farmteam

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 12:36 PM) See, I would argue that he hasn't really made any of his players better, he just simply has better players. Zeller hasn't gotten much better in his two years. He still has the same good skills, as well as the same weaknesses to his game. Oladipo made the jump, but I think everyone would agree that was sort of an unexpected fluke. It's not like his basketball "skills" have increased, he just gives 110% Derrick Rose style effort and has a knack for making critical plays at critical times in the game. I guess that can be Crean influencing his basketball IQ, but I dunno, he's still not some guy you want dribbling the ball needing a basket. He's the perfect glue guy, not the go-to-guy. Hulls/Watford/Sheehey do what they've always done at IU - shoot the ball. If they aren't hitting their shots they don't impact the game that much. Hulls you have a point, but Sheehey does way more than shoot the ball. He's been cold lately, I'll grant you that, but Sheehey's at his best when he's not just shooting the ball. But again, I think it's shortchanging Crean to say "he just simply has better players" as if they showed up out of the blue in Bloomington, no thanks to him or his staff. However, I think that "coaching" and "recruiting" are not as easily separated as the conventional wisdom seems to think they are. EDIT: Rereading your post, I think you're doing a disservice to Oladipo too. He does give Derrick Rose style effort, but his "skills" have also definitely improved year-over-year. Shooting and ball handling mostly.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 11:59 AM) Do people really think Crean is a good coach? He seems to get outcoached quite a bit and his substitution patterns always seem to screw momentum up in bad ways. I think he finally got some talent and inherited a great home court. I'm interested to see where he takes the program from here. No Zeller, Oladipo, Watford or Hulls. Even with a couple of good recruiting classes, I think this is their year to take a shot at the title before dropping back to the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. I think Crean gets a bad rap. He came in with the reputation of being a great recruiter and not so great a coach, and it's hard to shake those. Did he oversub too much in the first half? Yes. But then at the end of the game, he made the smart move by not calling a timeout to allow Michigan to catch their breath since Michigan was out of timeouts. Just little things like that. You're also short changing other things Crean does. Consider the bolded -- who brought those players in? Crean and his staff. Even more to the point of "coaching credentials" is that you mentioned Oladipo. He didn't exactly come to Bloomington as some highly touted recruit, and now he might be the National Player of the Year. Most of the credit goes to Oladipo and his work ethic, but I'm guessing Crean had a little bit to do with the development of him and Sheehey as well. All of this is why I like Crean the Coach, even if I'm not so much a fan of Crean the Person. Though, since I've been critical of Crean the Person in the last several posts, I will say that I've frequently heard stories of the good things he does around Monroe County. Not just the "LOOK AT ME I'M AT A CHARITY GALA" type stuff, just helping people out when cameras aren't around.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 11:55 AM) Really? In what world is it Crean's place to say anything? Unless Meyer made a specific remark to Crean (which is possible), Crean should have just kept his mouth shut. Indiana won the game, you dont need to go and find a guy to try and publicly embarrass him. Last I checked, Crean wasnt even at Indiana when that happened, he should be thanking Sampson because if it wasnt for that cluster, Crean wouldnt coaching Indiana. The people who should be screamed at, the people who should suffer, are all the Indiana fans who loved Sampson, who were quite happy with everything Sampson was doing, until they got caught. Those very same people are defending Tom Crean, no matter what. Irony. The bolded may be true for some unfortunate Indiana fans, but you're sorely mistaken if you think it's a significant portion of the fanbase's intelligent members.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 11:47 AM) I'll grant you shouldn't do that on the cameras, but I think even a Michigan fan would guess that there was something else that precipitated that reaction other than what happened 4 years ago, so we're probably only getting 1/2 the story. But Hell, I also really don't mind anyone on that staff being called out, screamed at, or anything else. That includes the people who hired that blankety-blank and then failed to monitor him. So yeah, it looks bad on TV, but I'm not going to be mad for him getting called out. If nothing else...anyone who wants to hire that guy as their head coach in the next couple years might surreptitiously put in a call to Crean and see what it was about. I don't mind any of those people getting called out either, but it doesn't look good and more importantly, it takes away from his players.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 11:27 AM) I don't think you can ever call a season a failure if a team doesn't win the title. The Final Four is just too competitive. That said, I would be very disappointed if IU doesn't make the Final Four, but I have enjoyed this team a lot this year, even with the few disappointments. As far as Crean, I don't much care what others think from the outside looking in. I like him and hope he continues to be IU's Head Coach. As far as yesterday, who knows what has been said between Crean and Meyer. The bottom line is, Michigan can say they win with class, but they did hire a guy that was central to all of the BS that happened at Indiana under Sampson. