Disqus - Latest Comments for ricbraun

Re: The Jordan Crawford/LeBron James video has leaked, and it’s disappointing

ricbraun — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:42:17 -0000

Anybody can be dunked on while face guarding their opponent, even LeBron. I'm glad this story can go away now

Re: Good, Bad and Ugly: Wake Forest

ricbraun — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:06:07 -0000

11:02, Dickie V makes first remark about "Robert Montgomery Knight". I know that is something that was discussed in the live blog

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

ricbraun — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:33:32 -0000

I'm just saying, but last year against Marquette, Harangody played 2 really bad games, and they don't have any good big men. He turned the ball over far too often and didn't score much. I know, Indiana this year is not Marquette of last year, but I'm just saying

Re: So, about that Dominic Cheek visit…

ricbraun — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:22:24 -0000

I'd like a big forward that can shoot the 3, ala Steve Novak

Re: Report: Fred Glass to be named Athletic Director

ricbraun — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:26:17 -0000

Its not like he hasn't had any experience that is relevant to what an AD does. Sure, he doesn't have athletic department experience but he has had experience doing duties that ADs typically do. He knows how to organize sporting events and he knows how to get people into the stadium, which is obviously a bigger deal for football than basketball but still. And really, what does he have to do in regards to the basketball program? He has to just let Crean do his job, let him put a winner on the court and the rest will take care of itself. Everyone will clamor about a student section and all that but there is probably nothing anyone can do about that that wouldn't piss off the alumni and boosters. You know, the people that give lots money to the athletic department when they are happy and not a lot when they are pissed. All that said, I think its a good hire and we need to give this guy a chance before we all start ripping on him (something I know won't happen)

Re: Chris Braswell picks Charlotte; Crean speaks to IU students

ricbraun — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:29:21 -0000

I thnk Crean made a very very good point about students showing up on time to games. As a student I would get very angry when the seats the students are given are only half full at game time. All the students, for the most part at least, should be in their seats 30 minutes before tip-off and start cheering immediately. It creates such an intimidation factor for the opposing when the arena is full during team warmups, and conversely it helps the home team get amped up even more. And if everyone would get in the habit of wearing the same colored shirts and stuff like that it would make the environment way better even though it is already top-notch.

Re: Van Tresse Headed To Louisville

ricbraun — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:45:12 -0000

I can't think of any bigs of note that Crean has ever had, outside of Steve Novak, but he was a shooter and not really a bruiser inside. He prefers to have guards that can be disruptive on defense so that bigs can't get into any sort of rhythm. for example, last year Luke Harangody had some rough games against Marquette because their guards were so quick and disruptive that he couldn't get anything going and he kept turning it over. A big man would be nice but I wouldn't mind if we didn't get one

Re: IU Schedule Breakdown: Man, that’s a lot of losses

ricbraun — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:29:57 -0000

People need to realize that even these games that we think we will/should win, we probably won't. This is a team of all freshman/juco players. How many freshman/juco players make big impacts for their respective teams every year? Only a handful, and those that do are the best of the best or are on great teams with good players around them. I like the guys we got, but they are not the best freshman out there. The caliber of players we got usually need a year of seasoning before they are really ready to contribute, but of course maybe a couple of them will be better than we thought or will be put in a good system where they can succeed. But juniors and seniors on mid-major teams like TCU might not have as much sheer talent as a guy like Nick Williams but they are much more seasoned and prepared to play the college game. We assume we will beat TCU, but I am not sure we will. Same goes for Michigan, who is going to guard Manny Harris?

All that said, I am hopeful that IU does well but I will not be upset if they don't because this is what we will just have to deal with, there is no way around it. If we get to 10 wins with a surprise win against a conference opponent and show improvement as the year goes on, I will be more than happy

Re: Clippers shut down Gordon due to hamstring injury

ricbraun — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:15:43 -0000

He has missed 19 of 28 shots, yet has gotten to the line 21 times in 2 games...that sounds familiar. nice to see he is averaging a lot of rebounds for an undersized 2, that wasn't really a part of his game in college

granted, its summer league. not the best gauge for how someone will do in the NBA

Re: Roger Franklin still high on the Hoosiers

ricbraun — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:18:38 -0000

I don't know if anyone has noticed or even cares, but Earl Calloway has been tearing it up for the Pacers in summer league play and might, however unlikely, make the jump from D-League to NBA. Just throwing that out there

Re: Andy Katz says Eric Gordon is going to the Knicks

ricbraun — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:28:50 -0000

For anyone interested, Gordon will be on Jim Rome is Burning at 4:30 tomorrow on ESPN

Re: Andy Katz says Eric Gordon is going to the Knicks

ricbraun — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:36:13 -0000

John Hollinger has this little draft rater system where he projects which players will turn out to be the best pros, and Eric Gordon did not grade very well at all. You can see it for yourself, but I am not that surprised because his college stats were not that great by the end of the year, particularly his 3 pt shooting and TO. This isn't really news to anyone, but interesting to see that Hollinger thinks Jamont Gordon will be better than Eric Gordon, and who knows he might be right

http://insider.espn.go.com/...

