I don't post much but these things have been on my mind since the Tuesday night win at Iowa. It's just my personal look back at how this season seems to have unfolded. I'm certainly not saying I'm right. It is just how the season has unfolded in my eyes.
The Dismissal of Davis, Perea, and Holt. At the time I was frustrated because some of these kids just couldn't seem to seize the opportunity in front of them without doing something dumb. I also thought Crean signed his own dismissal papers because I thought we didn't have enough size or depth and it would be a reboot of 2014-2015. Enter Thomas, OG, Max, and Juwan. The reality was that the dismissal hurt the front line for a short time but Coach Crean finally did what he needed to do and that was establish authority, boundaries, and order. Even if he was forced to this point by the administration or President McRobbie and didn't want to do it, it got done and it was a key building block to this season's success. Sometimes there really is addition by subtraction.
The Maui Meltdown. At this point I was convinced Crean didn't understand basketball because it seemed all we cared about was offense. To lose to WF and UNLV was troubling and frustrating. I was very less than optimistic. Crean kept the kids together.
The Duke National TV Beatdown- This was embarrassing and probably the worst defense I've ever seen an Indiana team play (I've been watching since Knight's first year). It was Loyola Marymount bad. The announcers were killing us and the effort just wasn't there. I was convinced Crean had lost the team and that we would lose in the first round of the BTT and miss the NIT. We were horrible. I was joining the unofficial coaching search happening every five minutes on Peegs. With a bunch of big money donors and Fred Glass in attendance at the Duke game I started to wonder if Crean would make it to Christmas.
The Notre Dame game. For about 30 minutes it was more of the same and reinforcement of how bad we had become. At this point I was convinced that we just over-hype every player that we recruit because none of our guys looked good. Then something happened. I really can't say I remember the moment but all of a sudden we seemed energized and the comeback was on. The old Indiana friend, DEFENSE, showed up unexpectedly. Somehow we came back and won. I was pretty surprised but in no way convinced this would be a trend. Actually I was frustrated a little because the schedule was so weak coming up until the first Wisconsin game. How were we going to tell if this Defense thing was real playing East Cupcake State and Little Sisters of the Poor? Really hate the preseason schedule.
The Blackmon Injury- The announcement sounded bad and ended up being bad. I was just convinced we couldn't catch a break. I felt a little sorry for Crean because it just seemed like no matter how hard he tries something gets in the way. Kids acting stupid and getting caught drinking, lack of effort, and now an injury to a key player. Ugh! Uncle! We just need a full reboot.
Rutgers and Nebraska. Ok two wins on the road in the BT. I'll take it but we didn't look too great against Rutgers. Nebraska was much better. Enjoyed that one but I do think their coach is a Goober that probably impedes their progress. Good job keeping Andrew White under control.
Wisconsin game #1. They just make the game so messy and we don't adapt to their scrums and discipline. The fact we won by one point seemed directly related to Bo being gone and the fact we played at home. I was relieved to have won but not impressed.
The OSU, Illinois, and Northwestern beat downs were fun but really didn't move the needle much because I was already convinced we would win at home. Wasn't sure we should win that big but started to get a little more optimistic.
Wisconsin #2. Secretly I thought we might win. Publicly I said no way. They own us in Madison in the last 10+ years. If Yogi would have just jumped into Nigel Hayes on that last shot of regulation we would have won at the free throw line and I would have been a convert. Losing wasn't that bad but honestly I just wasn't convinced we could win when we absolutely had to.
Michigan Game - We were down 8-10 in the first half and I'm thinking the worst and more of the same. Then......no way anyone saw this coming. A 25-0 run on the road. Holy Toledo we've got something. Yes Lavert was out but that didn't have any bearing on what happened. My attitude about this team changed immediately. I can't explain it but that game did it for me. I think we may have led by as many as 27 at one point. No matter. It was a road Beatdown in the Big Ten against a winning team. That doesn't happen. I couldn't see another team doing that. We seemed different. It was confidence inspiring. I remember beating Iowa and Michigan State by 50+ points on the road in 1975 but that team was great, had a great coach, and there simply wasn't near the parity in CBB back then. I digress. That Michigan game opened my eyes.
Penn State- OK we laid an egg. I thought it could happen and yes it was disappointing. I figured we would lose the BT with the looks of our remaining schedule. But honestly I was still fixated on that Michigan game. They were pretty good and we smoked them at their place. When good Troy shows up we can be scary. Troy please just stay in your lane. If we could just get this kid to see how good he can be......man we have potential. How are we doing this stuff without Blackmon?
Michigan State- Another national TV smokin. I hate that. It was disappointing to lay down like that in the second half. I respect them and their coach so losing to them hurts but not like it would to Purdue. Them....I don't like or respect.
Purdue- Man they are easy to dislike with their stupid mascot and ugly colors. I get so sick of hearing about their 22 BT championships (half of which came when you still had to dig the ball out of the peach basket). Really, what have they ever won? In anything? Well thank goodness there weren't 5 more minutes in this game because we would have had an "L". I loved getting the big lead but we really didn't play smart the last 8-10 minutes. A win is a win even if "the goal tend" was controversial. Beating them is delicious maybe even a little more so when they get close and think they got jobbed. They will always be little brother.
