The shot clock changes over the years made it harder to execute that offense, especially against zone defenses.
I think he was slow to adjust. But when he figured it out, as evidenced by the team Davis took to the title game, he was on his way again. He just didn't have the social and campus political climate figured out then, but that's a whole different discussion.
I think we're saying the same thing. He played in those years at the end before Knight figured it out and started getting the pieces he needed again. Guyton and Lewis were the only seniors that made an impact, but that team had a load young talent in Newton, Odle, Gaston, Hornsby, Fife, Coverdale and Leach. All Sophs and Frosh.
That is exactly correct, it looked like a new era, but never came to fruition. We spanked Duke on a Patterson 40 pt performance, and don't forget Mike Herman … should have been one of the great ones
Yes, I meant to correct that and got lost with too much other editing. That famous year in IU basketball lore, 1987, one would think IU fans would have cut Knight a little more slack with the subsequent Richmond early tournament loss, but from there on, the grumbling started to escalate, seemingly every year until the IU administration finally railroaded The General out of commission.
He was fired when he actually had the perfect team for his system, counting his recruits, like JJ.
I think I jumbled up the recruiting classes in the 1994-1996 time frame but the overall point was that the program started it's decline after the 1994 season (and even 1994 was a step down from three great seasons in 1991-93). I've always thought it was a combination of these high rated recruits who either didn't live up to the hype, or couldn't handle RMK's style....and the change in the game with the clock and 3pt line, making a patient, motion-style offense less effective. I didn't even mention Recker and Collier departing. Many of us loved RMK as a coach and always pointed to the record (and the clean program) in defense of the latest Knight "antic". But once IU stopped winning B1G championships and started getting bounced early in the tourney (and sometimes embarrassingly), he became vulnerable.
I hate flashbacks of this game. This is the game it became clear CTC was not our guy (coming off a great season to top it).
Bob’s personality was an easy one for his detractors to dislike (much like you-know-who today). He proved to be too abrasive for the thin-skinned. I think that one whole recruiting class was an aberration that went totally wrong for Knight. Coupled with a few sprinklings of other disgruntled kids and a national news media...well, we know how slimy they can be. They were all angry anyway with the coming computer age and impending job insecurity. I came across an old article just the other day about Knight’s downfall and it was written there in history that Knight physically assaulted a student while cursing him. No where did the writer bother to include what drew Bob’s ire...the Harvey kid’s lack of respect toward an adult. Also, the Wilkerson head-butt during an intense teaching moment on the sideline during a game was included. Knight said it was accidental, but that’s not what the scribes wanted to hear so the headlines insinuated otherwise..another physical assault, just like Knight “stuffed” an unruly LSU fan in a trash can on Bourbon St. The whole thing came down as a sham of exaggerations, hearsay and outright lies that the media ran with and even a lot of IU fans were gullible enough to believe. These IU fans were the same one’s who thought the next best coach in the country was surely waiting in the wings for the “honor” to lead IU basketball under a new regime in the can’t-miss -hotbed of basketball recruiting. We’ve suffered ever since, listening to those same twits, now still bitching that we can’t seem to get an edge up on our competition. Yes, I’m still bitching too, but for different reason, because they didn’t appreciate how good we had it, even when they said we no longer had it.
I was an undergrad in the mid 90s and those were some rough years. Who would have thunk that the Calbert/Greg Graham 1993 team was the last great team we saw at IU?
side note...my dad was the Supt of Schools, so his boss. Was a tough spot for a 14 yr old kid to be in. I sucked it up, ran my laps, and put up 17 and 9 the next night. And have hated that sumbitch every day since.
no just played really, really pissed off that night. And always took rebounding personally. I will give this coach credit for that. We had ferocious rebounding drills in practice. He convinced us (me, at least) that rebounding was about your opponent questioning your very manhood...who wanted that damn ball more? Best friends during the day, but rebounding drills during practice were an act of war. Winners get water, losers get laps. Then shoot 10 free throws. one suicide ('ladders' today) for every one you miss. Gets you to take rebounding and free throws very seriously. See why I'm so grumpy in life now??
agree, I coached my son's travel baseball team for years and wouldn't lay on finger on any kid, even my own (who I wanted to throw head first into the trunk of our car several times for taking advantage of the 'my dad is the coach, I can do what I want' angle).
Well, you deserved another beaning for not getting a double/double...slacker.
