Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Ryan Cline’s sweet spot in time might send Purdue to its first Final Final since 1980

Ryan Cline worked long and hard to enjoy his moment last night. Purdue fans hope he has another great performance in him tomorrow!

I’ve always been a little bit fascinated with Purdue wing Ryan Cline.

When he played basketball at Carmel High School, he dominated the ball late in games that Carmel led – which was almost all of them.  Teams were forced to foul him, and Cline would sprint to the foul line, wait for everyone else to fill their spots on the lane, and confidently knock down his two shots.  I don’t believe I ever saw him miss.

I went to a lot of Carmel games his senior season just to watch him bolt to the foul line.

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Cline was not the typical recruit, and he’s not the typical college basketball player.  He does everything a little differently – running, walking, shooting, defending, and almost everything else a player does on the court.  What he does better than almost everyone is win.

Cline led his high school team, made shots, and won 92-of-103 games during four years with at Carmel – including a state championship in 2013.  At Purdue, Cline and teammate Grady Eifert are a part of the winningest senior class in program history with 109 victories.

Last night showed Cline at his best.  He scored a career high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in Purdue’s Sweet 16 overtime win over Tennessee.  Cline has worked his ass off for 15 years to enjoy the night that launched Purdue into its first Elite Eight in 19 years.

In the second half, Cline hit all eight of his shots – six of them threes – and four of those threes in the final five minutes of regulation.  Each of those final four threes pulled the Boilermakers out of a deficit.

Cline enjoyed a sweet spot in time last night, which is the reward for a lifetime of lonely work in empty gyms.  Not only did it seem he knew every shot was going to fall.  It appeared the ball believed it was supposed to get in the basket too.  The ball dove through the net with odd and knowing speed and enthusiasm.

According to 247sports.com, Cline was ranked the 159th best senior in the 2015 high school class.  In addition to Purdue, Cline was also offered a scholarship by Northern Kentucky, Belmont, Ball State, Lipscomb, South Alabama, and UNC Wilmington.

Ratings services and a lot of other schools evaluated Cline based upon what they perceived to be his flaws – instead of his work ethic, leadership, craving to win, and ability to shoot the ball that have defined his era with the Boilermakers.

Matt Painter has a unique talent for ignoring the scouting services to recruit the kids he wants to coach – kids with whom he can compete and win.  He saw Cline for what he is – a winner with an insatiable desire to work and compete.

If Purdue had fallen in line with Indiana, Butler, and all the other schools who rejected Cline because of what they believed he could not do, they would not be where they are – one win away from their first Final Four since Jimmy Carter was president.

Ryan Cline is a special competitor, and because Painter saw it, Purdue might just achieve something spectacular – something fans will remember forever.

Indiana Basketball – Debate about Devonte Green’s positive & negative contributions raqes

Devonte Green is a playmaker – both good and bad.

Devonte Green is an IU basketball player who some love, and others loathe, but no one is indifferent

Some believe Green will play in the NBA, and others believe he shouldn’t come back to Indiana.

He hits shots, and he turns the ball over.  He gets steals, but allows a clear path to the bucket.  He follows a great pass with another that lands in the fourth row.  Green thrills, vexes, and breaks hearts.

Lance Stephenson filled a similar role for the Indiana Pacers until his act finally wore thin.  Green doesn’t have Stephenson’s flare, but both have the unique ability to electrify and deflate.

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When Indiana’s season came to an end last night, fans started earmarking players who could help the Hoosiers take another step forward.  Green was at the top of the list.  Some are certain Good Green can elevate IU back to relevance.  Others believe that Bad Devonte transferring would remove the mistakes that have kept IU from being more successful.

The best thing about the Devonte Green debate is that both sides of the debate are arguable and have roughly a 50% chance of being right.

In the interest of confusing things further, we present “Good Green” and “Bad Devonte”:

Good Green

  • Green hit 52.3% of his three-point FGAs over the last seven games.
  • Despite not starting, Green led the Hoosiers in assists – 3.0 per game.
  • Green also led the Hoosiers with 1.3 steals per game.
  • Appeared to be plugged in and competitive following his suspension.

