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An open letter to Archie about arguing with the media.

I think the sports media loves to hate Indiana basketball. For twenty years they have been able to run nothing but negative pieces about Knight’s mistakes and Sampson. They bashed us for firing Crean. I think Archie is realizing that it’s uphill sledding with the media perception, and he’s addressing it head on. I’m on board. Wilson did it with football.
At this point disagree totally. IU has not done anything on the court to have anyone even care enough to "love to hate us".
 
He's taken personal accountability and ownership for team failures multiple times during his tenure, he just didn't do it after he was asked a question about his teams tournament resume. That's something you're going have to live with. Again, Archie owes you NOTHING.


This "owes you" or "doesn't owe you" stuff is nonsense. The question is whether what he does is effective or ineffective, smart or stupid. The way he handled this was ineffective & stupid.
 
He's taken personal accountability and ownership for team failures multiple times during his tenure, he just didn't do it after he was asked a question about his teams tournament resume.

Can you provide some examples? I’ve heard him express exasperation are how the team has played here and there. But (a) that’s a game-by-game thing, when I’m talking about something more comprehensive, and (b) I really don’t remember him claiming accountability...not much, anyway.

Again, Archie owes you NOTHING.

Yeah, you’ve said that. And I’ve made it clear that I disagree with it. And, FTR, it’s not just *me* I’m talking about. You may not feel that he owes you anything for the results of his tenure in Bloomington. And that is certainly your prerogative. In that case, it doesn’t matter if he does what I’m suggesting or not.

But I’m pretty confident that there are lots and lots of Indiana basketball fans and boosters who feel generally as I do.
 
At this point disagree totally. IU has not done anything on the court to have anyone even care enough to "love to hate us".


I agree with you. I don't think most of the media bashed IU over dumping Crean. The Wilson/IU football comparison is not on-point. This basketball program deserves way more criticism than it's gotten. And the fact that the media has been able to write so many negative articles the last 20 years says a lot more about the program than the media. They gushed over us relentlessly when Crean got the program to #1.
 
Can you provide some examples? I’ve heard him express exasperation are how the team has played here and there. But (a) that’s a game-by-game thing, when I’m talking about something more comprehensive, and (b) I really don’t remember him claiming accountability...not much, anyway.

For starters, he spoke at length at Huber's before the start of the year about the state of the basketball program. Went so far as saying there's nobody more "pissed" than himself for the state of the program.

"Rest assured, there is nobody more “pissed” about Indiana basketball than Archie Miller. Those are words came straight from Indiana’s head coach’s mouth. Every morning, Archie Miller gets a “talking” from the person in the mirror.

Clearly Archie Miller is not oblivious to what goes on around him and what the Twitter-verse is saying about the Hoosiers. While social media can be a major distraction, Archie Miller understands the importance of keeping tabs on what is going on. If you truly ignore all that takes place and avoid social media altogether, you are probably doing a disservice to yourself by not understanding your surroundings."

https://indianahq.com/archie-miller-updates-on-indiana-basketball-at-2019-huber-winery-event/

But it goes beyond that. He's openly talked about the lack of mental toughness this team has and has said it's reflection of him and that he along with the entire staff has to do a better job. He's taken accountability multiple times during interviews, press conferences, etc throughout the course of the season. And again, remember, he doesn't owe you sh*t.
 
Why are you surprised? Did you see Lunardi's comments regarding Indiana just a few days earlier on Dakich? Doyel's question to Archie was directly in response to what Lunardi said on Dakich and I'm sure the answer Doyel knew he was going to get. Saying IU didn't have enough good wins was a lame comment by Lunardi considering they have some of the best wins for teams that are considered to be on the bubble. Lunardi is billed as the voice of reason when it comes to mock tourney selections and his track record over the years show that he is below average at his job. I still don't understand what the fuss is about?
Agreed. Why would Miller react to that? Really stupid on his part.
 
