Disqus - Latest Comments for MikeinNC

Re: Former IU guard Wilkerson says Knight’s return would be “absolutely huge”

MikeinNC — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:14:46 -0000

Sounds like a guy headed in the right direction. Good for him!

Re: Somebody finally told ESPN about Michael Santa

MikeinNC — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:14:04 -0000

I am amazed Jobe was able to hold onto the initial pass from Santa....in his day, I saw Uwe Blab drop many, many easier bounce passes than that one...

I haven't really paid attention to it, but has Jobe actually scored this year?

Re: Pay to play? I don’t think so

MikeinNC — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:18:45 -0000

Make the NBA fully fund and promote their own minor league....make a simple rule...when you graduate high school you make a choice - college route, or developmental route....if you choose the college route you are committed for 3 years, no exceptions....if not, you can go into the NBDL, Europe, whatever. This would just be a more rigid and formalized version of what has worked very well for baseball for quite a long time....

Re: Taber talks senior night and Michigan State

MikeinNC — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:57:42 -0000

Tabor rocks. Even though these last two years have been rough, no matter where he goes from here in his post basketball life, he will go there knowing he embodied what Indiana basketball is supposed to be all about. That will serve him well in life. I hope it is a packed house that gives him a deafening standing O.

Re: Hoosier loss overshadowed by Dumes’ shenanigans

MikeinNC — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:29:46 -0000

He needs a couple game suspension to send a clear message...one of the key themes of this season is that we are bringing back true Indiana basketball and "playing the right way" even though we know the won/loss record is going to be very disappointing. Send the boy a clear message, I suspect that while he is out of the lineup we will be surprised with the way someone else steps up.

Re: Video: Tom Crean tackles band director, calls him a lightweight

MikeinNC — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:27:29 -0000

Pardon the sappy commentary, but watching this video and reflecting on the season thus far, I can't help but feel that while IU is losing a lot of games, we are somehow rediscovering everything that was once good about Indiana basketball...it feels like we are finding our Hoosier basketball identity again....don't mean to sound overly dramatic, but it feels like that's what is happening.

Re: Report: Knight interested in Georgia opening

MikeinNC — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:53:18 -0000

I don't see how this is a good move for Georgia. It is questionable whether or not Knight can still recruit top talent, and I can't imagine he is more than a 3-4 year coach. He recruits a very specific type of player for his system. So you are likely to see 3-4 years of solid, but still average teams, then he leaves, and someone spends 2-3 more years rebuilding because they can't use his players in their system. They are much better off going after a hot mid-major coaching talent and building for the long haul. The only programs for whom Knight would make sense are programs that need major rebuilding and publicity...and those are not the kind of programs Knight wants to go to....

Re: Pat Knight is not gonna take it anymore

MikeinNC — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:44:01 -0000

He was looking for an excuse for an outburst because a) he can't coach and has no answers, b) he needs desperately to find a way to motivate his players, and c) attendance sucks at Tech and he needs some way to draw attention back to the program. He's in over his head and on his way out.

Re: Good, Bad and Ugly: Northwestern

MikeinNC — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:00:42 -0000

They are so close now. I think it is now 99% mental and when they get that first win to get them over the threshold we will see rapid improvement going forward....right now there is a pattern consistent with a team that, deep deep down, does is not really sure it can win the game - they can stay close, come back from a deficit and make it close, even get a lead, but in the end they just cannot finish. It's like a salesperson who can do everything right but just can't close the deal at the end because they haven't done it yet and lack the belief - once they close their first deal they start closing more and more...you see signs of this in the variety of ways that they are losing the winnable games - a poor decision with the basketball, poor FT shooting, poor 3 pt shooting, a dumb foul...whatever...it is not the same thing all the time, which tells me they are still finding ways to lose instead of finding ways to win....when they finally break through this (and they will pretty soon) I think we will be surprised at the rapid progress. TC is going to build one he** of a program over time.

Re: We’ve tried everything, but Kelvin Sampson won’t go quietly

MikeinNC — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:51:37 -0000

You know, when everything went down, despite the swath of destruction Sampson had cut through IU basketball, I still had some little twinges of compassion for the guy....I felt like he was just a guy who wanted to win and please so bad that he just couldn't help himself in bending the rules, almost like an alcoholic or a compulsive gambler....I felt a teensy bit of pity.

Those days are long gone. This guy pi**es me off more and more every time he opens his mouth....he needs to be tarred and feathered - with red and white feathers in a candystripe pattern (sure, it would be a lot of extra work to do the candystripe, but it would be worth it). What an unbelievable weasel.

Re: Candy Stripes: Go fisch

MikeinNC — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:45:27 -0000

Don't subscribe to BTN...don't even know if I can get it from my provider in NC, but no real desire to have it anyway on principle....but everything I hear about it is bad....is Keady doing color commentary, or is he in the studio?

Re: So, about DeMarcus Cousins, Jeff Withey and the scholarship situation…

MikeinNC — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:14:11 -0000

I would think this could be a slippery slope...I think everyone realizes we are in a huge rebuilding situation so things could be a little more fluid with regards to scholarships, but by the same token you don't want to get the reputation that commitments get reneged all the time in your program...tricky. Do you think Crean was upfront with some of these kids that their scholarship situation could be tenuous in a year or two?

