Exile on Waveland

Laugh away, IU embarrassed themselves with this hire (actually the last two). I have a rant from a couple months ago that says the same thing. Well, to begin with the NCAA is a bureaucracy. What do you expect? Also, there is nothing in the report that says they cheated in the recruitment of any current IU player. Therefore, the cheating doesn't relate to this year's team. That's your answer.

have fun during your time on probation! Well, you should know all about that. you're right. something tells me that you're not going to rebound quite the same way that kentucky did, however. From which major violation that UK rebounded from are you talking about? I see no reason why IU won't rebound. They'll still hire a good coach (likely an improvement over their past two). They have an extremely fertile natural recruiting ground -- far better than Kentucky. They have great fan support and good facilities with a million-dollar practice facility currently being built. They'll be back; there's no reason to think they won't. Though Pitino's turnaround from probation was nothing short of miraculous. i'm referring to the incident(s) in the late 80's. re: fertile recruiting ground, it's pretty crazy that two of the top 50 recruits in the nation are from Kentucky (hopson is #9 according to rivals). doesn't happen very often. That doesn't even include Bud Mackey, who was also a top-50 guy until he got, um, sidetracked. Great class for the state of Kentucky. On the Pitino turnaround: it was unbelievable; but I don't think IU, even with major violations, will have quite the cleanup that UK needed.

Thanks. I don't believe Sampson either, but there is no way that should be a major violation then. Edit: From the report I just read, that's not true. They also gave Derek Elston (IU recruit, Class of 2009) a drawstring backpack and T-shirt. Again, that's pretty minor in my view, but it is a gift.

have fun during your time on probation! Well, you should know all about that. you're right. something tells me that you're not going to rebound quite the same way that kentucky did, however. From which major violation that UK rebounded from are you talking about? I see no reason why IU won't rebound. They'll still hire a good coach (likely an improvement over their past two). They have an extremely fertile natural recruiting ground -- far better than Kentucky. They have great fan support and good facilities with a million-dollar practice facility currently being built. They'll be back; there's no reason to think they won't. Though Pitino's turnaround from probation was nothing short of miraculous.

They have to fire him. Have to. Should have never, ever hired him. Though, I stand by that phone calls aren't major violations -- especially if they don't violate NCAA rules, only sanctions. If something else is discovered, so be it. Otherwise, major violations for phone calls will be a grave injustice with what has gone on, and is going on, at other schools. Still, Sampson has tainted our program and I won't be sad at all to see him go.

have fun during your time on probation! Well, you should know all about that.

ESPN's reporting that IU potentially faces major violations. They are also reporting that the NCAA has discovered new information -- which should be the only way major violations is even discussed. If so, I hope Sampson, Greenspan and every other myopic imbecile that had a hand in Sampson's hiring is unceremoniously fired. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3243325 Oh, and that Kentucky team which is so terrible is still 6-3 in the SEC. The SEC is garbage.

They can win the damn big ten and the BTT and I won't call them the best team in the conference. Who is though? I really can't look at one Big 10 team and say that they're the best team in the conference. Purdue, MSU, and Indiana all have some pretty serious faults. They're decent teams, but I don't think the Big 10 has one great/elite team. Save this for tournament time because I'm sure one of those three will prove me wrong. I think you're right. One of those teams likely will advance pretty far in the tournament, but I don't think that will necessarily make them elite. There are no elite teams in the Big Ten.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=TradeDeadline-080212&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dsheridan_chris%26page%3dTradeDeadline-080212 ehh, I was kinda hoping for a young player or a draft pick. Didn't Carter just get a big contract this offseason? Wow, that would be truly awful. I would like the Pacers even less than I do now. Vince Carter, really? With the Donnie Walsh-UNC connection, it wouldn't surprise me.

I've been calling it all year. KU is a real good team, but they aren't special. I have never seen them as a Final 4 team at any point. I dont think there are any "special" teams in college basketball this year. Memphis is the closest one, but them playing in a weak conference could bite them. The tourney this year is very wide open. UCLA is special. They just gotta get their heads out of their asses. I agree. They haven't proved themselves to be special yet, but I think they will.

