DISQUS

Kelin Blab · 1 year ago

Yeah that 5 star recruiting stuff went down the toilet for me this year.......they are nice to have but there are a ton of good teams...(Butler, PU, Xavier, Tennesee) who don't have all of these one and done players......also, if Miller loaded up Indiana U. with Indiana kids, I would not have a problem with it because it has worked for Butler and PU and give me.....Van Treese, Dominique Fergunson, Thomas, Jordan Manuel, and some other good Indiana kids and we will compete.....

BrianK · 1 year ago

I agree with you all to an extent but you do have to at least get some 4 star (5 star once in awhile wouldn't hurt) recruits in to win a championship.
On the hair thing, don't you think MIller and Bennett are kinda Pitino-isk lol in their look. I'm leaning towards Bennett now. I've been on Miller's side most of the time but I have been swayed.

Matt_J · 1 year ago

It's not a bad thing to recruit a 5-star player. It's a bad thing to recruit a 5-star player and then do nothing with him. Telling him to just go out there isn't coaching. That's why we didn't see unnamed 5-star player develop at all.

JerryCT · 1 year ago

I cannot follow the logic.

Are you sayinig that given 2 good coaches( Miller vs Matta, Miller vs Dixon, Miller vs Wright) you want the one with no record of top 100 recruits ? You would take Miller's freshman walk on from Indianapolis vs Gordon ? Miller over Matta, Dixon or Wright any day ?

Are you saying it is easy to recruit Indiana kids against UNC, Duke, Ohio State , Purdue, ND, MSU, Florida,KY ? Call Senderhoff and ask him and put me on the 3 way

Are you saying if you lose Sean May to UNC you take what you can get from Indiana and not go to Alabama to get DJ ?

Are you saying that you are satisfied with "competing" instead of winning ? Does IU losing to ASU by 22 , Temple by 20 and 3 other losses to worse teams sound good to you ?

SHEEEESSH. He is a good coach but lets put him in perspective for petes sake

mamalickaboobooday · 1 year ago

Just answer this question for me, would you send your kid to play for Mike Davis? Exactly! That's the reason Indiana kids don't go to IU. Sampson, same thing. Mind you IU has sucked for the since the early to mid 90's...when most of these kids were 5 -7 years old. You people need to face the fact that IU has to WORK to become relevant again. Not b/c some old white guys said it's a big time job (Vitale, Phelps).

This is why Dakich is a good choice along with Bennet. You need someone to BUILD the program. Does anyone understand how much money IU has been paying to fired coaches? They can't afford anything else.

BrianK · 1 year ago

DD is a good choice? ou have got to be kidding? Why? What has he done? He's honest? He's and IU guy? So am I but do you want me coaching? NO.

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

I know that we saved an awful lot of money in the Sampson deal. And I know that every year (except for two years when we went 29-29 under Davis) IU is consistently in the top 25 for at least half the season. So don't tell me they're irrelevant. There's probably only 15 other teams that can say that EVERY SINGLE YEAR they are in the top 25 most the season. We're down compared to our standards as far as competing deep into the tournament but I'll just reference one of Arkansas' players when asked about playing Indiana in the first round.

-"How the heck did Indiana fall to an 8 seed."

Matt_J · 1 year ago

More people than the "old white guys" consider Indiana a top flight job. Nationally, it's still viewed as being one of the top tier programs. Are they as relevant as they were in the 80s and early 90s? No, but there's been a huge amount of...attrition, we'll say...in the past 10 years.

But the argument that Indiana can't compete for Indiana kids against Duke and UNC is poor logic, at best. Did they lose McRoberts? Yes. But McRoberts also bolted for the NBA AND is one of the most hated Duke players by Duke fans, ever. So, losing McRoberts isn't a bad thing. Sean May? Someone who had recently been turned outside of the program had a hand in that. Tyler Zeller? There was a bit of a question about the coach this past fall breaking the rules. Harongody? Wasn't even recruited by Davis. I think the same could be said for James.

Having a young coach that has the backing of the athletic department for a long-term building of a program will help to stabilize the situation at Indiana and help to bring in more of the Indiana kids and most likely other top-flight players from the area. Lest you forget, Matt Painter has been recruiting Indiana kids against those same schools, and yet he's somehow been able to secure them for the program.

mamalickaboobooday · 1 year ago

Painter gets them b/c parents want to send their kids to play for him. He's a solid dude

RD21 · 1 year ago

I think Miller is a better choice over Bennett. Yeah, Bennett has done extremely well with his dad's players (Bruce Webber did well with Self's players, now look at that shitty place), so I would like to see how he does with his own recruits. I am sure he had help with recruiting because he was there, but you play for the head coach. However, even though I like Miller better, I think because of his contract, IU will only be able to offer Bennett because of the money situation. Both are solid candidates so it really is a win win situation.

