The Hoosiers' Date for Valentines Day

(Bloomington, Ind.).  The relatively warm weather we've experienced this winter here in south-central Indiana has me hoping for an early spring.  The Indiana Hoosiers have helped keep the cold away this week with a fiery brand of basketball that brings warmth to Hoosier Nation.  Coach Kelvin Sampson's radio show was informative and funny as usual, but most enjoyable for me was watching this team's transformation as it gets closer to what Sampson wants to see come March. 

It's exciting to think how hot the Hoosiers will be when the flowers begin blooming and the birds start chirping.  Every single, impassioned, sweat-filled change that gets them there ratchets the temperature up a degree.  Watching Indiana out-hustle, outfight and out-compete Michigan State between the baselines Sunday revealed the ferocity and single-mindedness these Hoosiers have towards winning.  The "thumping" they gave the Boilermakers last night was overdue (it had been a few months) and well deserved given Matt Painter's chiding comments last summer over Sampson's recruitment of Eric Gordon, Jr., and his post-game remarks last night.

Did you know Matt had actually calmed down by the time he faced the media after the Hoosiers left his team in tatters on Branch McCracken court?  I don't know if he followed Sampson in line for the post-game interviews, but, without any scrapes, bruises or floor burns to worry about in the Boilermakers' locker room, he had ample time to dry his eyes and have his nappy changed.  From the sound of things, when he left the pressroom, it needed to be done again.

Matt, speaking from the heart of Indiana basketball fans for just a second, the Hoosiers are going to show your Boilermakers something special at Mackey Arena on Valentine's Day.  Now, don't misinterpret that.  We don't like you or the yapping you do while standing in Bruce Almighty's shadow, and we damn sure don't like your team.  We just love kicking your butts.  We love it so much we can hardly wait to do it again so all the fans (yours and ours) that didn't see the game last night can share in the experience.

For everyone else, here's an interesting way to look at the Big Ten up to this point in the still early stages of conference play.   Wisconsin and Ohio State are the top choices among experts and laymen alike for picking the champion.  I don't share that view and you should also start questioning the notion (if you haven't already) because, among the rest of the Big Ten and, more specifically, the first several teams that get mentioned (i.e., Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State and the Boilermakers). Indiana is the only one that hasn't been demolished in a Big Ten game and the Hoosiers, by administering butt-whippings to two of the three other frontrunners in the "Everybody Else" category and playing Ohio State, who shellacked the third, to the wire on the road, have made a case for being mentioned in the same breath with the Badgers and Buckeyes as favorites.

Right now, the Boilermakers have better than two months to get their act together up there in West-Lafayette.  Part of me wants to see them do so because beating them when they're playing well makes for more of an exciting game than the floor-mopping that took place last night.  

But who am I kidding, right?  When it comes right down to it, I really don't care.  I'll be just as happy watching Indiana humiliate the Boilermakers yet again if Matt can't get his players to add more to the rivalry than what they brought last night.  I expect the Boilermakers to play better at Mackey, though, if only because they might have time to run home to look for the toughness, scrappiness and tenacity they forgot to bring to Bloomington.  Either way, the Hoosier will win.

-Ed Anderson, 1/11/7

Our Laughter Gets Louder as the Hoosiers' Fortunes Soar

(Bloomington, Ind).  I'm just here for entertainment-yours and mine.  If I can get you to laugh and you can do the same for me, then we're one-third of the way to what Jim Valvano, his body succumbing to cancer, called a "full day."  Jimmy V said a full day should be one in which you laugh, cry and think.

Jimmy V was a great guy.  Some of you younger folks might not have too good of a recollection of him, if one at all, but he was a tremendously funny New Yorker who wore his emotions on his sleeve.  He was also a great basketball coach.  Competing against his bigger brothers on Tobacco Road, his teams held their own in the ACC and, of course, his 1983 Wolfpack squad won a national championship.

What's my point?  Life's short, you guys.  It really looks like a blur when you look back.  So, lighten up and have some fun and always give as good as you get.  And, while that's all I'm trying to do here, there's more to follow, but it gets a little tricky so stick with me.

