We're all rightfully skeptical about all things IU basketball. So much of the past 30 years has been reactive bad decision-making. The results have really been weak at best. The things IU fans have cared about (defense, intensity, winning, out-coaching, standards of excellence, and more) have been totally absent. Sampson was probably the closest thing to a really good coach, but his meat-headedness can't be overlooked. He was just a disaster given the rules and structure he took on. Crean deserves credit for bringing the program back to life and for reaching two Big Ten titles with two very different teams, but he was never the right fit for IU and his results weren't nearly good enough. Mike Davis was nowhere near ready, but tried his best and came back several years later to Assembly Hall as coach of an opposing team and in a gesture of wild good faith said only the most positive things about the program. Big props for that.
IU's going to turn the corner in a few months. The game is really very different and it's never going to match its high points. But I'm super-confident the next coach is going to produce a quality product that is worth watching and that will produce results we've not seen in a long, long time. Who knows if it will reach the highs we're hoping for, but it's going to be so much better.
Cheers to that.
IU's going to turn the corner in a few months. The game is really very different and it's never going to match its high points. But I'm super-confident the next coach is going to produce a quality product that is worth watching and that will produce results we've not seen in a long, long time. Who knows if it will reach the highs we're hoping for, but it's going to be so much better.
Cheers to that.
