Every year it’s the same ole sob story from IU basketball fans. It’s the coach’s fault that the program ain’t worth two dead flies smashed. Four years into the Archie Miller tenure boyz are bailing on him because, in their minds, he can’t coach. They’re 12-12 on the three game losing streak and everybody’s diving overboard.
I’ve been saying for years that it’s never been about the coach at IU it’s the freakin’ program itself. You can’t keep blaming the coaches when the program doesn’t have players and the program won’t let the coach go get the players.
Archie didn’t show up at IU and all of a sudden forget how to coach or recruit. If you would just take a minute to look over the decades of Indiana high school basketball and see that none of the real dawgs from this state never show up in Bloomington. All of the dawgs are going elsewhere to play college ball. Why is that?
Stop blaming the coaches and blame the duns that are keeping the coaches from recruiting the dawgs. IU is known for having a roster full of safe kids. They’re never going into the inner cities and getting kids with some fight in them. When you keep filling the roster with safe kids when it gets thick they’ll fold and they continue to do it.
I told you when they fired Tom Crean that it wasn’t him. I told you when they fired Kelvin Sampson that it wasn’t him. As a matter of fact, Sampson was the best coach and recruiter they’ve had since Bob Knight’s tenure in the early to mid ’80’s.
However, they didn’t want Sampson there because he was recruiting kids that he could win with. As a matter of fact, in a matter of weeks after taking the job he convinced Eric Gordon to come play his only year of college ball for the Hoosiers.
In just two seasons he compiled the best winning percentage in program history but the powers that be ran him out of town for text messages, a rule that doesn’t even exist anymore.
Archie Miller didn’t forget how to coach! He came to IU from Dayton where he’d won two Atlantic 10 titles, a John Naismith Coach of the Year Award and consistent trips to the NCAA Tournament in six seasons. He didn’t forget how to coach. He’s got no players because IU wants safe kids. You can’t win with safe kids.
Kelvin Sampson is down at Houston right now rolling with a third of the athletic infrastructure that IU has. Why is that? He’s got the Cougars ranked No.12 in the country with a record of 20-3 and IU is pumping their chest saying that Sampson was no good for the program. While their feeling good about not having him coach their program. They’ll spend another year at home from the NCAA Tournament. Did I mention that the ENTIRE Tournament this year will be played in the state of Indiana? What a shame!!!
Now everybody’s hollering and screaming that they want Brad Stevens or Steve Alford to coach the Hoosiers. Unless the powers that be are going to allow them to go get some dawgs on the roster. John Wooden himself wouldn’t win in Bloomington.
As good as the talent is in this state it’s a shame that the best players never show up at IU. And I’m not talking about players that score a ton of points playing in conferences filled with no talent. The dawgs play against other dawgs and sharpen their skills to win in the face of adversity. Stop me when I start lyin’!