My feet first hit ground at Bloomington Hospital the day my father was awarded a degree in education from Indiana University so I'm nothing if not a Hoosier.  My dad, in a feat not often seen, earned his degree with a wife, two kids, another (me) on the way and two part-time jobs.  He was 6'5" and, at that time, probably weighed about 180-190 pounds.  He lettered in 4 sports (basketball, baseball, football and track) in high school and, before coming to IU, served in the Air Force during the Korean War.

When my dad first got to IU, the family sans me lived in one of the old Quonset huts that lined the field along 17th Street.  The huts were government surplus and IU acquired them to handle the expected influx of veterans following World War II.  While living there and taking the requisite recreational courses at the old Fieldhouse, which many of you are more accustomed to calling Wildermuth or the HPER, Branch McCracken spotted him and asked if he wanted to try out for the team.  Of course he did!  But he couldn't.  There just weren't enough hours in the day for him to fit basketball (or much of anything else) into his life at that point.

So, here's where I'm going.  There's just one degree of separation between Branch McCracken and me and only two to Everett Dean.  I know, I know, a lot of you can make the same claim or, even better, one-up it.  And that's' great, isn't it?  Does it floor you as much as it does me to have such close ties to two of the principal architects who laid the foundation for Indiana's basketball legacy?  So, lets have some fun and enjoy our elite basketball heritage while we can.

I hope my idea of fun and your idea of fun stem from the same chemcial synapses.  I also hope you share my view of giving as good as you get.  You know why?  It's time for both and you know what's fun for me right now?  I'm having fun laughing at Illinois, Michigan State and everybody else who laughed at us these past several years.  If you're like me, you heard a lot of laughter from a lot of places.  It's our turn now and I want us to laugh as loud at them as they laughed at us.

I'm particularly laughing at the way the Illini are shooting arrows at Chief Big Geko.  Their intra-tribal warfare tickles me because they laughed heartily when the Hoosiers had their own intra-family squabble.  One of the more amusing things is the disjointed thinking borne from "Illini agony" as they slide down the Big 10 totem pole towards the gophers and other critters at the bottom.

Take, for instance, this bit of insightfulness, grammatically uncorrected here, about Illinois from CWorld27, who said, "this team is very similar to 03-04 illini who went through huge growing pains before winning the big ten and going to the elite 8. Not saying they are going to do that, we don't have the same talent, but I expect them to be very tough by the end of the year."

Huh?  Talk about talking out of your headdress!  Where are you going with that thought, CWorld?  Drawing a parallel between this year's Illini team and the team that won the Big Ten title and made it to the Elite Eight in '04 by characterizing them as "very similar" only to then turn around and warn everyone not to expect the same accomplishments because the talent level is different leaves only two things those teams have in common:  Building a gaudy pre-conference record by dragging teams with directional names (East this, West that) to Champaign and beating the snot out of them and then losing in the Big 10.  That's where the similarities end because that's all the Illini have done this year.

That's not all.  After navigating through this phalanx of fallacy, CWorld brings us full circle to his ultimate conclusion that the Illini will be "very tough" by year's end.  Given that twisting, turning reasoning, CWorld, even if you can laugh through all the tears you'll be shedding this season over the Illini, I think even Jimmy V would say you're still only two-thirds of the way towards a full day.

--Ed Anderson 1/10/7

CEM DINC'S READY TO ROCK
Former IU player about to "Lace 'em up" Again



(Bloomingon, Ind.)  Ask Cem Dinc if he's ready to "rock JUCO" and he laughs heartily and exclaims, "Oh Yeah!"  He'll get his first chance to do just that at 2:00 p.m. local time this Saturday when the Marshalltown Tigers tip off against the Hamilton College Aliens in Marshalltown, Iowa.

For Dinc, who was playing for the Indiana Hoosiers a year ago, it will be his first collegiate basketball game since December 31, 2005, when he played five minutes at Ball State.  "It's been a long wait," says Dinc.  