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be hired anywhere, but it should be no surprise if he is one of the last guys Crean wants to be social with. I'm sure there was a lot of emotion yesterday, with the game ending the way it did, clinching the title outright and the journey that it has taken to get to that point. Yes, he should have controlled his emotions, but it happened. So what. Time to move on and win some more games. I like him as a coach because he's brought us back pretty quickly, and by all appearances without doing anything shady. But as a person, he annoys the hell out of me. Very cocky, and frankly way too preachy (including his never ending bible thumping). But frankly, although I want the coaches of the teams I'm a fan of to be likable, I'd rather I like them as coaches first. That's what they're there for. Like I said about this Meyer/Crean tiff, it is hard for me to be impartial about it because I'm not exactly Jeff Meyer's biggest fan, or anywhere close. I thought Dana O'Neill had a good piece on it (as she usually does). Doesn't matter if Meyer really did tell Crean to go f*** himself; Crean can't react like that. That negatively affects him as a coach and a leader.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 09:28 AM) Yeah...I don't think Crean was very happy. What I haven't been able to tell is whether something precipitated this -- either Meyer or someone else saying something -- or Crean just went up to him. I would think it's the latter, but I've never seen him go up to someone like that. Odd. Granted, I am even more biased than usual on this one, since I too am not a fan of Jeff Meyer. Just a quick follow up... Crean called Meyer to apologize. There are also rumors that Meyer told Crean to go f*** himself during the handshake line, but those are of course just that -- rumors.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) Congrats on winning the Big Ten Indiana, you earned the toughest draw in the tourney. Hah, I noticed. Besides Michigan, those are the two teams I wouldn't want to see the most out of that first round.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 07:40 AM) LOL, I like how Crean tried to pretend like he was laughing and joking after he realized the camera got close Yeah...I don't think Crean was very happy. What I haven't been able to tell is whether something precipitated this -- either Meyer or someone else saying something -- or Crean just went up to him. I would think it's the latter, but I've never seen him go up to someone like that. Odd. Granted, I am even more biased than usual on this one, since I too am not a fan of Jeff Meyer.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 07:30 PM) A few thoughts.... 1. With Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan in the same side of the bracket, I'm not convinced the 2 and 3 seed didn't get the better draws in the BTT. 2. I do not think the foul on Watford should have been called differently than what it was. I will argue this whether it is IU or the Topeka YMCA playing, if the defender makes a legitimate attempt at the ball the call should simply be a foul. End of story. Hacking the right arm of a right handed player about to lay the ball up is a basketball play. The problem lies in the use of the word intentional. The rule was placed into effect in essence to prevent overly harsh, aka flagrant fouls that could hurt someone. There are "intentional" fouls throughout EVERY game in college basketball and 10 or more could be called every night. Murking up the waters is the newer, yet different rule on Flagrant 1 and Flagrant 2 fouls. If Watford (or Johnny Stevens from Topeka) pushes the player in the back with both hands, that's a different call. Watford simply placed one hand on the players back as he swatted at the ball. He got his shooting arm instead. That's no different than hand checking. My opinion on this would have been the same had the roles been reversed. In fact, I hate it every time I am at a basketball game and there is a foul late in the game and half the crowd stands up with arms crossed yelling "intentional". I've hated it for years. Unfortunately, you don't see it interpreted consistently across the country so there is confusion as to the correct intention of the rule. Just my $.02 When the top 4 or 5 teams are that good, no draw is a decent draw.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 05:39 PM) The logic was to try to give teams trailing in a game a bit more a chance to catch up, instead of the game being virtually over. It keeps some level of interest in games that used to be over. This is what I assume as well. Just adds entertainment value.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 05:27 PM) This is kind of a side note, but who came up with the one and one anyway? It's such a goofy rule and it decided today's game. Decides a lot of games, really. Makes hitting free throws a the end of every game way more important.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 05:18 PM) Choke. Missing FTs. Don't deserve to win. Still should've been 2 and ball. There was absolutely terrible officiating both ways, many ways to alter the outcome.