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I wouldn’t describe what I’m hoping to hear from Archie as an “apology.” I haven’t ever used that term.

It’s more along the lines of validation (that he understands the results to date aren’t satisfactory) and accountability (that past and future results are on him).

If you think that vocalizing this is weakness in leadership, then you and I have very different concepts of what constitutes effective leadership.

Again, he has said such things before.

And when asked to respond to someone trashing his teams resume and performance...Especially when the comments aren’t accurate...I wouldn’t expect him to do anything more than refute those comments.

“How do you respond to so and so saying you’re not that good?”

“Well I’m not gonna respond to that right nkw. But I will tell you we haven’t been good. And we have to be better.”

Basically validates what Lunardi said. Which isn’t right either. We’re all pissed off at where we’re at. But Lunardis characterization of our team evidently isn’t based off what has actually happened this year. I’m ok with Coach taking issue with that. And not immediately issuing a mea culpa, to use your term.
 
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Again, he has said such things before.

And when asked to respond to someone trashing his teams resume and performance...Especially when the comments aren’t accurate...I wouldn’t expect him to do anything more than refute those comments.

“How do you respond to so and so saying you’re not that good?”

“Well I’m not gonna respond to that right nkw. But I will tell you we haven’t been good. And we have to be better.”

Basically validates what Lunardi said. Which isn’t right either. We’re all pissed off at where we’re at. But Lunardis characterization of our team evidently isn’t based off what has actually happened this year. I’m ok with Coach taking issue with that. And not immediately issuing a mea culpa, to use your term.
IU is 4-11 against the teams above them in the Big 10. Lunardi wasn’t off base.
 
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IU is 4-11 against the teams above them in the Big 10. Lunardi wasn’t off base.

And they’re 5-0 against the teams below them. Including a long time bubble team, with a higher NET ranking (example 1 of why all these numbers are BS)... and they also beat a potential number 1 seed, and two “solid” high major teams on neutral courts.

So no...”all Indiana is doing is losing to good teams” isn’t accurate in the least.
 
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For starters, he spoke at length at Huber's before the start of the year about the state of the basketball program. Went so far as saying there's nobody more "pissed" than himself for the state of the program.

"Rest assured, there is nobody more “pissed” about Indiana basketball than Archie Miller. Those are words came straight from Indiana’s head coach’s mouth. Every morning, Archie Miller gets a “talking” from the person in the mirror.

Clearly Archie Miller is not oblivious to what goes on around him and what the Twitter-verse is saying about the Hoosiers. While social media can be a major distraction, Archie Miller understands the importance of keeping tabs on what is going on. If you truly ignore all that takes place and avoid social media altogether, you are probably doing a disservice to yourself by not understanding your surroundings."

https://indianahq.com/archie-miller-updates-on-indiana-basketball-at-2019-huber-winery-event/

But it goes beyond that. He's openly talked about the lack of mental toughness this team has and has said it's reflection of him and that he along with the entire staff has to do a better job. He's taken accountability multiple times during interviews, press conferences, etc throughout the course of the season. And again, remember, he doesn't owe you sh*t.

Yep, I remember the Huber event. It stands out -- because it's the one time he's said anything like what he said there. Again, I'm not talking about frustrations with any particular game. I'm talking about the state of the program as a whole under his leadership. So those aren't good examples.

Whatever it is he says back to the guy in the mirror is what he really ought to consider saying to all of us. It's good that he was pissed about the state of the program a year ago. He should've been. But it hasn't gotten any better since then. And if he really does hold himself accountable for that, then where does he think we should go from here? What's he going to do differently from here on to improve the results? Because, as much I don't think he deserves it, he's going to be here another season.
 
Again, he has said such things before.

And when asked to respond to someone trashing his teams resume and performance...Especially when the comments aren’t accurate...I wouldn’t expect him to do anything more than refute those comments.

“How do you respond to so and so saying you’re not that good?”

“Well I’m not gonna respond to that right nkw. But I will tell you we haven’t been good. And we have to be better.”