Indeed it has been a long wait and the circuitous route Dinc traveled to wind up in Marshalltown took him to Germany, back to the United States, over to Istanbul, throughout Europe, and then on to Japan.  During that time, he worked out with an NBA personal trainer, played for the Turkish National Team, and briefly considered turning pro and playing in Europe.  All the while Dinc was racking up the frequent flier miles, though, he had one overriding desire.  "I wanted to be in Bloomington," he said. "I love the town and the people are so friendly.  I love the way the crowd really supports the team and, of course, I wanted to keep playing for Indiana."
 
That didn't happen, obviously.  After Indiana hired Kelvin Sampson to replace Mike Davis as head basketball coach, Dinc was told in no uncertain terms that he wasn't wanted.  According to Dinc, "there wasn't any attempt [on Indiana's part] to look for a solution or compromise that would have let me back on the team."  Nor was there even a hint of a promise for the future.  "Coach Sampson told me he might be interested if I "go rock JUCO."

"I was crushed," Dinc says about his meeting with Sampson in September 2006.  "I went over to my girlfriend's house to lie down.  I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anybody."  When he did, though, he called Jason Smith, his high school coach at the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.  The next day his cell phone started ringing.  "I got offers from a lot of Division I and II schools and most of them said they had a scholarship available if I wanted it." 

So, with all the offers, why Marshalltown?  "I like Coach (Brynjar) Brynjarsson,' Dinc said.  'He was up front and told me he wasn't going to make any promises."  According to Dinc, Coach Brynjarsson said, "if you want to work hard, I'll give you a second chance, but you'll have to make it happen once you're here."

That's precisely what Dinc has done.  He's worked long and hard both on the court and in the classroom to earn the opportunity.  He's grateful to Coach Smith and Coach Brynjarsson and feels a lot of personal satisfaction from accomplishing what he has since being forced out at Indiana.  "I was disappointed, sure, but I don't have any ill will towards Coach Sampson or Indiana.  I never did.  I was unhappy with myself and wanted a chance to prove I belong, but, you know, that's the way it goes sometimes."

Dinc feels he is in the best shape of his life.  In Atlanta, his trainer worked with him on toughness, speed and battling through fatigue.  "He kept telling me, 'don't just take the shot, make the shot!'"  Then, training with the Turkish National team, Dinc developed the endurance he now uses to combat fatigue by long-distance running.  "We ran and ran and ran," he said.  "It wasn't fun."
 
Since arriving at Marshalltown, Dinc has hit the weight room and further honed his basketball skills.  "When I came to Bloomington in September 2005, I weighed 240 pounds.  By the time I left, I'd lost 35 pounds."  Now, thanks to a steady diet of barbells, he's increased his muscle mass and tips the scale at 250 pounds.

Dinc will start at center for Marshalltown come Saturday, replacing Abraham Ramos, a 6-9, 220 pound freshman from Venezuela, who ranks among the rebound leaders in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.  The Tigers average an astonishing 113 points per game.  Their top three scorers come from the point and wing slots.  "I'm out there to play tough defense, crash the boards and make some moves in the post," said Dinc.  "This team really needs an experienced big guy to compliment the guards.  My jobs are to wipe the defensive boards clean, hit the outlet man to start the break and then hustle down as one of the trailers on offensive to maybe get a long rebound on my way to the glass or spot up for a pass and hit a three if I'm left open."

Dinc, who earned a 4.0 grade point average this past semester, will earn his degree this May.  He credits his setback at Indiana with creating a "fear of failing" that has motivated him to work hard.  "I was really down when I left Indiana this past September, but it's amazing how fast that feeling vanished after I got to Marshalltown.  By building on every small success here, I've regained my confidence."

So, what does the future hold for Dinc?  "I'll be playing D-1 ball next fall for sure," he said.  "Iowa State, Miami (Fla.), Boston University, Utah State, Nevada, Marist, Rhode Island and Binghampton are teams who have called recently.  Has he heard from the Hoosiers?  "Nope,' says Dinc with a hint of sadness, but then, laughing, adds, "I may wind up back in Indiana, though, because Indiana State and Evansville have been in touch, too."

