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This will probably not be a popluar opinion


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I have been thinking a lot about why IU basketball has been so up and down the last 25 years and mainly been mediocre for most of those years.  There are probably a lot of different reasons for our down turn but I think one is our once great fan base.  What use to make IU so great the loyal following is now what I think is a huge problem.  I am including myself in this because a lot of us live in the past and wonder why it is not like that any longer.  Also we think we are smarter than anyone else when it comes to basketball because of watching RMK all of those years.  This makes a lot of fans think they know more than some of the coaches we have and in here.

Today I think the negativity that our fan base puts out there really hurts our program and it makes our fan base look like a bunch of entitled little brats.  I think this negativity prevents us from getting some of the top coaching candidates when we have an opening.  Also recruits and their families see how nuts our fans are after losses will make them think twice about coming to IU.  Our fans need to get their head out of the sand and realize that we are part of the problem and we need to change and get with the times.


College basketball is different today than it was in the past and there are a lot more alternatives out there for top players so if things are even they will go where they will be better received.

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I look at it this way. Our single greatest asset of our program is our fans. Good and bad. Once apathy sets in we really are in trouble. Not saying it's setting in but I have family members who never missed a game regardless of time or station it was on. Maybe it's an overall sign of the times but now IU isn't the same appt tv it was for 3 decades. All we can hope for is finding the right guy/coach who will lead us back. I firmly believe in Archie but it just takes time. 

Different sport but look at these few examples. Alabama football. After Gene Stallings....they had Dubose, Francione, and Shula and were generally mediocre to bad for 10+ years. They finally made the right hire and the rest is history. Same with Miami football. Coker, Shannon, Golden....has led them to 17 years of mediocrity but now they finally have the right guy in Manny Diaz. Same could be said for Nebraska football. Historical program that has been bad for 20+ years. Seems headed in right direction with Frost. 

My point is this. Historically rabid fans like ours is our best asset in good times and bad. Once we lose us....big, big troubles ahead. 

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I dont think we fans have that much to do with it honestly.  It comes down to coaching hires. 

We hung on to Knight about 5 years too long, which is understandable given his history of success. 

Then we gave the reigns to Mike Davis, great assistant, below average D1 head coach.

Then we unfortunately hired Sampson, great coach, poor timing. 

Then we had to "clean up" with Crean.  Held on too long to him as well given his limitations. 

Shoulda coulda with Brad Stevens.  That one could haunt for awhile. 

That said, Archie looks like he could be the guy for a long time with the recruiting he is doing.  He has to parlay the recruiting into a final four (or at least a team with that look) within 5 years imo.  That should be the bar.  

Fans have little to do with level of success.  Boosters have some influence but more so in coaching hires.  I think we've struck out on recent coaching hires over the last decade which is the primary reason for lack of sustained success.  

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6 minutes ago, CincyHoosier said:

I dont think we fans have that much to do with it honestly.  It comes down to coaching hires. 

We hung on to Knight about 5 years too long, which is understandable given his history of success. 

Then we gave the reigns to Mike Davis, great assistant, below average D1 head coach.

Then we unfortunately hired Sampson, great coach, poor timing. 

Then we had to "clean up" with Crean.  Held on too long to him as well given his limitations. 

Shoulda coulda with Brad Stevens.  That one could haunt for awhile. 

That said, Archie looks like he could be the guy for a long time with the recruiting he is doing.  He has to parlay the recruiting into a final four (or at least a team with that look) within 5 years imo.  That should be the bar.  

Fans have little to do with level of success.  Boosters have some influence but more so in coaching hires.  I think we've struck out on recent coaching hires over the last decade which is the primary reason for lack of sustained success.  

I just think how fans react can really hurt recruiting and coaches who are willing to come here.  We I was young and got upset you vented to your close friends but today you can vent and people around the world can see what people are saying.

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1 minute ago, IU Scott said:

I just think how fans react can really hurt recruiting and coaches who are willing to come here.  We I was young and got upset you vented to your close friends but today you can vent and people around the world can see what people are saying.

