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14 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

Very well said.i have come to the conclusion that some people just have to find something to gripe about. Crean had his share of oddities for sure, but I am thankful that he pulled our program out of the ashes and gave us some national exposure. IU became relevant once again. Was it time for him to go yes but I have no idea why so much animosity toward him. In the past 20 years few teams have gone into the tourney #1 and won it all. We did not achieve our goals but right now I would love to get to a sweet 16 and build on it from there. 

The animosity is because he couldn't sustain anything. The Big Ten title seasons were followed up with horribly disappointing and embarrassing seasons. His recruiting tanked the last couple years he was here and we still haven't recovered from it. And as frustrating as all of that is, right now we have a coach who looks like he's in over his head and will struggle to achieve even that much. 

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1 minute ago, Officer Obie said:

I liked Coach Crean, warts and all. I also wanted to see him go.

I was one of the few to hold out.  But, in the end. I was ready to cut the cord, as well.  Still..... the man is not a bad person.  And can only wish the best for Coach Crean going forward.

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On 5/15/2020 at 6:51 AM, hoosierdaddy_72 said:

Yes, it is really strange that Dolson feeds these interviews to these clowns.  They make it about themselves and represent the program poorly IMO.  IU should have had pros do these interviews.

Scott Dolson and Indiana University do not own former Indiana University players. Also doesn’t get more pro than Eric.  These guys also have done a fantastic job of bringing the former players back together. 
 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Eric+Pankowski&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS674US674&oq=eric&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j69i59l2j69i60l2j69i61.2253j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

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12 minutes ago, klize17 said:

Scott Dolson and Indiana University do not own former Indiana University players. Also doesn’t get more pro than Eric.  These guys also have done a fantastic job of bringing the former players back together. 
 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Eric+Pankowski&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS674US674&oq=eric&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j69i59l2j69i60l2j69i61.2253j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Hey. Been a member for quite some time.  Nice to see your first post.   DO MORE !

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I appreciate the fact Crean came in after IU decided to torpedo their bball program, the only reason why IU is known nationally, and deal with the bs.

Crean was and is a weirdo but a pretty good guy.  And without IU basketball, Bloomington would be as unknown as the Bikini Islands.

IU basketball made the University and Bloomington what it is. 

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2 hours ago, milehiiu said:

I was one of the few to hold out.  But, in the end. I was ready to cut the cord, as well.  Still..... the man is not a bad person.  And can only wish the best for Coach Crean going forward.

He may not be a bad person but as a coach for him to treat the players the way he did is absolutely unacceptable and that has to discredit some of the things he has done here period.

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2 hours ago, milehiiu said:

When some had IUBB dead and buried.  Coach Crean rose the program from the dead. And did it with players, that normally would have never been given scholarships at any other D-1 or B1G school.  The pressure of coaching at IU... I believe is what did him in.  Does not make him a bad man. Nor a bad person.  Personally I loved his attachment to God.  He has a very supportive family. And wife.  And can only wish Coach Crean the best at Georgia.

I'm going to have to disagree very strongly with the bolded section. He certainly did hand out scholarships to players that had no business being in the B1G, much less D-1, but those aren't the players that he had and relied on when he started to actually win games. Those types of players he Creaned after a season or two.

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59 minutes ago, IUfaninIllinois said:

He may not be a bad person but as a coach for him to treat the players the way he did is absolutely unacceptable and that has to discredit some of the things he has done here period.

In what way did Coach Crean treat players in a bad way ?  He had players go off the rail.  And he took them to task for that. If that is what you are referring to. I have not a problem with the way Coach Crean handled those issues.

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47 minutes ago, go_iu_bb said:

I'm going to have to disagree very strongly with the bolded section. He certainly did hand out scholarships to players that had no business being in the B1G, much less D-1, but those aren't the players that he had and relied on when he started to actually win games. Those types of players he Creaned after a season or two.

Zeller did not even come to IU till 2010. He may be one of the exceptions.  But left early.  The cupboard was bare, when Coach Crean came to IU.  He did his best to keep some of the better players.  But they refused and left.  And he had to fill in with guys who would never have made it on a D-1 level.  Coach Crean came in late and was forced to fill in with guys that other schools had already passed on.  Much less having to fill out a roster with IU baseball players.  And even playing a team manager, after the IU baseball players had to leave for early season training.

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On 5/16/2020 at 3:12 PM, dbmhoosier said:

This was even worse.  We squeaked by a garbage Illini team in year 3 at home and this is his reaction.  Completely embarrassing.  You would've thought this was just after the Watshot but no.

 

That was Crean’s first win over a ranked team after the fans had stuck with the team through two awful seasons.  That Illinois team was ranked No. 20 at the time and won a game in the tournament that year — hardly “garbage.”

The fans were super pumped after two years of futility and he came out to give them the game ball, which they absolutely loved.  That was the first IU game I ever went to, and it was an incredibly cool moment.

Easy to hate on him for other things (cutting the nets down after a loss, etc.) but just a stretch to hate on this.