Re: Good, Bad and Ugly: Open Thread

MikeinNC — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:50:55 -0000

I would really like to see Crean pick one upcoming game against a heavily favored opponent where we have nothing to lose (that doesn't narrow it down much, I know) and say this to the team: "guys, our goal for this game is to have less than 10 turnovers, shoot 70% from the free throw line, and have as many rebounds as the other guys. I literally don't care how many points we score, how many they score or anything else, in fact I don't even want to pay attention to the score or talk about it - we are only going to focus during the game on those 3 measures and nothing out, and let the chips fall where they may."

Personally, I'd be curious to see what would happen.

Re: The Morning After: TCU

MikeinNC — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:35:50 -0000

I'll take an ugly win over a moral victory any day....

Re: Good, Bad and Ugly: Texas Christian

MikeinNC — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:58:24 -0000

If they can get turnovers under control and improve free throw shooting, they will steal a few surprise wins in Big Ten play. It is fun to watch a team playing this hard. Fun to watch Pritchard maturing before our eyes.

Re: Know Thy Opponent: Texas Christian Horned Frogs

MikeinNC — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:00:04 -0000

Actually this guy has a history of legally changing his name to whatever program he is coaching...it is pretty bizarre....he started his career as "Jim Indiana School for the Deaf" then moved on....it got really embarrassing for his family when he was coaching at Morehead State, and when he coached at Harvey Mudd college, well, his name literally was mud....

Thanks folks, try the veal...and don't forget to tip your waitresses and bartender...they're working hard for you....I'll be here all week.

Re: Know Thy Opponent: Gonzaga Bulldogs

MikeinNC — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:46:12 -0000

This one definitely has the potential to get ugly. I haven't been able to watch a lot of our games this year, but it struck me against Wake Forest that it will be tough to run an uptempo, running offense with Moore at point, he is just not quick enough plus we don't have the size to rebound strongly and get out fast on the break. I wonder if we would be better off trying to slow the tempo down and run a more deliberate offense against teams like Gonzaga. It might fail, but you know we can't run with them, so what do you have to lose?

Re: Dan Dakich rules Joe Hillman on Indianapolis radio

MikeinNC — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:31:52 -0000

Great statement by Dakich...sometimes we forget that these are just kids, some of whom have lived their entire lives in a really bad, dysfunctional setting....unless we've walked a mile in their shoes, we really have no right to cast dispersions.

Re: Know Thy Opponent: Cornell Big Red

MikeinNC — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:21:40 -0000

Wow, interesting about all the IU ties at Cornell...this will be a really interesting match-up. Looks like they can hurt you inside and outside. We'll see how much progress Pritchard has made.

Re: Good, Bad and Ugly: Chaminade

MikeinNC — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:52:01 -0000

There are 3 things that I think they need to really focus one:

Raising their defensive intensity level.
Hitting 70%+ from the FT line as a team, especially in the 2nd half.
Boxing out.

That's what I would be focusing on if I were Crean, alas, I am just an old alum sitting here typing in a Turkey-induced state of drowsiness.....

Re: Looking ahead to Monday’s tilt with Notre Dame

MikeinNC — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:55:34 -0000

Let me preface these comments by saying, I know we are going to get blown out by ND. But here are some things I would like to see us try to keep it close:

#1 We are essentially a 3-4 guard team. Let's try to capitalize on that defensively, by employing an aggressive full court press for the entire first half of the game. This will make it harder for ND to set up their offense and pound us down in the post with their big guys.

#2 When we cannot press, or they do get into an offense, I'd like to see us in an aggressive man to man, or a 3-2 zone - let's take away the 3 point shot and let them pound us in the post. I would rather give up two point buckets down low than get flown out by a barrage of 3 pointers.

#3 When they are pounding us down low, let's foul the snot out of them every time they get the ball in strong scoring position. Make them beat us at the free throw line, which will also slow down the flow of the game and make it a little harder for them to get in the groove. Make them win ugly.

#4 Run a more deliberate, methodical offensive set. Motion offense that would make RMK proud - take as much time off the clock as possible with every possession and make them work hard guarding us.

Do all those things, and I think we have a shot at staying within 20 points.

Re: The Indiana Daily Student’s brilliant basketball guide cover

MikeinNC — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:58:23 -0000

Sorry to go off topic here, but did anyone see what Michigan did last night? I was hoping Michigan was one of the teams we had a good shot of beating during conference play.

Re: The Indiana Daily Student’s brilliant basketball guide cover

MikeinNC — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:56:33 -0000

Brilliant. Love it.

Re: Good, Bad and Ugly: IUPUI

MikeinNC — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:31:47 -0000

A win's a win, we'll take it. There are a lot of teams better than IU this year that will lose to worse teams than IUPUI in pre-conference play, so there is no such thing as a bad win at this stage of the season. Two positives I see from the box score - we out rebounded them, and we improved our free throw shooting %.

Re: No upset here: IU prevails, 60-57

MikeinNC — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:49:36 -0000