8bucks

This is probably the goal but candidates play the game too and give all the right signals but often decide to stay when you need them to sign. UCLA even UNC had trouble until Roy changed his mind after they hired Daugherty. If you have followed other school hirings the last few years this happens a lot.

Finding that gem among the unprovens is not very easy. And I am sure the admin hiring committee asks what the coaches vision is for building this and come away convinced they have that deep down passion. Sampson said he would "walk on glass" for the job, Crean came in with a huge presentation, binders and sold them that he had that because "it's Indiana". I am sure Woody sold them on playing for RMK, coaching in the NBA, had Carmello tell them how great he was with players and had a vision too. Getting a guy that can cast a vision and then put it into place without demonstrated success at the big time level is a hope filled strategy. It could work or they might just be a great "used car salesmen" who is great at telling a story.

Well, now i do not think anyone is planning a parade yet. From where we were under Archie, yes it was a success and that best player got significantly better after Woody came. I certainly have doubts on whether he is the guy but time has to play out some more.

Gillespie also, reportedly, had some DUI issues to go along with a bad season in 2008. But UK had an easy out as Billy never signed a contract for some reason. He did make one NCAA tournament, then the NIT the next year and he may not have been having much recruiting success (not sure on that though). But he made it too easy to get rid of him. Woody is different since he is a former player and had success his first two years (not enough certainly, but a good start). Still a lot of season left to determine how things are here. If we play poorly down the stretch and recruiting looks dismal then things could happen. At this point of year 3, there is enough to raise some concerns, but not enough to warrant his firing.

Have we had an argument before about firing a coach after 3 years? I may have missed those.

Triangle and 2 is a great gimmick defense for high school level ball and I love it when run well. Not often are there a lot of kids that can score so if you can take away the top two you change the game. But you need a few kids to sell out on keeping those 2 from getting the ball and not get distracted when the ball goes to the 3 you want to shoot.

For those that think we have to make a change now don’t you think candidates would look at this quick move poorly? Woody makes the tourney 2 years in a row and the year after having 2 kids leave for the nba we fire him? Why would they come?

Or have the play ins at one of the teams place. Whoever is less bad gets to host

No one is assuming we are back based on the win last night though, right? It is more of a "I am not dead yet" sort of feeling and if you are still alive, there is still hope.

This is a really good analysis of some changes we have made on defense. I say it is really good because I have often said we help too much on D so if this agrees with me it must be good. Shows Woody and staff may not be as completely stubborn as we often assume. https://x.com/coachadragna/status/1752756308216819776?s=46&t=TVhilboXP9p7V48uwSRKqQ

Well, he did do that last year. I am not sure he is the guy to get us over the hump and certainly have doubts but he seems far from a terrible coach.

We saw a different Leal last night. Maybe the minutes he got vs Illinois helped, maybe hitting early shots helped but this was a different Leal. A confident Leal. Maybe he heard or saw the outside noise and the pressure it was putting on the guys and when called to step in he came in with the mindset to help find buckets. Maybe he spent more time in the gym leading up to the game thinking he has to help his guys and the school he loves. Maybe a little bit of all this. We have seen some moments where he provided some leadership, and we probably always felt he could shoot but it just did not come together before. Last night it did and when he did that step through in the lane for a bucket you could tell, this was a different Leal. This was a guy who knew he could help and started looking to do that. I also wonder if the staff encouraged him to look for his shot. They have to know how badly we have shot from 3 recently. After one of his shots I saw Hulls stand up and look/point/or something that made me wonder if he had been working with him on that. Encouragement from the staff to shoot not just run the offense can go a long way.

“Lucky”?

Interesting and if so, I cannot fault Dolson for doing what he can to buy some time (assuming another buyout would be problematic). It may be hard to keep fans at Assembly Hall from turning on him if we finish really poorly this year though. When fans start to boo at home games ADs tend to react ahead of schedule.

The big schools also already have at least one kid who was a top 15 QB and will bring in another in this class or next year. So at a smaller school you have less QB competition. That being said, I suspect he will go to a bigger program.

We are kind of like Alabama before Saban. Some small spurts that got us excited but nothing really anywhere close to back. Alabama finally decided they needed to go get their guy AND their guy said yes. Seems like IU went hard after their guy last time but when he said no the admin hoped Woody could pull out a miracle.

Porter seems odd in this list. He seems to be getting things rolling now

Would he go if not in lottery then?

I agree. Not watching is one thing but being there to watch one guy then leave before his game sends a strong message unless Woody discussed it with him

Good summary but the length of success is still a concern. Ideally, I would like to see him have success that includes a couple of recruiting cycles. While they are not reliant on one guy, did he just catch a break and get a couple of recruits that were way under the radar or developed later than their peers? If he can repeat that with a new batch it would say a lot about his ability to build a program for sustained success. Hopefully, he has another deep run, builds a strong class or recruits for next year and can wait a little bit for this job to open up.

Certainly varies with each kid/parent but one thing that seems consistent with kids is how their peers think of them. Having some big name coaches come to watch your game gets noticed by these peers. Not being there gets noticed too. It is kind of the proof of interest with many kids and if not them, then their parents. A couple of my kids were recruited a lower level and while one liked to talk with the coaches after games the other did not. Both noticed when coaches were there and that was often one of the first things they commented on after the game.

Has forgotten about that. Assuming that was all based on his past vs knowing we had Cigs if we wanted him.

Not doubting you but would be interested in the reporting on this. I have not seen anything about this, even if it now seems probable. Incredible coach but if he legit has this problem it should’ve been a big red flag.

Been following IU since 1980. Have seen the end of RMK, Davis, Kelvin, Crean, and Archie. Just focusing on those post RMK, there are always a few people who order their pitchforks and torches early. With Davis - Miller the early birds ended up being right perhaps in the end and if you look back maybe they were right and maybe they drew a conclusion (that ended up being right) but without sufficient data to really support a decision when they became convinced they were right. I doubt very many of us are highly confident that we are on the right path. The current season will reveal a lot more data. If I decide I need a pitchfork I am sure I can order one later. Those of you that have yours and are absolutely convinced Woody needs to go, Dolson is a terrible AD, the rest of us are fools I ask that you just be patient and chill. Even if you are right, running around trying to rally a mob in January is not going to do anything productive is it? As for Dolson, the same kind of applies (not enough data to make a decision). He seemed to get a great guy for IUFB. Pamela Whitten was hired after we hired Woody. Maybe when we have to make another hire she will be able to help Dolson make a great hire. Let’s see. I am usually in the middle pack to order my mob gear. As I look at some sure fire hires I would call, if I were the AD, many of them had a few meh years to start off. We may be in that period now with Woody. Some data that would help determine this would be our play down the stretch. The play of guys that will be coming back. Landing some notable recruits. Remember last year when we beat PU twice. It was clear then that Woody could get things done that many in the BT could not. Maybe that was clever coaching, maybe it was having TJD and JHS. Well, if we land some notable recruits and have a strong core back, then it is not unreasonable to feel better about next year If The wheels fall all the way off. We lose most of our games, Liam decommits, we have to settle for low ranked guys I think things will take care of themselves at that time

Seems he has more offensive freedom as well.