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

Kind of like the Democratic primaries :)...Didn't mean to open up politics but I saw "yes, we can" and it made me think of it.

splenda · 1 year ago

It isn't quite fair to say that we won with his dad's players. When Dick Bennett went to Wazzou, he did so for two reasons: he wanted to coach again and he wanted to give his son a chance to get a D1 coaching job in a bigtime conference. Tony was the lead recruiter and everyone he recruited knew that he was going to be the coach before the four years were out. Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, etc. were Tony Bennett recruits. Between the current class of Wazzou seniors and Tucker/Harris/Butch at Wisconsin, Tony's recruiting bona fides are well established.

Raymond219 · 1 year ago

On top of that, Dick's last year as a coach was not exactly one to be remembered. I believe they only won around 13 games that year and I am almost positive they finished last in the Pac 10. Having his "dad's" players should make his accomplishments even more special.

RD21 · 1 year ago

Like I said before, I knew that he had a say in the recruiting..I am just saying I would like to see in a couple more years how he would do, though I wouldn't mind seeing those next couple of years at a much better basketball school like IU. -Accomplishments even more special-... I would love to have Low and Weaver blossoming during my first year. Thanks for the insight splenda, I agree that he is a well established recruiter (5 good players for '08)

xxBHxx · 1 year ago

He's in my top 3 for sure.

redandy75 · 1 year ago

Definitely a great possibility. I like him maybe a little more than Bennett because his defensive coaching and ability to win games will endear to the IU fan base. Yes, he has that Big East "slickness", but that may be just what we need to get recruits to B-TOWN.

easy · 1 year ago

Bennett's defense is better than Miller's in a top tier conference. In fact, Miller stole the Wash. St. system: the Pack Line Defense. It's good stuff. I just stole it and installed with my AAU team myself.

Anyway I've heard mixed reviews on Miller's personality. Not sure what to believe, but I know he can coach. I'd support the hire, but personally would prefer Bennett. Bennett should be done vs. UNC and Miller should be moving on. So maybe we will contact Bennett and get something done....probably not until we contact "the big fish."

Kelin Blab · 1 year ago

He CAN flat out coach.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

Miller has a great system in place at Xavier. I'm not sure what issues anyone could have with his personality either. He's been a great representative of Xavier University as its' basketball coach. I don't think at the end of the day that most IU fans would want him, because he doesn't have the pop off the page "name" appeal.

I believe Miller will probably be back on the Xavier sidelines next season and Tony Bennett will be in Bloomington.

easy · 1 year ago

That's why I said I heard mixed things. I honestly don't know which to believe so I just kind of ignored it, and would welcome the hire. The fact that the AD said he would come to IU and that he said Miller is the best Xavier coach in terms of Xs and Os is encouraging. I've heard that he's great on campus and very popular, as you said. I've heard he's not well liked by some in the Athletic Dept. and other things along those lines. I don't really want to put out the rumor because it's kind of vicious and I have zero idea if it's true. I just heard it from someone in Cincy.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

I've never heard that Miller's not well-liked in the Athletic Department. Where did you hear Bobinski (the AD) would like to come to IU?

easy · 1 year ago

I meant the AD said Miller would go if we called. And maybe what I heard about Miller was just someone with an axe to grind. Everything else I've heard has been good really.

Matt_J · 1 year ago

I think one thing that's been overlooked a bit (or not) is that Xavier won the Atlantic XIV this season and not one of Xavier's playes was named to first-team all-conference. For me, that speaks volumes about getting guys to set their egos aside, play as a team, gel as a whole, and maximize the amount of talent each player has. Also, aren't all five starters averaging in double-figures? This, again, speaks to a system in which the team is valued over the individual in which, I would hope, we would see less "taking the leash off" talented players and more "develop the talented players into national-player-of-the-year caliber players".

ronb · 1 year ago

BIG A or someone..... Why do my posts come out with broken lines like that? I am not a computer expert and i could use some help. Thanks

Matt_J · 1 year ago

Are you hitting return at the end of your lines? I know that my text sometimes stretches further than the box shows, but if you keep typing it will eventually wrap around and you don't need to hit return at the end of lines just to keep going.

ronb · 1 year ago

Thanks for the help. I will try that.


