Cards 83 Larry Bird U. 43
Posted by frankpos on December 6, 2008
Let’s see, the summary: We beat the snot out of a slow, totally out- manned team.
And here’s the one highlight(thanks to Jerb):
Was any real progress made? Hard to tell against such a team.
However, we were out-rebounded again in the first half. And our foul -shooting was well under the 70% considered reasonable.
Picking nits is not nuts when you’re in a serious hunt for a third crown.
Since the beginning of the season, I’ve stayed focused on six big question marks: three holdover problems from last season…
Soft rebounding, weak foul-shooting, and erratic outside shooting….
and three more for this season: Who has Padgett’s brain this year, can Samuels truly fill the bill, and who can adequately cover when SS inevitably fouls out?
So far, I feel comfortable on only one of those six : Samardo Samuels is the real deal.
However, he’s not the rebounding beast I had hoped for — at least not yet.
And a solid, but not great, WKU stripped bare most of those problem areas for all to see.
Can these problems all be addressed? Of course: The talent is certainly there for this team to win it all.
But is the will to win…no, no, make that, the “refuse to lose” mentality…. is it truly there?
I’m not totally convinced yet. But I think it will be a fun ride to find out…
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OK, we can’t leave just yet, no when you’re talking about Indiana St. , i. e. Larry Bird U.
That’s because, one of the great stories in Card BBall involved Crum’s attempted recruitiment of Larry Legend when he was a high school senior.
I’ll defer to Kevin Hyde and his interview with Coach Crum:
Some Cardinal fans think the story of Crum’s attempt to recruit Bird is folklore—maybe even an urban legend. But most of it is true, the coach says. By all accounts, Crum was just about unbeatable in HORSE—the classic backyard shooting contest where a player must match their opponent shot for shot. Crum always challenged his incoming freshmen to a game.
“I beat every freshman that ever came in here,” he grins. “But most of the time after I beat them, I wouldn’t play them again, because every day they’re going to be doing shooting drills and getting better and better. And I don’t have time to do that stuff.”
Crum’s most effective shot was his patented 40-footer from the side, behind the backboard—an impossible angle from way out of bounds.
“It’s got to be perfect. And you have to have the perfect arch to get it over the corner of the board and still be going down.”
The coach was automatic from either corner. He could also hook the ball with either hand—a must in HORSE. On top of that, Crum also had anywhere-in-the-gym range.
His secret?
“I worked on a weight thing where you would take a broom handle and a rope and tie weights on the bottom, and I stand up on a bench and roll that rope around that stick,” Crum recalls. “It developed my wrists and forearms.
“I didn’t care where they put me. It didn’t matter. I could shoot from way outside—much farther than most of them could.”
In 1974, Larry Bird was a highly recruited high school basketball star from French Lick, Ind. Crum had watched a couple of his games and really wanted Bird to consider Louisville.
“When I sat down to talk to him, he told us that he had already decided that he was going to Indiana,” Crum recalls. “I thought maybe if he came to visit he might really like it, so I invited him to make a trip to Louisville.”
But Bird insisted that he was committed to Indiana University, and he wasn’t going to make any other visits.
“I said, ‘Well, let’s play a game of HORSE. If I beat you, you come for a visit. If you beat me, you don’t have to come.’ He said, ‘OK.’ “
Bird started by hitting a left-handed hook, which Crum was able to match. Then Bird missed his next shot and Crum made another left-handed hook. But Bird matched that.
“Then I tried a different shot and I missed,” says Crum, borrowing a notebook and pen. “And then [pointing to a quickly drawn half-court diagram] he got way out here. He was way out there. Here’s the mid-court line right here. They had another line right here. If this was the mid-court line right here, you actually had another line here. He would just back way out up here and just bury them. Well, I could hardly see the rim.”
“Well, he obviously didn’t have to come visit.”
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