Basically validates what Lunardi said. Which isn’t right either. We’re all pissed off at where we’re at. But Lunardis characterization of our team evidently isn’t based off what has actually happened this year. I’m ok with Coach taking issue with that. And not immediately issuing a mea culpa, to use your term.

I think the appropriate response to Doyel's question about Lunardi's comment would've been "I don't see any need to respond to the musings of people who muse for a living. He can think and say what he wants -- it doesn't matter. It's just noise."

But, in a more appropriate context, I absolutely think it's appropriate for him to acknowledge that his three Indiana teams haven't been very good....not in response to a media troll like Doyel, but to communicate to those of us who support the program with our time, money, and passion. There's no use in trying to pretend otherwise. It's an honest assessment, after all.

FWIW, we can nitpick Lunardi's comments all day long. His general point that we aren't a very good team is correct. And it serves absolutely no purpose to pretend otherwise. If anything, it's harmful -- because it sends the message that the results we've gotten are satisfactory.
 
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FWIW, we can nitpick Lunardi's comments all day long. His general point that we aren't a very good team is correct. And it serves absolutely no purpose to pretend otherwise. If anything, it's harmful -- because it sends the message that the results we've gotten are satisfactory.

That's subjective. Are we an elite team. No? But we're definitely not a "bad" team. We're a team who 100% deserves to make the tournament if it started today based on ours and other programs resume, and that was the notion that Archie was defending. If you see it differently, fine, but that was the context in which he was responding to Doyel.
 
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That's subjective. Are we an elite team. No? But we're definitely not a "bad" team. We're a team who 100% deserves to make the tournament if it started today based on ours and other programs resume, and that was the notion that Archie was defending. If you see it differently, fine, but that was the context in which he was responding to Doyel.

100%? I certainly wouldn’t say that. Our non-conf resume includes one marquee win, a couple of decent ones, and a host of meaningless ones. As for our conference play, we tied for 10th and probably had more bad losses than good wins.

I think we’re a bubble team — and I wouldn’t be surprised if we made it or didn’t make it.

We underperformed this year - again.
 
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100%? I certainly wouldn’t say that. Our non-conf resume includes one marquee win, a couple of decent ones, and a host of meaningless ones. As for our conference play, we tied for 10th and probably had more bad losses than good wins.

I think we’re a bubble team — and I wouldn’t be surprised if we made it or didn’t make it.

We underperformed this year - again.

If you look at our resume and compare it to the 6-8 other teams on the bubble, we deserve a bid. We have ZERO bad losses as defined by the committee (Q3 and Q4) and have more Q1 wins than the majority of the teams that are truly on the bubble. We deserve to be in over teams like Texas Tech or Cincinnati or Stanford based on resume.
 
I think the appropriate response to Doyel's question about Lunardi's comment would've been "I don't see any need to respond to the musings of people who muse for a living. He can think and say what he wants -- it doesn't matter. It's just noise."

But, in a more appropriate context, I absolutely think it's appropriate for him to acknowledge that his three Indiana teams haven't been very good....not in response to a media troll like Doyel, but to communicate to those of us who support the program with our time, money, and passion. There's no use in trying to pretend otherwise. It's an honest assessment, after all.

FWIW, we can nitpick Lunardi's comments all day long. His general point that we aren't a very good team is correct. And it serves absolutely no purpose to pretend otherwise. If anything, it's harmful -- because it sends the message that the results we've gotten are satisfactory.

What purpose does saying “we’re not a good basketball team” serve?

I don’t, and have never questioned Archie’s understanding of where we are as a program versus where it should be. You can see it on his face with every turnover and missed defensive assignment.

I have questioned, numerous times...illogically many times...whether he’s capable of coaching to the things he’s pissed off about.

I know he is capable of it. He’s done it before. He’s just not doing it now at the level we all want them to be. He’s stated that they’re not where they should be a lot.

