5fouls

It's always good to complete the grid, yet frustrating when one square totals half your score.  

The Conference Tournament Champions of the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC are all in the same bracket.

Virginia getting in over Indiana State is a travesty,  Every single metric favors the Sycamores.  

I have St. Peter's beating Purdue in the Elite Eight.  

50 minutes ago, MrsStoller said:

To be fair, the Simons have been involved with the Indiana Pacers since the early 80’s. I’m 56, and remember the day the Pacers had to have a fundraiser on TV in Indy to keep the team alive. Bobby & Nancy Leonard were asking people to donate $ to keep the team here post ABA days. Without Herb & Mel Simon’s purchase of the team, and commitment to keeping the team in Indy, the Pacers would be a distant memory. The drafting of Reggie Miller turned out to be the best decision post-purchase, and they nearly won the damn thing. I think they can do it again someday. It’s a different era.

All that having been said, it’s just a reminder that NBA experience doesn’t equate to college experience. The Simons have earned a lot of goodwill thru the Pacers and other projects, and it’s my sincere hope that whomever of the Simons is involved in keeping CMW in place no matter the results reconsiders that decision (if, in fact, they are part of this whole thing). Because currently that goodwill is being diminished by the refusal to look objectively at ROI on this head coaching position (again, assuming their involvement).

Great post.  Sometimes a bunch of good things get lost when focus turns to one 'bad' thing.

2 minutes ago, Kdug said:

Think the Arizona win probably keeps FAU above ISU. ISU just doesn’t really have any good wins. Their best win is probably at Bradley.

Probably true.  Does ISU have any Temple level bad losses?

17 minutes ago, Inequality said:

So age is the new topic and what was taken from my post as objectionable. Oh joy.

Buckner, Thomas et al of the Woodson era have pushed him into position. Older folks. Because anyone way younger than 45 I am guessing has no idea who he is or was. Age is completely relevant when it comes to Woodson being selected as head coach. Not because of his age directly but indirectly because of his affiliation with folks in charge of same or similar age that drool over his teenage skillset.

Since you brought up May, what Dusty May has accomplished as a college coach is much more proven than that of Woodson no matter the age. All while doing it with peanuts compared to what Woodson has done with IU resources. While the crown at IU may have once carried more weight, coaches like Dusty have shown it to be less relevant today by building winning programs at teeny tiny schools with zero history and minimal basketball following. Because he is a good coach who can get more with less. Woodson on the other hand needs billionaires and NBA allstars.

Dusty has created a winning culture capable of beating an Arizona with kids not many were after, in a gym the size of most middle school gyms. 

Bruce Pearl might even be the same age as Woodson but is a proven winning college coach.

In IUs case though its nostalgia. Folks of older generations trying to hang onto a thread of the RMK era. Woodson, a once Knight pupil has come to save IU from the clutches of modernism and innovation of which IU has escaped but to fail undeniably unless your an “true fan” willing to follow blindly.

I understand the intent of your age comment perfectly.  My objection to it is there are Woodson detractors in the demographic as well as Woodson supporters who are outside that demographic.

Your post was directed at 1-2 specific posters in that demographic who are Woodson supporters.  But instead of providing a counter-argument based on Woodson's performance, it became an age thing.

3 hours ago, 13th&Jackson said:

FAU falls to NET 198 Temple

3 hours ago, Kdug said:

I think FAU is still in, but they really went downhill since that Arizona win. It looked like they might be able to compete for a protected seed, now it looks like they could be in the play in game or at least a double digit seed. They really were unimpressive in conference.

2 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

Assuming someone on the bubble is done. Maybe Indiana St?

Indiana State Net - 30

FAU Net - 33

BEFORE the loss to Temple.

1 hour ago, Inequality said:

Just like I initially feared when the rumor about Alford being first in line was kicked around. I remember saying to one of our members  in PM that I hope IU does the right thing and stays away from a nostalgic hire like Alford. Then Woodson was announced and like everyone else I was in complete shock. At least I had heard of Alford but Woodson? Wth…

I guess we have forgotten what Fred Glass said when he fired Crean? Crean who hit his ceiling and wasn't going to take IU far enough quick enough. One year removed from a B1G championship.

But Mike Woodson can take Archies generational talent who was already putting the team on his back and somehow get credit for the kid growing up and getting reps.

