2012-13 College Basketball Running Cordial Discussion

Which means any or all of the things Jake mentioned are possible.

 

I think reporters should cut down the nets if Tom Crean makes it to a presser before 1:37 a.m.

 

It's not about the seed for Indiana, it's about the location. They're a first weekend exit anywhere but the Midwest. If they get Indianapolis, they're a Final Four team. They MUST have that top Midwest seed.

He still has won nothing at IU. But he has always treated the media like garbage after losses, as if they are to blame.

 

Yeah, I brought this up earlier about why last night mattered.

 

Whichever region they get, they'll still be playing in Auburn Hills, Lexington or Dayton the first weekend. Why would being slotted to Indianapolis have any bearing on winning or losing in a neighboring state the first two (real) rounds?

And by your standards, nobody besides Davis has won anything at Indiana the last two decades, not even Saint Bobby, who was coasting on reputation for a while at the end.

 

I had no idea the board was this in love with Tom Crean.

 

Actually, yes.

Indiana fans, spurred by this video, scream constantly about "Banners!" and some such. They (we) run their mouths about how great we used to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8hdKnr7rpE

Indiana is supposed to be one of the most powerful six programs in the nation. But it has reached three Sweet 16s in the last 20 years. Since our (hey, I'm an alum) last outright conference title, UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke have all won national titles. All but UCLA and Kansas have won more than one. All have played for more than one. Since Indiana's last co-co-co-co-Big Ten title and great tourney run (2002), all of the others have reached multiple Final Fours, and all but UCLA have won it all.

Is that the standard for Indiana? Fans seem to think so. Crean says it is. But they celebrated last year's team as if it won the national title. That Kentucky win was celebrated as if it was for a trophy. The team, finished fifth and reached the Sweet 16. And they gave them rings.

And there we are, cutting down the nets and talking about hanging a special banner after securing what could still be a co-co-co-co-Big Ten title.



Barring a Big Ten tourney victory (in Chicago, yeah right), a loss to Michigan Sunday likely costs this team everything: the Big ten, the top seed in the Midwest, etc. And with no outright conference titles in 20 years, and the only Final Four coming from a great run rather than a great season, I'm tired of hearing about our freaking banners.

If those other programs are the standard, Indiana has won very little of note in the last two decades. And after this year's team is gutted through graduation and departures, Crean will again have to find new horses to run his indecipherable offense.

He has done a great job rebuilding IU, and honoring "The Things IU Fans Want To Believe In." Graduation, "CLASS!!!!!" and such. But he will always be outcoached in the moment of truth (except by Izzo, apparently, but Roy Williams had Knight's number so go figure), and is not someone who develops players really well.

Watford is still maddeningly inconsistent, Hulls is the same three-point specialist he was as a freshman (though many IU fans naturally love him since he fits the mold of their "Hoosier Hero": a whitey local boy who shoots the lights out and gets angry about stuff), Zeller has no post moves he didn't have when he stepped on campus, Zeller's footwork has not improved (he'll get an nice tutor in the NBA). Oladipo has developed through an insane work ethic and commitment to being the best.

Crean is a great recruiter, and has sold the program really well when it needed such a figure. But he will never take third-place talent and win a conference title. And this year, he has taken Nationally No. 1-with-a-bullet talent and is on the verge of a co-co-co-co-Big ten title.

 

Jordan Hulls has been overrated going back to his high school days.

But as mentioned, he's the 21st Century Version IU White Boy Hero, so he's worshiped like so many of his white bread predecessors.

 

Good stuff, Norrin.

 

Many IU fans think he's some kind of "leader!" of this group, because he happens to fit that mold. If his shot is not falling, he is useless. He doesn't get in dude's faces. This team has no on-court leader.

 

Craft is what IU fans think Hulls is.