Crean's Hoosiers Still on Roller Coaster

Tom Crean suffered through one of the worst campaigns you'll ever see from a college basketball power last season, when his Hoosiers went 6-25 (including 1-17 in Big Ten play). Of course, due to the circumstances of virtually having to completely start the program over, Crean was obviously given a free pass from the large contingent of Hoosier faithful. Assuming there isn't a complete collapse this season, he'll likely be granted a free pass again. There are signs of the program turning the tide, but if you dig deeper, there are also places where Crean needs to step up.

We're talking about a team which beat Pittsburgh rather handily on a neutral court, but lost to Loyola (MD) at home a few weeks later.

We're talking about a team which held a 15-point second-half lead against Illinois yet ended up losing by six.We're talking about a team which appeared to be turning the corner after winning consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since 2008, but turned around and got spanked at home by Iowa on Sunday.

There are wins over Michigan and Minnesota, but losses to Boston University and George Mason. The team played with Kentucky for all but a 19-0 second-half run and held things close against Maryland, but they also had trouble with USC Upstate.

The proud program that has five National Championship banners hanging in their home venue -- Bloomington's venerable Assembly Hall -- saw the students storm the floor after an overtime victory over the mediocre Minnesota Golden Gophers. Frankly, though, it was hard to blame the students.

Remember, when Crean took over there was nothing in the cupboard. Literally. He only retained two walk-ons (Kyle Taber had earned a scholarship, but initially came onto the team as a walk-on). This season, the Hoosiers came in with what appeared to be a solid nucleus for the future. Sophomore holdovers Verdell Jones III and Tom Pritchard were joined in the starting lineup by transfer Jeremiah Rivers (a junior whose father, Doc, played in the NBA and is the current head coach of the Boston Celtics) and a promising duo of talented freshman in Maurice Creek and Christian Watford. Off the bench, the Hoosiers sported a trio of freshman with solid potential in point guard Jordan Hulls and power forwards Derek Elston and Bobby Capobianco. Last season's leading scorer, senior Devan Dumes, was also available off the bench.

As opposed to what Crean was dealing with last season, there was definitely some real talent in house. Of course, of the nine regulars listed above, only three returned from last season's team and five were true freshman. That's not a recipe for winning in major college basketball unless about three of them are named John Wall.
The growth of the team was even further stunted when Creek, who was easily proving to be the best player on the team and was the definite go-to scorer, went down with a season-ending injury in the final game before Big Ten play began. He was averaging 16.4 points per game and it wasn't just stat-padding against lesser foes. Creek put up 31 against currently top-ranked Kentucky.

In the aftermath of the injury, the season appeared to be yet another lost cause, but the Hoosiers came out and won their next game -- the Big Ten opener over Michigan. Later, after wins over Minnesota and Penn State, Indiana was poised to have an improbable winning record in the Big Ten. Instead, they laid an egg against an Iowa Hawkeyes team that was previously 1-5 in league play.

So the roller coaster continues. This is a team which is seemingly capable of playing with anyone, but also losing to anyone. That is not just hyperbole, as Pitt is currently ranked 17th and Loyola (MD) sits around 200 in RPI. To a certain extent, the fickle nature of the team is easy to explain. Just take a look at the complexion of the roster. You have a good amount of talent with limited experience. It's a built-in excuse, but at some point that just becomes window dressing for a team that needs to mentally avoid letdowns. Just check out some of the post-game quotes following the Iowa loss:

"We got punched in the mouth and just took it,'' Jones said. "We didn't fight back.''

"They just wanted it more than we did, and that's hard to explain,'' Watford said. "But they just kept coming after us and we didn't respond well. This is one of those games that is really hard to explain.''

"We just did not have a toughness about us today where we would have beat anybody,'' Crean said. "This all came down to our lack of being willing to be in a fight today. I can't explain it. We just did not come to be in a fight today.''

It seems to me the head coach should be responsible for getting a young team with still-developing talent to play and fight as hard as they can every game. What have Indiana fans repeatedly been told? That this team is a reflection of their coach? So where was the fire? Crean recruited these guys. The coach has to accept some of the responsibility for this.

Crean will probably continue to receive a free pass as the team skates to its second consecutive season without a post-season game. That will all change next year, however. The Hoosiers only lose Dumes from the playing rotation and will be getting Creek back. Solid development from all the youngsters getting playing time should be expected, as should Rivers' growth as an on-floor leader. Another solid recruiting class will join the fray and will help with the depth issues. There is no reason that the 2011 Hoosiers shouldn't be a big part of Selection Sunday.

Remember when Crean took the job and, when asked why he took over such a dire situation, kept saying, "It's Indiana" with a big smile? Well, come next season, the roller coaster isn't going to be suitable anymore. The two-year period without expectations will have disappeared and then he'll truly understand what it is to be Indiana's head basketball coach. In fact, there's already some grumbling among the Indiana faithful. I read "it's about time he becomes a basketball coach instead of a cheerleader" Sunday evening. Many fans are growing tired of the youth excuse. Several in-game decisions -- such as bringing the ball up the floor with the awful-at-free-throws Rivers in critical situations -- are beginning to be questioned.

Beginning in 2011, the next time Crean doesn't make the NCAA Tournament will be very problematic.

After all, it's Indiana. We don't do roller coaster seasons. We do Final Fours.