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A Historically Bad Stretch


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On the HSN home page it says "A history of excellence" under the general basketball discussion.

It wasn't the story I intended to write, but as I started to examine the history of the program in the context of today's standards and what is going on with this team -- it became apparent that this four year stretch is one of, if not the worst stretches ever for IU.

Why are we so impatient as a fan base?  Because we really haven't seen anything like this.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-basketball-the-programs-national-irrelevance-is-reaching-unparalleled-proportions/

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I was a student for the first two years of Coach Watson that you mentioned in your story.  Went to every home game.  In the "New Fieldhouse". Before Assembly Hall.  And enjoyed every game. 

Mike Davis had just one losing season.  The other years he got IU an NIT bid and got IU to  the second round of the NCAAT two times, out of the four years he was at IU. Currently, upon reflection, I would hazard a guess IU fans would take that in a heartbeat.

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2 hours ago, The Daily Hoosier said:

On the HSN home page it says "A history of excellence" under the general basketball discussion.

It wasn't the story I intended to write, but as I started to examine the history of the program in the context of today's standards and what is going on with this team -- it became apparent that this four year stretch is one of, if not the worst stretches ever for IU.

Why are we so impatient as a fan base?  Because we really haven't seen anything like this.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-basketball-the-programs-national-irrelevance-is-reaching-unparalleled-proportions/

Enjoyed the read...but let me point out the 77-78 season.  RMK came oh so close to missing the NCAAT 3 years in a row himself.  After the historic '76 undefeated title we layed an egg the following year going 14-13 OA and 9-9 in the Big Ten.  That 77-78 season started great(my mind isn't what it once was) but IIRC we got beat at #1 UK but quickly followed that up with a home win against #2 Notre Dame.  Once again going from memory once conference play began we struggled.  Seems that we beat Sparty at home and we turned the corner.  IIRC we won something like 8 conference games in a row down the stretch.  Had it not been for the "Maryland Rule" we wouldn't have been in the tournament that year either.

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I think the article about sums it up.

We have a very valid reason to question the direction of the program right now whether someone has gotten a full recruiting class or not.  Additionally, Don Fischer was on Dakich today seeming to say that Miller's hands were tied in dealing with problem players.

Dear Archie, screw the admin, if you need to drop the hammer, drop it.  These kids are going to get you fired anyway.  If you publically destroy Green if he does something as stupid as that behind the back pass later this week against Iowa, the fans will appreciate it.  That guy who was celebrated this weekend was a complete a-hole on many occasions, and we loved him.  You are not going to hurt the fans feelings if you rip a guy.

The current administration at IU is an outlier in that they do not represent the wishes of the fanbase.

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26 minutes ago, rico said:

Enjoyed the read...but let me point out the 77-78 season.  RMK came oh so close to missing the NCAAT 3 years in a row himself.  After the historic '76 undefeated title we layed an egg the following year going 14-13 OA and 9-9 in the Big Ten.  That 77-78 season started great(my mind isn't what it once was) but IIRC we got beat at #1 UK but quickly followed that up with a home win against #2 Notre Dame.  Once again going from memory once conference play began we struggled.  Seems that we beat Sparty at home and we turned the corner.  IIRC we won something like 8 conference games in a row down the stretch.  Had it not been for the "Maryland Rule" we wouldn't have been in the tournament that year either.

While that was a bad stretch it's not really apples to apples to what we are going through now.  Only 32 teams made the tournament during that time.  The '76/'77 team did have a down year but after Minnesota forfeited its wins we actually finished at 16-11(11-7).  Then in '78/'79 we finished 22-12(10-8).  You take those records now with 68 teams and most likely both make the field.  I think we'd all be ecstatic with a 22-12 record right now.  :) 

Go Hoosiers!!!

