Disqus - Latest Comments for BFowler

Re: Hoosiers cruise past St. Joe’s in final tune-up, 95-67

BFowler — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:40:23 -0000

I have not watched this game (yet, it is on my DVR scedule for 1pm), but I will comment from the radio broadcast some things.
1st, Fisch kept saying, "Rivers {storming, racing, galloping, running} up the court." It was good to hear that Rivers kept pushing and pushing. At one point Leary commented on how when (Indiana) Jones brought the ball up there was a different pace. Rivers is a very strong lead guard and he showed some things we lacked last year in attacking the defense.
2nd, Creek was much more comfortable on the floor. That is great for the future prospects of this team. If he starts going and Watford keeps it up, that is a one-two punch in long wings that are hard to defend.
3rd, Hulls turnovers. I picked him to "click" because I thought he was steady and would not turn it over. He was struggling to get the ball in bounds at one point. I still think he is becoming one of my favorites on this team.
4th, Welcome Bawa! I am excited about his future and I think he will be solid before he departs Bloomington. The post game interview was even fun for me to watch. The kid seems genuinely excited to be part of this team and it is exciting to have him on board.
5th, Lack of 3s shot. It seemed like at one point Fisch and leary were saying we had shot like 5 or 6 3s at one point in the 2nd half. That is good that this team recognized they out-sized St. Joseph's and used their size to their advantage.
6th, so, with that in mind, what the heck was 21 offensive rebounds? to St. Joseph's? What is Purdue or Wisconsin or Michigan State going to get? 100? I know those teams are better on the front line than St. Joseph's. (no offense Matt J.)
7th, The future's bright!

Re: Game Thread: Saint Joseph’s College @ Indiana

BFowler — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:28:43 -0000

Yes, it is coming on Tuesday at 1pm and 11:30 pm

Re: Game Thread: Saint Joseph’s College @ Indiana

BFowler — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:25:50 -0000

Alex, just noticed David Williams' name no longer appears under 2010 recruits on the right. Did my page not refresh correctly, or.......?

Re: Pick to Click: Saint Joseph’s College

BFowler — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:57:22 -0000

I am going with Hulls because he can score and dish it. Plus I think he protects the ball and will not turn it over. My second pick would be Watford becasue of his versatility and past performance, and 3rd I think VJ III because I think he has something to prove (goes for Mo Creek as well). But I think Hulls will have the best game.

Re: Tom Crean Via Twitter: Bawa Muniru is eligible

BFowler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:05:38 -0000

I was not trying to rebut any points you were making, I just posted there because your comment made me think. I do not remember the exact timeline, and it seemed like he was originally gong to a prep that was not accredited or something (I am trying to go from memory here). It seems like he (or a handler or some sort) chose one school then another.

But my bigger point is it seems like he could have found a better situation with help from people at Indiana who recruit "the program" as well as the player.

Re: Tom Crean Via Twitter: Bawa Muniru is eligible

BFowler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:06:06 -0000

I find it interesting that Coach Crean has said he did not improve in his last year of high school and alludes (if not directly indicts) his high school coaching at the prep school he attended. Usually these prep schools are pretty good on the coaching level because they can pay more than most public schools due to the tuition they draw. However, wasn't it Coach Crean who said they recruit a program as much as a player? That seems odd then that Bawa was not put into a situation to excel athletically when the "program" was recruited. I understand that Bawa transferred after his previous year, but doesn't the university have some say in the institution to which the athlete transferrs (if not directly, at least by suggestion)? It seems like some previous prep school scholarship athletes were all "suggested" to attend a certain academy (see: Coverdale, Tom; Vaden, Robert). Why was Bawa "directed" to an institution that would not develop him athletically as well as academically? I am in no way saying Coach Crean or Indiana University were derelict in their duties, or that they absolutely directed Bawa to this institution, but it just strikes me as odd.....

Re: Game Thread: Grace College @ Indiana

BFowler — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:11:41 -0000

I can not wait to see this team in action. This is a new start and a new year (I understand it is an exhibition againt a school whose entire student body could not fill the balcony at Assembly Hall, but still). Here's to hoping we don't turn into Syracuse this week. (YIKES!)