ohmygodyesohmygodyes

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) I think it is for the "Student section", since universities are usually giving students much cheaper tickets so that they can get into those sections. But that's my point -- my main experience with college basketball was (obviously) with Indiana, and in the student section* people could wear an opponent's jersey, even though we paid less to be in those seats. *I understand Indiana's "student section" is pretty convoluted. It's gotten better in the last few years though, because they made the lower left corner (on TV, it's on the near left side) a "General Admission" student section so people can all get up near the front and it looks like a legitimate student section. And then there's behind the left side basket. Saw a tweet today that IU's student section is 9% bigger than MSU's, Michigan's and Ohio State's student sections combined. That's misleading though, since besides the aforementioned improvements, students are really spread out in the arena. They're not in a cohesive "section."

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 04:09 PM) Seems like both Zeller and Oladipo spent a lot of time on the bench that half, but I can't find "minutes" recorded in the stats easily. Hulls obviously also but that was fouls. IU has 0 points from its bench right now. 0/8 on FG. Seth Davis made a good point on the halftime show -- Crean oversubbed his way out of a lead. No reason to take out Zeller and Oladipo with a 10-3 lead when neither of them have a foul. That Michigan run had as much to do with Burke coming back as it did with us playing half the bench.

Is this a common thing at college arenas? People would get heckled and stuff for wearing an opponent's jersey at Assembly Hall, but they could wear it. The only rule was the standard no profanity. Student told to wear Michigan shirt or leave

Free throws can be the difference. Usually we shoot and make more free throws than the other team, and that's not even close to happening here. And we need to, you know, make the actual free throw when given an attempt. Nice job by Indiana to not fold there, felt like it was a key point when the score was 27-16. Now play well in the second half.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 09:06 AM) I don't see how going to grad school would change an allegiance, whether in or out of the big ten. Most of the people I know that went to grad school don't really care about the teams there. Agreed. I know some people whose grad school is their second favorite school, but it doesn't switch the primary one. I would (and did) only switch allegiances for the undergrad choice.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 10:06 PM) Over time, they will be disappointed with the finish, but will remember the players fondly, especially the seniors. It's hard to explain, but with what Indiana went through, I think there is an appreciation for the journey and commitment of the players. This senior class started with six players and 3 "celebrated" senior night. Mo Creek still has a year remaining after red shirting, two others didn't stick around. Suffice it to say, while Indiana fans can be very arrogant, the last 6-8 years have been somewhat humbling and make you look at things differently than before. Just one man's opinion. Yes, this. I was trying to think of how to say it, but you said it well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 01:45 PM) What you said is not what AG Holder said. What you said is "The President will not bomb US Citizens on US Soil". Read it again. He explicitly adds the clause "not engaged in combat". The problem comes about if the only person who can decide whether someone is "engaged in combat" is the President. More to the point, I'm pretty sure that Holder changed Paul's question. I don't think Paul put the "not engaged in combat" part in his question, but I might be mistaken. And, as you said, that's a pretty important change.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 06:47 AM) Agreed. Though, what I do find odd is that this is such a HUGE deal to everyone this year, when MSU did the exact same thing last year after losing their outright title. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right to me. I think what's bothering me most is that it's not only that they did it after a loss, but a loss that actually meant something (not clinching the outright title).

QUOTE (Cali @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 09:45 AM) I really need to see them live. Although I did think "Handwritten" was a step back musically for them from "American Slang", maybe they'll just play the few songs I did like from Handwritten haha. Handwritten is growing on me a lot. I think American Slang was a bit of an expansion musically, and sometimes bands continue on that progression for two or three albums. Handwritten is much more straight up rock n roll. That's one reason I liked the show so much. You know how in movies when the characters just go to a generic rock show, and they're all having fun and it's the time of their lives? That's basically what this was. About 15 feet from the stage, just rocking out with Gaslight for an hour and a half.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 12:34 AM) Actually the power to carry out the criminal justice system lies with the courts, not Obama. He cant indiscriminately bomb US citizens, nobody can. Uh...I know? That's why I said I agreed with Paul's points in general during his filibuster. I was referring to a specific one or two sentence tangent he went on at the time I made that post.

I agree with Paul's points in general here today, but that was a random incursion on an executive power right there. Not for the Senate to say how the President may execute powers that are wholly his.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Mar 6, 2013 -> 09:01 PM) filibuster is still going Still going. Never imagined I'd be watching C-Span2 at 10:30 at night.