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Just now, FW_Hoosier said:

That was Crean’s first win over a ranked team after the fans had stuck with the team through two awful seasons.  That Illinois team was ranked No. 20 at the time and won a game in the tournament that year — hardly “garbage.”

The fans were super pumped after two years of futility and he came out to give them the game ball, which they absolutely loved.  That was the first IU game I ever went to, and it was an incredibly cool moment.

Easy to hate on him for other things (cutting the nets down after a loss, etc.) but just a stretch to hate on this.

The man went out to share a special moment with IU fans.  I never found fault with that. And still don't... to this day.

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11 minutes ago, milehiiu said:

Zeller did not even come to IU till 2010. He may be one of the exceptions.  But left early.  The cupboard was bare, when Coach Crean came to IU.  He did his best to keep some of the better players.  But they refused and left.  And he had to fill in with guys who would never have made it on a D-1 level.  Coach Crean came in late and was forced to fill in with guys that other schools had already passed on.  Much less having to fill out a roster with IU baseball players.  And even playing a team manager, after the IU baseball players had to leave for early season training.

He didn't raise IU from the ashes with those first year players. He won 6 games that year, 10 the next, and 12 the 3rd year. That's hardly raising the program back to prominence. 

But in that first team he had Rivers redshirting after transferring from Georgetown. Nick Williams was a top 100 4* recruit. 3* Malik Story chose IU over Georgetown and Minnesota among others. Tom Pritchard had offers from Miami OH and Penn State. Devan Dumes had at least 4 other D1 offers including Ohio State.  Matt Roth had other D1 offers including Notre Dame. Verdell Jones had offers from Kentucky and Minnesota.

So they weren't highly ranked players (mostly) but saying that they weren't D1 or B1G caliber in not true.

The next year he brought in several players who truly did help resurrect the program but they were ranked and had other D1 offers as well.

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4 hours ago, klize17 said:

Scott Dolson and Indiana University do not own former Indiana University players. Also doesn’t get more pro than Eric.  These guys also have done a fantastic job of bringing the former players back together. 
 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Eric+Pankowski&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS674US674&oq=eric&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j69i59l2j69i60l2j69i61.2253j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Wow. I didn’t realize his credentials were that impressive.  
 

I really enjoy the podcasts. They always put out something entertaining and fun to listen to. 

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2 hours ago, milehiiu said:

In what way did Coach Crean treat players in a bad way ?  He had players go off the rail.  And he took them to task for that. If that is what you are referring to. I have not a problem with the way Coach Crean handled those issues.

I’m talking about multiple players saying he ran them into the ground.... the 4 hour practices... the running until you throw up... I’m not sure if you’ve ever coached but you don’t go balls to the walls with your players just because that’s how you are. As a coach to get the most out of your players you have to gauge how each player responds. Some respond to yelling. Some respond to nurturing... some respond to everything... Crean didn’t adjust and his players suffered because of it... I understand some situations kids got in trouble and they had to be disciplined but when Cody Zeller... who is a team guy through and through comes out against crean for running them into the ground it has credibility to it and you have other players saying the same. This isn’t guys who got in trouble with Crean coming out against him because he booted them... him firing mcloud because he didn’t carry the bags and also made him wait in the office and then call him at 1 am these are not signs of a coach that gets credit for bringing a team back to prominence... with some of the classes he had we should’ve won a title and would have with a better coaching style instead of a coach with insecurities 

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1 hour ago, IUfaninIllinois said:

I’m talking about multiple players saying he ran them into the ground.... the 4 hour practices... the running until you throw up... I’m not sure if you’ve ever coached but you don’t go balls to the walls with your players just because that’s how you are. As a coach to get the most out of your players you have to gauge how each player responds. Some respond to yelling. Some respond to nurturing... some respond to everything... Crean didn’t adjust and his players suffered because of it... I understand some situations kids got in trouble and they had to be disciplined but when Cody Zeller... who is a team guy through and through comes out against crean for running them into the ground it has credibility to it and you have other players saying the same. This isn’t guys who got in trouble with Crean coming out against him because he booted them... him firing mcloud because he didn’t carry the bags and also made him wait in the office and then call him at 1 am these are not signs of a coach that gets credit for bringing a team back to prominence... with some of the classes he had we should’ve won a title and would have with a better coaching style instead of a coach with insecurities 

Appreciate the response. And please know that I consider you a friend of mine. Was not an attack on you.  Just a question I had .

And yes.  I can agree that Coach Crean did not understand how to taper.  And how he ran them into the ground. Season long.

 

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48 minutes ago, milehiiu said:

Appreciate the response. And please know that I consider you a friend of mine. Was not an attack on you.  Just a question I had .

And yes.  I can agree that Coach Crean did not understand how to taper.  And how he ran them into the ground. Season long.

 

Ohh I absolutely know it wasn’t and I didn’t want to sound like I was attacking back. I just wanted to get my point across and give a thorough answer and not just seem like I didn’t like the guy just because.

