Exile on Waveland

Every free throw Reggie Miller ever shot was because he did that. Well, nearly every one. Love when Bulls fans slam other guys for getting calls. Yeah, the team from India-no-place with no superstars always used to get the calls against the team from Chicago with Michael freakin' Jordan.

As great as those six Spanish players are, you can't really play six of the same player (while not identical, they're all similar). Spain needs to go with Navas and Llorente. Torres is just not the same player he was for Liverpool and hasn't been since 2009/10. No reason to believe, at this point, he'll ever recapture that. Germany's still the favorite (I'm biased in that, but still).

Uh . . . no crap.

Interesting games yesterday; though not as exciting as the games I missed Friday. While it was an upset, Denmark is sneaky good. They're better than most people believe. The Netherlands are in a bit of a quandry now . . . they basically play all defenders or attackers, with little to no link between the two. Their defense, which was supposed to be a big issue in the 2010 World Cup, looked shaky. So, needing points against Germany next game, do they start another attacker (Van der Vaart for De Jong/Van Bommel?) and hope to link better, and therefore weaken the already suspect defense against Germany? I doubt it; they'll likely stay with the two holders. Spain-Italy today is a big name match-up, but I'm expecting it to be very predictable. Hope not.

I also agree with the "compete-in-2019" plan.

If Garza and Dempster are traded, why would the Cubs sign Hamels to a huge contract? Signing free agents is bad when you're not immediately-this-second ready to compete, remember. And the Garza-less, Dempster-less Cubs would even be further away from contending than last/this year's team.

they underachieved pretty badly for most of the year, but they picked up carter late and also started to get a little more healthy. i picked them to win the cup before the year started so i'm not too surprised - more surprised that they only finished 8th in the conference. I think it's pretty similar to the Flyers two years ago. The Flyers had a lot of Stanley Cup hype in the preseason, then struggled in the regular season (relatively). They then played great in the playoffs and made the finals. A lot of Blackhawks fans -- myself included -- overlooked them a bit, but they were, in my opinion, definitely the best team the Blackhawks faced that year (despite the seeding/regular season record). The Kings were better than an eight-seed, and have proved that. I don't have a problem with an eight-seed winning this year because I don't think the Kings are a fluke.

I'd be thrilled if he becomes as good as Michael Bourn. This ain't the NBA draft.

It's damn near criminal he never plays for Spurs. He's really, really good. FMF did the right thing giving him tick when he wasn't playing for his club. He's going to be a pain in the ass for the next 8 years in WCQ Mystified that a Dutch/Spanish/ Mexican team hasn't snatched him up. Last I saw was maybe he's going to Norwich City, which at least plays to his strengths. But I agree with you-he's be a killer in Spain. There's been rumors of Liverpool interest too. He'd be a great buy-low candidate . . . if he could replicate his Mexico form . . . yikes.

Yeah, great season for the Pacers. They accomplished all the goals I had for them (wish they could have avoided Miami until the Conference Finals . . . but that's all injury-related hindsight because of Rose). The Pacers really need to add a player that can get his own shot of the dribble. That player doesn't even have to be a starter-caliber player. Also, the Pacers can't lose Hibbert. That would be a massive blow. For a team without superstars, taking away a piece -- especially a skilled 7--foot-2 piece -- would be pretty unrecoverable. I could see them having to overpay him because someone offers him a contract, but I don't see how they can't match. Losing him would likely destroy all the progress they've made.

Upton seems like the perfect player for the Theo regime to pursue. Still in his prime, great defensively, good speed, undervalued skillset, likely to come for a slight value price (as other teams chase the bigger named Hamels/Hamilton/Ethier/Greinke). If they pass on Upton and instead go after Hamilton or Ethier, I'll be pretty disappointed. Especially after passing on Cespedes last year. "Passing on" Cespedes? I agree on Upton. Could the Cubs out-spend the Oakland freakin' A's? If the answer is "yes," then, yeah, they passed on Cespedes. And yes please on Upton.

Not that I think Granger is remotely a star, and I know you said "Olympic" teams, but Granger was on the 2010 FIBA World Championship team.

No, you don't understand. He HAS to go pro. :D That seems foolish, he's a damn good college player. I doubt that's the guy that gets Creaned. Oh, I know, I'm just kidding. The latest rumor I've heard from my IU friends is Abell. That doesn't make sense either, who the hell is going to back up Yogi? My favorite idea is sending Jurkin to prep school because the scholarship situation really clears up after this year, lol. Abell makes some sense from a basketball standpoint. As promising as he was last year, he really has no place on this year's team. He should only get spot minutes without injuries. His junior and senior year he should get a decent amount of minutes as the backup point guard, but I could completely understand if he wants to transfer and go play 3 years somewhere else and get more minutes. I'd have a harder time swallowing Etherington since he helped recruit players to Indiana, even though he'll certainly get more playing time somewhere else. Jurkin and Patterson it would depend more on why they weren't coming. If they suddenly decided to transfer, that would be almost certainly at Crean's pushing. If they didn't qualify, that's a different matter. If Etherington transfers, I'm going to assume he was forced-out and the anti-IU people will be correct in their screaming.* I'm worried about Patterson, who I really like and want to keep, because I don't think he'll earn much, if any, playing time next year and I could see him becoming impatient and deciding to leave (without being forced out). *I suppose there is some potential explanation that would not necessitate this response, but I would have to hear it from Etherington.