Best win of the season for IU so far, 59-53 at Ohio State. OSU is #30 in the Sagarin and #32 in KenPom's RPI, so definitely a quality win. IU has still lost to the best three teams they've faced, but that can be remedied the next three games (Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue). D.J. White had 21 and 13, he's easily the Big Ten POY.

It was just a mere two weeks ago that IU fans were telling me that Purdue will get crushed in their only meeting this year. I think they're starting to sweat a little bit now. Maybe some were, I don't remember a whole lot of that on here. I entered the season thinking IU would be much better than Purdue, but they're obviously not at this point. Purdue is playing better than anyone in the conference. On your next post, using IU's close win against Illinois as proof they're not good is unfair. IU's not that good right now, but that was Illinois' game of the year. Probably every team in the nation would have struggled in that game. My point was that most good teams can struggle against a bad team from time to time. OK, I misunderstood you then. Good teams struggle against bad teams all the time, especially on the road. Right now, Purdue is probably playing better than anyone in the conference. I am, however, still waiting for Indiana or Michigan State to step up and solidify themselves as the conference's best team. I may be waiting forever; IU certainly hasn't looked up to that task.

It was just a mere two weeks ago that IU fans were telling me that Purdue will get crushed in their only meeting this year. I think they're starting to sweat a little bit now. Maybe some were, I don't remember a whole lot of that on here. I entered the season thinking IU would be much better than Purdue, but they're obviously not at this point. Purdue is playing better than anyone in the conference. On your next post, using IU's close win against Illinois as proof they're not good is unfair. IU's not that good right now, but that was Illinois' game of the year. Probably every team in the nation would have struggled in that game.

I like ND, but I couldn't help rooting for Marquette there. I just still can't believe Zeller got Mr. Basketball over James, and for some reason that makes me dislike Zeller. I'm not saying it makes sense, just the way it is. Forget James, Josh McRoberts was in that class too. ND scared the crap out of me with late turnovers but they held off Marquette 86-83. 18 and 11 for Harangody, and seven guys scored at least seven points. A total team effort today to make it 34 in a row in the Joyce. ND should shoot into Top 15-ish territory on Monday. James was the best high school senior in that class.

I could care less about it now. I am trying to concentrate instead upon the fact that on that night we had the best freshman on the court. Hopefully Weber will see that and start giving him the bulk of the minutes. There is no reason McCamey shouldn't start from this point forward. This season is over. Tisdale needs to play over Pruitt as well. Thanks Shawn, those 3 clutch free throws pretty much were your career in a nut shell. It's crazy that McCamey has come off the bench for most of the season. Chester Frazier is terrible, McCamey has a great future. I have no idea what purpose it served to announce that you and your family are going to a game.

Ha ha, wait, you're saying Sampson is a drama queen? Have you seen Weber's sideline preening or heard his press conference whining? Sampson may not have integrity, but he's not a drama queen. That would be Weber.

uhhhhh. They have two other players averaging in double figures. I'd say Bassett and Crawford are contributers. They also have a solid recruiting class, with one stud coming. Obviously, some slippage will occur, but I seriously doubt they're going away. They should be pretty good next season, and are in on many top players for 2009. We'll see how that works out. Illinois is bringing some great recruiting classes but IU won't be devoid of talent. I don't think many, if any, IU fans have been claiming the team is very good right now. I wanted to reserve judgment until the meat of the schedule, and, to this point, they've pretty much failed. I think the next four games are going to be a big struggle. IU's not very good right now, and Sampson certainly isn't a very good coach. Regardless, though, last night's game figured to be difficult. It was the opponent's game of the year. A foul shouldn't have been called on Pruitt. That ostensibly would've been the officials deciding the game. I did think that the foul on Ellis was pretty iffy, however. Finally, Gordon made statements to the media in July that he was considering IU. He still prefaced it by saying he was going to Illinois, but what did that mean? He didn't handle the situation well, and neither did his father or Sampson. But to imply no one knew anything until Midnight Madness is completely intellectually dishonest. We all knew what was going on and we're message board losers. Obviously that he still was not in fact going to Illinois. Had he just decommitted we could have pursued Alex Legion a lot harder and maybe had him for this year. Or a group of other guys. He held a schollty hostage that he had no intention of using. Oh well he played his one game in UI, the chapter is now closed. We recovered with some pretty good recruiting classes and Sampson alienated an entire fan base. I agree with that. He should have decommitted. Sampson has alienated more than one fan base. I'm not to the point I was at the end of the Davis tenure when I stopped going to games or spending money on the program, but I'm saddened and embarrassed by what the program has turned into, on and off the court.

