they played, so throw them out the window. they got matched-up against the supposed #1 team in the big ten, but they would've ruined Purdue as well. five of the games were decided by five points or less. illinois/clemson, ga tech/PSU, wisky/va tech, miami without their two best players/ohio state were all great matchups.

what makes it lopsided is that NC/Duke are usually a cut above any team in the Big Ten, which already puts the ACC 1/3 of the way to winning the Challenge every year.