Hoosier fans: Curb your enthusiasm

Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Indiana basketball isn't what it used to be. Granted, the Hoosiers are 2-0 so far this young season, but four-point home wins over lowly Indiana State and Western Illinois don't exactly exude confidence. \nThe Hoosiers have slipped, as can be expected when a program that was once mentioned with reverence loses its identity. Hoosier teams of old knew the game of basketball inside and out. Execution was key and preparation was the norm. Basketball IQ was valued over raw athleticism. \nIU coach Mike Davis says he doesn't know why his team isn't executing. He claims his team isn't concentrated on the task at hand going into games. Not concentrated on the games? What are we paying their tuition for, or your salary for that matter? Last season when the Hoosiers struggled, Davis was quick to deflect blame to not having the right players at the right positions. You can re-tool your coaching staff all you want, but at the end of the day, the buck stops at the head coach. \nLast season's 14-15 record put an end to IU's streak of 18 straight NCAA tournament appearances, and Davis' guidance to the national championship game in 2002 seems like a distant memory. Once thought to be out of the shadow cast by his former boss Bobby Knight, the darkness has begun to rear its ugly head again. Teams aren't afraid of IU, or Assembly Hall for that matter, anymore. Once hallowed ground, Assembly Hall was turned into a house of horrors last year with seven home losses, including debacles versus Temple, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio State and Iowa. \nIs there hope for the Hoosiers? Of course there is. Look no further than tonight's opponent North Carolina. The winningest program in the last 33 years with 851 wins, the Tar Heels became one of the game's glamour teams, scoring 15 trips to the Final Four, the most in the NCAA's history.\nThere are stark similarities between UNC and IU, however. North Carolina boasts four national titles, while IU has collected five. The Tar Heels and the Hoosiers rank third and fourth, respectively, in NCAA tournament appearances. North Carolina was forced to replace a legend in Dean Smith. They did so with one of Smith's assistant coaches, Bill Guthridge, who took the Heels to a Final Four. Guthridge left the program and Matt Doherty entered the fray. However, the former Notre Dame head coach was unable to maintain the status quo in Chapel Hill and guided the Heels to their first ever 20-loss season in 2001, snapping the Heels' record 27 straight NCAA tournament appearances. \nTobacco Road got restless, and the long-anticipated homecoming for Roy Williams ensued. Now the Heels, loaded with talent, are again one of the premier teams in the nation, something the Hoosiers long to be.\nWhen excellence is expected, mediocrity cannot be tolerated. At a school, and in a state, where basketball is king, there can be no excuses and there can be no finger pointing.\nIn the 2001 campaign, the one that saw UNC sink to depths reserved for perennial cellar dwellers Clemson and Florida State, the Heels welcomed the Hoosiers to Chapel Hill for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. IU dominated from the get-go and beat the Carolina blues by 13. Now with roles reversed, a 13-point loss might be welcomed by IU faithful, but the reality of quite an uglier score line looms, as the Heels look to kick the Hoosiers, and maybe their irritable head coach, to the curb.