Indiana Basketball fans need to embrace reality – PLEASE!
Hoosier Basketball’s faithful fans are passionate. Psychotics often are.
Indiana lost at Penn State, and social media was filled with condemnations of Archie Miller. A week before, Indiana beat Michigan State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and fans cheered that Indiana was finally back.
The Hoosiers will play Ohio State in Columbus tomorrow, and fans will voice their unbridled joy or despondence at 2 p.m. depending upon the result.
There are bipolar fanbases in college basketball, but I don’t know any as prone to extreme highs and lows as Indiana’s. Cries to “Fire Archie!” are heard and read after each loss. When Indiana wins, fans believe a return to the Final Four is nigh.
A quieter sane group continues to watch and checks boxes that mark areas of progress, but they are easy to miss because they don’t produce hundreds of screaming Facebook and Twitter comments responding to a podcast that calls for fans to relax and embrace the journey.
Here are 10 truths sane fans embrace that will outrage bipolar Indiana fans:
10 – Crazy fans are part of the problem. Who wants to deal with a bunch of social media nuts? No one. Not coaches or players. Certainly not their families. It can be exhausting for people who aren’t used to it. Indiana fans have developed a well-earned reputation as kooks, and that does not help the current players – or those who might be considering playing at IU.
9 – Devonte Green is not trying to drive you crazy! Green tries to help Indiana win by making plays. Sometimes those plays result in turnovers and bad shots. That’s his game. Celebrate the makes and mourn the misses if you like, but know that he’s trying to do the right thing regardless of your perception. Green is not evil, just a streaky player who sees basketball as an individual test.
8 – College basketball is filled with mediocre teams. For a variety of reasons, the talent level has flattened. The Big 10 is a mess from the top through the 12th spot. Other than Northwestern and Nebraska, any team can win against any other team on any given night – especially at home. There used to be a top, middle and bottom tier. Not anymore. There is a bloated middle with a few stragglers.
7 – Miller WILL be Indiana’s coach through 2021-2022. Until the end of that season, Miller’s buyout is 100% of the money due him through the end of his contract (2024). There is no chance IU is going to eat that expense unless Miller steps way outside societal norms. You might as well enjoy Miller’s efforts to recruit the State of Indiana and build the program from the bottom up because that is what is going to happen. A loss at Penn State will not cause Fred Glass or his replacement (or any reasonable person) to consider bouncing him.
6 – Ohio State is 3-6 in the Big 10 with Chris Holtmann as coach. Many IU fans have looked at Ohio State as an example of a program that has evolved positively since replaced Thad Matta a few months after Indiana fired Crean. Holtmann’s Buckeyes are struggling, and the cries for IU to regret hiring Holtmann away from Butler have quieted.
5 – Cook Hall is no longer a competitive advantage. The facilities race across college hoops cannot won by any school because the means to put up Cook Halls exist at all power five programs. Without a quality practice space, programs can’t compete, so all have built them. We think Cook Hall is cool, but recruits see them everywhere.
4 – Miller is building a culture through recruiting, and that takes time. Indiana was one specific type of program under Crean, and it is evolving into another as Miller successfully recruits Indiana high school players. His first two classes brought Indiana’s Mr. Basketball and other All-Stars to IU. That’s the first step toward getting the SS Hoosier headed in the right direction, and it requires patience.
3 – Building a culture happens over many years, not months. Crean won two Big 10 titles through acquiring talent. Superior talent can win games, but it’s only a predictable source of competitive advantage at programs like Kentucky and Duke – de facto minor league way stations for NBA bound players. Culture brings consistent success. Getting that squared away is work that requires patience.
2 – Firing Archie Miller would cripple Indiana’s chances to hire the right coach. Let’s call this Miller’s Razor. If Miller is not the right guy to coach Indiana, firing him will destroy IU’s chances to hire the right coach. Coaches are not fools. They look at the treatment of their peers as a bellwether of their treatment if they accept the same position. Coaches look at Crean’s termination as explainable and his longevity as enviable. He had nine years and earned over $25-million. If Miller is fired after three years, hot coaches will see a university too impatient to build a program correctly.
1 – Becoming Indiana as it existed in the 1970s and 1980s is impossible. Recruiting has changed and coaching has changed. The wealth generated by winning has become extraordinary. As a result, cheating is the rule rather than the exception. Kids are going to get paid tens of thousands in order for coaches to be able to get paid millions. That is part of the reason for the flattening of talent across power five conferences. Indiana finding its way to the top of the Big 10 an astounding 11 times in 24 years as it did under Bob Knight is not possible when players and their families are in it for the cash.
I could go point by point debunking everything, but in my view, it’s people who are still supporting this awkward mess that are the crazy ones. As for Miller still being the coach? He loses to Purdue twice this year and we’ll see what the IU Trustees have to say about that.
Really? Sterling makes a much more coherent argument than your 2 sentence, emotional response.
Save yourself the time in trying to debunk, use it to better educate yourself.
well i read your treatise about iu b-ball. The point you miss is that archie is not a good teacher. he is relying on well worn offense and good defense.