Illinois- I really was concerned about this game. When we were down in the first half I just figured it wasn't meant to be. The team that creamed Michigan showed up after halftime. I'm in full believer mode now. We just need to finish strong and we've got this. When Maryland got beat by Purdue and OSU eked out a win against Iowa I'm thinking things have finally lined up for us.
Iowa #2. I was in Las Vegas at a conference. I couldn't wait to get back to the room to watch this game. LV isn't my kinda place so going to the room to watch the game may seem crazy to most of you but for me it is perfect. Man we played tough on the glass, shared the ball, and hung tough. When we were up 14 in the second half I was just sure we were going to the FF and was just trying to figure out just how Crean pulled this off. I mean really we've all seen it. This team can be a selfish no defense bunch. But now they are tough and together and just seem to have that "it" factor. They can shoot it and I seriously doubt there will be a night when everyone is missing shots. I felt bad for the kids when they got behind and just resigned myself to the fact we played a good team on the road and lost. When we hung around and Yogi had the ball near the end, I can't explain it but I just had this sense that something good was gonna happen. When he hit that dagger with 37 seconds to go I was openly cheering in my Las Vegas hotel room. My wife looks up from her Sudoku puzzle long enough to tell me to calm down. I love my wife. She has a very aggressive form of metastatic breast cancer and frankly her options for treatment are becoming very limited. I try to do everything she wants but calming down at that moment wasn't in the cards. Secretly she is glad for me because she knows I carry her burdens and she is glad any time I get to make a temporary escape from our reality. Don't worry guys, I took her to Maggiano's to eat before the game and down to the Bellagio to see the fountains after the game. It's a give and receive relationship. She's the best.
Back to the Season.
The celebration in the locker room turned me back into a full Crean supporter. Face it guys, the kids love him. They trust him and spend more time with him than all of us combined. The way they treated him and his speech after the game was nothing short of wonderful to see! Very proud of this team and this coach. They embody the word resilient.
Remainder of season
We are going to beat Maryland tomorrow, get Juwan and Robert back, win the BTT, get a #2 seed and beat Kentucky on our way to the Final Four. Blackmon may even dress but not play. Am I dreaming? Maybe a little. But this team can shoot it, space it, and rebound. They can run and are deep. They just need to do two things: Show up on defense and value the basketball. If they do even 1.5 of those 2 things, this team can beat anyone.
The Dismissal of Davis, Perea, and Holt. At the time I was frustrated because some of these kids just couldn't seem to seize the opportunity in front of them without doing something dumb. I also thought Crean signed his own dismissal papers because I thought we didn't have enough size or depth and it would be a reboot of 2014-2015. Enter Thomas, OG, Max, and Juwan. The reality was that the dismissal hurt the front line for a short time but Coach Crean finally did what he needed to do and that was establish authority, boundaries, and order. Even if he was forced to this point by the administration or President McRobbie and didn't want to do it, it got done and it was a key building block to this season's success. Sometimes there really is addition by subtraction.
The Maui Meltdown. At this point I was convinced Crean didn't understand basketball because it seemed all we cared about was offense. To lose to WF and UNLV was troubling and frustrating. I was very less than optimistic. Crean kept the kids together.
The Duke National TV Beatdown- This was embarrassing and probably the worst defense I've ever seen an Indiana team play (I've been watching since Knight's first year). It was Loyola Marymount bad. The announcers were killing us and the effort just wasn't there. I was convinced Crean had lost the team and that we would lose in the first round of the BTT and miss the NIT. We were horrible. I was joining the unofficial coaching search happening every five minutes on Peegs. With a bunch of big money donors and Fred Glass in attendance at the Duke game I started to wonder if Crean would make it to Christmas.
The Notre Dame game. For about 30 minutes it was more of the same and reinforcement of how bad we had become. At this point I was convinced that we just over-hype every player that we recruit because none of our guys looked good. Then something happened. I really can't say I remember the moment but all of a sudden we seemed energized and the comeback was on. The old Indiana friend, DEFENSE, showed up unexpectedly. Somehow we came back and won. I was pretty surprised but in no way convinced this would be a trend. Actually I was frustrated a little because the schedule was so weak coming up until the first Wisconsin game. How were we going to tell if this Defense thing was real playing East Cupcake State and Little Sisters of the Poor? Really hate the preseason schedule.
The Blackmon Injury- The announcement sounded bad and ended up being bad. I was just convinced we couldn't catch a break. I felt a little sorry for Crean because it just seemed like no matter how hard he tries something gets in the way. Kids acting stupid and getting caught drinking, lack of effort, and now an injury to a key player. Ugh! Uncle! We just need a full reboot.