uhhhhh. They have two other players averaging in double figures. I'd say Bassett and Crawford are contributers. They also have a solid recruiting class, with one stud coming. Obviously, some slippage will occur, but I seriously doubt they're going away. They should be pretty good next season, and are in on many top players for 2009. We'll see how that works out. Illinois is bringing some great recruiting classes but IU won't be devoid of talent. I don't think many, if any, IU fans have been claiming the team is very good right now. I wanted to reserve judgment until the meat of the schedule, and, to this point, they've pretty much failed. I think the next four games are going to be a big struggle. IU's not very good right now, and Sampson certainly isn't a very good coach. Regardless, though, last night's game figured to be difficult. It was the opponent's game of the year. A foul shouldn't have been called on Pruitt. That ostensibly would've been the officials deciding the game. I did think that the foul on Ellis was pretty iffy, however. Finally, Gordon made statements to the media in July that he was considering IU. He still prefaced it by saying he was going to Illinois, but what did that mean? He didn't handle the situation well, and neither did his father or Sampson. But to imply no one knew anything until Midnight Madness is completely intellectually dishonest. We all knew what was going on and we're message board losers.

I don't know what that means. I'm not worried about anything physical happening to dear ol dad. I doubt anything is said any worse than IU fans chanting f*** you refs at their last game. That was absolutely unacceptable and reprehensible. Times like those I wish IU still had Coach Knight. Sampson did send an email out to all student ticket holders to show class towards opposing players and refs. I don't think the f-u chant will happen again; at least I hope not. I was in the student section, as always, and was embarrassed. Oh, not that it matters, but that wasn't their last home game. It was the UConn game.

IU is better, but I honestly expect Illinois to win. IU hasn't played well of late, especially on the road, and Illinois will be highly motivated. Plus, seeing as this is a Big Ten game, I expect Gordon to have two fouls during warmups.

The heat must be having a field day. Yeah because without Steve Nash Shawn Marion is really good, what with his awesome moves and shot... Oh wait he is good as a result of running and jumping and playing with the best point guard in the NBA. Wait, you're saying Marion's jumpshot isn't textbook?

Weren't they going to trade Marion for Kirilenko in the offseason? That would be a far better trade. For all the reasons you mentioned, Shaq just makes no sense.

Marion for Shaq? That's unbelievable. Unless the Suns have a time machine, I can't see this ending well.

Purdue has a really nice young team. Their next couple games (@Wisc, MSU) may determine how successful they will be in the Big 10 this season. Hopefully, Scott Martin's ankle will be ready to go for Saturday's game. If he has to miss any games, that's going to have a big impact on how the Boilers play down the stretch. Purdue has been amazing. Everyone knew their recruiting class was very good, but to be 9-1 at this point despite their youth is extremely impressive. Bodes very, very well for their future. Not many believed me around here, but Purdue's class was long-term better than IU's. Short-term I'd still take IU's. I don't think Purdue will win the Big Ten (I think 12-14 wins for them), but that won't take away from their future.

Does anyone like that clown? How does he keep his job. You ask anyone for the worst referees in college basketball and odds are he is one of the names they are gonna say. As bad as he is, he's still better than Valentine. Valentine is infamous in Notre Dame circles for calling a blocking foul on Colin Falls in last year's NCAA tournament loss to Winthrop after the Irish were already near midcourt and about ready to run their offensive set after an apparent defensive stop. The key moment in the game, I believe Winthrop was up 4 or 6 when it happened. He is a terrible ref. Hightower actually came and reffed a Ball State/CMU game earlier this season. I'm not sure how that happened. Ha ha, you think Ted Valentine is infamous in Notre Dame circles. If he's infamous in ND circles, I have no idea what he is in IU circles (the antichrist?).