Well, if you weren't the one that initially posted the Indy Star Roth article, then I'll rescind my statement. If you were, then obviously you were using it as a complaint. I don't think the relevant question is how many kids are committed. I think the relevant question is what happens to players that are already on scholarship/signed. If those players merely leave early for the NBA -- and I think a recruiting goal is recruiting quality student-athletes that can graduate in three years then go pro -- and are replaced, there's no issue. If there's a normal transfer attrition rate -- and, again, transfers do happen, and I'd posit the top reason is lack of playing time, so this is going to happen -- there's no issue. If the Capobianco situation, from which we can infer a forcing-out, becomes commonplace, then there's an issue. But we simply do not know at this point in time; you just suspect the worst because you're a Purdue fan.

First of all, framing the early-entry argument as a "first round talent" decision is specious. You know as well as I do that players leave despite not being first-round locks. I'm sure that will happen to an IU player at some point (it very nearly happened with Watford this year -- and I can promise you there's no way Crean wanted him gone). That aside, I don't think it's outside of the realm of possibilities that Oladipo is a (at least marginal) first-round possiblity next year (he has received some NBA looks, this may not be the most reliable site, but I don't have insider or anything: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2013/ (predicting Oladipo as twenty-first pick in second round)). He's obviously not there yet -- his ballhandling, decision-making, finishing, and shooting all need to improve. He is also always likely to be a bit of a tweener for the NBA, but tweeners make great third-guards. His athleticism is off-the-charts; even UK could not keep him out of the lane. With continued improvement, he could definitely be on an NBA bench in 2013-14. As for the incoming players, I could see Ferrell, Hollowell, and Perea all potentially being two-and-done. I don't even think that highly of Perea -- to the point I'm not sure he'll ever be more than a role player at IU, much less an early-entry candidate -- but his size/athleticism make it at least possible (and some think much higher of him than I do). I'll go on record now saying that Hollowell won't be at IU for four years (though I'll guess three-and-done). As for Ferrell, who should at least measure as 5-foot-11, well, Trey Burke almost left this year. Additionally, 6-foot D.J. Augustin was the ninth pick after two years at Texas in 2008, 6-foot Jonny Flynn was the sixth pick in 2009 after two years at Syracuse, and 6-foot Kemba Walker was the ninth pick last year. That's just quickly off the top of my head. (Additionally, with the depth of IU's roster next year, I could easily see someone becoming impatient and transfering of their own volition -- not all transfers are sinister, you know.) This is not just being defensive about "my boy." I have been very adament that the Capobianco situation stunk. I thought Crean should have been suspended for the Harris phone call -- at least as a symbol, because substantively it was not that big of an issue. That said, the "Creaning" issue basically lives only in the minds of Purdue and Illinois fans. It simply has not happened yet to any great extent and is based on worst-case scenario predictions by fans of teams that hate IU. If those predictions come true, I'll be the first to say it stinks. But there are other equally, if not more plausible, scenarios available. (As a guess, it's hard for me to believe Crean is unaware he would catch flack if IU becomes known for running multiple players off and would desire to avoid such a situation. But, hey, maybe not.) As for Bade, first of all, you have no idea that Capobianco was not offered the same deal from IU and chose to play basketball at Valpo instead of "playing" football at IU. Either way, he, like Bade, was cleared off basketball scholarship because the coach wanted a superior player. Second, if graduation is now the important point, then your complaints regarding Roth look even sillier now.

It's pretty obvious that either a sophomore or a freshman is going to leave the program altogether, if it is because of a transfer or because one of the freshman didn't become academically ineligible. That will reset the scholarship numbers. Creek also probably won't get a 5th year, and then they might try to sign Anya as an oversign in preparation for Zeller leaving. If all those happened, then IU would be fine in all three years again. If they don't get Anya and Zeller leaves, then they probably give the scholarship to Creek for that year and recruit somebody else in the 2014 class. I would be pretty surprised if Zeller is the only IU player the next two years to leave early for the NBA. Oladipo is on track to graduate in three years -- as Hulls and Elston just did -- and, if his development arc continues to be even remotely constant, he'll be an early-entry candidate next year. There are multiple players in the incoming class with the potential be two-and-done quality. Or, if that fails, they could just rescind a scholarship offer of a committed player and force a a current player off basketball scholarship and onto a football scholarship. Stupid question. But do you have to play football to be on a football scholarship? Who qualifies on the current or future teams? That was a dig at Purdue, who did exactly that when they needed a scholarship for Gary Harris. I wasn't discussing a serious option for IU; you have to be a football player to be on football scholarship, yes.