Re: Malik Story joins 2008 recruiting class

ricbraun — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:36:49 -0000

Villanova had a 4 guard system a few years back, and they went to the Elite 8. It was when they had Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry. To play a 4 guard system you have to be aggressive on defense and cause a lot of disruption. I don't think Crean will go for it but he might not have much of a choice. This upcoming season is going to be rough

Re: Bruce Weber: ‘Indiana Will Suck’

ricbraun — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:58:27 -0000

compared to what they have had on their team for the past couple years, Legion might seem like Kobe. I hope he enjoyed his job at UI while it lasted, after this year it won't be there anymore

Re: Kelvin Sampson will go on-and-on about Eric Gordon, but not his phone habits

ricbraun — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:02:40 -0000

He was 6'2 without shoes but 6'3 with shoes, and since he doesn't usually play basketball without shoes I'm sure I'd say 6'3 is a relevant measurement. I guess while I am looking at the page on espn he weighed 222, and had a wingspan of 6'9 (which is really good for his height). Now about those phone conversations...

Re: Gordon talks about Sampson; Chad Ford talks about his draft position

ricbraun — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:37:32 -0000

as a cavs fan, please no talks about lebron leaving. it makes me cry

Re: Are the Detroit Pistons targeting D.J. White?

ricbraun — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:19:18 -0000

DJ would definitely be a good fit for Detroit, they have some big men that are getting older (notably Antonio McDyess), so DJ would get a year to work on his game and probably get sporadic playing time for a quality team, and then he would be expected to come in and contribute after a year of seasoning. Detroit has a similar player in Jason Maxiell, who coming out of college was a good rebounder and decent shooter, and he has become a very productive player for them. DJ would do well in Detroit

Re: Report: Jeremiah Rivers to Indiana

ricbraun — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:27:57 -0000

very well put

Re: Report: Jeremiah Rivers to Indiana

ricbraun — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:49:27 -0000

I like this pickup, we know exactly what we will be getting for two years and that is a very good defensive player and one that is very disciplined offensively. We are not really in a position right now to be picky about what type of players we have, we just need as many quality players as possible. Crean's teams do not always have all that many big men, he knows the type of players he needs to be successful more than we do

And if Crawford is gone....well lets not talk about that until it happens

Re: Maurice Sutton and Emmanuel Negedu

ricbraun — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:59:23 -0000

I was indeed referring to Sutton, I don't know anything about the other kid. And just because he is tall does not make him good, or that he will have an impact. Ben Allen was tall, but he had no post skills (or any other skills for that matter), so he had no positive impact when he was in. A big man who has no skills is not good just because he is big, there is actually nothing worse than a big man with no skills. Him being on IU next year will have no affect on our record and he will not make us a better team, so to me, I would rather save the scholarship for a good player

Re: Maurice Sutton and Emmanuel Negedu

ricbraun — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:21:48 -0000

Am I the only one that doesn't care if this kid comes to IU? Sure we need a big man, but if he isn't that good what does it matter? I would rather save the scholarship so we can go after better players next year and not settle on someone who won't be an impact player next year (if ever). Will IU be much better next season if we have Sutton than if we don't have him? No, they won't

Re: Devin Ebanks heading to West Virginia

ricbraun — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:50 -0000

I dunno, I will kind of miss Armon. Kid had talent, more than Crawford, and thats more important than anything

Re: Devin Ebanks heading to West Virginia

ricbraun — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:48:37 -0000

This is a much smarter thing for him than Memphis I think, he won't have to fight Tyreke Evans for playing time.

In an unrelated question, did Joe Alexander sign with an agent? I enjoyed watching him in the tournament and was wondering if he still had the option to come back

Re: Around the Hall: Assistants speak, Hardy, Keady, Sampson, one-and-done

ricbraun — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:02:32 -0000

Pritchard is good, he carried that team without Roe, who is in his own right a very good player, and I think he will be a starter next season.

And you should always place your trust in a coach over rivals or scout or any other recruiting website. Coaches have their jobs for a reason, they are smart (usually), and the websites are just guys who sit around their computer. Recruiting websites are dumb

Re: Jordan Hulls gets Indiana offer

ricbraun — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:52:26 -0000

We have plenty of scholarships since we will have 3 left to offer to the 09 class, so we shouldn't be just focusing on bigs. Yes, we need bigs, but we could always use quality guards as well. Say we get SVT to go along with Elston and Capobianco and we will already have Pritchard here, that is 4 quality big men with 2 more scholarships left. Are you going to use those 2 on just big men? No, you will use them on the best available players, which might be guards. Guards obviously don't score in the post, but they handle the ball and if you don't have good ball handlers and passers, you could have the best big men in the world but they won't be getting the ball because there is no one good enough to get them the ball. Guard play wins championships, it holds true every year. When you need a bucket late in the game, 99% of the time it is a guard making the play. Besides, we are not at a point right now where we can get picky, we need as many good players as possible