Hoosiers should hold heads high

My long-time associate Stanley Q. Studmuffin arrived in Bloomington from his trip to someplace warm a more bronzed man. But he was also a little confused about what had happened over the course of the past week, which left me answering a lot of questions. Like these:\n"Dude, you are like the palest guy on campus. What did you do all week?"\nWatched basketball.\n"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I was sooo wasted. IU lost to Pittsburgh, right? How'd that happen?"\nBasically because Pitt is the best No. 2 seed in the tournament -- more like a 1a seed. It has an unrelenting defense. An open shot for any IU player was a victory in itself. Pitt's guards were always pressuring the ball and never seemed to get tired. And the Panthers frontcourt of Ontario Lett, Donatas Zavackas and the Suburban-sized Chevy Troutman, was simply too bulky for Jeff Newton and George Leach to overcome. Pittsburgh would be in the Final Four if it had been put in any regional other than the one Kentucky is in.\n"I saw that Mike Davis ripped into the team for being selfish in his post-game press conference. He also said that they are letting compliments get to their heads. He's right, right?"\nI've criticized the performance of players on this team at various junctures throughout the season. This is not one of those times. \nThey've had their ups-and-downs, but this is still a team that finished with 21 wins. There are about 250 teams in the country that would be happy to eat liver and onions every night for a chance to be as successful as IU.\nThe players on this team have made mistakes at times, but they are still playing for the name on the front of the jersey (of course, it is rather difficult for them to play for the names on the back of their jerseys, seeing as there are no names back there). \nIf the players on this team only thought about themselves, they would have tanked it when Michigan led them by nine in the Big Ten tournament. Or they would have lost to Illinois by 25 rather than giving the Illini their only challenge in the Big Ten tourney. Or they would have looked an 11-point halftime deficit against Alabama in the face and said, "Screw it. As long as I get on 'Sportscenter,' and maybe a second or two in 'One Shining Moment,' I'm money."\nIf Davis wants to find a selfish team, he should look no further than UCLA. The Bruins, a team with enough raw talent to spin the heads of the Harlem Globetrotters, sleepwalked into their worst record since World War II. The team simply gave up.\nThe Hoosiers didn't do that. I don't suspect that anyone who wears the candy cane warm-ups ever will. \nTom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby cried real tears over their last game. I don't suspect anyone on UCLA did the same thing. \nInterestingly enough, Pitt coach Ben Howland is rumored to be the top candidate for the UCLA job.\n"Coach Davis sure was complimentary of Pitt's players. Do you think he was sending a subconscious message? If Mr. Howland goes to Hollywood, do you think that Mr. Davis would rather be in the Steel City next year?"\nWell, only because he wouldn't have to schedule Kentucky every year. While rumor mongers will speculate in the coming months over the future of IU basketball, I can assure you that Davis will be back. And the Hoosiers will be back in fine shape.\nThere is an important lesson to be learned from the press conference, though. It happened when Davis said, "These guys just don't listen to me."\nFor the sake of this team's chemistry and confidence in the future, I hope this was one of those times.