Do you want some sort of public letter? If he had said the things you want to hear...say 5 times throughout the season...when would he have said it? After losing to Arkansas? Kind of strange timing with wins over a potential number 1 seed and a couple solid neutral court wins near there. Rutgers loss? Sandwiched by wins over OSU and MSU. The 4 game losing streak? Sandwiched by wins over MSU, at Minny and PSU. Purdue losses? Also sandwiched by decent wins.

I really do get what you’re saying. But don’t get when it’s been obvious he should say some of these things. Especially in the context of that particular press conference.
 
3s2jk0.jpg
 
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What purpose does saying “we’re not a good basketball team” serve?

I don’t, and have never questioned Archie’s understanding of where we are as a program versus where it should be. You can see it on his face with every turnover and missed defensive assignment.

I have questioned, numerous times...illogically many times...whether he’s capable of coaching to the things he’s pissed off about.

I know he is capable of it. He’s done it before. He’s just not doing it now at the level we all want them to be. He’s stated that they’re not where they should be a lot.

Do you want some sort of public letter? If he had said the things you want to hear...say 5 times throughout the season...when would he have said it? After losing to Arkansas? Kind of strange timing with wins over a potential number 1 seed and a couple solid neutral court wins near there. Rutgers loss? Sandwiched by wins over OSU and MSU. The 4 game losing streak? Sandwiched by wins over MSU, at Minny and PSU. Purdue losses? Also sandwiched by decent wins.

I really do get what you’re saying. But don’t get when it’s been obvious he should say some of these things. Especially in the context of that particular press conference.

I’ve never said he should’ve said these things in that press conference. What I did say is that he was getting animated over the wrong thing — and would love for him to show that much passion about the state of his program. And doing that, I think, requires him to first be open and honest about just where things stand.

But, no, I don’t think it would’ve been appropriate for him to say these things at a post-game presser, and certainly not as a response to a trolling question from Gregg Doyel. He should’ve ignored Doyel’s question entirely.
 
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And they’re 5-0 against the teams below them. Including a long time bubble team, with a higher NET ranking (example 1 of why all these numbers are BS)... and they also beat a potential number 1 seed, and two “solid” high major teams on neutral courts.

So no...”all Indiana is doing is losing to good teams” isn’t accurate in the least.
No, he’s pretty much right, especially recently. And Miller was really dumb to address it the way he did. It was Crean like.
 
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Lunardi is branching out into click bait comments. He/they/we shouldn’t be shocked when proud basketball coaches take him to task on such comments.

Prior to IU playing Minnesota, Lunardi has the Hoosiers as a 10 seed. They WIN against the Gophers and get dropped to an 11 seed - and ESPN promotes the hell out of “IU needs this to make the NCAA”.

So, were we not a 10 seed before? Why did we drop to an 11? No surprise conference winners during that time to take up tournament spots and push us back - or, just maybe, it was for promotional purposes?
 
I’ve never said he should’ve said these things in that press conference. What I did say is that he was getting animated over the wrong thing — and would love for him to show that much passion about the state of his program. And doing that, I think, requires him to first be open and honest about just where things stand.

But, no, I don’t think it would’ve been appropriate for him to say these things at a post-game presser, and certainly not as a response to a trolling question from Gregg Doyel. He should’ve ignored Doyel’s question entirely.

Ehh. I think we disagree on where we “should” realistically be as a program right now. And obviously disagree on how he should be acting and talking about it. Which is fine.

I’d say I’m quite a bit more bullish on Archie at IU right now. 20 win team, NCAA tournament berth this year, possibly not but most likely at this point. 25 or so wins next year. Upper half of conference. Sweet 16 potential.

His 21’ class will be important. But assuming Lander isn’t 1 and done, and we still have Rob, Race, Jerome, and next years frosh are all solid...should be a solid team the following year too. VERY solid if TJD is still around as a junior.

Archie didn’t walk into mid 90s Bloomington. If he gets IU solidly to that position in year 4 and beyond. I think that’s more than acceptable. And I don’t see any reason why he won’t at this point.

