Davis Was Never Right

I'm recovering from hand surgery so I can't comment as fully as I'd like to on Mike Davis resigning as Indiana's head coach.

But I will say that Jason Whitlock on ESPN.com Page 2 got it right:

Davis isn't the first coach -- black or white -- to face a hanging tree. And you know what? He's probably not the first to tie his own noose, pick out the tree and kick the chair out from underneath his feet. It just feels like the first time to me, because I've seen it coming from the get-go.

While Davis believes Indiana needs one of its own to lead the Hoosiers, I contend that all Indiana fans want is a coach who passionately wants to be a Hoosier. Period.

That's so true. A recent column by Regie Hayes of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel summed it up for me:

No one denies Davis can recruit. But he hasn’t proved he can build a team that blends stars, co-stars and role players. Last season, too much depended on the rise and fall of Bracey Wright. This season, it’s Marco Killingsworth. Too often, the Hoosiers seem to have a Plan A and, if that doesn’t work, they try Plan A.

Davis’ best team – the 2002 NCAA runner-up team – had no single superstar, but a collection of pieces that meshed in Jared Jeffries, Tom Coverdale, Dane Fife, A.J. Moye, Jeff Newton and Kyle Hornsby.

Since that miraculous tournament run in 2002, after all of Knight's kids left the program and all that remained were Davis's recruits, his inability to coach began to show.

And then the real whining began. But we've been over that before and don't need to write anymore about it. He's gone.

I'll let Mr. Whitlock end this post:

Bobby Knight turned Indiana into a powerhouse by stocking his roster with the best talent Indiana, Illinois and Ohio had to offer. Davis tried to win big this year with three mercenaries from the state of Alabama -- D.J. White and Auburn transfers Marco Killingsworth and Lewis Monroe. Killingsworth and Monroe enrolled at Indiana with just one year of eligibility left. White, a sophomore, committed to Indiana with the intentions of turning pro as soon as possible.

Monroe has been a disappointment. White injured his foot. And Killingsworth, who lacks the kind of Indiana-bred basketball savvy of players such as Jeffries, kills Indiana's offense because he doesn't know how to pass out of a double-team.

Are there some IU fans who don't like Davis simply because of the color of his skin? Yes. But that element in no way cost Davis his job. Mike Davis cost himself one of the best jobs in America by wallowing in pity.

Pity provides comfort, but it sure don't pay the bills.

Mike Davis is an Abusive Parent

Okay, I confess that I don’t know that for sure. In fact, he’s probably a really nice guy. He must be because he continues to convince talented basketball players to come to IU when he’s clearly an inferior coach.

But I have a serious problem with this (edited version, my emphasis):

Wednesday night, Davis kept his team behind closed doors for nearly 40 minutes after its most recent Big Ten road loss, a 72-54 drubbing at the hands of Wisconsin.

Very few players leaving the locker room had anything to say. Marco Killingsworth and Robert Vaden declined comment.

Roderick Wilmont said Davis challenged the team.

“He just asked us, ‘Who are you playing for?’” Wilmont said. “A lot of guys said their families and Indiana, and we’re just not playing for them right now. We’re embarrassing them. We’ve got to get this thing turned around.”

Junior college transfer Earl Calloway, who made his third start of the season at point guard, said Davis just told the team they needed to bounce back and bounce back quickly. IU plays Iowa on Saturday at Assembly Hall.

“He told us we need to pick our heads up, work harder and we need to win,” Calloway said.

Holy mother of controlling parents everywhere. So if you can’t teach your kids how to execute your offense, you blame them, call them an embarrassment, and heap shame on them? And then you tell them to hold their heads up like that’s going to make things better? It’s no wonder IU is in a tailspin. Davis is too busy defending himself as a worthy coach and blaming the players for the team’s troubles rather than figuring out how to save the season like a good coach should do.

“He told us we need to pick our heads up, work harder and we need to win.”

I’m seething with rage. That’s your big advice, “coach?” That’s like me telling a homeless person that all he needs to do is have a little pride and get a job. That’s all that needs to happen. The team just needs to work harder.

“We’ve got to get this thing turned around.”

What a simple strategy, “coach.” Is that like Bush saying our troops won’t leave Iraq until the job is done? Got any details in mind, “coach?” No? I didn’t think so.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’ve seen games where the IU players are running their asses off. These boys can flat out fly around the court. Unfortunately, when they’re allowed to run they look like chickens with their heads cut off because they have no direction. That direction, or lack of it, comes from the leader on the bench.

Based on what I’m reading about this team meeting, I’m predicting that IU will lose to Iowa on Saturday. The team is feeling bad already and Davis just shamed them some more. Honestly, I don’t feel embarrassed to be a fan of IU basketball. I’m embarrassed that Mike Davis is the coach of the program.

Random Acts of Pain

1. I have a broken hand.
I returned to the basketball court last week for the first time in several months. During the second game I was involved in a collision that broke the fourth metacarpal on my left hand. I will have surgery next week to set the bone and install a plate.