Bad Devonte

  • Prior to the season’s last seven games, Devonte made only 34.8% of his threes.
  • Despite not starting for most of the season, Devonte led the Hoosiers with 2.3 turnovers per game.
  • Although not quantified statistically, Devonte was more than occasionally AWOL on the defensive end – leading to opponent runs that turned games.
  • Suspended three games for “not meeting the standards expected of members of the program.”

Bob Knight always said (and Dan Dakich reminds us), “Victory favors the team making the fewer mistakes.”  Green makes plays and mistakes in roughly equal measure.

If Green can eliminate the errors, Indiana has a chance to take a step forward.  If Devonte has another lapse of judgement leading IU to suspend him for a longer period, he will prove himself incapable of avoiding immature decisions.

This could go on all day, and it will on Twitter for the entire offseason.  Juwan Morgan might have been IU’s most reliable player, and Romeo Langford the most ready for the NBA, but Green is without question the most debated and discussed in recent Indiana history.

If you want to hear a little bit from Devonte Green himself, here’s an interview I did with him prior to the season:

https://soundcloud.com/sports1430/devonte-green

Indiana ends season with 73-63 loss in NIT – so what’s next for Archie’s Hoosiers?

Archie Miller is two seasons into his rebuild. Is IU any closer to being back in the national conversation?

Indiana lost to Wichita State tonight, and its season went poof – if playing in the NIT counts as an actual continuation.

Six wins against quad one opponents showed the Hoosiers to be capable of beating excellent teams, and 12 losses in 13 games showed they were also flawed in the extreme.

Whether the losses came in bulk because of injuries, malaise, stoicism, coaching, or a combination isn’t important now.  Our focus shifts to the future – as in what kind of team will Archie Miller put on the court next year.

Juwan Morgan, Zach McRoberts, Quentin Taylor, and Evan Fitzner have exhausted their eligibility and will move on to whatever is next in their lives.  Romeo Langford will almost certainly leave for the NBA.  There might be a transfer or two, but this is no time to talk about that.  No point in speculating about who might decide greener pastures exist elsewhere.

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Coming to Bloomington are Trayce Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin.  Both are local prep stars who should be able to contribute immediately.

The question is whether another year of development will help those who choose to return to improve enough to overcome the losses of those who are now former Hoosiers.

Rob Phinisee, Aljami Durham, Devonte Green, Justin Smith, Race Thompson, and De’Ron Davis are a nice start toward a solid roster.  Green and Davis with be seniors.  Smith and Durham juniors, and Phinisee and Thompson sophomores.  Jerome Hunter is a wild card as no one is certain he will ever again play competitive basketball.

If Hunter is able to play next year, that will be a huge bonus for Indiana.  He was said to be among IU’s best players in preseason practices until his leg required two surgeries to try to resolves a still unspecified issue.

Talking about Clifton Moore and Jake Forrester is pointless.  It’s hard to tell whether either will ever be good enough to contribute to a successful Big 10 team.  They could get there from here, but there is no evidence to suggest they can be counted on to compete for a winning program.

Morgan is capable of being a role player in the NBA, and Langford is a likely late lottery pick.  Replacing their productivity, and Morgan’s leadership is going to be tough.  Smith has NBA level athleticism, but to paraphrase his old his school teammate Jalen Brunson, “The switch hasn’t flipped yet.”

Green is a good news, bad news guy.  He can turn the ball over and hit three-pointers with equal enthusiasm.  If basketball favors the team that makes the fewer mistakes, Green is good enough to get you beat.  Tonight, he was 5-14 with two turnovers, and missed all three of his foul shots.  But he flat out won the game for Indiana against Arkansas.  He is a vexing presence deserving of his own post.

When Green plays well, IU has the potential to beat anyone.  When he’s bad, they can lose to anybody.

Miller is building this team class by class, and having only enrolled one class to this point, it’s hard to see which way this program will ebb under his leadership.

There is an obvious and appropriate focus on Indiana high school players, but that will take time to blossom.  Next year might be too soon to get a glimpse at the finished product Miller is constructing.