Itd obviously be really nice if he could turn the corner this year and win 2-3 BTT games and a game or two in the NCAA. But there’s been marked improvement already even if that doesn't happen.

We aren’t elite any more. Still a recognized blue blood. But no where close to the Dukes, UKs, Kansas’s. And our admin has shown zero interest in any sort of concerted effort to get back there. They probably could make a Donovan like hire happen if they really wanted to. They didn’t. They’re ok with where we’re at. And I’m coming around to what Archie is building. Maybe it’s battered wife syndrome or something? But the improvement I’ve seen in a number of areas + the guys well have returning + Lander + the other frosh...have me excited about next year. And I’m ok with Archie chirping back at guys like Doyel and Lunardi. And don’t need him to level with me/us to see the improvements, or feel like he knows what he’s doing.

And I reserve the right to take all this back if we lose tomorrow. Ha ha.
 
Ehh. I think we disagree on where we “should” realistically be as a program right now. And obviously disagree on how he should be acting and talking about it. Which is fine.

I’d say I’m quite a bit more bullish on Archie at IU right now. 20 win team, NCAA tournament berth this year, possibly not but most likely at this point. 25 or so wins next year. Upper half of conference. Sweet 16 potential.

His 21’ class will be important. But assuming Lander isn’t 1 and done, and we still have Rob, Race, Jerome, and next years frosh are all solid...should be a solid team the following year too. VERY solid if TJD is still around as a junior.

Archie didn’t walk into mid 90s Bloomington. If he gets IU solidly to that position in year 4 and beyond. I think that’s more than acceptable. And I don’t see any reason why he won’t at this point.

Itd obviously be really nice if he could turn the corner this year and win 2-3 BTT games and a game or two in the NCAA. But there’s been marked improvement already even if that doesn't happen.

We aren’t elite any more. Still a recognized blue blood. But no where close to the Dukes, UKs, Kansas’s. And our admin has shown zero interest in any sort of concerted effort to get back there. They probably could make a Donovan like hire happen if they really wanted to. They didn’t. They’re ok with where we’re at. And I’m coming around to what Archie is building. Maybe it’s battered wife syndrome or something? But the improvement I’ve seen in a number of areas + the guys well have returning + Lander + the other frosh...have me excited about next year. And I’m ok with Archie chirping back at guys like Doyel and Lunardi. And don’t need him to level with me/us to see the improvements, or feel like he knows what he’s doing.

And I reserve the right to take all this back if we lose tomorrow. Ha ha.

Yeah, you’re obviously a lot higher on Archie than I am. I’ve concluded that Tom Crean is a better coach than he is - and I have a pretty low opinion of Crean as a coach.

Haven’t you noticed how little Archie’s teams have improved — both year-to-year and in-season? To me, that’s the single best gauge of a coach’s mettle. Wherever their team starts out, are they fixing mistakes, getting better flow on both sides of the floor, reducing TOs, finding their best sub patterns, etc.

I don’t think any of Archie’s 3 IU teams were significantly better in March than they were in October.

I’m not sure we’ll ever be very good so long as he’s coaching our team. He’s in over his head.
 
How does it serve my fanhood in any way to believe the media has romped my university? I am not blaming them for our results.
I know you have the best of intentions but you can’t see reality through your blinders. You don’t realize you’re in a bubble.
 
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9-11 for 11th in the conference but we DESERVE a bid...riiiiiight. Sure. Not even fair to question it.
 
Yeah, you’re obviously a lot higher on Archie than I am. I’ve concluded that Tom Crean is a better coach than he is - and I have a pretty low opinion of Crean as a coach.

Haven’t you noticed how little Archie’s teams have improved — both year-to-year and in-season? To me, that’s the single best gauge of a coach’s mettle. Wherever their team starts out, are they fixing mistakes, getting better flow on both sides of the floor, reducing TOs, finding their best sub patterns, etc.