On a side note, is Kyle a Plumlee brother we did not know about? Do these basketball playing Plumlee's just keep popping up in Norhern Indiana?

Re: Pick to Click: Grace College

BFowler — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:40:31 -0000

Opponent small front line + early in the season = Tom Pritchard double-double

Although, I am going to say no one will have great stats because there will be a lot of players getting minutes in the game tonight.

Re: Purdue AD apparently measures success by conference titles

BFowler — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:22 -0000

A few random thoughts:

1) Wait, Purdue has a men's team?
2) Well, when that's all you have to brag about.....
3) Must be rough always being little brother.
4) Isn't it awful that all you can do is take a shot at a team that won 1 conference game last year. I mean, shouldn't you be worried about Michigan State and Illinois and Ohio State?
5) Wait, Purdue has a Varsity team?
6) Black and Gold still look horrible together.
7) Mr. Burke, please do something meaningful on your own campus before worrying about Bloomington.
8) I'll ask again, Purdue has a men's varsity team?????

Re: Dick Vitale via Twitter: Bob Knight won’t show

BFowler — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:09:43 -0000

Does anybody remember that time when after IU lost in the NCAA tournament one year when Coach Knight berated some guy running the post game news conferences because he told the media the coach was not coming and Coach Knight told him, "The only people who will tell you I'm not coming are our SID and me, now you sit there and shut up or leave. You've *&%^ed this up enough. (turns to the media) Now, about the game." or, something on that thread? Just saying.

I've always said I don't watch or root for the coach when I watch basketball. With that being said, I do root for my favorite university's team and the coach is the only one who stays longer than 5 years (ok, Evan Eschmeyer, but other than that). The coach becomes the star in college and controversy creates attention and attention begats more stardom (see - Calipari, John). I laughed when Coach Knight threw the chair in '85, became concerned when he broke the telephone in '87, wondered what was going on when he head-butted Sherron Wilkerson and kicked Pat Knight (well, he kicked "the chair" by their accounts), and by the time he told Connie Chung (wasn't it) to "sit back and enjoy it," berated Jeremy Schapp, and whatever he did to Neil Reid, I was pretty much over it. I did not think he was above the law then and I feel the same way now. You just don't treat people that way.

We do not know what happens behind closed doors, and especially what happened during the Knight tenure, but no one deserves to have so many indescretions regardless of record. One could argue that the money and attention he brought to the university outweighs the rest. One could say that the "men" he made are his legacy. But, now he will be seen as the petulent child and bully he has made himself to be. He has become the grumpy old guy who gripes how the "good ol' days" were so much better, doesn't have the internet or other "new fangled" things, and is constantly yelling at people to get off his lawn.

Thanks Mr. Knight for your contributions to the university and the games your teams won and the joy you brought to the fans who enjoyed your tenure. I have become a huge fan of the teams that play at Assembly Hall because of you and I appreciate all the quality men who have come through your program. Your memory will be put into the Hall of Fame, and hopefully you will not do more to destroy whatever positive feelings the fans have of you.

Re: State of the Hall: October 26, 2009

BFowler — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:39:45 -0000

I would have to say I think it is a valid question after all the things that have happened since his committment, i.e. - continuing to recruit his position, not coming to campus for a visit, and the quote his father made. The question does not ask if he will attend IU next year, it asks if he will play next year. I doubt he will play much next year, if he sees the court at all, and I would go as far as to say he is a red-shirt candidate in which case he would not "play" at all. There are plenty of questions as he remains somewhat of a "Man of Mystery", and with the Hoosier Scoop article.....just makes you wonder, that's all. However, if he attends and plays for IU, he will get nothing but my support. I cheered for Magnus Pelklowski, Lynn Washington, and Steven Gambles as much as Steve Alford, AJ Guyton, and Eric Gordon. I would even go as far as to say, he will get my respect wherever he attends and plays. I appreciate good students and good people more that I appreciate good athletes who are bad people. I would also add that perhaps his skin is thick enough to know that stuff like this will happen and it may motivate him to prove people wrong.

Re: Around the Hall: Bob Knight and Wednesday’s practice

BFowler — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:33:29 -0000

Capo is churning out the hiliarity already. I liked the quote where he said Coach Crean was "naturally caffeinated." How about Elston and the we are here "to hang banners and win awards." And, you have to love a kid like Hulls who says playing at Indiana is like a "life long dream." Loving these new recruits so far.

