OTL Nightly Review

Well that was about what I expected. When you Interview Davis, Doninger, Bozich, Fife and Hutchens, it's going to be a Mikey Lovefest. At least Bob Ley was trying to ask some tough questions.

Thanks to my DVR, here are some of the good quotes...

"Normally a coach who experiences his first losing season and follows it with a .500 season is considered having a down time... this coach, at this school, following this legend, is at a tipping point for his job" - Bob Ley

Fair statement... good lead in to this interview.

"Taking your team to the final four is in some locales enough to earn coach for life status." - Pat Forde

True, but this is Indiana. It's not all about wins and losses... it's how your team plays the game.

"Can you think of any similar situations where a coach has come into a situation like you have?" - Pat Forde

"I've thought about that and I also ask myself if anyone else could have come in and handle the situtation. I've not had one interview that hasn't questioned me about my job, my future here" - Mike Davis

That doesn't answer the question, nor is it true. I've heard numerous interviews where no one asked about Mike's job.

"You can't replace him, whether you are Mike Davis or someone else. For the people that think that way and talk that way, he could be Jesus Christ and they still wouldn't accept him" - Clarence Doninger

Hey Clarence, I don't want Jesus Christ, I want a basketball coach!

"With Knight it was more than just winning basketball games, people liked his behavior. It was like no one is going to push him around or tell him what to do" - Rick Bozich - Louisville Courier Journal

Yes it is more than just winning basketball games... it is about teaching fundamentals, playing unselfish team basketball and doing things the right way! Oh and winning does help too.

"Forever they are going to say this is not the way Coach Knight runs things and they are right and I think coach Davis knows that" - Dane Fife

Smart fair statement that doesn't get him in trouble with anyone. I felt for Dane, talk about being put in a VERY tough situation. Made me uncomfortable.

"Was a career assistant from small town Alabama prepared to replace an Icon?" - Pat Forde

Exactly... the answer was and still is... NO!

When they made the switch, I was unsure, the team was unsure, the state was unsure, the country was unsure. My first question was Coach, Can you handle this?" - Dane Fife

"I was ready for the basketball part, I wasn't ready for everything else. I wasn't ready for the speaking engagements, the dealing with the media" - Mike Davis

Actually Mike your basketball coaching experience was right there with everything else... non existent.

They ran the clip from after the Kentucky game where Davis said "Maybe the guy they bring in here next year after me will be able to get these guys to play hard because I can't do it."

Personally I felt bad for Mike when that happened. I think he was trying to motivate the players, but the media ran with it. That was somewhat harsh to put in this piece.

They brought up the chicken dance on the floor at Louiville after the Kentucky game and the talking about using Indiana as a stepping stone to the NBA while at the final four.

Then Pat Forde refered to the "militant faction of Indiana fans still loyal to coach Knight" and Rick Bozich stated that "They still want Bob Knight as Coach and they are going to wait until he hits a bad stretch and say 'see he shouldn't be the coach'" Then Doninger states "They are extremely vocal and continue to be and they were Texas Tech hats and they are sold in southern and central Indiana"

I have a hard time referring to myself as part of a militant faction, but yes I am still loyal to Coach Knight. I root like hell for him to do well at Texas Tech. I'm counting down his victories to become the all time winningest coach and yes I'm mad as Hell that Brand forced him out of IU, costing IU a great coach and Knight a chance at another championship in 2002 and 25 more wins towards that all time total. That doesn't mean I won't support a good coach at IU. The problem is Davis is a HORRIBLE coach! Plain and simple!

"Indiana didn't go to the NCAA tournament last year. You can do it once, if you do it twice, I'm not sure people will laugh it off, in fact I'm sure they won't." Rick Bozich

Now that is the truth!

"It's just the way the job is. This is Indiana. They judge you every year." - Mike Davis

Yes we do judge you every year and we have not seen any improvement in coaching over the past 5 years... in fact I could probably make a pretty good case that the coaching has regressed.

"I think Mike has to demonstrate that he is making that progress to keep the credibility that we all aspire to. I think we are starting to see that now, but every day is a job interview in this business " - Rick Greenspan

Credibility... good choice of words. Mike is not a credible coach. He's a credible guy, but not a coach.

"If it ended for me this year, I could never say anything negative about Indiana because what they have done for me is put me at a level that I would never have dreamed about being at." - Mike Davis

That is a great quote. Another sign that Davis is a standup guy... just not a coach at that level.

Dane was interviewed along side Terry Hutchens of the Indy Star.

Bob asked Dane first what he has seen from Coach Davis to make him think that Davis can handle coaching at Indiana. Dane, in a tough spot, gave a great answer. "Well Bob he took us to the championship game. That is what everyone plays this game for and he got us there. With that being said I think he is an outstanding recruiter and he is growing every day and becoming an outstanding coach in relation to the public."

A great answer in a tough spot... Dane didn't touch on his coaching ability. He stayed with what was honest.

Bob then asked Terry what the pressure was like with Davis at 10-10 and not looking good to get to the Dance. Terry answered with "The pressure is always going to be on Mike Davis. Indiana basketball is what have you done for me lately. The think IU fans are not good at is patience. They have a young team and their best player is out with an injury, you need patience and IU fans are not a patient bunch."

Bob brought up Greenspan's comment as not being much support when talking about every day being a job interview. Terry state "Well I don't know that is true... that is how Greenspan plays things off. That is how he played off the football season and in that case he did end up firing Gerry DiNardo and hiring Terry Hoeppner. But the thing I see here is that Davis has support from the administration and the president and you have a financially strapped department and he has 3 more years. All of that plays into it."

Bob asked Dane, what else can Davis do to put his stamp on the program? "It's simple Bob... WIN! We struggled last year and are struggling now, but we have great players and are coming together."

Bob then asked Terry... "The vocal Bob Knight loyalists, the dead-enders as it were holding up in a cave that he somehow is going to come back from Lubbock, how much influence do they have?"

Great, now I am a dead-ender holing up in a cave... NOTE TO MEDIA! We don't want Knight back, we want IU to have a good coach that understands basketball so IU can win again! Ugh!

"When the split occurred you had a lot of IU basketball fans that had to ask themselves the question, am I really an Indiana basketball fan or am I a Bob Knight fan? You are always going to hear it from that kool aid drinking Bob Knight faction that will never let that go and whoever is in that job there will always be questions about whether you are the right guy." - Terry Hutchens

Bob asked Terry, In a month from now when we look back at the Indiana season, where will they end up?

"I still think this is a team that could go 10-6 in the B10, and do well in the Tourney" - Terry

What are you smoking Terry? They are currently 5-4. You think they are going to go 5-2 the rest of the way? The best was Bob asking a follow-up question... "Which Tourney?" To which Terry answered "The B10 tourney." Now that is funny!

Dane was very careful with his answers and Terry was speaking as a beat writer. Gotta love having Doninger and Bozich interviewed though... gag!