Indiana lost tonight, so the wait for fans anxious for a return to relevance and then prominence will continue for another seven-and-a-half months.

Sounds like a long time.

Nebraska fires Tim Miles – setting in motion another six or seven year era of mediocrity

Tim Miles will continue making people laugh as the former basketball coach at Nebraska.

Tim Miles is out at Nebraska.

Don’t feel sorry for him, because he’s not feeling sorry for himself.  Like he said on a podcast a couple of weeks ago, “”If they fire me, they’re still going to pay me. I’m still a millionaire, so I’ve got that going for me.”

That’s a great outlook.  Universities and fans always want coaches to say they would do the job for free while paying them millions.  It’s one of the many hypocrisies of collegiate athletics.

Miles only mistake was apologizing for making the comment.  Like his two predecessors, he had to go because Nebraska needs to sell a vision of hope even when none should logically exist.

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Barry Collier coached the Cornhuskers from 2000-2006, and Doc Sadler followed from 2006-2012.  Both achieved similar results to Miles, which leads a rational person to believe the coach is not the issue.

The prime reason behind the entrenched mediocrity at Nebraska is a lack of high school talent in a state known as a basketball wasteland.  Since 2012 – the year Miles was hired – the state has produced two recruits ranked in the top 100, according to 247sports.com, and only one other in the top 199.

Compare that to Indiana during that same period with 31 top 100 recruits, and 13 who were ranked in the top 25 nationally, and you can see the difference.

Go elsewhere to find recruits, you say.  That’s easier said than done.  Why would a recruit pledge Nebraska given a virtual zero in brand strength?

Miles had two choices, lose with a sense of humor and get fired after pocketing millions, or lose while being a surly pain in the ass.  Miles chose the former – and good for him.

Bad for Nebraska who will sell hope in the form of the next coach who will fail to achieve a level of success the high-minded university powerbrokers demand.  They look at Big 10 brothers Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, and ask why not us.

The answer reveals the stupidity of the question.  Because you aren’t.  Each of those programs hire the right coach and let him coach.  Nebraska’s job comes with an expiration date.

  • Hire Collier in 2000
  • Collier out in 2006
  • Hire Sadler in 2006
  • Sadler out in 2012
  • Hire Miles in 2012
  • Miles out in 2019

Nebraska Basketball – Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

UC Irvine’s Turner was infantile – not hateful – in yelling “Queen” at Oregon player named King

Russell Turner’s postgame explanation did him no favors, but this is still nothing more than a coach being idiotic – not hateful.

UC Irvine’s basketball coach Russell Turner tried to get in the head of Oregon player Louis King by calling him “Queen”, and social media explodes.

Turner’s choice of mockery wasn’t clever, but it didn’t effect King’s play either.  In fact, King scored 16 points, and hit 4-of-7 from beyond the arc in Oregon’s 73-54 win.

Coaches have heckled opposing basketball players since Dr. James Naismith hung peach baskets on opposite ends of a gym.  John Wooden was one of the all-time fiercest, according to those who played for him.

But now social media thought police are piling on Turner.

https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/1110294153248804866

Can we just get over ourselves a little bit with “words matter”?  Words only matter when we give them weight.  What Turner meant is nowhere near as important as our reaction to it.  There are some third rail words, and there should be.  Some unquestionably embody hatred for a person or group, but “Queen” is not among them.

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I think we can safely infer Turner’s behavior as a clumsy attempt to be disruptive, not hateful.  Again, it was childish, but not a purposeful use of hate-speech.

We need to stop indulging our penchant for being offended and annoyed by everything that can possibly offend and annoy us.  The utterings of a basketball coach during competition needs to be at or near the top of the list of those things we choose to ignore.

A coach calling a kid named King “Queen” is infantile, not actionable.  The demand for the university to fire him is a hysterical overreaction by those who underestimate King’s ability to withstand an insult.

When I played soccer, competitors swapped a vowel in my first name that evoked a vulgar word for a female body part.  They yelled it, and I was not bothered.  It was just silly.  Women watching the games weren’t bothered if they heard.  It was just dopey, and I don’t give dopey names weight.