I'm certainly not as plugged in as some but I have to believe high end coaches welcome the pressure to win.  Right or wrong recruits will be scrutinized at all blue blood programs.

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The main reason why IU basketball has been so bad the last 20 years is the IU president and Trustees.  They don’t want a program that revolves around a coach and unfortunately in college ball that is the key to being elite.  Players play for coaches not schools for the most part.  There has been a concerted effort to make sure no coach is bigger than the program.  I think the point of your post was not this but you led with why has IU been so down the last few decades.  

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1 hour ago, CincyHoosier said:

I'm certainly not as plugged in as some but I have to believe high end coaches welcome the pressure to win.  Right or wrong recruits will be scrutinized at all blue blood programs.

Just let take Toney Bennett or jay Wright for example.  Both of them are at schools where it is a less prestigious job but they have proved hat they can win big there,  Bennett has not went to the final four yet but have won the ACC which is a better conference than the Big Ten so why would he leave there to come here.  He has little pressure at UVA and if he has a couple of bad years they won't be questioning his hire like he would if he came here.  Why leave a comfortable environment for this environment where after 1.5 years fans are questioning Archie's hire.

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3 minutes ago, rico said:

Hey Scott, it goes on everywhere.  You just got tunnel vision.

Well listening to Assembly Call, Ryan Phillipps is a national writer for the athletic talked about the national perception of this fan base.  He said us and UK are viewed as having the most delusional and unrealistic expectations of any fan base in the country.

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1 minute ago, dbmhoosier said:

The UK fan base is much more insane than ours and it hasn't hurt them.  You should send the tweets they were sending to Brooks after his visit.  

Well most of their players will only stay there  few months so they don't have to worry about those lunatics.  Would you want to send your kid to either place for 4 years knowing what the fans could say about them on social media.  I know us older people think they just need to get thicker skin but today's society they will not tolerate it like they use to.

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3 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Well listening to Assembly Call, Ryan Phillipps is a national writer for the athletic talked about the national perception of this fan base.  He said us and UK are viewed as having the most delusional and unrealistic expectations of any fan base in the country.

Whatever.....and Steve Alford says hello.

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4 minutes ago, rico said:

Whatever.....and Steve Alford says hello.

What does Alford have to do with IU right now.  All I am saying is that fans need to stop making things personal like that player should lose his scholarship or he is a bum or the coach needs fired after a year and a half.  It is alright to be  critical of  the play or the coaching but don't go over board and make it personal.

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Just win, winning has a lot if not everything to do with the fan base perspective of the program.  Winning fixes everything.  Don’t think it’s that hard.  I don’t think we expect what Kentucky does year in and year out.  If IU had the last decade like UK has had I don’t think this conversation comes up.  Archie needs to be given his time, I think only a small, small minority doesn’t think that. 

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7 minutes ago, dbmhoosier said:

The UK fan base is much more insane than ours and it hasn't hurt them.  You should see the tweets they were sending to Brooks after his visit.  

Valid point.  All big time schools have rabid fan bases.  You lose and the rage is on.  I mentioned newspapers earlier, but there was also sports talk radio before the internet.  

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4 minutes ago, rico said:

Valid point.  All big time schools have rabid fan bases.  You lose and the rage is on.  I mentioned newspapers earlier, but there was also sports talk radio before the internet.  

but those outlets were local so people outside your area could not here all of that stuff

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8 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

What does Alford have to do with IU right now.  All I am saying is that fans need to stop making things personal like that player should lose his scholarship or he is a bum or the coach needs fired after a year and a half.  It is alright to be  critical of  the play or the coaching but don't go over board and make it personal.

Who said any of those things?  Listen, there were a lot of people that were critical of Knight going back to 1976.  It was said and talked about in print and on the radio.  You seem to live under a rock.  The UCLA fan base was all over Alford.  The UK fan base was all over their players.  The West Virginia fan base has been on edge all year.  You need more examples?  Check with Kansas.  

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