The Penalty Box
March 3, 2021 at 3:17 a.m.
The Penalty Box
By Roger Grossman-
I watched my Twitter feed Saturday afternoon with great interest, and sadness, as IU was losing at home to Michigan in what turned out to be a comfortable win for the Wolverines.
I was home and could have watched the game myself, but my heart just couldn’t stand the thought of wasting two hours of my life when I knew what was coming.
Change…change is coming once again in Bloomington.
The question is: Will it matter?
The revolving door that has been the portal to the Indiana Men’s Basketball office at Assembly Hall has seen coach after coach take his shot at returning the Hoosiers to glory—and all have failed.
Why? Why is it so hard to put together talented players and then point them on a path that leads to winning basketball games and being competitive in the Big Ten and being a top-5 seed in a March Madness region bracket?
I really don’t have any idea!
I believe that there are talented players on this roster. I believe that a couple of these players have futures in basketball after college. But what is happening now is not working, and has not been working for the intirity of the four years that Archie Miller has been in charge.
He seems like a good enough guy, but there just has not been any evidence of progress.
So, time for the Hoosiers to start hunting again.
The problem with what I saw on Twitter late Saturday afternoon into Sunday was neither where to place the blame nor what to do about it—the large majority of those writing agree that the coach has to go.
No, the problem was that so many people went down the predictable rabbit trail that led to the long-held wail of “we should have never let Bob Knight go in the first place.”
Yes, the Hoosiers having success under Knight was generally an annual event. But he had some stinkers, too. There were years where they were relegated to the NIT, and other years where they made the NCAA Tournament but barely got their bags unpacked before they were sent home.
And, if you didn’t see it, go to your favorite video warehouse on the internet and watch his alleged triumphant return to Bloomington last February. He’s in no mental or physical capacity to be doing much of anything anymore (ironic for a man so bold and brash in his prime).
And maybe that’s part of the problem.
Maybe Hoosier fans’ memories are so deeply rooted in the past winnings of their controversial coach that they don’t know what it takes to win today.
Maybe the longing for the old days has hindered the progress of the current days.
Maybe IU just hasn’t found the right guy yet.
All eyes will be on AD Scott Dolson, who is about to step into a spotlight that he has generally been able to avoid so far. He will be the guy who gets the next shot at changing the path of IU-Bloomington’s most visible and cherished property.
But still, it’s disturbing the blindness of some fans—a sizable section of IU Nation—who long for the good ole days.
I would remind them that generously mixed in with those wins and championships were arrests, thrown chairs, choked players and extreme temper tantrums that were simply ignored because of the winning.
Winning does not make you a winner…there is a huge difference between the two.
So what does IU do now?
Change is coming, and they will be looking for a bright, up-and-coming basketball mind to start them back in a winning direction.
But, here again, it’s not going to be anyone like Brad Stevens of the Celtics. They aren’t going to get anyone who is going to wow the masses.
Because none of those people want to fight their way out of the shadow of Bob Knight.
And that’s a shadow that gets darker and darker the more time that passes by.
I watched my Twitter feed Saturday afternoon with great interest, and sadness, as IU was losing at home to Michigan in what turned out to be a comfortable win for the Wolverines.
I was home and could have watched the game myself, but my heart just couldn’t stand the thought of wasting two hours of my life when I knew what was coming.
Change…change is coming once again in Bloomington.
The question is: Will it matter?
The revolving door that has been the portal to the Indiana Men’s Basketball office at Assembly Hall has seen coach after coach take his shot at returning the Hoosiers to glory—and all have failed.
Why? Why is it so hard to put together talented players and then point them on a path that leads to winning basketball games and being competitive in the Big Ten and being a top-5 seed in a March Madness region bracket?
I really don’t have any idea!
I believe that there are talented players on this roster. I believe that a couple of these players have futures in basketball after college. But what is happening now is not working, and has not been working for the intirity of the four years that Archie Miller has been in charge.
He seems like a good enough guy, but there just has not been any evidence of progress.
So, time for the Hoosiers to start hunting again.
The problem with what I saw on Twitter late Saturday afternoon into Sunday was neither where to place the blame nor what to do about it—the large majority of those writing agree that the coach has to go.
No, the problem was that so many people went down the predictable rabbit trail that led to the long-held wail of “we should have never let Bob Knight go in the first place.”
Yes, the Hoosiers having success under Knight was generally an annual event. But he had some stinkers, too. There were years where they were relegated to the NIT, and other years where they made the NCAA Tournament but barely got their bags unpacked before they were sent home.
And, if you didn’t see it, go to your favorite video warehouse on the internet and watch his alleged triumphant return to Bloomington last February. He’s in no mental or physical capacity to be doing much of anything anymore (ironic for a man so bold and brash in his prime).
And maybe that’s part of the problem.
Maybe Hoosier fans’ memories are so deeply rooted in the past winnings of their controversial coach that they don’t know what it takes to win today.
Maybe the longing for the old days has hindered the progress of the current days.
Maybe IU just hasn’t found the right guy yet.
All eyes will be on AD Scott Dolson, who is about to step into a spotlight that he has generally been able to avoid so far. He will be the guy who gets the next shot at changing the path of IU-Bloomington’s most visible and cherished property.
But still, it’s disturbing the blindness of some fans—a sizable section of IU Nation—who long for the good ole days.
I would remind them that generously mixed in with those wins and championships were arrests, thrown chairs, choked players and extreme temper tantrums that were simply ignored because of the winning.
Winning does not make you a winner…there is a huge difference between the two.
So what does IU do now?
Change is coming, and they will be looking for a bright, up-and-coming basketball mind to start them back in a winning direction.
But, here again, it’s not going to be anyone like Brad Stevens of the Celtics. They aren’t going to get anyone who is going to wow the masses.
Because none of those people want to fight their way out of the shadow of Bob Knight.
And that’s a shadow that gets darker and darker the more time that passes by.
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