This will set me back in the workout department. I was already seeing results from phase one of Mike Robertson's training plan. He has graciously offered to put the training on hold until the hand heals. The initial prognosis has me returning to lifting heavy weights in about three months, lighter lifting can resume sooner.

2. IU Lost Again
I'm ready to turn in my Hoosier Nation membership card. Last night's loss to Wisconsin was disgraceful. I'll have more to say later.

3. Girls are Better Than Guys...At Destroying Themselves
Teen girls are smoking and using prescription drugs more than teen boys, a new finding that is surprising in light of an overall decline in drug use.

4. McDonald’s french fries just got fatter
Translation: The level of potentially artery-clogging trans fat in a portion of large fries is eight grams, up from six, with total fat increasing to 30 grams from 25! And very few people will care about that and keep right on eating them.

5. Mike Davis is Still the Coach of Indiana
I'll let me buddy Steve break down the IU/Wisconsin game for me since all of his fingers are working.

Yeah. It's a beautiful day today. At least U2 won a bunch of Grammies.

MAR-CO? OH NO!

Once again, a superiorly coached team showed that Marco is not the answer when IU’s back is against the wall. For the second time this season, the number one ranked team in the country came to Bloomington, and for the second time the year, the number one team prevailed.

Final score: UConn 88. IU 80. And folks it wasn’t that close.

"I keep saying this over and over, Marco [Killingsworth] is definitely the presence we need. When he goes out of the game it definitely affects our play. Every time Marco goes out it hurts us. Marco's our guy, and there is no secret to that."--Mike Davis

And that’s your problem, “coach.” Everybody knows that you have designed your offense around one player. And you said so yourself, when Marco goes out, the team suffers. And that’s a shame because you have an entire team of talented players ready to take over games. But since you only run plays for Marco, you leave the rest of the guys to fend for themselves when he’s not in.

I think making your team one-dimensional--and announcing that strategy to everyone--indicates a poor coaching job and zero common sense.

So what’s the problem with Marco? Why am I so hard on him? Other than he gets winded, in foul trouble, and can’t shot free throws, nothing. Except maybe this.

I wonder what pitch Davis used to get Marco to come to IU. It’s as if he said, “I can get you to the NBA if you play for me.” Marco’s game is all about stats and not about game impact. Well, except for all the negative impact he has.

"When we push the ball early, good things happen for us. Against this basketball team [UConn], you got to get it up quick and make plays. I thought Earl came in with the speed to match their guys and did a great job. Playing that way takes us to another level."--Mike Davis

But “coach,” I have a problem. How can you push the ball when your offense is about dumping the ball into Marco? Good things happen when you push the ball, yet Marco is your man. Trying to have it both ways is not working.

Your best all-around player, Robert Vaden, even agrees with you: “Earl gave the team a big spark. He penetrated, pushed the ball up the court, got into the lane and got the team some open shots.”

And when dribble penetration was working, Davis still thought he should put Marco back in the game and pound the ball inside. Even though that strategy hadn't worked all game.

Some final thoughts:

• The answer is not Marco, its quickness.
• What is with Billy Packer’s love fest with Marco? He’s just gushing about how exhausted Marco is and all the effort he’s exerting. Maybe he’s just out of shape.
• At the 6:12 mark of the second half, Billy says Marco should come back in so IU can make one more run at catching up, even though IU had used speed and dribble penetration to catch up. Marco did make a nice pass to Vaden after coming in. However, I worry that the game will be slowed down when speed was getting us back in the game. The fear turned into reality.
• We go zone and immediately UConn scores because nobody covered the weak side.
  Ben Allen is a smart fouler. Yes, he gets caught out of position, but he will not let his man score easy baskets. He did that twice.
• Why give Marco the ball at the 3-point line?
• At 3:18 left, Marco does a poor job defending the pick and there is no additional weak side help and Boone gets a dunk plus one. Ole!
• IU’s player of the game according to CBS is Wilmont: 14 points on 5 of 14 shooting. THAT’S our player of the game? Thanks for point out the stat, too, CBS. Dicks.
• The style of play changed for IU with Marco in the game. The ball MUST go to the middle, which clogs the lane and prevents our speedsters from being effective.
• Ben Allen missed too many shots. He was in position for his shots. This was a good game for him regardless. He just needs to finish around the basket.
• Marco was once again rendered below average, yet the announcers had to bring up the Duke game again.
• Vaden is such a key cog to this team. He does so much. He’s smart, he’s got a nose for the ball, and he seems to be around most of the plays. Yet he’s not the central focus of the offense. It’s Marco. That’s just stupid.
• When UConn got around to finally taking advantage of its height advantage, it rolled over IU, no matter who was in. When IU realized how effective its quickness could be, it climbed back into the game. Monroe and Calloway were terrific during a stretch.
• Ultimately, it was IU’s inability to adjust to the game and refusal to stray too far from giving the ball to Marco and chucking threes that cost us this game. Oh, that and the matador defense. Ole!

Any final words?

“That is a great basketball team, the best I’ve seen,” Indiana coach Mike Davis said. “They’re so physical and have so many weapons you have to try and take away, whew, I’m glad that one’s over.”

So are the rest of us, “coach.” So are the rest of us.