The signing of the Constitution of the United States quote: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." John AdamsLove Dad,Pappy,Ron

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JerryCT · 1 year ago

I went back to the Bennett posts and read the last post again which says he was offered Iowa and Michigan and turned them down.

Does this mean he was chosen over Licliter and Bielein ?

Has mIller turned down similar jobs recently ?? Anyone know ?

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

Miller was contacted by Michigan, but did not accept an interview.

Matt_J · 1 year ago

Not only can he coach, but he's smart, too.

Kelin Blab · 1 year ago

Ronb I was at that game and there were some small skirmishes but it was because Xavier wanted the game more than IU and played with some emotion. Here is a team that began the season unranked and I think they wanted to prove something....so they played physical and with some emotion....IU couldn't match there intensity. Yes I want Sean Miller.

ALH_00 · 1 year ago

Xavier is really good, despite their location and conference. I give Miller alot of credit, and IU would do well to get him to B-town. I like reading all of the comments, but the negative ones don't seem to add up against the simple fact that Miller is a successful coach just down the road who MAY be willing to step into a higher profile job. And, the timing may be right given that his team is so senior dominated. He most definitely should be on the short list.

southsidehitmen · 1 year ago

I know this weekends games should have no real barring on anything, but I will be watching Washington State - UNC and Xavier - West Virginia with great interest.

Obviously Bennet is behind the 8 ball a little more than Miller, as Miller's team is playing an upset minded team while Bennet and Wash. State are playing a total juggernaut.

The one thing I will say about Miller is that his teams have played with an incredible amount of poise the first two games. Both times his teams fell behind early, but stayed within themselves and came back to win.

Bennet's teams just beat the living piss out of people. I'm not sure which is more impressive.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

One thing IU fans might not be aware of is that Miller has X's best ever (at least that's what most people think) recruiting class coming in. There's a certain feeling he may not want to leave because of it. Personally, i think he should at least listen if IU calls, and then take it from there.

easy · 1 year ago

I take it you are our resident expert on Xavier. So, in your opinion how would Miller fair at IU? Is he better than Matta? Could he win a National Championship? Just interested in your thoughts on the situation since you seem to have watched Miller more than most of us.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

Yup I have two degrees from X and a graduate degree from IU. So i'm fans of both.

Is Miller better than Matta? I think so. Sean was a hardnosed player in the Big East and that mentality has transferred to his coaching. He stated recently that he wished he was playing in the tournament instead of coaching in it. His teams play great defense generally. Miller recruits well. He tends to stick to the East Coast and Midwest, but i think his overall goal is to go where the talent is. He's heavily recruiting Georgia right now for the 2009 class.

I believe (perhaps foolishly) that in this day and age, Miller can win a title at Xavier. SO of course i think he can win one at IU.

The one thing that may deter most IU fans is the fact that he's not a big name, and he doesn't have that pop of the page appeal to the casual fan. But if he's your coach, your team will be competitive, play for the post season, and graduate players.

easy · 1 year ago

Sounds good to me. And "pop off the page" names are trumped by wins. I think most people who actually KNOW basketball certainly know who Sean Miller is. Hopefully if he gets the job he doesn't want to bolt for the Big East or something down the line.

I almost went to Xavier, and I may still go there as a grad student. Thanks for the post and assessment. I'm definitely pulling for Xavier to do well.

easy · 1 year ago

I want to see them both too, but unfortunately they're basically on at the same time. That means (I'm assuming) we'll get Xavier here in Bloomington.

Personally, I'm more impressed with how dominant WSU has been. I have watched them a few times this year and they never give up. To hold a Big East team that was Top 25 basically all year, and one of the top offensive teams in the country to 41 points (40 below their average!) is astounding to me. IMO Xavier won two games they should win. Not to take anything away from who they beat but X has a lot of seniors and played a lot of freshmen (really that speaks to how good Painter and his young Boilers are).

I'm excited to see what gives with the UNC-WSU game. I expect UNC to win but if WSU makes it close or keeps UNC well below their average I would be extremely impressed. Miller and Xavier should win this game, and what they do vs. UCLA should be interesting. That would be a good game.

