Greenie: Here is a copy of "Hiring Coaches for Dummies"

Let me tell you how to do it next time (assuming that you get a next time).

At Davis's resignation press conference, you tell the media that this day is about Mike and this year's team. You will address the coaching search at a later date.

A few days later, you call a press conference and surround yourself with ex-players from all generations and announce that you will spend the time remaining in this season meeting with members of the Hoosier nation to discuss desired characteristics for the next coach. Hell, have the players come to a summit at Lake Monroe.

Make it abundalently clear that YOU will ultimately make the decision but are open to input. In deference to potential candidates present teams, you will not discuss specific candidates at anytime and will not make any contact with candidates' schools until their seasons are finished.

Why?
(1) You throw the media a bone.
(2) You begin bringing the fans together by including their heroes in the process.
(3) You automatically create allies in those players.
(4) You earn respect by not messing with other schools' seasons.

While the season continues, get out your short list of candidates. (Hopefully, you already have that short list written. If not, start writing). Contact those coaches' agents (everybody has an agent) and measure their level of interest.

Once season ends for your short list candidates, discuss interest with agents again. Move on to 1-on-1 interviews with both sides agreeing on NO leaks. The meetings take place far away from either school's hometowns. The coaches want silence as much as IU because they don't want to alienate their fan bases and don't want anyone to know they were interested if they don't get the job.

When you find your true love, bring in players and University officials for formal interviews. The name will begin to leak to media. You rely on your official stance at the first press conferences. "I will not comment on any specific candidates, but will say that the search process is moving along. This is not the type of decision that you put a timetable on. As much as we all want the process to move quickly, I will not rush its movement."

These leaks will also allow the media to work FOR you. Gauge the fan reaction/acceptance of the candidate. Allow the media to search the candidate's closet for skeletons you may have overlooked.

If your candidate's discussion with officials and ex-players goes well, then Make the announcement with the ex-players sitting in the front rows.summit at Lake Monroe.

Greenie: You're not in West Point anymore

I have the utmost respect for the cadets at the US Military Academy. They have more guts than I do, but USMA has a much bigger mission than college athletics.

You are involved in Big Boy college athletics now. There are plusses and minuses to working at the highest level.

Plus: you have the resources to pay a coach $1.5 million a year for 7 years.

Minus: the fans and media demand information about how you decided on who to pay that $1.5 million.

After making the introduction of Kelvin Sampson as your bride - uh, uh- I mean your Head coach, you finally fielded questions from the media. You refused to discuss the search process. You wouldn't answer whether the job was turned down by anyone.

Greenie, how can I put this? You can't have your cake and eat it too (and heaven nows it looks like you enjoy cake).

As an athletic director at a Big Boy school, you can't play mime to the media, fans, and ex-players during the entire process and also refuse to discuss it afterwards.

At this level you owe it to the fan base to explain the process for several reasons:

(1) As an employee of a state university, the taxpayers deserve to know what went into the decision to spend $1.5 million each of the next 7 years.

(2) Basketball in Indiana is important to a whole bunch of people. Some would say (and probably be correct) that IU Baketball is too important to the fans.


Since you refused to lead the parade, media reports have painted a picture that numerous other candidates turned down the job.

See Greenie, newspapers, TV sports reporters, and sports radio hosts have column inches, minutes and hours to fill each day (not to mention those damn internet websites and blogs). If you invoke your 5th Amendment rights during the process, all of the above will fill it with conjecture or unnamed sources. The result is the mess you find yourself in.

IU fans can't get excited about the new coach because they are still picking themselves up off the floor from the surprise announcement. Look, this country did not get really worked up when that presidential election a few years ago took several weeks to announce a winner. But the eerie silence of your search took at least a few years off most fans' lives.

What scares me the most is that the guy in charge of the athletic department at IU doesn't know why the fans are so "worked up" over this coaching search.