 

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Indy1987 said:

While that was a bad stretch it's not really apples to apples to what we are going through now.  Only 32 teams made the tournament during that time.  The '76/'77 team did have a down year but after Minnesota forfeited its wins we actually finished at 16-11(11-7).  Then in '78/'79 we finished 22-12(10-8).  You take those records now with 68 teams and most likely both make the field.  I think we'd all be ecstatic with a 22-12 record right now.  :) 

Go Hoosiers!!!

 

 

 

Meh.  The times are times and the era's are what they are.  Knight would have got a pass.

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52 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I think the article about sums it up.

We have a very valid reason to question the direction of the program right now whether someone has gotten a full recruiting class or not.  Additionally, Don Fischer was on Dakich today seeming to say that Miller's hands were tied in dealing with problem players.

Dear Archie, screw the admin, if you need to drop the hammer, drop it.  These kids are going to get you fired anyway.  If you publically destroy Green if he does something as stupid as that behind the back pass later this week against Iowa, the fans will appreciate it.  That guy who was celebrated this weekend was a complete a-hole on many occasions, and we loved him.  You are not going to hurt the fans feelings if you rip a guy.

The current administration at IU is an outlier in that they do not represent the wishes of the fanbase.

Where is this article?

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54 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I think the article about sums it up.

We have a very valid reason to question the direction of the program right now whether someone has gotten a full recruiting class or not.  Additionally, Don Fischer was on Dakich today seeming to say that Miller's hands were tied in dealing with problem players.

Dear Archie, screw the admin, if you need to drop the hammer, drop it.  These kids are going to get you fired anyway.  If you publically destroy Green if he does something as stupid as that behind the back pass later this week against Iowa, the fans will appreciate it.  That guy who was celebrated this weekend was a complete a-hole on many occasions, and we loved him.  You are not going to hurt the fans feelings if you rip a guy.

The current administration at IU is an outlier in that they do not represent the wishes of the fanbase.

I'm not in the camp that having the coach publicly lambaste a player is necessary.  However, I do think benching a player and living without him would be beneficial under the addition by subtraction theory.

As far as the administration is concerned, we know what they are.  There is no reason to think they'd suddenly spend significantly more on the next coach.  The same people are there.  You'd need them jettisoned.  If you caught the Pat Knight interview, it was very telling what the players said about the university's involvement in Knight coming back.  This was handled by Wittman with Buckner from the Board running it.  Dolson did some of the gopher work, but this was not Fred's show.  This was despite him.

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1 hour ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I think the article about sums it up.

We have a very valid reason to question the direction of the program right now whether someone has gotten a full recruiting class or not.  Additionally, Don Fischer was on Dakich today seeming to say that Miller's hands were tied in dealing with problem players.

Dear Archie, screw the admin, if you need to drop the hammer, drop it.  These kids are going to get you fired anyway.  If you publically destroy Green if he does something as stupid as that behind the back pass later this week against Iowa, the fans will appreciate it.  That guy who was celebrated this weekend was a complete a-hole on many occasions, and we loved him.  You are not going to hurt the fans feelings if you rip a guy.

The current administration at IU is an outlier in that they do not represent the wishes of the fanbase.

Couldn't stomach listening to DD show today. Did Fischer say anything else? I mean he's a legend and obviously word gets back. Did he just offer the same blanket administration problems or go into anything specific.

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51 minutes ago, rico said:

Meh.  The times are times and the era's are what they are.  Knight would have got a pass.

Win a national title and i bet Archie gets a pass for a few bad years too.  Unfortunately he hasn't won anything big and the fans are giving him about 3 inches of rope and that's about it.  Is it fair to him, no, but its not fair to the fan of the university either with the product put on the floor.  Is CAM responsible for it all, nope, lot of blame to go around.  Does't change the results and people don't like losing or bad play or uninspired play.  I just don't care anymore.  Its no longer important to me.  Life is more important than IU basketball.  

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1 hour ago, rico said:

Meh.  The times are times and the era's are what they are.  Knight would have got a pass.

Come on that three year stretch is not even remotely close to the hell we are in right now.   It's not even Knight's worst stretch.   Those late 90s teams when we barely got in and were bounced early were worse years.  Yet I'd give anything right now to be that good.

