Inside the Hall - Latest Comments in What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Sherron Wilkerson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:56:41 -0000

Point f-ing on bro. You hit the nail on the head with IU basketball. Give this guy his own blog

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Sherron Wilkerson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:53:30 -0000

I mean hey, he might find his shot and score 20 against the Badgers. Please have a huge game against the Dirty Badgers AJ, please prove us all wrong

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Ryan — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:41:25 -0000

This is quite the intriguing theory to me. Seriously: when was the last time IU had consistency up front for a full four years?

Ever since Davis, it's been quite the struggle on the front line. Leach, Killingsworth, Kline ... ugh.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:51:44 -0000

Adam Ahlfeld may just be the most unathletic player in the history of Indiana University Basketball.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

jeff — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:46:55 -0000

I'm not trying to hijack what is an excellent thread (way to go, everyone), but I wanted to respond to Steve's comment a while back when he said: "I want the old hoosier style back! I do not want players that are projects (Holman, Mcgee, Thomas)." I share the frustration, but mine goes well back into the 90's when we had an ENDLESS progression of projects at the forward and center positons. Several redshirts. Several prep schools. Some forgettable jucos. It was a slow motion train wreck. During this time, Knight was quoted more than once as how he "hated" recruiting, and that begging a 16-year-old to play for IU was beneath him, so he just wouldn't do it. To me, our problems in 2008 can be directly traced all the way back to this time frame. We lost relationships with Indiana high school and summer league coaches. Players went elsewhere, and had great success. We became boring and average, or worse. Then came Davis, and here we are today. To me, Knight refusing to put the required time and effort into recruiting (he just wanted to coach) was like a player who just wanted to shoot but not play defense. No difference at all. Okay, that's all I have. Thanks for letting me vent. Feel free to add your opinion, as long as you agree with me.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

ZP Sucks — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:28:39 -0000

Why not give Ahfeld a shot? He has proven he can consistently knock down the 3 in warmups and he has the passion IU basketball embodies. I think with Gordon's wrist injury Sampson should hand the reins over to Adam.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

xxZPxx — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:06:04 -0000

And Jose Canseco should win the Nobel Peace Prize....

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Brett — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:44:36 -0000

Its so true.. we should have got a picture of that. amazing style. but hey hes aj graves..

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

CB in OR — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:48:43 -0000

Remember last year when A.J. came off the bench against Wisconsin , scored 20 and led us to a win? A.J. deserves better treatment. At least enough minutes to play back into the coach's good graces. There were plenty of chances while we were in cupcake land.

DJ is a strong emotional leader and sets a good example on the court. EJ plays without passion. Yes, he does.

UConn leads the Big East with free throw opportunities and had 29 to our 8. UConn only had one scholarship player at guard when we played.

Sampson loses 500k and a scholarship for three-way phone calls. Bill Belichek loses 500k and a first round draft choice for cheating and is voted coach of the year.

Something important should be named after Bob Knight. Show Bob some love.

Pete Rose needs to be in the HOF as a player.

Rocky Balboa needs to turn in all his championship belts in to Don King.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

xxZPxx — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:34:31 -0000

We will see....oh and AJ Graves rocks flannel shirts to The Red Room which is another reason he should never be ranked ahead of Hardy for Mr. Basketball.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Brett — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:26:51 -0000

ZP go buy another guitar on the way home from work.. co-op fo sho! By the way im diggin the avatar.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

xxZPxx — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:50:08 -0000

Amen to that last comment...

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

xxZPxx — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:47:04 -0000

I'm still standing by it...in High School at least. For the record Ratliff's senior year 19 ppg, 5.7 reb, 3.2 assists....rivals #77.......Hardy 27.3 ppg, 9.8 reb...rivals #80. So judging by that year which is all that matters for Mr. Basketball you see where I'm coming from though. Aj Graves was actually second and Hardy 3rd which is even more interesting.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

b_side — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:39:07 -0000

No one seems to mention that AJ's struggles coincide with the fact he just hasn't had any shot attempts. One to two flicks per game doesn't cut it for a streaky shooter. For a kid as fragile as AJ, he needs reps to build his confidence. Ratliff needs the confidence from Sampson, that even if he misses a 3, he won't get yanked. Stemler, another shooter with severe confidence/mental issues, seems to have come to grips with it.

AJ, we implore you -- play with a chip on your shoulder, act like you belong and prove us wrong.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Sherron Wilkerson — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:31:18 -0000

Agreed

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Sherron Wilkerson — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:30:18 -0000

AJ Ratliff has one good game a season where he will score 20+, every other game he goes 1-6 from behind the arc yet still gets praise as a "great player". Who cares if he doesn't play. I don't miss waiting around to see what game he and his shot are going to show up for. One of the most overrated players I can remember in 25 years if watching IU basketball.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Jerry — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:20:01 -0000

Chocalate:

Can I substitue for AJ and see if it makes a difference in his game ?

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

SocksShortsSwish — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:18:22 -0000

First softcore porn, now erotic stories.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

IndianaJoe — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:12:48 -0000

His head is completely out of the game. He's thinking about something else instead of using his talent. Instincts are a huge part of bball and if he keeps thinking twice about doing things on the court, he will continue to struggle.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

IndianaJoe — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:08:19 -0000

If anyone doesn't know, I'm one of the dancers at Night Moves. AJ comes here before every game and I give him free boob slams. As far as his head not being in the game, he's still probably thinking about me. There's your answer.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Jerry — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:03:16 -0000

I was at the game and we got outplayed and outcoached something fierce on Saturday. From what I saw AJ was still ok on defense given his assignments. Most of our team however was overmatched in size and stalemated in quickness......very surprising.

Good news is that Crawford:
1. went the correct way on picks every time ( Gordon has not learned that yet )
2. knew to shoot 3's when others seemed confused about how to get back in the game
3. often guarded 6'9" Robinson and did it better than Ellis

As such, I think this kid is eating up AJ's minutes

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

ricky — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:25:27 -0000

it is unbelievable to think that ratliff could not have been useful to us against uconn when we were down late and needed stops. maybe our best on the ball defender not in the game when we need defensive stops? it doesnt make sense

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Brett — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:55:28 -0000

I don't know ray, did you ever see james hardy play basketball? He was incredibly gifted around the hoop and when his shot was on he was deadly from outside. Not to mention his height and length. As a freshman he got very limited PT and had an absolute awful coach. Who would want to play hard for that dumbass? ZP seems to be right on the money with this one, FW for lyfe!

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:43:39 -0000

People are pretty harsh on Crawford. I think he's a huge weapon for this team - A guy who can come off the bench and score points in a HURRY. (All you Bulls fans, remember Janero Pargo from a few years ago? That's who Crawford sort of reminds me of right now.)

I'd rather have him in the games then Ratliff. Gordon and Basset are just flat out better and, Ellis is more versatile.

Ratliff is the odd man out. I still think he can help the team in spurts, but I don't think he should play more then the above four guys.

Re: What happened to A.J. Ratliff?

ray — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:34:41 -0000

xxZPxx

if the mr basketball of the 2010 class isn't granted to "the stud of the fort", then we should all cry out loud...or laugh out loud. there would certainly be reason for chants of bias...unless someone else becomes air jordan resurrected sometime soon.

james hardy was a good ball player in high school, but seeing him in iu gear his freshman season...it didn't seem like he was capable of competing with aj ratliff...my opinion.