"Experienced Teams Succeed"

People say the same things every March. You know what I am talking about.

"There is no substitute for experience."

"A young team will falter under pressure."

"You need Juniors and Seniors to Win."

I have said the same things in the past. This year's Final Four makes me doubt the "experience is a positive" theory. Look at the teams.

- LSU: Starters (3 Freshmen, 1 Sophomore, and 1 Senior). everyone thought next year would be the year for these youngsters.

- Florida: Starters (4 Sophomores and 1 Junior). Lost all their experience to the NBA Draft last year. All they do is come back with a bunch of Sophomores and take Billy to his second Final Four.

- UCLA: Starters (1 Freshmen, 3 Sophomores, and 1 Senior) Like LSU, Howland was suppose to be 1 year away from taking UCLA to the big time again.

- George Mason: (3 Seniors and 2 Sophomores). Experienced team where needed.

Maybe the experience theory has to be refined. "Experience is a nice asset but not required, unless you are a mid-major."

That doesn't roll off the tongue as easily.

Mr. Greenspan: where are you registered?

Everyone knows the drill. When you get the invitation in the mail, the first question that comes to mind is "where are you registered for gifts?"

The news came down yesterday, Rick Greenspan professionally proposed to Kelvin Sampson.

Memo to Rick Greenspan: Congrats on your first important hire. I know you hired the women's basketball coach and football coach since arriving in Bloomington, but you must know that those decisions don't really matter.

Hiring a great women's basketball and outstanding football coach at IU is akin to a CEO picking the perfect company to mow the lawn at the headquarters or picking the perfect company to provide coffee in the breakroom. Sure, those decisions are "important" and make life enjoyable, but the Mens Basketball Coach is THE MOST important decision.

How important you ask? Well, I would say you have married Kelvin Sampson. If he fails, you will not last. In fact, if Kelvin starts slowly, you will be replaced first. At your exit interview, no credit will be given for the womens basketball and football coach selections you made. The only decision that will matter is Kelvin Sampson.

You flew this flight solo. You didn't keep anyone informed of the process. That includes ex-players, fans, students, even the present players. As old blue eyes use to say, "You did it Your way."

As an alum, I hope you were right. If not, I will be the first to let you know about it.

IU's Coach should have been Steve John Rick Randy Alford Calipari Pitino Few Whitman

I have the solution to all the problems and heartache caused by the IU coaching search. Greenspan (I know the man is middle aged, but shouldn't an athletic director at least have the appearance that he has been inside a Gym occasionally or knows what a treadmill looks like. Greenie, just say No to the Pizza Express breadsticks with double cheese sauce.)

Sorry, I digress occasionally. Greenspan should have tapped in to the bottomless pockets of Mark Cuban, Johnny Cougar (Uh, sorry Mellancamp), and Cook Medical supplies and hired the "Dream Team" of coaches. Who needs a single head coach, when you can get a whole bench full of Associate Head Coaches. If the price were right, IU could have hired the following and assigned duties to each (remember, the NCAA can no longer limit the salary amounts for Asst. Coaches).

- Rick Pitino: the legend would be in charge of all Press Conferences and contact with print and electronic media. This guy can sell ice to an eskimo. He can spin with the best of them. He will also deal with the transplant fans who have moved in from the East Coast or Kentucky.

- Steve Alford: the IU legend will be in charge of all alumni events. He will personally consult and meet with every VFW, KC, Elks, and related organizations around the state. He will sit and talk IU and Bob Knight with all alumni and fans who became Texas Tech fans. He will be available for photos before and after each game (unlike his senior season, there is No NCAA violation for a coach to pose for calender photos).

- Randy Whitman: the NBA Asst. Coach will be in charge of all contact with Cuban. He also will deal with the ex-players who are upset that an IU guy wasn't given the job. Of course, Randy ran his campaign as part of a ticket that included Keith Smart, so we will hire Smart to be Director of Operations (does anybody know what the guys with this title ever actually do?).

