For instance:

Dear Athletic Department,

Fire Mike Davis.

Sincerely,

Us.

First… you are concerned with the way the team is ‘heading’. I am going to assume that you were ‘concerned’ when we couldn’t get out of the first round of the NCAA Tourney for 5 years in a row… but i can’t recall anyone ever saying ‘Fire Bob Knight’. What i really would like to know is how anyone expects Coach Davis to get better then ‘National Champion Runner-Up’. There’s only one team better then that.

The whole ‘tucking tail and running thing’… yeah i don’t know what team you have watched but we have ALWAYS played like that. We are much safer going into halftime down 10 or tied then up 10. If we are winning by double digits at the half we have a big problem… been like that for at least 10 years (See: During Knight and Davis’s reign).

BTW… lets get some things straight FRESHMAN Mr. Basketball (won by 2 votes… closest vote since 1993… number 77 on 2004 Rivals top 150)… FRESHMAN player from pike who transferred… FRESHMAN top 15 (he was number 15 on the 2004 Rivals top 150… number 4 best PF)… as for the ‘backcourt rated among the top 5′… i don’t know where you got that unless you mean when Bracey and Marshall were incoming recruits. Marshall was way overrated beacuse they rated him as his natural position… the one he played in HS… the 2… not at point where he is forced to play for us. I also don’t count Kline, Roberts, Tapak, and the other backups as ‘veteran’ either. Most of our ‘veterans’ are walk-ons and guys who wouldn’t start anywhere else in D-1 either. BTW you failed to mention the two recruits we had who went Pro (one who is starting for his NBA team now). Even after those two left we still had a top 2 recruiting class… second time in Davis’s tenure we had two classes in the top 5 (In Davis’s 4 chances as a head coach). You also fail to mention our Auburn transfers who came because of Davis (one of which was 2nd team all SEC.. the other is our biggest need: a true Point)

BTW… i remember the last time we were at the bottom of the Big Ten (see my previous paragraph about “National Champion Runner-Up”

Now… i will say this. Give Mike Davis one more year. Even if we miss the tourney this year… give him one more. If he cannot perform next year (with or without Bracey) when he has the two Auburn big boys and an additional year of play on the belts of Ewing, Strickland, and the rookies… then i agree he should be canned. I don’t think we can keep him to recruit as he will assuredly get another chance somewhere else… but recruiting is only half the battle; you still have to win. Also give the man a break… We just got done playing 6 straight Tourney teams for the most part we gave the good teams runs for their money. Don’t tell me that teams should be scared coming into Assembly Hall. I know you saw that North Carolina game and the worried looks on their faces. They are a concensus Final Four contender this year and we took them to the wire! Don’t think Illinois will get such an easy win… we do only play them at their version of ‘Assembly Hall’… but i don’t think we’ll get run over. Have faith… it’s not something we are used to as IU Basketball Fans… but it is something we know of as IU Football Fans!