Re: Q & A: Bloomington South’s Matt Carlino

BFowler — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:36:42 -0000

I think definitely especially if you look at recent champions, you could point to one inside guy who was a real player (Hansborough '09, Arthur '08, Noah/Horford '06-'07, Sean May '05, and Okefor '04), but to me the team was not great until they had great guards/wings (Lawson/Ellington, Collins/Chalmers, Brewer/Green, Felton/McCants, Gordon/Anderson). I think the great players are (any more) the great guars and wings.

Re: Q & A: Bloomington South’s Matt Carlino

BFowler — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:23:22 -0000

Explorer 8. It could just be me because I have 5 or 1,000 apps running all at the same time, but I have noticed this site laods slower than others.

Re: Q & A: Bloomington South’s Matt Carlino

BFowler — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:28:07 -0000

I am looking forward to a Matt and Austin backcourt in about 3 years. I have never seen Austin play, and only highlights of Matt, but I am excited to know they are coming and they want to be here and they are Indiana High School basketball kids (now for Matt). There has always been something I have enjoyed about following a kid's high school career right to IU. If they can come close to the backcourt of Thomas-Whittman, we will have something big going there.

On the Zeller front, it would be nice to have another talented big from Indiana on the team, and I hope the three of them want to continue their careers together. Hopefully, the Spiece kids joining Indiana Elite next AAU season will feel the same way. I still believe that the way to win in college is to have outstanding guards with blue collar (rebounding, stuffing the lane, blocking shots) bigs is the way to win in college. I am hoping Elston-Capo-Pritch-Miniru will provide us that. Hopefully the backcourt of Carlino-Etherington will take us to the top.

Re: Q & A: Bloomington South’s Matt Carlino

BFowler — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:47:47 -0000

The bar along the bottom of the screen will tell me "error loading", "Done, but with errors", messages like that. It seems the loading takes some time in the beginning, then it will just come up really slowly, with the messages on the bottom. The content on the right of the screen (the exterrnal links and the ads) seem to take the longest to load, it may be because of the cyclical nature of the ads or the ones that have moving content across the top cause the most problems. Any time I log on the a Gannett newspaper site it does the same thing for me. I do not have a cable modem, it is DSL, so I do not know if I just do not have enough burst or a strong enough stream to handle all the media, but it has been loading very slowly lately.

Re: Q & A: Bloomington South’s Matt Carlino

BFowler — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:32:48 -0000

It seems to come and go. I seem to have more problems during the day (peak time maybe).

Re: Q & A: North Central’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera

BFowler — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:04:04 -0000

I will agree that I would love to see this team do well, and I would hope the recruits would follow. I was trying to make the point that with the kids on the radar (class of 2010, 2011, 2012), it was make-or-break. The Kyrie Irving thing sticks out in my mind and I think other recruits are taking the wait-and-see approach or the "they won't be there when I am going to be there" approach. I agree (GFDave) the recovery is coming eventually, but I was more specifically talking about the next couple of classes.

Re: Q & A: North Central’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera

BFowler — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:01:11 -0000

Is it just me, or does this seem like the "make-or-break" year for the Hoosiers. I do not mean that they will make the NCAA tournament or anything, but I think recruits are looking at this season as the one where they want to see if the players develop, if Crean's system will fit their style (now that there are horses to run here), and if this system wins. All the recruits know that the real spotlight is not on them until March, late March on CBS. It just seems like if the team takes positive steps, makes some noise on a national stage (like Pitt in the Garden, or against Kentucky on CBS), finishes higher than expected in the Big 10(11), and then makes a national tournament of some kind, this team will make the program for years to come.