It's pretty obvious that either a sophomore or a freshman is going to leave the program altogether, if it is because of a transfer or because one of the freshman didn't become academically ineligible. That will reset the scholarship numbers. Creek also probably won't get a 5th year, and then they might try to sign Anya as an oversign in preparation for Zeller leaving. If all those happened, then IU would be fine in all three years again. If they don't get Anya and Zeller leaves, then they probably give the scholarship to Creek for that year and recruit somebody else in the 2014 class. I would be pretty surprised if Zeller is the only IU player the next two years to leave early for the NBA. Oladipo is on track to graduate in three years -- as Hulls and Elston just did -- and, if his development arc continues to be even remotely constant, he'll be an early-entry candidate next year. There are multiple players in the incoming class with the potential be two-and-done quality. Or, if that fails, they could just rescind a scholarship offer of a committed player and force a current player off a basketball scholarship and onto a football scholarship.

I found this more egregious than what Wade did. Sure, Wade connected while James missed, but James was throwing an elbow at the head/face of Granger.

Where at? I'm going as well. Nosebleed. Section 222.

Great. Already had tickets to Thursday night, which just became very interesting.

They couldn't have had worse luck. Much preferred them staying up as opposed to QPR.

Wow! The last day of the season is always fun, but that tops them all.

If it were just about Anya, I completely agree with you. As Exile said though, I don't know if it is all about Anya. It could be because Crean liked what he did with Creek and Oladipo. It could be just his general contacts in the region. I would certainly hope Crean wouldn't give out something as important as an assistant coach primarily for one player. Even putting aside the ethics question, Crean doesn't need to do things like that to recruit players. As for the Roth situation, I'm pretty sure that you don't get approval for an injury waiver until after your senior year, no matter when the injury occurred. So Roth didn't count in regards to the oversign. I feel bad for him, because he's done everything asked of him. But a 5th year on scholarship would just be a bonus, not a guarantee. I hope he gets to play somewhere next year, whether it's for Indiana as a walk on (not likely) or somewhere else. Wait, what is the Roth situation? He's "played" four years at IU, but only appeared in two games his sophomore season. Which means the granting of a fifth year of eligibility would be a formality. However, his scholarship time at IU is all but over because IU is already over-signed, not including Roth. So, while he could get a fifth year, it almost certainly won't be at IU.

Players graduating in three years is not that unusual any more. I know Duke tries to offer this option to players since at least Jay Williams (who also graduated in three years). Students can enroll in college already having multiple college credits via AP programs, can take full summer loads, and during the season players are afforded study time with tutors. As for requirements, I believe athletes are generally granted preferance in enrollment at most schools. And then many graduate programs are only about one year in length. As for Matt Roth: "Roth earned an undergraduate degree in communications in three years. He then crammed 12 classes into two semesters and a summer and earned a master's in sports administration management" (http://www.indystar.com/article/20120507/SPORTS0601/205070332/IU-basketball-Matt-Roth-limbo-lack-scholarships-available). He is evidently pretty intelligent, having been named Academic All-Big Ten. And neither communications (hey, I have a journalism degree, so I'm not one to talk) nor sports administration management are ultra-demanding. Further, evidently Oladipo is on-track to graduate in three years. Zeller is at least on that track too (though next year is likely his last at IU, regardless). This is a good thing, by the way.

What do you think "recruiting contacts" means? You hire someone with "recruiting contacts" because you think that person will help you secure top players. That said -- and moving away from being flippant -- hiring someone specifically to secure one specific player is unseemly, I agree. However, there is a lot built into that assumption here. First, it's rather unclear that Anja is IU's top target for 2013 -- or even their top big-man target. Having seen him play, he would not really be my top choice -- while he has a ton of potential, he's not there yet and doesn't seemingly fit Crean's system very well. He's not remotely a program-changer at this point, and maybe/probably not even an impact player (I don't think he'll end up at IU regardless). Second, Anya isn't the only player from that area/AAU that IU is already interested in; again, Crean clearly wants to consistently recruit the Maryland/DC area. Third, again, of course Johnson has contacts to recruits -- that's inherent in his ties to a top-level AAU program (which was my comparison regarding Illinois, I seriously doubt Illinois would hire a coach with ties to the worst AAU/CPL program . . . you hire someone with "recruiting contacts" to good players/coaches/programs).