Teach what? How to in-bound the ball. how to pass the ball. how not to dribble into groups of defenders.
How to shoot a step back 3 pointer. how to properly screen and then screen and roll. What’s wrong with
a weak side play? A guard criss cross? I see teams settling one player in a corner and iu never guards the guy.
we’ll see this at iowa.
How about archie being more strict with some basic basketball moves. His lackadasical attitude toward proper play is bad
You have “yelled” at us for our wanting a winner. I want to see proper basketball played and coached.
Remember the 2 best players in Indiana may not be in the top 300 in the nation.
I’ll stop. thx for letting me vent.
IU has a hard time recruiting players because of the fan base . Who would want to play at IU and take all the critazime of the fans. These are young boys coming in to play for the Indiana Hoosiers these boys are someone’s sons, grandsons, brothers lay off the critazime. Give coaches a chance to rebuild and bring Indiana basketball back to where it used to be.
Go Hoosiers!!🏀🏀
i appreciate your response to my post. And maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Hopefully we can move forward and recruit and win.
And your correct about “GO HOOSIER”
lets destroy this guy’s b.s. real fast.. #10. If I.U. fans are Kooks ?? Well then so are uk, kansas, u of l, and many others fans. And, none of them have the issues we do. So, that’s a load of crap.. #9. Green is a showboat, hot dog who brings more negatives to the table than positives. He stands out between the circles with the ball. With 15+ seconds left on the shot clock. dribbles until there’s only about 7 or 8 seconds left. and then heaves up a shot that is best described as a prayer.. Once he does his once or twice. The rest of the team just stands around. They know there’s no use in trying to get open or do anything. The hot dog green isn’t going to pass the ball. .. This and his play translates over to defense.. As demostrated against penn st.. It doesn’t take much for an opposing player to go right by him. As he barely puts forth any effort on the defensive end.. Which demoralized the others. All you have to do is watch the game and you can see it the longer green is in the game.. #8.. There’s always a lot of mediocre teams. Is Baylor, Auburn, Gonzaga, U.of L. or any of the other top 25 teams ? Many of which aren’t blue bloods. .And, there’s a ton of others who haven’t lost 4 games but are ignored because of the conference they’re in. Sick and tired of people who are so lazy that they accept belong only so-so.. . #7. One he got right. Because I.U. won’t want to buy out the overly generous contract glass gave miller. #6.. Who cares about holtiman ? The only Butler coach I.U. would have ever really wanted was Stevens. And, he’s not ready to leave the pro game yet.. .. This one is nothing more than filler at best.. #5 Fancy buildings have never really been the appeal.. They’re nice. But, players know a winner when they see one. And, a pretty building can’t hide a loser.. So, this is no more than an excuse for this guy to waste good space on the page. 4 & 3.. Stretching one point into 2 to fill more space with hot air.. It doesn’t take years and years to build culture. Not if you’re recruiting the right players in the beginning.. Patience won’t help.. And, I’ve witnessed no change in the attitudes or play of the players over the 3 years miller’s been at I.U.. If the culture was changing. We’d see it. But, there’s no evidence that it is.. #2. Not quite. Coaches with a brain will realize that I.U. finally figured out they hired a guy who will never be nothing better than an upper level mid-major coach.. And, are really ready to step up to the big leagues.. And jump at the chance to bring the program back up to snuff.. #1.. .. Michigan st. has won the regular season title, or a part of it, 5 of the last 11 years.. So, that kills that line of b.s.. as well. It’s sad that people like this guy is allowed space in any publication.. He’s preaching the gospel of , “it’s okay to me mediocre”. I guess that’s fine for those who believe in participation trophies. But, not people who realize that once these kids have to live in the real world. mediocre doesn’t really cut it..
You just proved #10 for him
Maybe the worst most misinformed post I’ve ever read on any subject and judging from the title “you blow” I’m guessing this is a common theme in your life. You do realize you proved the author’s point he was going for in his article right?
It all boils down to leadership! Have the right leaders from the top to the coaches and players. Do the right things from the top, and problems are solved with mediocrity. On the other hand, players and coaches read social media. It’s a big way to stay connected in everything, including recruitment. When people hammer the team and players consistently with a fanbase as big as IUs, it’s going to be noticed. Also, IU isn’t attracting the media or top players with mediocrity. IU has to go get it and market the best way it can under mediocrity leadership and it just doesn’t have that these days! Correct it from the very top, and great things can happen for years once again. Lastly, give these guys a break on the social media side, they just don’t have a true leader and It’s not their fault, they just don’t have the instinct, that is the responsibility from the top to the coaches. I still trust Archie and haven’t given up yet. Go Hoosiers!
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Haha, funny to see the kooks come on here and rambling or angry in their posts, proves the point of the article. I’ve been saying for 5 plus years the so called fans are holding the Program back, it’s only getting worse. People who think they know bball only bc they’re from Indiana. Recruits and they’re families routinely complain about the fans comments. These idiots shouldn’t have access to the internet, ruin everything for everyone else including Indiana Basketball. Hmmm what’s the common denominator all these years thru 4 different coaches without success, self hating fans!