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9 hours ago, klize17 said:

Scott Dolson and Indiana University do not own former Indiana University players. Also doesn’t get more pro than Eric.  These guys also have done a fantastic job of bringing the former players back together. 
 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Eric+Pankowski&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS674US674&oq=eric&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j69i59l2j69i60l2j69i61.2253j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

It is well known that Dolson has asked these players to do these interviews as a favor.  Let's not pretend like Eric had these connections. 

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17 hours ago, klize17 said:

Scott Dolson and Indiana University do not own former Indiana University players. Also doesn’t get more pro than Eric.  These guys also have done a fantastic job of bringing the former players back together. 
 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Eric+Pankowski&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS674US674&oq=eric&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j69i59l2j69i60l2j69i61.2253j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

I'm all for anything that gets IU fans pumped-up about IUBball.  I enjoy hearing the insider's info from the former players.

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11 hours ago, milehiiu said:

Appreciate the response. And please know that I consider you a friend of mine. Was not an attack on you.  Just a question I had .

And yes.  I can agree that Coach Crean did not understand how to taper.  And how he ran them into the ground. Season long.

 

Their end of season sluggishness was obvious on that amazing 2012 season. I even recently remember listening to some interview about how they got worked so hard after losing to OSU and not clinching the B1G championship. They were exhausted going into that Michigan game, but were just determined to win. I remember that team never looked the same starting in mid February. They definitely didn’t play well in the B1G tournament and that second round game against Temple was in jeopardy. They definitely peaked in January, which became a staple of his teams....they were always seemed to be sputtering into the off-season. 

But that changed in that 2015-16 season. I remember reading numerous pieces that Crean rested that team later in the season and it showed.

There were many great qualities about Crean, but he seemed to always get in his own way. It always frustrated me that he either was too late to learn lessons or never learned them at all. You can’t have an elite team if your defense and offensive turnovers gradually gets worse over the years and you alienate your main recruiting base. It’s just an impossible formula for any maintained success.

All that said I truly appreciate everything he did for our program and I think he was a great offensive coach when his teams had the talent to run it. From the outside he seemed to be a good man with a big heart. He went out classy and has stayed classy. 

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15 hours ago, go_iu_bb said:

He didn't raise IU from the ashes with those first year players. He won 6 games that year, 10 the next, and 12 the 3rd year. That's hardly raising the program back to prominence. 

But in that first team he had Rivers redshirting after transferring from Georgetown. Nick Williams was a top 100 4* recruit. 3* Malik Story chose IU over Georgetown and Minnesota among others. Tom Pritchard had offers from Miami OH and Penn State. Devan Dumes had at least 4 other D1 offers including Ohio State.  Matt Roth had other D1 offers including Notre Dame. Verdell Jones had offers from Kentucky and Minnesota.

So they weren't highly ranked players (mostly) but saying that they weren't D1 or B1G caliber in not true.

The next year he brought in several players who truly did help resurrect the program but they were ranked and had other D1 offers as well.

Pritchard and Roth were Sampson's recruits. They just played like Crean's recruits.

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9 hours ago, hoosierdaddy_72 said:

It is well known that Dolson has asked these players to do these interviews as a favor.  Let's not pretend like Eric had these connections. 

Of course everybody will have an opinion. I can understand your criticisms and if you listen to enough they bring up a lot of the same stories over and over again. And I haven't heard about Eric's connection to Dolson.

But it's hard to deny they have a knack for squeezing stories out of players. And the fact that they keep these guys to the phone for 2-3 hours is a talent in it's own right. I mean, they got Todd Leary to tell the story about when Knight told him he was redshirting. He told him buck naked on a leather chair! It can't get much more raw than that.  

You can tell that they prepare for these interviews and despite their goofy demaner they take this very seriously. If Dolson plucked Eric out to do this, he definitely made a good call. And if this was all part of a greater ploy to get the alumni back together then I'm very impressed with Dolson's ability to pull those strings behind the scenes. 

 

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10 hours ago, hoosierdaddy_72 said:

It is well known that Dolson has asked these players to do these interviews as a favor.  Let's not pretend like Eric had these connections. 

I haven’t heard a thing about Dolson asking former players to be involved so I can’t comment. 
 

I have been an avid listener since day one and they of course did not have the connections at the time. I believe they had a Moye connection both being in LA and it has grown from there.  They both listen and take criticism and have done a fantastic job adjusting their strategies. 
 

They also absolutely played a part in making it okay for Coach Knight to feel welcomed back in Bloomington. If Coach Knight doesn’t go to the bluebird last November I am not sure we see him at Assembly Hall earlier this year. 

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2 hours ago, Wayward1 said:

Pritchard and Roth were Sampson's recruits. They just played like Crean's recruits.

It doesn't really matter who recruited them as that wasn't even my point. They were on the team. My point still stands that the myth that Crean resurrected the program with players that weren't even D1 level is just that, a myth. The 1st year team was made up of D1 talent, some of who were also recruited by other Big Ten schools. Sure, they were more like role player level players and freshmen but still D1 caliber.

Crean did have a lot of players he took a shot on that he shouldn't have who were certainly not D1 but they didn't get PT so it can't really be claimed that he rebuilt the program with them. He just wasted scholarships.

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