Trace was a beast in high school and was gonna beast no matter who he played for and you wont convince me otherwise. Thats what generational talent does. It gets shinier with age and experience.

Jalen who was brought here thanks to Hunter was so far ahead of any current IU guards it was clear as day. I remember mentioning that back then when a lot of folks was stuck on XJ. Jalen was gonna ball no matter who he played for and if it wasnt for XJs bad luck, would have not got the chance to show IU fans what he could do in year one. Again, super talented kid who was going places no matter what.

Love Leal and Galloway don't get me wrong. Kids that grew up wearing candy stripes. Love that! But be real, they aren't championship caliber guards. On one hand, glad to have em back. On the other hand, we need better guards talent wise that would effectively render Leal and Galloway as bench players. If we want to be really good. Thats what its going to take. Really good guards.

No offense to our older HSN members but I mean give me a break. Bring in a nearly 70 year old guy because the 70 year old crowd likes him for his jump shot while playing for IU in 1917 knowing he cant make it happen so you hire another semi retired college coach to train and oversee his operations. It was setup for failure from the beginning.

I mean really, tell me what Mike Woodson has done for the program for him to be worthy of hanging on to. Tell me something he has done better than Crean who was fired for not being good enough.

The longer they drag this along the angrier the fanbase is going to be and further back they set the program. And, the more disdain for Mike Woodson and anyone that supports him.

”Chill” and let Mike swing enough times he might get lucky just don't make sense to me. Train ol’ Mikey on IUs dime and hope the fans are patient. Man I just don't get it. It’s just basketball but the ignorance around the program is killing it. But, Im also near the point of giving up. It’s turning out to be a complete waste of time and energy.

Hopefully thats my last rant. Yeah I probably care about the program too much.

Not 70,  but at 58, I'll put myself in the 'older' category since I saw Woodson play, and he was one of my favorite players.  I'm NOT in favor of him at coach.

That said, how is it any different that some older guys favor Woodson while younger fans favor Dusty May?  There is a huge difference in being head coach at FAU and being head coach at IU.

Do I need to make a list of flavor of the month coaches who had a great run in the tournament, but ultimately were 'meh', or worse?

Make your argument based on something other than age.

2 hours ago, Maedhros said:

Turning my attention to this thread, with the conclusion of the IUBB season. Go Braves. Might be our best roster yet in this current run, enough that I bought MLB the Show for the first time in three years. Can't wait to see what Acuña is going to do next. His ZIPS projections are pornographic.

Will be interesting to see if Acuna's knee restricts him in any way.  I'm not a Braves fan, but do have Michael Harris on my fantasy team.  Would have liked to get at least one more from their offense.  I expect them to score a lot of runs.

I'm not in high school, but I could qualify as a college grad-transfer with one year of eligibility.  Small, slow, unathletic, and 58 years old, but could possibly be the best FT shooter on the team.  

Kid getting interest from Dartmouth.  Could help the team G.P.A.

First off, congrats to @btownqb for his alma-mater Braves making it to the 2A State Championship game.

And, congrats to Mid-Southern Conference foe Scottsburg for making it to the 3A Championship.

Finally, congrats to the Jeffersonville Red Devils, for a great season that fell 1 point short in the 4A South Semi-State Championship.  

The Fouls family is visiting my wife's parents in the South bend area this weekend, and my son's birthday is this weekend as well.  His birthday wish was to watch some semi-state basketball, but since we were not home to watch one of the locals, we went to Elkhart for the 4A North Semi-State instead.

Morning session featured Fishers beating Crown Point.  Fishers led comfortably most of the way, but Crown Point did cut it to 5 with couple of minutes left before Fishers pulled away again at the end.

The second morning game was Mishawaka vs. Fort Wayne Wayne.  One of the strangest games I've ever seen.  Mishawaka controlled the first half and led by 9 at the break.  Wayne proceeded to open the 2nd half on a 20-0 run and cruised from there.

The Championship game featured a fantastic 1st half that ended in a 36-36 tie.  In a reversal of the morning session, Wayne was on the short end of a big run coming out of the half as Fishers scored the first 10 points of the 3rd quarter.  Wayne threatened to get back in it a couple of times, bit never could get over the hump. and Fishers ultimately won by 8.   Some ref had to make it about him by assessing a technical on Fishers with 0.3 seconds on the clock.  The Wayne players had already walked off the court.  I'm not sure what the ;T' was for, unless it was the Fishers bench stepping onto the court to celebrate before the buzzer sounded.