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

I agree with the relentlessness you spoke of. I felt we really missed that this year. Even getting up by 20, we might let the lead go to 8 or 10. And against teams that were decent but not good, we'd just keep that 6-12 point margin all game instead of putting them away. We really missed that killer instinct. I'm not advocating total annihilation of teams but eliminating any glimpse of hope they may have isn't a bad thing in my opinion.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

Actually according to the coverage map i've seen... a good portion of IU will see WSU
http://www.hdsportsguide.com/files/327-1-map.pdf

mamalickaboobooday · 1 year ago

I feel like I'm taking crazy Pills here!!! If IU starts RUNNING AN OFFENSE, which has not happened in the last 10 years, the players hustle, and the type of player is someone who hustles, doesn't complain, and is a half-way decent person, the fans will support IU ball.

You don't need some big time name. I'm an IU grad and I dislike IU basketball. I don't care if we have been ranked. It is extremely boring basketball to watch. Don't tell me that you have been pleased watching IU play this past decade. Coaching is not brain surgery.

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

Then maybe you should take up the profession...

BrianK · 1 year ago

Coaching isn't easy either or we wouldn't be complaining about our past 2 coaches. I coached middle school age kids in football. To be a good coach isn't just about making x's and o's.

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

Agreed, my point exactly. He thinks it's so easy but in college, there's the psychology of dealing with 18-22 year olds, the book with thousands of pages of rules you have to follow and make sure ALL of your assistants follow, there's press, alums, fundraising and blogs that are critical of you (haha)...X's and O's are for nothing compared to what these guys have to deal with.

oday · 1 year ago

No doubt he is a good coach, but he has said before that he will not coach against Thad Matta. If this is true, it would be useless to pursue him.

BrianK · 1 year ago

Thats kind of a ridiuclous statement. I would put that in the negative column for him if he said that. Most ex-assistants want to play there old mentors. Alot of times they add each other in their schedules ala Billy D and Pitino.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

I've never heard him state this, nor seen it in print. In fact, OSU-Xavier were supposed to schedule a home and home one year after Matta bolted for OSU. It was Matta's idea to cancel it.

easy · 1 year ago

Haha can't blame Matta for not wanting to go back to Xavier where everyone seems to hate him now....

tberry · 1 year ago

if you want to see up-tempo, fast action basketball that wins, you are a Bruce Pearl fan.

BrianK · 1 year ago

i just want some winning championship caliber teams. Kids graduating, not getting into trouble like the "old days". I don't care if its fast paced or what as long as they have some strong defense. One thing you can say about Pearl's team is missed shots don;t get to them they are mentally tough kids.

BTOWN40 · 1 year ago

I'm about 65 percent partial to Bennett and 35 percent to Miller. My ? is this. What are we looking for in a coach? Bennett looks to be a coach you could fall in love with, getting his players to play to there max, hard nosed defense and mental toughness. Can we win national championships with him though? What you see at WSU is great, not any big name players, but can you get the higher caliber player to buy into what he is teaching. Miller seems to have the more athletic team, but there focus seems to be elsewhere at times during some games. I watched several of their games and the 2 games late in the season to Saint Joseph, it just seemed liked they weren't all focused and most of these guys are seniors. I do liked how they showe mental toughness against Purdue in the tournament..I just feel that Bennett gives us more of what we want right now. I personally would rather have us in every game, because of our defense (Bennett), winning Big Ten titles (defense), and let the rest of theseason fall where it may. I think people put 2 much stock in the tournament. Too much luck is involved. Would we be considering Miller if his team didn't come back against Purdue, but is that enough for IU fans? I would rather look at the body of work of how a team played, not how they did in the post season. IU and WSU had about the same record this year, but Bennett's squad looked far more impressive in there losses than we did. I can handle a loss knowing that the kids busted there ass and never gave up, what I can' watch is the mental checkouts, and lack of effort that has been on again and off again since Knight was let go..GO BENNETT

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

I look at the recruiting competition he is going up against on the West coast. WSU is a team that has made the tourney like 6 times...TOTAL! That doesn't make it easy to recruit against the likes of UCLA, Cal, USC, Arizona, even Oregon.

I think it's more likely to consider the recruits he was on board for while an assistant in the Big 10. Guys like Alando Tucker, Brian Butch, etc...

CBinOR · 1 year ago

well, I like this guy best so far. Miller is the deal real deal. unlike bennett, no relative handed him a well-recruited class, a cupcake schedule and big time coaching job in the pac 10. Miller is his own man. Miller was Matta's #1 assistant at Xavier..Miller is who we need. We can respect Miller unlike Pearl. We can rest assured that he really has the skills. People people people please look at the schedule and the Pac 10 games UCLA beat him both times, Stanford beat him 3 times, Arizona beat him twice and Cal beat him (Cal just fired their coach) Bennet is smoke, daddy and mirrors. (Again, if he winds up being our coach I take it all back)

JerryCT · 1 year ago

I don't understand.
Miller did not build the Xavier program. Gillen, Prosser, Matta and another guy I forget did that over more than 10 years maybe 15 years. It is in fact a serious mid major program with the athletes to go with it.