- John Calipari: he will hit the recruiting trail running. He has no coaching responsibilities. All he has to do is get commitments from 5 McDonalds All-Americans a year. He will also be in charge of NCAA compliance (no questions asked, please). In his spare time, he will be the go-between for players' families and other coaches. Also, he will oversee any insurance claims forms that need to be filed by players.

- Mark Few: He is in charge of recruiting players below the Top 100 ranks. He is to develop these players during their careers. During the offseason, he can live at the Graceland-like Estate that we keep hearing he loves in Spokane, Washington.


Sure we need about $15-20 million a year in salary, but this would have made everyone happy. No single coach was going to make everyone happy. One thing is sure. If Sampson wins games, the Hoosier nation will be reunited. Remember after the 2002 run, people came back.

Kelvin Sampson was not my first choice (for the record, it was Rick Barnes/Jay Wright), but I will give him my support. He is the IU coach and deserves a shot to win games and the rest of the fan base over.

Duke v. LSU: What Game Did You People Watch?

I watched the games last night and it was March Madness at its best. The thing that drives me crazy about sports is when commentators and fans make drastic statements and draw overreaching conculsions from ONE game.

People today are saying that LSU "wanted it more," "Duke played a soft game," and "Duke looked like it was asleep."

Are you people watching the same game I did?

Duke played its typical game. The game that led them to the ACC Regular Season and TOurnament titles, A Top 4 rating the entire season, and a record of 32-4.

The only difference was J.J. Redick's shots did not fall like they normally do.

Shelden Williams was his normal All-American self in the post. There was nothing "soft" in his numbers. The big fella had 23 points, 13 boards, and 4 blocks (his Averages for the year were 18.8 pts and 10.7 rebs).

The supporting cast played its normal game, except Dockery did not score his average.

- Josh McRoberts had 9 pts and 10 rebs (Season Avg: 8.7 pts; 5.3 rebs)
- Greg Paulus had 7 pts and 4 assists (Season Avg: 6.7 pts; 5.2 asst)
- DeMarcus Nelson had 4 pts and 5 rebs (Season Avg: 7.1 pts; 3.4 rebs)
- Sean Dockery had 0 pts and 4 rebs (Season Avg: 7.1 pts; 3.0 rebs)

J.J. Redick just did not perform last night. His final stat line: 11 pts; 3-18 fg; 3-9 3-pt fg tells the entire story. Its simple: His Jumpshot was not FALLING. It is not a question of heart, desire or coaching. He simply did not hit the shots that he normally does. Redick's season field goal percentage was 47%. Last night, he shot 17%. This season he shot 42% from behind the arc. Last night, he shot 33%. Duke's team was built to rely on Redick's nearly 27 points per game and could not survive on only 11.

It was the same story in Duke's two most recent losses to Florida State and North Carolina. In those two games, Redick shot a combined 15 for 49 (30%) in FGs and 6 for 24 (25%) from 3-pt range.

If Redick does not play well, Duke is not a great basketball team. Unlike the squads from the 1990s, Duke did not have role players that could pick up the scoring in a given game. Duke went as J.J. went, and on this particular night, J.J.'s J failed him.

Trust Me, the next game that John Brady wins by "outcoaching" someone will be the first. LSU did not do anything different. They didn't prevent J.J.'s touches. They didn't shut down the pick and roll or transition looks he got. J.J. simply missed shots. LSU did not play anymore physical than the ACC foes did with J.J. In person, I watched IU hold and bang Redick for 40 minutes this Fall. The difference that night was J.J. hit the shots and Duke won.

A Season's Expectations

The end of the college basketball season (sorry Louisville fans but the NIT can't delay my blog) is a good time to review the year. This forces me to reflect on the expectations that I had for the area teams. At the beginning of the year, Zach and I went through the schedules of all three teams and made the following predictions.

