AxnJxn

1 minute ago, IU247 said:

Trevion Williams says Saint Peter's got a home whistle. Also said Purdue didn't play hard enough.

 

Please. Dude blatantly traveled on a bucket he made down the stretch and no call, and he has the nerve to say that after losing to a 15? Shaddap. 

1 minute ago, CaptKirkHaston said:

I wish Rob could have stayed healthy. I really think that his battles with injury shook his confidence. I was hoping that Rob could have a breakout year next year. We will definitely miss his defense. Best of luck Rob, and thanks for all you did the last 4 years. 

Agreed. After his freshman year, thought he would develop into a top player in the conference by the end of his career, but injuries and lack of confidence kind of killed that. Rob seems like a good dude, but man, outside of that Purdue game, he couldn't hit much of anything, and it was frankly kind of hard to watch sometimes, because it seemed pretty obvious that he just wasn't confident with his shot. Solid defender, though. Best wishes to him going forward.

6 minutes ago, DC2345 said:

Parker Stewart isn’t returning 

I’m ok with this, and i also wish PS the best in life. He’s been through some difficult times, yet i don’t think there was ever a lack of effort on the court from him. 

13 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Well this first game started at 4 o'clock local time. Well before expanding to different channels you only could watch one if the two games but now you have the option to which game you can watch.

This doesn’t really address anything I’m saying. Did you mean to reply to someone else?

I don’t understand how the people who run this tournament can’t figure out how to make it so that these Thu/Fri night games aren’t ending at almost the same time. Is there some reason they can’t start these games at 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00?

23 minutes ago, btownqb said:

Revolutionary, he was. 

Well, part of it was playing fundamental basketball at all times - just as a behind the back pass increases the odds for failure vs. a standard pass, a 360 dunk is more likely to fail than a more basic one. I don't think he was much of a fan of either one, because it increased the odds for failure, and he also likely saw it as somewhat disrespectful to the opponent. Then again, this is RMK we're talking about, so who knows for sure?

10 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Are you sure about the dunking thing?  I distinctly remember him saying that he liked dunks because they were the highest percentage shots in basketball.  😀

I think he didn't like the "showboating" sort of dunk, especially if the guy ended up missing it. 

3 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

Can't hear you, got a hurricane brewing in my head.  Searching for calmer waters....

In honesty though, whatever happens over the summer happens.  I don't get too attached to any of the guys, half the team is probably going to turn over this year and it felt like half of it did last year as well.

I mean, it's probably the new norm with the transfer portal, and I'm guessing NIL money will play a factor as well? Will be interesting to see what effects it has on the game.

Promising sign is how quickly this group picked up CMW's system, especially on the defensive end, so hopefully the newbies will as well. I still would hope to have a decent core of players return, though. Having guys familiar with the system is still valuable.

10 minutes ago, Hoosier51 said:

The main guy I hope doesn't consider transferring is Xavier, he really came into his own as the season went on and will probably be considered one of the top PGs in the country next season. Having an experienced PG is a big for making a Final Four push.

That's the one that would definitely shock me. Per usual these are couch observations, but I feel like CMW stood by XJ through his struggles and adversity earlier this year, and it paid off for both of them. That usually results in a pretty strong bond.

Positive: Maybe this means Race and/or TJD are returning?

Negative: No idea how big a deal this is, because we didn't really see him play much. Seemed decent on offense, hit a couple of shots from the outside and I remember a nice left handed shot in the lane in one game. Kind of slow on defense, but was a physical presence. 

Seemed like a good guy otherwise, so wish him luck.

3 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

His point is that it extended past basketball.  This was a news event not a sports event.  The public interest went way past a basketball story.  Fife does deserve credit for that.  Not easy for a 20 year old kid to do.

How? A basketball player on a basketball team wanted the current coach to be hired full time, and the team was "prepared to quit" or whatever if that didn't happen. In short, they all threw a tantrum unless they got what they wanted. That's all it was, and I was on the East Coast at the time, and no one here knew about it or cared when I would explain it. 

I also get that you're just the messenger, so not aiming responses at you personally, just in general. I should just figure out a way to filter anything related to Dakich, because I think people like him are just kind of pathetic in a number of ways. 

17 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

4.  Dane Fife is an all time IU guy.  As a 20 year old kid he stood up in front of the global media, with things burning around him, and spoke to the world.  Not the basketball world.  The world. He kept the team together.

It's a good thing he's not resorting to ridiculous hyperbole. THE ENTIRE WORLD! I'm sure Osama Bin Laden was fixed to his television watching to see what would happen at IU. 

Probably would have been better if they had just stuck to saying that Dane wasn't hitting CMW's standards for the job, and left the other stuff out, as it sounds like that was just the icing on the cake. The first half of Rab's message said that, and sticking to that likely would have been best for everyone. Unfortunately, once you post something on the internet, it's pretty much permanent, whether you delete it or not.