Why do we scour the news for what annoys us, instead of what lifts us?  Why do we choose to wreck the life of a guy whose greatest crime was to reveal himself to be less than clever.

Turner is a basketball coach, not a U.S. senator.  And King’s Oregon Ducks won the damn game, which serves as the best revenge.

Michael Avenatti busted as he attempts to extort Nike out of $20-million

Michael Avenatti is a scarf guy. I don’t trust scarf guys.

Michael Avenatti is not a good guy.  When porn stars turn on you, it’s time to re-evaluate priorities

He showed up uninvited in my living room for the first time as he represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Donald Trump.  That suit went nowhere, as did Avenati’s 2020 presidential bid.

Daniels fired Avenatti last month for behavior she described as ‘extremely dishonest’.  When porn stars turn on you, it’s time to re-evaluate priorities.

Avenatti didn’t, so he ran afoul of the law..

This afternoon, Avenati was arrested, charged with extortion, and bank and wire fraud for his role in an attempt to lever between $16.5 and $26.5 million out of Nike.  Avenati claimed on Twitter that he would release details of more scandalous shoe-related behavior related to college basketball.

That Avenatti is a miserable excuse of a human being is beyond debate, but if he decides to fire his bullet after making bail, there could still be a headline out of this sordid affair other than “Idiot self-absorbed attorney busted”.

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Everyone know how it works – or how it used to work before the whole Gatto/Code/Dawkins unpleasantness.  Shoe guy gives basketball player’s family cash – basketball player commits to program sponsored by the shoe company.  It was seen as cash finding value – mostly victimless, and mostly not an NCAA issue because the shoe guy and the uncle were clever enough to do it without a paper trail.

Avenatti may never make good on his threat, but if he does it and rats out dozens of coaches, maybe the outcome will be to acknowledge the inanity of the rule book as it exists today.  After all, if everyone is cheating equally, is anyone really cheating?

The only logical response to Avenatti talking is paying no attention, but if the details are extra salacious, that’s going to be hard for me.

Avenatti is a douche, but sometimes a douche with a good story is worth 15-minutes of our time.

Tom Izzo unapologetically does exactly the right thing to help freshman Aaron Henry

When Izzo gets mad, people learn. That’s a good thing for a freshman like Aaron Henry.

Tom Izzo screamed at freshman Aaron Henry during yesterday’s win against Bradley, and those who don’t get it are putting Izzo on blast.

Henry is a 19-year-old kid who wasn’t getting back on defense with enough energy, and Izzo let him know in no uncertain terms, that is not acceptable.

ESPN.com’s headline recounting the incident reads, “MSU’s Izzo doesn’t apologize for yelling at Henry.”  I’ll take Idiotic Headlines for $600, Alex!

Not only should Izzo not apologize, Henry and his parents should thank Izzo for investing the energy necessary to re-boot Henry’s hard drive and correct a behavior that if left unchecked could cost him millions of dollars.

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Two things happened yesterday because Izzo screamed at Henry – he became a better player, and he became a better man.

Izzo reminded Henry that he has a responsibility to his teammates, coaches, and university to bust his ass at all times.  He did it in a way that has a chance at sticking.

And the best part of the whole deal is that Cassius Winston backed up his coach by taking Izzo’s loud and emotional message, and repeated it in a calm tone so Henry understand both Izzo’s passion and the message.

College students are in a constant state of trying to figure out who they are and how they fit.  Yesterday, Henry learned a good deal about both.

Was it difficult in the moment?  Of course.  Was it hard for Henry’s family to watch?  You bet.  But last night, Henry went to bed a more mature young man than when he woke up that morning.

That’s Izzo’s job, and he does it as well as anyone in coaching in any sports at any level.

When asked about the incident, Izzo asked his own question, “What’s wrong with challenging a kid that makes some mistakes?”

Damn right.

Last night, Butler Basketball lost a game and the NIT – not its “Way”

LaVall Jordan is the right guy as coach, the roster will improve, and Butler was very close to very good this year. Three big reasons to believe.

Butler lost to Nebraska last night in the opening round of a tournament the Bulldogs never wanted to play in.