Go Hoosiers!!!

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55 minutes ago, Indy1987 said:

Come on that three year stretch is not even remotely close to the hell we are in right now.   It's not even Knight's worst stretch.   Those late 90s teams when we barely got in and were bounced early were worse years.  Yet I'd give anything right now to be that good.

Go Hoosiers!!!

Gee whiz, what are you talking about?  Hell, Knight was lucky to get by the 1st round after '94.

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53 minutes ago, rico said:

Jimmy crickets, what are you talking about?  Hell, Knight was lucky to get by the 1st round after '94.

Ummm... you brought up the 76-79 year stretch to be considered by TDH.   I disagree.

No need for the foul language.  We all know what that means and you know better.

Go Hoosiers!!!

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53 minutes ago, rico said:

Great googly moogly, what are you talking about?  Hell, Knight was lucky to get by the 1st round after '94.

This is correct. I'm both old enough and young enough to not over-romanticize CBK's last few years at IU. The game had passed him by right around this time and he never recovered. 

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28 minutes ago, Indy1987 said:

Ummm... you brought up the 76-79 year stretch to be considered by TDH.   I disagree.

No need for the foul language.  We all know what that means and you know better.

Go Hoosiers!!!

just gotta know your audience.  Rico and Scott are very aggressive.  it's just who they are.  no biggie.  just catches you off guard sometimes.  Peace and Love all.

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11 hours ago, BEKA said:

This is correct. I'm both old enough and young enough to not over-romanticize CBK's last few years at IU. The game had passed him by right around this time and he never recovered. 

I will disagree with the game passing him by, that is about the time that all recruiting started getting handled by the assistant coaches and Knight was off hunting and fishing with people like Ted Williams,  George Bush, etc.. and it was more enjoyable than recruiting 

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55 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

I will disagree with the game passing him by, that is about the time that all recruiting started getting handled by the assistant coaches and Knight was off hunting and fishing with people like Ted Williams,  George Bush, etc.. and it was more enjoyable than recruiting 

Seems to be the consensus about Knight's recruiting in the end times.  But he was still getting talent just couldn't seem to get them to play "Indiana" basketball.

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I’m 34 years old and i can barely remember those last great IU teams from the early to mid 90s.  Besides the 2002 run, a 07-08 team that had the looks of a contender before the wheels fell off and the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2015-16 teams that made the sweet 16, I haven’t got to experience what a lot of others here have.  I’m wondering if i will get to see IU contend on a consistent basis and at least cut down the nets once sometime in my lifetime.

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36 minutes ago, ThePaulieWalnuts said:

I’m 34 years old and i can barely remember those last great IU teams from the early to mid 90s.  Besides the 2002 run, a 07-08 team that had the looks of a contender before the wheels fell off and the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2015-16 teams that made the sweet 16, I haven’t got to experience what a lot of others here have.  I’m wondering if i will get to see IU contend on a consistent basis and at least cut down the nets once sometime in my lifetime.

I hate that my kids have never seen a dominant IU. The success that we had with Crean and my love for IU basketball my kids bleed cream and crimson.  Even they have apathy both have turned down free tix on a few occasions.  When they were little we went all the time and loved it. Now they check the scores but rarely watch a game. The longer we mire in mediocrity and below the more and more fans will find things better to do. 😢😢

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33 minutes ago, ThePaulieWalnuts said:

I’m 34 years old and i can barely remember those last great IU teams from the early to mid 90s.  Besides the 2002 run, a 07-08 team that had the looks of a contender before the wheels fell off and the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2015-16 teams that made the sweet 16, I haven’t got to experience what a lot of others here have.  I’m wondering if i will get to see IU contend on a consistent basis and at least cut down the nets once sometime in my lifetime.

Hopefully it will change.  But we are distancing fans from the history of IU basketball.