I don’t think any of Archie’s 3 IU teams were significantly better in March than they were in October.

I’m not sure we’ll ever be very good so long as he’s coaching our team. He’s in over his head.

Seems obvious to me we’re much better today, on the court, and positioned for future success better, than we were when Archie was hired.

Archie and Crean couldn’t be more different if they tried. I vehemently disagree on Crean being a better coach than Archie...VEHEMENTLY. Yeah, with caps.

The only thing Crean coaches any better than Archie is offense. And that was often built like a house of cards. And was clearly at the expense of every other function for a consistent, effective basketball team. For the most part...Archies current IU team’s primary struggle, it’s offense, doesn’t often bleed over to its defense. There have been lapses, of course, but their defense has remained solid throughout. It kept us in the Purdue games, the Illinois game, the Wisconsin game. And has won us many games.

I will give you the not peaking at the end of year thing. Crean wasn’t good in that regard either. But it certainly hasn’t been a strength of Archies thus far at IU. Hoping this team has a handful of wins left in them though. Archies last few years at Dayton show he can coach teams to be playing their best in March.

I’m of the mind that it’s usually all relative, and will transfer up to IU. Dayton and the A10 aren’t IU and the B10. But neither is their competition level. Recruiting abilities. Etc...

In the end...I hope I’m right and you’re wrong. As I honestly don’t think our admin has the desire to go spend the money, use connections, hire the right AD...do whatever it takes to get THE guy. Donovan, Beard, Beilein, Stevens... those types aren’t likely coming. And hear 4-5 look pretty solid to me. And we haven’t had solid in a long, long, time. Early 90s long time. I’ll take where Archies most likely headed in the next couple years.
 
Dick Vitale said what I think about Archie/Lunardi:

I believe if you can't be .500 in your conference, that's mediocre, man. And if you're below that — you hear me, Archie Miller? — you're below that, you shouldn't be in. I mean, he's worrying about Joe Lunardi and bracketology. Give me a break. Worry about getting your team over .500. I don't want to hear how tough your conference is. Indiana should be better than that, OK?
Yep, don’t complain about pundits saying your team shouldn’t be in the tourney, make your team better.

And, yes, Indiana should be better than we are (and have been for the past several years).
 
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Knight was doing this before he began to struggle. He also had a bit of credibility because he had 3 NCAA championships.

Until you can prove you're a winner, shut your mouth and own your results. You've done nothing but decline in 3 years and saying crap like this confirms you are in over your head. This was an embarrassment that only brings attention to a program that's being known as a has been.

Anyone who has worked in the corporate world has seen this type of executive and they don't last long in any business that values accountability.
This is a stupid post. He has done nothing but improve the last 3 years. Got check the record.
 
This is a stupid post. He has done nothing but improve the last 3 years. Got check the record.

Not if you just look at conference record - which I think is the best apples-to-apples comparison. Here are our conference records the past 3 seasons:

9-9
8-12
9-11

Yeah, we had more wins this year overall. But we played more bunnies than we usually do.
 
Not if you just look at conference record - which I think is the best apples-to-apples comparison. Here are our conference records the past 3 seasons:

9-9
8-12
9-11

Yeah, we had more wins this year overall. But we played more bunnies than we usually do.
You’re grasping dude. It is very clear just by watching the games that IU is better. And the record shows it.

So if you want to play that game, I’ll call your bullshit! According to IU SOS, that increased each of the last 3 years. So, while our overall record has improved, so has our SOS.

What are your thoughts now?
 
Not if you just look at conference record - which I think is the best apples-to-apples comparison. Here are our conference records the past 3 seasons:

9-9
8-12
9-11

Yeah, we had more wins this year overall. But we played more bunnies than we usually do.
Give it up. Every eye test not inflected by sh*t colored glasses and every statistical measure says we have improved each year.

The only argument you can make at this point is if we improved enough to your accepted level expectation.
 
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