Expectations are higher than that at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  Butler is one of just a few teams to play in and win at least one game during the past four NCAA Tournaments, so a trip to the NIT is seen as a stark step backwards.

Fans are worried this rare losing season is the beginning of slippage they have always worried might happen – as though the Bulldogs success has been little more than a 20 year long run of great luck whose eventual end is certain.

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Don’t sweat it.  Heaters like this don’t happen at the craps table or basketball court.  Programs win consistently because of a cultural discipline at its core, and “The Butler Way” is one of the best known – and most successful – in college basketball.

 

The Bulldogs will be back – and quickly.  LaVall Jordan has deep Butler roots, spent four years playing for very successful Butler teams (with three trips to the NCAA Tournament), served as an assistant at Butler and Iowa before joining John Beilein’s staff at Michigan for six years.  He’s an effective leader, and a great developer of guards.

Paul Jorgensen and Nate Fowler will graduate, and while they will be missed, fans should be very confident as Kamar Baldwin, Jordan Tucker, Joey Brunk, Aaron Thompson, Sean McDermott, Joey Brunk, Henry Baddley, and others return.  Add Khalif Battle and John-Michael Mulloy to the returnees, and that’s a very solid Big East roster.

While finishing in the cellar of the Big East is never good, Butler was only two games out of a tie for third.  If the Bulldogs scored just one more point in regulation in what became OT losses to St. John’s and Providence, Butler gets to third.  If they hold on to the 10-point lead they choked on during the final four minutes against Xavier, Butler finishes in 3rd by themselves.

The point is that while the results this season were comparatively putrid, the road back to those destinations fans have become accustomed can be short and sweet.

The pieces are in place for Butler to take a step up, and they’ll do that next season.

Ranting about Romeo Langford shows the ugly side of Indiana fans and sports media

Romeo Langford committed to Indiana less than 11 months ago. He’s the same kid, but many fans have turned.

Romeo Langford wants to compete at basketball.  He wants to win.  He wants to improve.

Somehow, Indiana fans have come to the conclusion he’s counting the days until the NBA Draft, and that wealth is his only priority as his time at IU draws to a close.

They are crapping on Romeo with enthusiasm.  Its has been as relentless as the cold this winter.

None of it is justified, funny, or reasonable.

People, including some in sports media, were on Twitter before yesterday’s NIT opener speculating that Romeo would have played if this had been an NCAA Tournament game as though they have some special powers to diagnose a back injury from 100 miles away and understand how it impacts a 19-year old’s ability to compete.

Seems guessing about a kid’s health has become OK – even to the media.

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I have no special insight into Romeo – no gift for understanding exactly what he’s thinking.  I spent an hour with him at New Albany High School a year ago to talk about how he needs to view the media, and he was the same kid you see on the floor – expressionless and stoic.  He made constant eye contact, but until I asked him a few questions I wasn’t certain he was listening.

Indiana fans are unsure Romeo cares because he doesn’t scream and play air guitar with every basket.

He was listening, and he cares.  Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it is not there.

I’ve watched Romeo play basketball since he was an eighth grader, and I have never seen him celebrate a dunk, three-pointer, or steal.  He doesn’t smile, point to the ceiling, or wave his arms to get the crowd hyped.  Competing at basketball is its own reward for him.

Waiting to party until a game ended used to be respected, but not with Romeo.  Some guys flash threes after every bomb, and we don’t like that either.  Seems like no matter what Romeo does, it’s not enough – or maybe too much.

Romeo will finish this season as the third all-time leading scorer among freshman in program history, and will be drafted into the NBA somewhere in the top 15.

Fans will continue to ask whether he is the biggest disappointment in program history – as though that is somehow Romeo’s doing, and not the fault of those whose expectations were way out of whack.

Indiana has been down this five-star road before with Cody Zeller, Yogi Ferrell, Noah Vonleh, Thomas Bryant, and James Blackmon.  You would think fans would know by now that freshmen need to learn how to play at the Big 10 level.  Very few are like Zion Williamson – perfect when they show up on campus.

Like almost all freshmen, Romeo isn’t perfect.

So let’s take out our frustrations on this 19-year old in social media.

Yeah, that makes sense.