Purdue is beyond deep. Don’t be surprised if this loss lights a fire under the Boilers and they’re back at #1 in a few weeks.
Purdue at IU tonight
- Thread starter akaukswoosh
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They aren’t that deep with high quality players after about number 7 just like most good teams.
It’s not just the number 4 ranked team, it’s also their biggest arch-rival, and ended an embarrassing losing streak to Purdue …It’s hardly surprising that their students would be extra excited over that win.
I think it’s silly how petty and uptight our fans get over things like this. You realize those rushing the court were college kids between the ages of around 18 to 20, right? Do you think those kids were thinking about the “appropriateness” of it?
College kids, by nature, look for any excuse to celebrate …and this was a pretty good excuse.
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I did cringe a bit but you are correct. 18-20 year olds who haven’t seen a good program.
They are better than most from 1 through 7 though. We beat a really good “team”. A lot of teams have warts this year at the guard spot. Probably why their are 30 plus teams that have a good shot at going to the sweet 16 or further on any given night. Teams go as their guards go.
Well, said! I have friends who are students at UK and they tell me how miserable it is to have travel to Vegas or NY to watch UK play Duke or NC. I’m sure they would love to be in the lower bowl rather than traveling and spending their limited money. The game should be about the students. After all….The players are called student athletes for a reason.
We'll agree to disagree. The quality of Purdue's depth is the best in the country, in my book.
They are not only deep as hell, they are experienced all over the place. They have 2 guys that are lights out 3 point shooters. Sasha is ridiculous and Gillis is shooting 53% from 3.
Ivey will, without a doubt, be a top 5 NBA pick. Dude needs to keep his composure though when playing in tough road environments. You could tell he was frustrated and did a few really stupid things.
I can understand this. I’m a bit younger so I don’t totally remember Bob Knight coaching there, but I’m old enough to remember him being an absolute asshat everywhere else in his life, whether it was while coaching or at ESPN or wherever.
Bob Knight has a lot to do with it, but something about fans being delusional and hanging on to past glory really irritates me. UNC and Duke at least have a reason to be cocky most of the time. Indiana? Their energy is fueled by straight delusion. Similar to Tennessee football. Must be a pet peeve of mine.
I understand the narrative from a UK board standpoint, but it's far from delusional to believe IU can compete with the big boys. All it takes, for a program like IU to be highly successful, is the right coach. You and I both know, that had IU not fired Sampson and did what basically any other program would have done, IU would have been competing for championships and regularly in the top 5 in the B1G on a regular basis. I mean...c'mon.
IU's issues stem from some terrible coaching hires and hanging on to Clappy the Clown for 10 years simply made everything worse. Hell, the Clapster had IU at #1 at least once. Recruiting for IU, has always come pretty easy, Even Clappy landed some unbelievable players. Now, has the brand been tarnished by the Clappy and Archie hires? I'd say so for sure. If Mike Woodson is the real deal, can IU get back on top? Absolutely. Woodson has an excellent recruiting class rolling into Bloomington next season and will likely be adding to it shortly.
They are tied for 7th in the big 10 right now with the entire team. They would have to win the NCAA title to be Purdue's best team without a final 4 they aren't even their 2nd best. They were number 1 and lost immediately. They didn't deserve that ranking.
See that’s the problem—we don’t actually know. You’re arguing your overall point within the back drop of something that didn’t actually happen. Would IU have been good under Sampson? Probably, but that alternate timeline does not replace what we have known to be TRUE for decades now—Indiana, outside of a few small moments here and there, have been totally irrelevant in college basketball going on 30 years now.
The Big Ten tournament is indicative of this fact. Not only has IU never won it, they also have one of the worst records in the entire CONFERENCE in said tournament. The fact that the tournament was established about the same time the program was tailing off makes it just one interesting case study/example of my overall point.
Can Indiana become a “relevant” program again? Sure, but it’s never going to be what it once was. Past success is important, but the more a program becomes removed from its past success the more irrelevant that success becomes in terms of its impact for the future.
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They'll flame out in the 2nd Round or the Sweet 16 like they do pretty much every year. Quit trying to act like Purdue is some unstoppable juggernaut who should be handed the national title.