? UK: 22-26 wins; SEC regular season title; SEC Tournament finals; NCAA: Elite 8 - Final 4

? UL: 20-24 wins; Top-3 Big East regular season; Big East Tournament Semis; NCAA: Sweet 16 - Elite 8

? IU: 23-27 wins: Top-3 Big Ten regular season; Big Ten Tournament Finals; NCAA: Elite 8 - Final 4

Looking back, my first thought was that I expected too much from all three. Then I found my Street & Smith's College Yearbook for the 2005-06 season, and I quickly realized that if I did expect too much I was not alone. The words are painful to read but interesting to look back on.

Preseason Top 25

? UK: #3 (equates to #1 seed; Reality: #8 seed)
Picked to Win the SEC East."Kentucky has one of the nation's top backcourts." I don't think it ended up being one of the top backcourts in the SEC. Sure the Morris odyssey hijacked the pre-conference season, but the SEC home record number of losses came with the big fella in the middle. Without question, Rondo disappointed. He was coming off a dominant effort on Team USA's under-21 team, but never regained even his Freshman form at UK. Sparks was what he is, a small shooting guard that struggles defensively but can carry a team on a few given nights. Perry and Thomas were what they are, role players who can't be relied on for anything more. Shags and Woo continue to frustrate fans throughout the Bluegrass. I was really disappointed in Sims. In the early scrimmages, he showed a rebounding tenacity that translated to more and more bench time throughout the year. Crawford actually looks to be turning a corner. I said early in the year that Tubby needed to have a longer leash with this kid and I still believe so. Next year will bring only more questions.

? UL: #10 (equates to #3 seed; Reality: NIT)
Picked to finish third behind UConn and Nova in the Big East. "Pitino's Big East homecoming should be sweet, as plenty of victories are in the Cards for talented Louisville." Uh, that was wrong. Okay the injuries and adjustments to a new conference are the reason for the missed expectations. I don't think I was the only one with lofty expectations for this team. Pitino was quoted as saying, "We'll fit in. We're going to have a very good team. We have size, depth and athleticism. We're in the top third of the league." He wasn't done there. "We have at least three players who are NBA-bound. So we have a good team." Coach, that sounds a lot different than what we were hearing for the last few months from you.

? IU: #17 (equates to #5 seed; Reality: #6 seed)
Picked to finish 2nd in Big Ten. This was the year that Coach Davis was building towards. Sure we had used 4 years of scholarships to get 1 season out of the 2 Auburn transfers, but they were going to make the difference. Needless to say, it worked for the pre-conference schedule and even early into the Big Ten season. Then, reality set in. This team has no offense beyond 1-in and 4-out. When that one post player was on the bench (either in street clothes with an injury or with foul trouble), IU was left to the Davis offense of dribbling a hole in the floor at the top of the key until the shot clock runs down. Then, create your own shot or drive and dish out for yet another 3-pt attempt. On the nights when the 3s were falling, the pinstripes win. When they aren't, suffer the loss. In the end, the Mike Davis era ended a month early and the team struggled to the finish line. The bright side is the Mike Davis era did end.

Thoughts?

Team Manic ends on a HIGH note

Watching the UK and UConn game, I had several thoughts fly through my mind.

(1) Oh shit. I said during the Selection Show on last Sunday that UK had absolutely ZERO chance to beat UConn if they got to the second round. It didn't stop there. I said the only way they could win is if Marcus WIlliams steals computers at the Team hotel before the game.
With 3:00 minutes to go, UK not only had a chance to win, but I thought they just might do it. I would have been so happy to eat the crow.

(2) That is the UK team that I thought we would be seeing all year. The effort was at the level that it HAS to be.

(3) Tubby finally showed the frustration that I know he had been feeling all year. This may not be Team Turmoil but it was at the least Team Prozac. The team never had an identity, leadership, or consistent star player.

Kentucky: Alive for Another Day

Remember the March Motto: Survive and Advance.

