Matt Painter gave his honest assessment of the IU basketball job. Right or wrong, it shouldn’t change anything — Indiana fans hold their program in high regard

The IU basketball head coaching job is always going to be one of the pristine jobs there are across all of college basketball. Despite the lack of success over the last two decades, the history, tradition and rich fandom all stand out far more than all but a few other programs. So, whoever takes on the job is always going to deal with the rollercoaster that is IU basketball.

While the fans have always been there — and so have their opinions — the noise has been taken up a level each and every year with the emergence of social media. So when Purdue head coach Matt Painter was asked about the IU opening and his thoughts about Indiana basketball in general, his response was direct.

“A fanbase isn’t the people who tweet. A fanbase is the people when you’re bleeding, they support you. “Painter said following IU’s 73-58 win on Sunday. “They jump on and off things here way too much. Support your coach, man. Support your players. Don’t tweet negative things about them. Be supportive. See how that works for you.

“They build them up and they overdo things. Like, quit overdoing shit — Just accurately talk about what’s actually happened. Don’t get recruits and then be like, ‘that’s Michael Jordan, that’s Scottie Pippen,’ and then they come here and they’re not like Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen — they’re good college players. They build it up and then go, ‘oh, what’s wrong?’ Well, they’re (fans) part of it.

“But it’s not their total fanbase — it’s just that everyone has a bad percentage of their fanbase now because of Twitter, and then we think that’s their fanbase. It’s not our fanbase, and it’s not their real fanbase either. And so I think that’s an important piece.”

While there is every part of a fanbase that resorts to social media to voice their opinion — the difference in the past 12 months has been the directness of Mike Woodson when addressing the fanbase, more importantly the ‘true fans’. During IU’s senior day last March, Woodson made it clear how he felt about the ‘noise’ outside of the locker room.

“And I am the coach here,” Woodson said. “Understand that — I’m not going anywhere.

“So much respect because the true fans understand. All that other shit, they don’t understand … I’ll say that again: Our true fans.”

Woodson was the guy to connect the multiple generations of the IU fanbase. The older generation that grew up with Bob Knight — to the younger group that has struggled to see the success that was Indiana basketball back in the late 20th century.

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After making the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons, Mike Woodson is now on the verge of two straight non-NCAA Tournament seasons. The bridge that he wanted to bring to the program is now very much cracked.

At the end of the day, the Indiana fans just want to see a team that plays with pride, effort and intensity — something that used to be part of wearing an Indiana jersey. That has been questioned at times over the last two seasons — especially this year.

With the transfer portal in full force and the way coaches and programs are building teams, the ‘Indiana’ pull has fallen aside. It doesn’t hold the same weight as before with less and less Indiana natives on the roster.

It’s been on full display this year, says IU assistant coach Yasir Rosemond.

“I think our guys are starting to understand to play hard,” Rosemond told Don Fischer on the weekly radio show Monday night. “Fans just want to see us play hard. They want to see some effort out there.

” … at the end of the day, if you’re playing hard at Indiana, if you’re playing hard at Assembly Hall, the crowd and the fans at Indiana are going to always appreciate it.”

So where does that leave things at Indiana?

The Hoosiers have made it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament just five times since 1994. If IU fails to make the NCAA Tournament this year, it’ll be the 10th time since the 2009-10 season where Indiana will be absent from postseason play.

Since that time, there have been three coaches to come through Bloomington. Since the last Final Four, there are have been four coaches across 23 years.

“It’s like anything — you gotta get a good person, you gotta get a good coach, and you gotta get a guy to understand. Indiana has had a lot of (coaching) turnover. I think you’ve got to look at the common denominators here more than anything,” Painter added. “I think that’s an important piece right here, like, don’t beat yourself. Don’t beat yourself. Let’s support somebody. Try that out for once every now and then.”

It’s not the lack of support that is there — it’s the frustration that a program that was once the fixture of college basketball has fallen so far. Should expectations be lowered? Maybe. But then you go into a dark hole of falling even further down.

IU basketball has all of the tools to be successful. Now and in the future.

Every successful college basketball program — past or present — believes they are the best, and expects nothing less. That’s not going to change any time soon with the IU fan base. And they shouldn’t be asked to.

So on to the next coach, and the next era of IU basketball — where the support will be there. But so will the expectations.

SEE ALSO: IU basketball needed a signature moment this year. A win like it got against Purdue did just that — ‘Tonight they refused to lose

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