European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday february 15,1989 the stars and stripes Page 23 College basketball Hoosier record does fhe Tolkins now  Firna Ken Kusmer , ind. A the Indiana Hoo Siers did t listen to preseason predictions of mediocrity and now they re making enough noise in the big ten conference to drown out their detractors. The ninth ranked hoosiers Lead the conference which this week includes four other rated teams by two games Over Illinois. The hoosiers Are 10-1, their Lone conference loss coming against the no. 5 ill Ini 7 a we were t listening to the people that were saying that Sophomore guard Jay Edwards said. We know what we can do. If you look at the predictions at the beginning of the year there were a lot of teams that were picked High that Aren t doing so Good now said Edwards the team s leading scorer with a 23-Point average in listen play. 6 it was Edwards 18-foot jumper with four second left that gave the hoosiers a 64-62 Victory Over Purdue on sunday raising their Overall record to 20-5. Indiana has won 17 of 18 after a scary 3-4 Start and the hoosiers have climbed steadily in the rankings after being virtually ignored in the polls until january when the big ten season opened. One of the keys has been the Success of the three guard offence coach Bob Knight has installed. Indiana has won 23 of the 25 games in which Edwards Lyndon Jones and Joe Hillman have started together since Las season. Hillman one of six fifth year seniors on the team also has provided the floor leadership the hoosiers lacked last season while unsuccessfully trying to defend their 1987 National championship. Against Purdue Hillman hit a 3-Point Basket with a minute remaining to give Indiana a two Point Lead after trailing most of the second half. Perhaps More importantly he showed the Hustle needed to win Dur ing one two minute burst in which he made two free throws after being fouled on a fast break came right Back with a Basket in the Lane saved a Ball from going out of Bounds and then tied up a taller player Purdue s6-foot-9 John Brugos. Everybody picked us to be in the Middle of the pack that s the surprising thing Hillman said. We started off real slow at the Start of the year and then we be come Back and played real Well through Decem Ber and we be kept it going right through january an february. That s the surprising thing because people picked us to finish fifth or sixth in the big ten he said. One might expect it from a Knight coached team out the hoosiers have played especially Tough under pressure. In games decided by four Points or less the hoosiers Are 5-0 this year All of those victories comi nein the big ten. Hillman does t think the hoosiers need necessarily to play that Many close games though. It s not so much that we re playing close As we re not converting some things and that s allowing some tithe a teams to stay m with us Hillman said hopefully it won t catch up to us. We be got to come out and take opportunities and convert  before sunday s game Purdue coach Gene Keady said Indiana had effectively put All the pieces Togel i Joe Ilman is playin8. As wel1 As a Young Man can play and enc Anderson is doing a tremendous Job As a freshman. Everyone is filling his  is assessment did t change much after the loss it s Tough to take but Indiana is having a great Anderson scored a season High 24 Points against Northwestern last week but against Purdue he and Center Todd Jadlow contributed a total of six Points and three rebounds before both fouled out Midway through the second half. Indiana has a week off to prepare for its next oppo nent no. 13 Michigan. Indiana beat the wolverines 71-70 earlier last month in Ann Arbor but sunday s game will be in Assembly Hall where the hoosiers have won 14 straight dating Back to last season Bob Knight has Indiana atop the big 10 conference. Up after that Indiana must play four of its last six games on the Road travelling to no. 15 Iowa no. 16 Ohio state Minnesota and Michigan state. The Hoo Siers other Home games Are against Illinois and wis Consin. Oklahoma s Billy Tubbs up big 8 censures Tubbs quip Kansas City to. A Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs was Given an official reprimand by the big eight conference monday for publicly ridiculing game officials. During last thursday s game at Home against Missouri Tubbs asked fans Over the Public address microphone to Stop throwing objects onto the floor regardless of How terrible the officiating  big eight rules say All comments regarding evaluations of officials made by a coach shall be forwarded to the conference. Under no Circum stances shall a coach comment publicly or Issue statements for Public release criticizing an official s performance spokesman Tim Alle said. Sycamores stuck with empty nest nearly a decade after Bird flew to dec to a t try t 1 / i to �. Terre haute ind. A Larry Bird left Indiana state s basketball pro Gram at its Peak. Ten years later with Only one winning season in the mean time the program is in disarray. Certainly it s a situation where it s a program that s definitely in transition said Brian Faison first year athletic director. Now you can argue that it s been in transition since 78-79." since the sycamores soared behind Bird to the nation s  ranking a 33-1 record and Mcaa tourney runner up to magic Johnson and Michigan state in 1979, the program has plummeted. The Only winning season since then was 16-11 with four starters Back in the first year after Bird left. Only once have the sycamores advanced As far As the second round of the Missouri Valley conference tournament. This year after losing their 12th straight Mac game dating Back to last season the sycamores Are 0-8 in the league and 4-16 Overall going into thurs Day night s game at Wichita state. As Bird went on to greatness with the Boston celtics it took Indiana state the next three seasons to accumulate As Many victories As it did in Bird s last season alone. Continuity has been a big problem. Bill Hodges National coach of the year in 1979, was fired in 1982 after his second straight 9-18 season. His successor Dave Schellhase went 9-19, 14-14 and 14-15 before being re assigned within the University and later moving Back to More head state. Then Ron Greene became coach in 1985. Four years later and with two years remaining on his contract Greene is fighting to save his Job. The sycamores Are 31-74 under Greene including 0-26 in conference Road games. Inexperience also continues to Hurt the sycamores. Against Southern Illinois Greene started two freshmen and three sophomores including two who did not play last year because of the proposition 48 academic requirements. The Only full time starter from last year s 7-21 team Back this year is soph Omore Eddie Bird Larry s younger brother. Our Guys Are still at the Point of play ing Competition that they re somewhat in Awe of Greene told the Indianapolis Star. Looking for a Quick fix Greene recruited from Junior colleges but did t find much help. From his first Normal recruiting period before the 1986-87 sea son Only three players remain. I think he would admit that initially he made some mistakes in recruiting trying to go the Juco route said Faison. I think what s happened Why we can t turn it around As fast As we were Able to turn some other programs is very simply that proposition 48 has limited the Pool of available athletes to you said Greene. When you go into a program that is bankrupt and i think ours was of people who Are available to you then it takes longer to get your program going. There Are no More Quick  these Days attendance at Hulman Center is half the 10,000-plus that watched Bird a decade ago. What happened to the program you seize the Day and we did not said or. Richard Landini president of Indiana state. We did not build upon that reputation that extraordinary three years of Bird. It was a combination of inexperience a Lack of vision at  ironically Hodges had been the chief Recruiter under former coach Bob King. But another assistant Stan Evans was not Happy with the decision to promote Hodges to head coach when King suffered a heart attack and Evans resigned. Indiana state did not hire another full time assistant and recruiting suffered. Landini now in his 14th year at the Isu Helm holds himself accountable for the Start of the school s basketball slide. Yet other factors have contributed to downfall. Two players have died. One is currently recovering from a rare affliction. Be fore the 1980 season Hodges had what he thought could be his Cornerstone in 6 8 Terre haute South Talent Kevin Thompson. That summer Thompson was diagnosed to have Bone cancer and died shortly thereafter. Last season Indiana state s Best re Bounder Rotimi Lakija died of a heart ailment. And before this season the Syc amores Only True Point guard Richie Adderley was hospitalized with a serious muscle disorder and sidelined for the season. There Are few excuses if any for the records we be had for the last decade " said Landini. It s a very difficult league but we should be a competitor each year for at least the top