Surprising lack of idiocy.
Other than the Kravitz article I discussed a while back, I haven't stumbled across much coaching search idiocy. Perhaps reporters were chastened by IU's out-of-nowhere selection of Kelvin Sampson last time, but most of the speculation seems to be acknwoeldged as exactly that. No pronouncements that Steve Alford is 90 percent certain to take the job or anything of the sort. My unscientific impression is that most of the talk, for what that is worth (absolutely nothing), centers on Washington State's Tony Bennett. A Google news search for "'Tony Bennett' Indiana coach" yields 70 hits. Similar searches for other guys being mentioned: Steve Alford: 59 (mostly relating to Pat Knight's endorsement); Kevin Stallings (ugh): 56; Sean Miller: 44; Brad Brownell: 26; Mike Montgomery: 16. Again, I'm not suggesting that any or all of these guys are candidates, but the Google news search gives us some idea of where the talk is.
At New Mexico's senior night, Alford gave what the New Mexico folks are interpreting as a a definite no: "Let's keep the focus on the seniors," Alford said after the Lobos beat UNLV 59-45 on Tuesday night. "This coaching staff isn't going anywhere." I'm not sure that's as definitive as interpreted, but I also don't expect Alford to be a candidate.
While not much is going on now, I would expect the chatter to heat up within a couple of weeks. It's hard to believe that 11 days from now, the field will be winnowed down to 16 teams, and most or all of IU's targets (whomever they might be) could be out of the tournament. It should be interesting.
4 comments:
It's hard to understand the Kevin Stallings talk with his being a Purdue undergrad. I mean, Matt Painter, who grew up an IU fan, would make almost as much sense as Stallings.
The Purdue thing doesn't bother me that much. If Bo Schembechler, an Ohioan who was an assistant at Ohio State, could become the face of Michigan football, anything's possible. My main gripe with Stallings is that his resume is underwhelming. He's been at Vandy for nearly a decade, but before the last two years had never had a winning SEC record.
Of course, the reason for the talk is because Stallings worked for Greenspan at Illinois State (I don't know if RG hired him, but he was AD when Stallings was the basketball coach there). Given the connection and the lack of real information, it doesn't surprise me that reporters throw that on the table. I would rather have Brad Brownell of Wright State than Stallings, and I can't imagine that Brownell would turn it down, so I will be disappointed if Stallings is the hire.
John,
You're absolutely right. I was basing most of it on the boycott and I forgot Gordon was there. I have always respected him as a player, but lately he has had the attitude that he needs to be the one to do it all. If he had been content to do what true good players and superstars do he would have continually fed D.J. White in the paint and pounded Penn State into submission.
That's the main thing bothering me about Gordon right now. He is such a talent that if he would work on his passing skills instead of driving headlong to the basket he would become even greater. Great players make their teammates better and get them involved when they themselves are in a slump. If Gordon did that Indiana would be unstoppable because it would force other teams to plan for everyone instead of just him and White. There will come a game where he is not going to get those foul calls and get to the line as much, and he won't be getting them early in the NBA. He definitely could use another year of seasoning.
You are right though. Those two guys are the least whiny guys of the bunch. My apologies on that.
No problem, and I apoloigize if my comment on your site was harshly worded. I'm just trying to temper my disappointment in the team's play with the fact that this situation really sucks and is not of their making. It's nearly unprecedented for a team as good as this one to lose a coach during the season. And I realize it's not as if he died, and that he deserves to be gone, but these guys clearly had a strong relationship with Sampson and it's justifiable for them to be disappointed. I just wish they would realize that the are hurting themselves most of all. As for Gordon's recent play, no disagreement there, although if he were shooting at just his season average then IU would be in a better position. He really isn't a natural point guard, nor is anyone else on the team. I really appreciate Earl Calloway in retrospect.
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