Nah. Lost 4 starters and what, 50+ points a game? Who thought IU was going to be a contender this year? I think IU is playing like the young team that it is and is playing to the level of the competition instead of asserting their dominance.
Edit: I just finished watching the game. OUCH... So much for playing to the level of the competition.
Ok, now let's assume Noah jumps to the NBA. Even with Blackmon coming in, will we be much better without much of an inside game?
If not, will the seat be warm then?
Tom Crean has one final four. He got there with Dwayne Wade. Wade was an overweight high schooler with offers from Marquette, Chicago State, and DePaul. Upon getting to the final four his Marquette team played one of the worst games in the history of the final four losing by 33 points. I am not saying he is a bad coach, but he is not "elite". Now whether IU could find someone better is up in the air.
And who would IU get to replace him on top of the huge buyout it would cost ? I think they were told no by 3 others before they got the clown to say yes.
Crean took a job that would trash his string of 20+ win seasons. No one else was willing to take the hit. He has been good for a program that was in utter ruin.
I wonder what Shaka Smart could do with a program where he might be more apt to draw blue chippers?
GFGT, you can keep Cuonzo M. I would take D. Fife over him.
There will be no issue with buying out Crean's contract. There are extremely well-heeled alumni standing by with checkbook in hand. The big question is whether or not they will be willing to buy out Brad Steven's contract also. Then there is IU alum Jim Crews who has the St Louis Billikens (WTH is a Billiken?) on a 17 game winning streak with Calbert Cheaney as one of his assistants.
Edit: Shaka Smart! Now there's a thought. Oh, yeah. Crews's crew just beat VCU.
IU screwed Knight. It was a dirty deal when they fired him. It generated so much bad karma that they cannot get out from under it.
If IU wants to fix it's men's basketball program, they must make nice with Knight. I used to think they could rename Assembly Hall for Knight, but the Simon's bought that honor (IU being for sale, totally for sale).
Knight was an old school tough guy. It's not that they do not make them like that anymore, it's that they do not want them like that anymore.
Call me superstitious, but I firmly believe that IU won't get their program back on track until they make it right with Knight to the point that he comes back on campus and accepts the olive branch. If he dies before we make it right, you can just forget about it. If they don't make it right, IU will become one of those schools that "used to have a good basketball team".
Crean is a great recruiter, but he has no concept of X's and O's. He wins because he has amassed more talent than the other team. When players are pretty much equal, and the game comes down to coaching, IU is in deep trouble.
I do find it ironic that L. Fischer transferred to Marquette. I also hope that H. Perea's indefinite suspension due to arrest is not indicative of an issue prevalent throughout the program.