Dinc doesn't really have a favorite among all the suitors.  He just appreciates every call he gets.  He said some of the smaller schools that have called think he's looking for "something big," but he maintains that's not necessarily the case.  "Recruiting,' he says, is 'all about building relationships."  He's become "buddies" with Iowa State coach Greg McDermott since enrolling at Marshalltown, but he's really just "looking for the right fit."  Dinc wants teams interested in him to know that he's a "strong guy-on and off the court."  Right now, though, he's thankful just to be playing college basketball again-even if it's not in front of a "big crowd like at Indiana."


--Ed Anderson 1/11/7

Calloway Denies Talking Trash to Purdue Coach

(Bloomington, Ind.)  There are two sides to every story and the incident that occurred between IU's Earl Calloway and Purdue Coach Matt Painter during the Hoosiers 85-58 beat-down of the Boilermakers Wednesday night at Assembly Hall is no different.

With a little over four minutes left in the first half, Calloway took a pass from Armon Bassett and dribbled right towards the Purdue bench, looking to pass low to DJ White.  Calloway, finding White double-teamed, but himself unguarded, dribbled backed a step behind the three-point line.

According to Calloway, Painter yelled, "Let him shoot!"  Calloway did and buried the three-ball.  Then, turning towards Purdue's bench, he pumped his fist and gave Painter a long look as he headed up court.

And that's all Calloway did.  He didn't say a word to Painter or anyone else.  "I didn't say anything.  I swear it," Calloway, the son of a retired Baptist preacher, said on Friday.  "He's trying to play it like I said something, but I didn't."

I believe him.  Calloway doesn't talk trash.  Ask anyone who has watched him play at Assembly Hall.  Ask his coaches and teammates.  Heck, ask opposing players.  Calloway is as stoic and unflappable on the court as he is polite and friendly off it.

Calloway, though, acknowledges the look he gave Painter was meant to convey something.  "I just looked at him as if to say 'you'd better guard me.'"

That look-and nothing more-sent the Purdue coach around the bend.  Gesturing wildly, Painter shouted at IU Coach Kelvin Sampson and then gave him a hard stare.  "I just yelled down at him and said that was wrong,'' he said.  "Those probably weren't my exact words. But it wasn't right. None of my players at Purdue will ever talk to an opposing coach.''

Speaking to reporters after the game, Painter was reluctant to talk about the incident.  Well, at first anyway.   "I haven't even thought about it," he said.  'If you guys weren't asking me about it, it wouldn't even register.  Things happen in the heat of the moment. It's not even worth talking about."

Pressed for more, though, Painter went on.  "(Calloway) looked at the bench and said something, and I didn't think it was right," he said. "It was nothing major, but I'm not going to take it from a kid.  'I'm sorry, I'm just not. There's a right way to go about it.  I'm going to stand up for our team."   "You have to have class. You can play hard, you can still be ornery, but you have to have class," he said, clearly implying Calloway has a shortage in that area.

At the next timeout, less than a minute later, Sampson conferred with an official and, before play resumed, Calloway jogged to the Purdue bench to shake Painter's hand.  "No disrespect," Calloway said.

Asked if Sampson dealt with situation properly, Painter replied, "The only thing I can tell you is how I deal with things.  None of my players are going to talk to any other coach in the country or I'm going to yank his ass,'' leaving the impression that Sampson, who didn't "yank (Calloway's) ass," didn't do enough.

Painter also claims it was an official, not Sampson, who told Calloway to apologize.  He didn't say how he knew that, though.  Nor has he even hinted at what Calloway supposedly said.

Truth is, Calloway didn't say anything and Painter knows it.  He just doesn't want to be in a position of trying to justify his own smack-talk and wild gesticulations after merely being looked at.  Thanks for the lesson in class, Coach.

-Ed Anderson  1/12/7