Okay, after watching the video and reading the articles... I found one article in particular that absolutely matches my exact thoughts on the situation.
Thank you Bob Kravitz for saving me a bunch of time for writing my thoughts.
Wounded man a portrait of resignation and relief - Bob Kravitz
Davis shouldered the blame as he should. The IU Administration really screwed up by not having him walk away right then. And Alford may or may not be the answer, but a full candidate search MUST be done to find the right man for the job.
Man what a strange day... complimenting Mike Davis for the way he exited by taking the high road and complimenting Bob Kravitz on an article he wrote... strange days indeed.
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9 comments:
i am no big college b-ball fan but being a transplant to Indiana you can't help but get a little bit of the bug.
No way, I'd want to pick Alford. Sure he's a hometown hero but that's exactly the problem. If he doesn't work out you've got another fiasco on hand and that's the last thing this program needs.
I believe there was a column from an Iowa reporter in the Star that stated this.
IU needs to get a coach with a proven collegiate track record with NO IU ties so if things don't go well you can move on without the agony of removing a homer.
Two words
Bruce Pearl
Steve:
Steve Warden of the Journal Gazette said it well in today's morning paper!
"Next IU coach needs to bring toughness back." WELL SAID!
Steve mentioned Davis stepping down.
"He did it with grace and elegance. He did it with humility and with honor. He spoke the way he coached - from the heart - which, as it turns out, was not always a good way to coach."
RIGHT ON!
Steve continues to say:
"First of all, talent alone does not win basketball games. In words that have already come back to haunt him, Davis proclaimed at the beginning of the season that this was the most talented team he's had at IU."
"They also revealed the Hoosiers' biggest flaw, which is they didn't have a leader."
AGAIN, WELL PUT!
"Davis tried to accomplish at Indiana what he knew best, and that was to bring in the best athletes he could find and mold them into a unit."
TRUE! AND HE DID BRING IN THE BEST! BUT THE JOB DID NOT GET DONE COACHING THEM!
"What he ignored - and this was his biggest mistake - is that even the best of players need guidance and toughness."
EXCELLENT COMMENT!
"Like him or hate him, Bob Knight's legacy is not just the three championships he won in 1976, 1981 and 1987, but he made mental toughness a hallmark of Indiana basketball. IU fans don't necessarily expect championships every year, but they do expect their teams to play hard."
EXACTLY! THAT IS WHAT I EXPECT FROM AN IU TEAM PERIOD!
"And if athletic director Rick Greenspan is listening, he should look for a college coach and not a pro coach."
"Mike Davis knew his basketball, all right. He taught the pro style of offense."
"That's why Bracey Wright was such a key element to the Indiana offense for three seasons, but not even Wright could make it in the NBA."
"The offense works when a pro player is shooting the open 15-footer."
HMMM! WOW! I COULD NOT SAY IT ANY BETTER!
Ted
Mr. Warden did say it well. I'm glad the media is speaking on behalf of the fans and not jumping on the 'fans just didn't give Davis a chance' wagon.
Good stuff.
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.
Spork Boy... Thank you for adding those... I read both articles... but didn't have time to post them yet.
I'm just afraid of what Davis is going to say after the next 6 games.
Davis cannot be on the bench for the remainder of the season. He hasn't wanted to coach since the UConn game. What does he hope to gain? What does he think will happen? I'll wager that that he thinks god will bless him even further with a miraculous finish to the season.
His chance to ride off into the sunset is now.
Hey Ted. I saw that article too. This is the paragraph I liked most:
"Like him or hate him, Bob Knight's legacy is not just the three championships he won in 1976, 1981 and 1987, but he made mental toughness a hallmark of Indiana basketball. IU fans don't necessarily expect championships every year, but they do expect their teams to play hard."
The only thing I would add to that is "Play SMART"
That is something we haven't seen in years.
More thoughts on Mike Davis resignation at http://next2none.blogspot.com/.
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