Players of note we saw:

• Dikembe Shaw - Sophomore wing for Crown Point.  Extremely athletic with raw skills that could become something if developed.  
• Jevon Lewis - Senior point guard for Wayne.  Small, but one of the quickest players I've ever seen.  Took some bad shots, but wreaked havoc, and dominated at times defensively, especially in the morning session.
• Chase Barnes - Junior wing for Wayne.  My favorite player of the day.   Smart, good handles, super-sweet mid range pull-up game.  Scored over 20 points both games, but did miss some crucial free throws in 4th quarter of Championship,  I really, really, liked this kid's game and hope he gets a chance to play D1 somewhere.  
• Cooper Zachary -  Freshmen PG for Fishers.  Did not have big stats in either game, but starting at PG for the best team in the state speaks volumes.  Watching the kid dribble and shoot in warmups was eye-popping.  Probably on 5'9 or 5'10 at most, so probably needs to grow 3-4 more inches to reach full potential.
• Jason Gardner Jr.  - Freshmen guard for Fishers and son of former Mr. Basketball.  Came off bench, but showed flashes driving to the basket.  Needs to improve his shot to approach the success of his dad, but I expect that will come with time.   

21 today.  One of my better grids in a while.  

8 minutes ago, Bushmage said:

Leal is going to be pro Mike and pro IU because hes smart enough to understand he wouldnt see much of the floor anywhere else and more significantly he would get paid 99% less

I prefer to think the fact he grew up loving IU basketball and always dreamed of playing there have more to do with how he talks about the program than playing time and NIL money.

2 hours ago, NotIThatLives said:

Now that the crap show is over, no I'm not talking about the Woodson coaching era, just this season, I'm ready to talk about cleaning house.  I'll start at the top.  Malik doesn't play winning ball.  Doesn't fight for rebounds or hustle.  I'm willing to give Mbako one more try but has anyone ever witness that kid sprint down the court on defense?  Nope.  Me neither.  

I'm sure Malik is back but he will lead to the exact same disappointing results unless he is coached and looks hard in the mirror.

So we likely start with a base of Malik, Galloway, and Leal.  Probably Sparks and if rumors are true, no Cupps. Neither Sparks or Cupps are good enough to play more than 10 mins a game at this level anyways. 

Good luck Woodson.  Just retire, "MAN."  

Are there legit strong rumors out there about Cupps?

8 minutes ago, Zuckerkorn said:

And no matter how hard ya try, you can't polish a turd.

1 minute ago, NWOHoosier said:

Hoiberg is really polished. Excellent post game interview. 

3 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Have any of our guards ever hit a shit while driving to the basket 

Just got back from the bathroom having done something similar myself.

YMCA game has broken out.

5 minutes ago, Coach Robby said:

My 6 year old: Dad, why are you still watching that? 
 
good question man. 

My 20 year old, as of tomorrow, Dad, the Marquette/Providence game is tight near the end, can I flip the channel?

I, for some reason, said 'No'

4 minutes ago, D-BONE said:

Honestly, how did Leal ever win Mr. Basketball? Admire his attitude and contributions as a teammate, but what the hell?

A lot of Mr. Basketballs did not have stellar college careers.  And, then you have Larry Bird finishing 4th.  Leal was the best player on the best team in the state.

Should Alford not been a college All-American just because he had a unremarkable pro career?

Playing really dumb right now.

Guys.  We could have played our best half of basketball and still been trailing.  We're a mediocre team playing against an opponent that is shooting out their ass.  

And, not to go unnoticed, but Nebraska is playing great D.

Judge the overall season any way you want, but dont overreact to this game.  Nebraska would probably be up 10-12 points on Purdue tonight.

Just now, Kdug said:

As much as I want to hate it since it’s against us, that was some beautiful basketball on both ends from Nebraska. It might just be that they’re hitting a lot of shots, but they look even better than when we played them earlier in the year. Could be a dangerous tourney team.

I honestly would rather lose like this instead of both teams playing like crap and losing something like 59-52.

You said it well.  That was a beautiful half by Nebraska.

We win ugly games.  Nebraska is definitely not playing ugly tonight.

I'm going to give a lot if credit to Nebraska.  You could tell the were locked in from the beginning.  And, Tominaga can do this against a lot of teams.