Sure we will break it down in more detail, but don't lose your focus. The important thing is the Cats won. Again, this UK team presents more questions than answers.

1. Who is the real "Bobby Perry"?
The kid is a dream off the court and represents the university well. He always plays hard. That being said, there is a reason this Durham, NC product was not recruited by Duke or North Carolina. He is a borderline Major Division I talent. He has given UK all that he has, but his talent has a ceiling. In the second half last night, the kid forgot who he was. 19 points and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.

2. Shagari Safarri, is this a sign of things to come?
Don't fall into this trap. I have done it too many times. After the UK-IU came in December 2004, I left Freedom Hall convinced that he was going to be a force in the middle for the Cats. However, he proceeded to disappear for the majority of the season. He showed up again at the beginning of this season only to disappear during the entire SEC.

Thursday's 1st Rd: IU survives and advances

In November and December, how your college basketball team "plays" is more important than whether your team wins or loses. Games early in the year expose a team's weaknesses and lets you see its potential. Sure a win is a win, but early in the season, you are more concerned with a team's growth and improvement.

In March, whether it is a Conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament, winning is the only thing that matters. If you play well but lose on a last second shot, you go home (i.e. UK-Duke in 1992 East Regional Final). If you play bad but win, you get to stay at the hotel and practice the next day (i.e. IU over San Diego State last night).

IU looked like the team that we all watched this season. At times, they pushed the ball in transition and shot the lights out from behind the arc. Killingsworth was a man in the post and dominated the interior play. The problem is at other times the Hoosiers played matador defense and were stagnant on offense (that reminds me, does Davis actually have an offensive philosophy? I have watched entire games over the last few years and openly wondered what the players were "trying" to accomplish on offense.)

That being said, IU did win. I don't really know how, but I know they did.

The Hoosiers were lucky that they played a team that is as bad fundamentally, as they are. Neither team played fundamental defense. Both teams preferred reaching over moving their feet. Both teams went for the block rather than holding its position with hands up. On offense, both teams relied on the guy with the ball to create his own shot. Even the last possession for IU was a head scrather. You are down 1 point with less than 15 seconds to play. You fail to get the ball into the post and rely on a 3-point shot created off a loose ball. What does San Diego State do in response? Throw the ball the length of the court and out of bounds.

The good thing for IU fans is that they survived and advanced. Neither Gonzaga nor IU will be spend their summer on the seminar circuit teaching the fundamentals of defense. The next 3-point shot that the Zags defend will be the first, so IU stands a chance to dance in to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

One last thought, what was up with Steve Fisher's glasses? He looked like he borrowed them from the cooking expert on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy or Elvis Costello.

NCAA Bracket

First Round

South Winners:
Duke
NC-Wilmington
Syracuse
LSU
Southern Ill
Iowa
NC State
Texas

West Winners:
Memphis
Arkansas
Pittsburgh
Kansas
Indiana
Gonzaga
Marquette
UCLA

East Winners:
UConn
UK
Wasington
Illinois
Mischigan St.
UNC
Wichita St.
Tennessee

Midwest Winners:
Villanova
Arizona
Nevada
Boston College
Oklahoma
Florida
Georgetown
Ohio State

Final Four:
Duke
Kansas
UConn
Florida

Championship:
Duke over UConn

After Tomorrow, Nobody cares about the Bubble Teams

For at least 2 weeks before Selection Sunday, we debate "who's in" and "who's out" of the Tournament. Then we live vicariously through Jim Nantz and Billy Packer while they scream at the sacraficial lamb from the Selection Committee that appears on live television.

On the radio Sunday, Zach and I screamed about how the Air Force Academy stole Cincinnati's bid. We questioned the Valley conference, Bradley, and Western Kentucky's snub.

As much time and energy as we waste talking about the last few at-large teams that get in or shut out, we couldn't care less about any of those teams once the games tip-off.