Did WSU get beat by 5 teams worse than them ? uuhh No.
DId WSU lose any game by more than 20 in any reg season game ? uhhhhhhh No
Was any WSU player "well recruited" by even a mid major ? uhhhhh No
Was WSU a "big time coaching job" like Xavier ? uhhhhh Nein

Did both schools hire the asst coach ? uuuhhhhhhh, YESSSSS

xxZPxx · 1 year ago

Bennett in '08/'09! Yes, we can!

JerryCT · 1 year ago

I like Miller. I can accept Miller. He can x and o. But lets get detailed.

1. No record of top 100 recruits, maybe this is why all players average lower numbers
- Butch, Harris, Tucker from Bennett
2. Program was built by others before him ( Matta, Prosser, Gillen and another guy )
- Bennett builds his own, took WSU FROM LAST in Pac-10 in 2 seasons
3. Narrow recruiting ; 8 players from Ohio , 2 from Indianapolis out of 13
- Bennett, 2 from down under, 1 Germany, 1 Serbia, Ore, Wash, Ca, Co, Hi
4. "Tom Crean- like " on the sideline, I am biased against this distraction
5. Lost by 22 to ASU and 20 to Temple
- Bennett worst loss by 12, beat ASU 2 times, 1 loss to worse team not 5 to worse teams
6. Probably lose the hair battle to Painter or Weber
- Bennett wins the hair battle

I would rank him no higher than 5th behind Bennett, Wright, Dixon, Unknown tier#1 and move him up as others drop off.

dale11 · 1 year ago

i'm not sure what narrow recruiting has to do with anything...knight never left the indiana, ohio area. davis brought in great recruits, guys from australia, texas, florida, maryland...all over. Just think if davis never left the state of indiana to recruit...sean may, dominic james, mike conley, greg oden, josh mcroberts, george hill, courtney lee, all the kids from purdue and butler, mix them in with the kids from indiana he did get and i dont think that team would lose. I would take a guy like miller that can recruit indiana

Matt_J · 1 year ago

Knight did leave Ohio and Indiana, lest we forget Lou Henson accusing him of "raping the state of Illinois".

Ryan_Btown · 1 year ago

Knight does say that recruiting starts 6 hours from campus...he said it on ESPN. So he does stay close to home. But how has Knight faired on this new college basketball scene? I mean, let's not praise a man's recruiting style when one of his players won his spot on the team by competing in a reality tv show.

I love the man so I'll go no further on Knight the sell-out.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

1. See the 2008 recruiting class (some of the players will look familiar as IU heavily recruited some of them).
2. Prosser last coached a game in 2000 for Xavier, I have no idea how's that's helped Miller at all. Gillen hasn't coached at X since the mid 90's Miller was Matta's head recruiter at Xavier. He recruited all of the Seniors on the team, not Matta.. Furthermore, Miller brought in all of the bench players and Drew Lavender from Oklahoma.
3. The recruiting class this year has one from Pennsylvania, One from New York, One from michgian, and one from Ohio. I guess you go where the good players are.
4. Miller is passionate. Knight was passionate on the sidelines.
5. Lost a road game to ASU during a tough four game stretch. Then lost to a conference rival. If that disqualifies Miller, we'll gladly keep him.

mamalickaboobooday · 1 year ago

If one more person says something about recruiting big time guys, I'm going to lose it. In this day in age in college basketball, you need people who are unselfish and understand how to PLAY BASKETBALL. You don't get extra points for jumping, or athleticism (which is not even a word but ESPN overuses it. It's athletic ability.) although it helps. With the development of AAU, EVERYONE is good. It's not hard to recruit. So please, say something else.

ronb · 1 year ago

Bennett's defense was #2 in the nation. When you rebuild you start with defense which is
what this last team needed. My problem with Miller goes back to the IU-Xavier game this
year. You guys need to think about how his players acted in that game. They talked trash
the whole game beating their chests and being disrespectful to IU players and coaches.
I don't want a coach that will not control his players. Maybe his team was a reflection of him? This did not set well with many of you or I when it happened. Go back and look at the game or read some the articles and comments. There is no question he can coach
but we don't need another head case at IU.

xfactor9600 · 1 year ago

If you guys want Bennett badly enough, I say take him. You'll get no complaints from Xavier fans.