Bruce D. Thomas

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics Keep up the good work on BTN, enjoy hearing you. And thanks for chatting!

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics It’s the lack of development, all around. Shot clock is a piece of it.

This is NOT basketball. Indiana High School Basketball needs a shot clock in the worst way. Stuff like this doesn’t prepare guys for the next level. Can’t understand how people continue to defend stuff like this. It’s bad for the game.

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics Additionally there’s really no “powerhouse states” anymore with the advent of prep schools and even the huge public/private divide. Ohio is a great example. Went from LeBron James/OJ Mayo/Jared Sullinger to Colin White and Gabe Cupps (no disrespect)

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics All I know is that Indiana high school basketball was once looked at as a powerhouse, nationally. Would you say it’s at that it’s at that point currently?

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics Gifted, and I’m sure you would agree rare and also a very, very small subset of high school basketball players. There will always be Dudes out there.

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics You’re saying this knowing we just had the best freshman class ever in college basketball? Kids still want it.

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics Why is that? Nothing to do with a shot clock

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics It’s a development issue. The development system in Indiana has fallen behind the curve.

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics I’m not blaming anybody, I’m saying the development is not what it was, as you said. And I think a lot of it is travel coaches in bigger roles that aren’t as good teachers of the game. But kids aren’t as interested in development and the patience that requires as they once were

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics So you blame the kids instead of the adults?

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics they once did nor the same drive, attention span, etc. All about IG highlights, going viral, etc. Can’t just blame coaching.

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics Coach needs to teach and coach the game better then?

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics You also shouldn’t base the game on the max 5% of kids playing in college. Teams rush shots, can’t move, screen, run sets now as is. Shot clock will make all that worse. There’s a reason bad shots are jokingly referred to now as “shot clock bombs”

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics IU, Purdue, & Notre Dame signed 10 HS kids this year, 2 from Indiana. They signed 11 hs kids in 2012, 9 from Indiana. They are still recruiting High school kids, just not in Indiana.

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics Maybe the product has gotten worse? I’d argue from IU’s perspective they’re going after the wrong kids, clearly. I doubt Catchings and Haralson left because of no shot clock. Plenty of kids like Ertel, Gardner Jr, Suder, Braden Smith are ready for college from HS hoops

@CoachThomas2021 @ballnpolitics The trainer culture was around when Greg Oden and North Central was the best high school in the country.

@RaphealDavis3 @ballnpolitics Maybe it’s the “trainer culture” and kids not actually knowing how to play the game that is hurting their case

@ballnpolitics @CoachThomas2021 The reason it should be done is to keep up with modern day basketball. You either change with the times, or get left behind.

@RaphealDavis3 All a shot clock will do is teach kids impatience and bad offense, chucking shots as it expires. Teams don’t know how to screen, cut, and move now. A shot clock just makes it worse.

@cburt92 Haha do you have them going anywhere this year? Sweet 16 for me 😬

@CoachThomas2021 That’s their punishment for Fing all of us

Every March Madness I have palpitations in picking Virginia on my bracket. Never forget 2018

@SethDavisHoops Seth, there’s no way Michigan was a 6 last year if they lost to Wisconsin. Should have been a 4 anyway! Beat Purdue twice…in any event, were likely a 6 to start the tourney so 2-1 gets/keeps them at a 5. If not, travesty anyway.

You are making stuff up. People don't like facts. Every year I get a bracket in the CBS studio right before the Selection Show. It always says something like "Michigan Wins" or whoever is about to win the Big Ten tourney final. That's because the committee has always made multiple contingency brackets throughout Sunday to account for all of the possibilities. I understand many fans are unaware of this. I would hope members of the media would at least want to pass along the truth. There has never been a year where the committee ignored a single game because they had to get the bracket to CBS in time for the show. Not a single time. Facts are stubborn things, so as usual I'll continue to take arrows on this. But I won't give up!

Head to head matters @ESPNLunardi!!! Great call by real committee to give Iowa State the nod based on that win over Houston.

@burackbobby_ Continue asking questions and exploring. God’s blessings to you!

Some Saturday thoughts on Jesus, five months into my journey: Admittedly, this has been far more challenging than I figured. Foolishly, I expected to read a few things, weigh the evidence, and quickly become either a believer or a disbeliever. That didn’t happen. If anything, I’m more confused now than when I started. As I’ve said before, I genuinely want to believe. I envy Christians. I want the faith, certainty, and hope they embody. I’m still holding out hope that I can get there. Truly. That said, I continue to find the evidence underwhelming. We are dealing with an extraordinary claim -- the most extraordinary of claims -- in a bodily resurrection. I struggle to see how the Bible, as it stands, provides enough evidence for something so unusual. Why does Paul, in the earliest writings, mention Jesus appearing to 500 people, yet none of the Gospels mention it? Why does John, the latest Gospel, seem to know so much more about Jesus than the other Gospels, which came before him? Why do his accounts read more like theology than history? Who exactly was John? Was he truly John the Apostle? Did Jesus clearly claim to be the Son of God? It seems widely agreed that he preached the Kingdom of God. But did he explicitly refer to himself as divine? Those statements appear much more prominently in the later writings. To be clear, I recognize that I could be missing, misreading, or misunderstanding something -- maybe a lot. Again, I want to believe. I’m not setting out to disprove Christianity. I detest atheists. They are the most miserable and evil people among us. My mission is the opposite. I want to become convinced. I’m just not there yet. Still, I find Jesus utterly fascinating. He is the most famous person in human history. No one has been written about, depicted, referenced, or portrayed more. He was a poor carpenter who lived to about 33 (some say 36), yet his lasting impact is unparalleled. And there are so many people, including brilliant people, who believe this human did extraordinary things that defy every law of science, from the miracles to the resurrection. Maybe he did. Nonetheless, there had to be *something* about him. And *something* had to have happened on that first Easter morning to turn what could have faded into legend into the dominant religion of the next two millennia. In short, I have so many questions and so few answers. As always, please reach out with your thoughts.

@burackbobby_ Additionally, early Christians were some of the most persecuted people in Rome, by both Jews and Romans. Why would disciples die for a lie? And, Jesus claimed his divinity throughout Scripture. Can deny it, but there’s no middle ground of “great teacher but not divine.”