I know a lot of people made fun of IU’s hire of Woodson, but honestly he’s probably the perfect hire. The Hoosiers tried to get cute and hire all these up-and-coming mid-major coaches. With the mindset they’ll strike lightning in a bottle. Yet none of the coaches truly understood how big basketball was too the fan base. Archie was an awful hire. He showed absolutely zero emotion and the team played like they way the were coached.
I think the plan at IU is for Woodson to right the ship. Thad Matta is on the staff because of his connections with AAU programs in the Midwest. His job is to more or less steer recruits to Bloomington. Dane Fife is on the coaching staff with the assumption that Woody steps down in the next 4-5 years and he becomes the next head coach.
Will it work? Who knows, but you got to admit the Hoosiers seem to be playing better than a year ago.
Purdue is going thru somewhat of a rough stretch right now for sure, but if you think going into and beating a VERY good Illinois team in their building is no big deal, well.....I don't know what to tell you.
Purdue is among the most complete teams in the nation. That isn't an opinion, it's a fact. There is very little they do not have. Size, 3 point shooting ability, Excellent coaching. Experience. Tons of quality guards. A high flying future top 5 NBA pick who can score whenever he wants to. They check all the boxes and yes, a **** ton of depth.
Are they perfect? Obviously not, but if you think it's a given this team will flame out, you're high.....and please share whatever it is you're smoking because that's good stuff.
Again, IU has been irrelevant for the last few decades because of bad coaching hires. Plain and simple and it isn't rocket science. Remember how fast UK became irrelevant when you hired Billy Gillispie? Your team sucked and unlike the braintrust at IU, UK was smart enough to see it quickly. They set out immediately to find a home run hire....and you did. Calipari has obviously been pretty fantastic. Not so much in terms of titles, but at keeping UK in the conversation on a yearly basis, he's been pure gold and is probably the best recruiter in college basketball.
So, had Sampson not been fired, IU would still be relevant. He's one helluva coach and it's sad the guy didn't realize he didn't need to cheat (even though his cheating was obviously minor as hell and is now completely legal) at a school like IU for recruits. Recruiting would not have been a problem for him at all. It never has been and likely never will be.
But what has happened, happened. It's just too bad Mike Woodson wasn't hired when Sampson got canned. I don't think you would have seen anywhere near the drop off IU has experienced since, had that taken place. Woodson might not be of the level of Calipari, Roy Williams, Coach K, etc.....but dude can coach. Make no mistake about that.
And I say again we don't know what would have happened had Sampson stayed. Using that example as a way to prove that the ONLY reason IU is irrelevant is due to bad coaching hires is disingenuous, and casts away any or all of the other issues IU has experienced in getting their program going again.
For example--why did IU make so many bad coaching hires? Was it because they solely made poor decisions, or did the fact that the top coaching talent did not want to come play a role? No one is saying it is rocket science, but Indiana's battle with futility for decades is more nuanced than you are making it out to be. I am not going to pretend I know the ins and outs of every single Indiana coaching search that has occurred the last 30 years and why certain coaches were hired versus others, but I think Indiana's futility is multi-faceted.
Nevertheless, I can agree that it was ridiculous Sampson got screwed the way he did when systemic cheating from the likes of UCLA in the past and UNC in modern times was simply brushed away.
For example--why did IU make so many bad coaching hires? Was it because they solely made poor decisions, or did the fact that the top coaching talent did not want to come play a role? No one is saying it is rocket science, but Indiana's battle with futility for decades is more nuanced than you are making it out to be. I am not going to pretend I know the ins and outs of every single Indiana coaching search that has occurred the last 30 years and why certain coaches were hired versus others, but I think Indiana's futility is multi-faceted.
Nevertheless, I can agree that it was ridiculous Sampson got screwed the way he did when systemic cheating from the likes of UCLA in the past and UNC in modern times was simply brushed away.
That shows the athletic dept incompetence. Knight used to control everything in the Athletic dept. money, hiring etc. he had as much or more power than the school president. He was a control freak. When other athletic dept where adapting IU wasn’t. Steep learning curve. When the president challenged him neither one blinked. We also had a lame duck president after him. Then had another that focused more on academics and research. We now have a president that is a huge sports fan. Rest just needs to play out. We will see. I think the peices are there. We will see in the next year or two.