Rutgers and Nebraska. Ok two wins on the road in the BT. I'll take it but we didn't look too great against Rutgers. Nebraska was much better. Enjoyed that one but I do think their coach is a Goober that probably impedes their progress. Good job keeping Andrew White under control.
Wisconsin game #1. They just make the game so messy and we don't adapt to their scrums and discipline. The fact we won by one point seemed directly related to Bo being gone and the fact we played at home. I was relieved to have won but not impressed.
The OSU, Illinois, and Northwestern beat downs were fun but really didn't move the needle much because I was already convinced we would win at home. Wasn't sure we should win that big but started to get a little more optimistic.
Wisconsin #2. Secretly I thought we might win. Publicly I said no way. They own us in Madison in the last 10+ years. If Yogi would have just jumped into Nigel Hayes on that last shot of regulation we would have won at the free throw line and I would have been a convert. Losing wasn't that bad but honestly I just wasn't convinced we could win when we absolutely had to.
Michigan Game - We were down 8-10 in the first half and I'm thinking the worst and more of the same. Then......no way anyone saw this coming. A 25-0 run on the road. Holy Toledo we've got something. Yes Lavert was out but that didn't have any bearing on what happened. My attitude about this team changed immediately. I can't explain it but that game did it for me. I think we may have led by as many as 27 at one point. No matter. It was a road Beatdown in the Big Ten against a winning team. That doesn't happen. I couldn't see another team doing that. We seemed different. It was confidence inspiring. I remember beating Iowa and Michigan State by 50+ points on the road in 1975 but that team was great, had a great coach, and there simply wasn't near the parity in CBB back then. I digress. That Michigan game opened my eyes.
Penn State- OK we laid an egg. I thought it could happen and yes it was disappointing. I figured we would lose the BT with the looks of our remaining schedule. But honestly I was still fixated on that Michigan game. They were pretty good and we smoked them at their place. When good Troy shows up we can be scary. Troy please just stay in your lane. If we could just get this kid to see how good he can be......man we have potential. How are we doing this stuff without Blackmon?
Michigan State- Another national TV smokin. I hate that. It was disappointing to lay down like that in the second half. I respect them and their coach so losing to them hurts but not like it would to Purdue. Them....I don't like or respect.
Purdue- Man they are easy to dislike with their stupid mascot and ugly colors. I get so sick of hearing about their 22 BT championships (half of which came when you still had to dig the ball out of the peach basket). Really, what have they ever won? In anything? Well thank goodness there weren't 5 more minutes in this game because we would have had an "L". I loved getting the big lead but we really didn't play smart the last 8-10 minutes. A win is a win even if "the goal tend" was controversial. Beating them is delicious maybe even a little more so when they get close and think they got jobbed. They will always be little brother.
Illinois- I really was concerned about this game. When we were down in the first half I just figured it wasn't meant to be. The team that creamed Michigan showed up after halftime. I'm in full believer mode now. We just need to finish strong and we've got this. When Maryland got beat by Purdue and OSU eked out a win against Iowa I'm thinking things have finally lined up for us.
Iowa #2. I was in Las Vegas at a conference. I couldn't wait to get back to the room to watch this game. LV isn't my kinda place so going to the room to watch the game may seem crazy to most of you but for me it is perfect. Man we played tough on the glass, shared the ball, and hung tough. When we were up 14 in the second half I was just sure we were going to the FF and was just trying to figure out just how Crean pulled this off. I mean really we've all seen it. This team can be a selfish no defense bunch. But now they are tough and together and just seem to have that "it" factor. They can shoot it and I seriously doubt there will be a night when everyone is missing shots. I felt bad for the kids when they got behind and just resigned myself to the fact we played a good team on the road and lost. When we hung around and Yogi had the ball near the end, I can't explain it but I just had this sense that something good was gonna happen. When he hit that dagger with 37 seconds to go I was openly cheering in my Las Vegas hotel room. My wife looks up from her Sudoku puzzle long enough to tell me to calm down. I love my wife. She has a very aggressive form of metastatic breast cancer and frankly her options for treatment are becoming very limited. I try to do everything she wants but calming down at that moment wasn't in the cards. Secretly she is glad for me because she knows I carry her burdens and she is glad any time I get to make a temporary escape from our reality. Don't worry guys, I took her to Maggiano's to eat before the game and down to the Bellagio to see the fountains after the game. It's a give and receive relationship. She's the best.
Back to the Season.
The celebration in the locker room turned me back into a full Crean supporter. Face it guys, the kids love him. They trust him and spend more time with him than all of us combined. The way they treated him and his speech after the game was nothing short of wonderful to see! Very proud of this team and this coach. They embody the word resilient.
Remainder of season
We are going to beat Maryland tomorrow, get Juwan and Robert back, win the BTT, get a #2 seed and beat Kentucky on our way to the Final Four. Blackmon may even dress but not play. Am I dreaming? Maybe a little. But this team can shoot it, space it, and rebound. They can run and are deep. They just need to do two things: Show up on defense and value the basketball. If they do even 1.5 of those 2 things, this team can beat anyone.