Re: A little bit of everything at Hoosier Hysteria

BFowler — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:39:01 -0000

When I was growing up watching Indiana basketball on WTTV-4 on an old 13" black & white TV, Martha would let you know the game was about to come on (yes, it was a way for the sponsor to let you know who was sponsoring), but that is how you knew it was game time. She sang "Indiana, Our Indiana" and Chuck Marlowe would start talking about Bob Knight's team and who they were playing that night. It isn't about a tradition at the arena or on campus, it was what brought those of us who were not lucky enough to go to the games and hear the band play for ourselves be part of the game. In a way, she was like those of us at home - not really inside the hall, but because we had enthusiasm and a tv set, in some small way, we were all there singing right along with that janitor. I go to You Tube and watch that video before every game I can, because of the great memories of how I became an IU fan started. To me, it is part of the lore of Indiana basketball as much as candy stripe pants, 5 championship banners swaying in the hall, Bob Knight, Steve Alford, Calbert Cheaney, DJ White, and Quinn Buckner's sideburns. That sanitation specialist cleaning a corridor makes me as excited as it did 24 years ago when I first started watching games.

Re: ESPN all-time rankings: Indiana No. 5

BFowler — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:57:30 -0000

Iowa at differnt times was ranked number 1 when BJ Armstrong was there. They made an elite 8 run in '87 (losing to UNLV). They entered 1989 as the #1 team in the land. Dr. Tom was a great coach.

Re: ITH Super Happy Fun Time Player Profile: Christian Watford

BFowler — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:55:15 -0000

This is the guy I have been looking forward to seeing. I have huge expectations for him amd I think he will be an absolute star by his senior year.

Re: Open Thread: Who’s your five?

BFowler — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:50:58 -0000

Intersting side note: 2 men on Howard's roster played at Pike High School.

Based on what Coach Crean has been saying all sumer, I do not know how Rivers and VJ III do not start. I would not be surprised to see Dumes off the bench as I think he would be a good spark off the bench. Also, the coaches have been talking up Creek as a stud, and many on this message board have been touting him as the best prospect. Now, the argument might be he was not here all summer, but talent is talent. I think Watford is all but penciled into one forward spot and Pritchard will start in the middle. So my 5: Rivers, VJ III, Creek, Watford, and Pritchard.

Game on the line: Rivers (for ball handling and defense), Dumes (defense and shooting), VJ III (scoring in a variety of ways), Pritchard (big body - screens, rebounding, experience in B10), and Elston (screening, rebounding, versatility).

Odd men out (among those who got playing time): Moore, Finkelmeier, and Roth. I think the rotation will be, in the guard area, 5 players primarily rotating among the 3 spots (Rivers, Creek, VJ III, Dumes, and Hulls), and in the front court, Pritchard, Watford, Elston, and Capobianco are the main rotation. The great unknown is Bawa, what is he? If he has some skills he may be in the rotation, if not, he will be warming a spot next to Jobe.

Re: Tom Crean delivers high praise for incoming class

BFowler — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:15:51 -0000

I'll have to admit, the "VJ III 2.0" comment is great, that descibes it perfectly. I am excited about seeing his improvement. I can't wait to see Creek and Watford. If they can just reduce the turnovers by 25% (like 5 a game) I would be thrilled. Just don't lose the games you are not supposed to lose, win half the toss-ups, and be competitive in the ones you are not supposed to win. HH at MM can not come fast enough.

Re: Davis could headline list of Hoosier Hysteria guests

BFowler — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:01:17 -0000

I am excited that basketball is finally right around the corner. Is it just me or do the days seem longer between HH and the beginning of games? I am really excited to see what the new-found competition in practice will do on the court. I think that it helps a Davis commit that Etherington is committed.

Not trying to jump in where I was not invited, but I think that the line-up will be determined by the team that IU is playing that day. I would not be surprised to see 4-guards on the court against some of the pre-B10-season teams. In effect, there would be 6 to 7 "starters." I think you will see Rivers, Watford, and VJ III in about every starting lineup, but I could see where Dumes starts, Watford at the 4 with Pritch in the Middle, or a "big" lineup with Watford, Elston or Capo, and Pritchard in the frontcourt (especially against a Big Ten power team like Wisconsin). You can not count out Creek starting by the time B10 season rolls around or sooner, but who is the odd man out? Would you sit VJ III to put Creek in for the "Big" lineup, or go 3-guards with C-Wat at the 4? It depends on match-up. Then there is the incredible unknown, the twin towers of Jobe and Bawa.....It would be like Mourning and Mutumbo in the old Georgetown days or Olajuwon and Sampson in the old Houston days. I can see it now......