In the end, I don't know that I care that much. Big fan of Dane the player, know little to nothing about Dane the coach or really anything else about him. I'm more interested in who the replacement is, and whether they can do the job and get this program back to where it should be. If it's not a good fit, better to make the move now than a year or two or three down the road when it's been festering for some time.

As for the length of this thread, we have a very dedicated fan base, it's the offseason, and it's something to talk about. *shrug*

6 minutes ago, FritzIam4IU said:

I personally don't care if it is an IU guy or not, as long as they do the job well, and are excellent at recruiting, but I know it matters to some. IU needs to hire someone who has the chops to recruit first and foremost, as I think CMW, Matta, (Wittman?), can handle the X's and 0's aspects well.

Same. I know a lot of people want someone who understands "the IU way", but lately, that way has been not making the tournament and failing to finish even in the top half of the B1G. Let CMW hire the person he wants, whether that's an IU guy or some dude behind the counter at the 7-11 in West Lafayette. This is his program now, and if we fully trust in him to get the job done (and year one was a pretty good start), then he needs people around him that he believes in and that he can trust. 

Unless, of course, it's Dakich. 

Not surprising, and I think Lander has some skills that can't be taught - quickness and court vision, for example - but he's stuck in a situation where he's going to have trouble getting on the court, especially if XJ returns. As for his size, Trent Frazier is the same height and 10 pounds lighter, so it's not like that size can't make it at a P5. At any rate, wish him the best - from what I saw, he handled the situation with class and respect for the most part. 

19 minutes ago, rico said:

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/threads/if-coach-cal-decided-to-step-down-who-takes-his-place.366071/

Some interesting/comical suggestions in that thread, including two of our favorites, Tom Crean and Brad Stevens. I'd like to see Cal leave just to see who ends up at UK.

14 hours ago, IU Scott said:

The thing is that top coaches aren't changing jobs any longer so who could they get.  Look at Duke and UNC and they hired within and didn't go outside the program.

I just gave you an example of a possibility of who they could get. What Duke and UNC did is irrelevant. Here's another one that would be kind of comical - Rick Pitino comes back to Kentucky for another round. As noted above, Mark Pope is another possibility.

Like it or not, the Kentucky job is one of the top jobs in the country. They're not going to have a whole lot of trouble finding a coach if they decide to move on from Cal.

7 hours ago, Hoosierfan1215 said:

That’s crazy to me. I mean I get the early exits suck, but damn. Anyone complaining about anything else is crazy. It ain’t gonna get much better for Kentucky than Calipari. Grass ain’t always greener. 

Not sure I can agree with that. It's a high profile job, the top program in the conference, excellent facilities, with an administration and fan base that clearly don't have a problem looking the other way if anything untoward is going on. Here's a darkest timeline for IU fans - Sampson goes there and wins a title.

On 3/18/2022 at 8:57 AM, Lostin76 said:

Haven’t thought of these guys in ages. Great band!

Big fan as well. They had a nice run of a few really good albums back in the 90s or so, pretty sure they are still touring around now and then, too.

6 minutes ago, Hippopotamo said:

5 is probably a good guess. I’m thinking we’ll lose 5 or 6 from this following group: Durr, Kopp, TJD, Race, Rob, Lander, and Johnson. 

I’d switch out Johnson for Stewart, and agree we’re probably looking in that range of guys leaving. There’s always one that is a bit unexpected, but i can’t see any logical reason for XJ leaving. 

Idc. Had a good year, it was clear that the games played and travel had an effect tonight, and with the way we shoot the basketball, we weren’t making a serious run, anyway. Excited to see what’s next for this program, who is coming back, and feeling good about the direction of this program overall, and CMW seems to have a handle on what we need and his vision for the program. 
 

Kentucky losing helps a bit, too. 

Cripes. I honestly thought we had a good chance to win this game, especially after the first 8-10 minutes or so, but the defensive intensity we’ve had recently just isn’t there. Guys are slow to rotate and close out, we’re one and done on the offensive end, and we can’t throw it in the ocean (i guess that last one isn’t a surprise).
 

Bummer, but I’d definitely echo others about being excited about the future of the program. 

Just now, dgambill said:

We are much deeper. Gotta save some legs for down the stretch. I wish we would stay agressive to the rim though. They aren’t long or very athletic.

They might be more hesitant to try to take a charge with the  flop thing, too. 

Just now, jefftheref said:

Rob can't hit the broadside of a barn. 

He’s hit one of his last 11 3s, and they’ve been kinda important. Oof. 

Could you imagine RMK doing one of those in game interviews? That would’ve been comedy gold.
 

Also, this is a great matchup for us.