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1 hour ago, Billingsley99 said:

I hate that my kids have never seen a dominant IU. The success that we had with Crean and my love for IU basketball my kids bleed cream and crimson.  Even they have apathy both have turned down free tix on a few occasions.  When they were little we went all the time and loved it. Now they check the scores but rarely watch a game. The longer we mire in mediocrity and below the more and more fans will find things better to do. 😢😢

I have a similar situation.  I have an 11 year old, when I was his age I was fully into IU.  I would he outside pretending I was Alford with the shot clock winding down.  By the time I had finished middle school I was a complete diehard.  My son is barely interested...the games are just not fun to watch.  We play a fairly boring style and we lose alot.  That is not a recipe for winning new fans.

I also probably feed into things a little bit because life came along and I got busy.  I was working 2 jobs when Vic and Zeller were on campus, so I missed that game watching time with them.  Most of the other years he has been alive, IU has just not been good enough to be appointment TV.  I DVR most games anymore and the DVR losses get an auto delete from me.  When they lose nearly 50% of the games, that is quite a bit not getting watched.

The interviews that happened today on Indianapolis radio with Fischer and Rabjohns make me believe that we have an administration problem that does not look to be resolving itself anytime soon.  The Rabjohns interview was totally disheartening because with the things he said, he basically let out of the bag that Indiana is going to be an also ran by design, particularly when players start getting paid.

We are what we are now and for the foreseeable future.  If that is going to be the case, there are better things to spend free time and resources on.  I feel I care more about winning than the school does, so the basketball program, which has been frustrating for the majority of the past 20 years, is going to continue to be that way for me by the school's design.  

As mentioned above, I have already started to cut it out, I spend about as much time on these boards complaining about the team as I do actually enjoying a game.  I kind of feel like that couple heading for divorce.  You are slowly pulling away because you are not happy anymore but you keep dipping your toe in, just hoping that something may change.

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24 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I have a similar situation.  I have an 11 year old, when I was his age I was fully into IU.  I would he outside pretending I was Alford with the shot clock winding down.  By the time I had finished middle school I was a complete diehard.  My son is barely interested...the games are just not fun to watch.  We play a fairly boring style and we lose alot.  That is not a recipe for winning new fans.

I also probably feed into things a little bit because life came along and I got busy.  I was working 2 jobs when Vic and Zeller were on campus, so I missed that game watching time with them.  Most of the other years he has been alive, IU has just not been good enough to be appointment TV.  I DVR most games anymore and the DVR losses get an auto delete from me.  When they lose nearly 50% of the games, that is quite a bit not getting watched.

The interviews that happened today on Indianapolis radio with Fischer and Rabjohns make me believe that we have an administration problem that does not look to be resolving itself anytime soon.  The Rabjohns interview was totally disheartening because with the things he said, he basically let out of the bag that Indiana is going to be an also ran by design, particularly when players start getting paid.

We are what we are now and for the foreseeable future.  If that is going to be the case, their are better things to spend free time and resources on.  I feel I care more about winning than the school does, so the basketball program, which has been frustrating for the majority of the past 20 years, is going to continue to be that way for me by the school's design.  

As mentioned above, I have already started to cut it out, I spend about as much time on these boards complaining about the team as I do actually enjoying a game.  I kind of feel like that couple heading for divorce.  You are slowly pulling away because you are not happy anymore but you keep dipping your toe in, just hoping that something may change.

I feel your pain for sure as many of us do. I find myself on here more now than ever because I get more enjoyment from a message board than from the actual games. Let that sink it for a minute. Many on here keep saying more time and I dont know if that is the answer or not. What I do know is that I dont like watching emotionless , heartless non caring basketball.  Before most games I dont feel very good about our chances. At least with CTC I thought we could win every game but could also lose to anyone. Now I think at best its 50/50

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My question all of you is that if this is an administration problem where they are not placing as much emphasis on sports then what can we as fans or alumni do to stop this.  Also if this is a problem why are a lot of our other sports are thriving but the basketball program is struggling.

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