cthomas

IU 71 Meatchicken 67

CJ can be so much more than he is currently. I keep waiting for the light to come on. He doesn't need to hunt shots or make highlight reel plays to the team better. In my opinion his niche right now should lockdown defense and offense from that and rebounds. If he just did that his value would go way up. So much about the success of this team is guys finding what they can do best and just doing that.

This should be the next step in his development. Too many times he seems to make up his mind he is going to the basket come hell or high water. He would, and the team by extension, be so much better if he improves that aspect of his decision making.

He said his team was the least penalized team in their league the past couple of years. How many drives did our penalties kill for us or extend for our opponent. How many points did we lose or give away. Cleaning that up alone will get us a few more wins. Fundamentally sound and disciplined football is what I want as priority one.

If he coaches half as good as he talks, we are immediately better. This is a step up in competition but I like that he is confident he can handle it. We need what he brings as a coach and we also need better players to move significantly up in conference. But, that said, better coaching probably has us in a bowl this year.

I'm not sure open scholarships matter all that much in the NIL era. If we really wanted a player we would find a way to make it happen.

It's CMW's team to coach until it's not. XJ or no XJ, he will put on the floor the guys he thinks give us the best chance to win. He sees them in practice and the staff has input as well. As far as the zone goes, I wasn't that impressed with it. Nobody looked like they were comfortable or knew where they were supposed to be. If the opponent can't shoot threes, then maybe. Otherwise, our zone three point defense is worse than our m2m.

Exactly. I'm 75 so if he coached here ten years, that's probably the rest of my life.

Maybe, but I think you are right in saying it won't be here. If Fitzgerald is a no for the college president then Gruden probably is to.

I don't see a college program hiring Gruden with the type of baggage he has. Some things just can't be overlooked in today's environment.

IU 76 Turtles all the way down 66

Reading through all of this I have to ask, is it too early to start drinking?

I've been impressed by Ware so far given the criticism he had from last year. He has been in my opinion clearly our best player. I think we are looking better, defense is improving, MM is starting to look like what I hoped he would be. We are not going to be a good volume shooting three point team so our three point defense had better elite going forward.

Different role and he's not comfortable with it yet. Sheehy went through something similar when he was a senior.

First time playing for me and I in no way should have been third. Pure luck. Really appreciate the effort put in to run it.

I agree about the job performance part but I haven't seen anything that suggests that he is anything less than a good person. I absolutely hate how we take sports to an incredibly absurd level of importance. It's just sports. We all want our favorite team to be good. But it's just sports. I refuse to crucify a guy because he wasn't the coach we wanted. In terms of IU football who has been in the last 50 years? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but this is not life altering stuff.

The buyout that we are all criticizing is nothing more than a smart business decision by CTA. Not one of us wouldn't have taken that deal. The fault lies with the people who offered it. Sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it doesn't. I think CTA is a good man who is taking a lot of crap right now and it probably hurts. I believe he really thought he could be the guy who made us succeed. He wasn't. Let's keep this about job performance and not make it personal against CTA.

I completely understand that one of his guys would have his back. I wouldn't expect anything else. But sometimes it's just time for a change. I like CTA, he seems to be a good man. I wanted him to succeed in one of the toughest jobs in America. He hasn't. I wish him the best but it is time to move on. And I no way expect the next guy to do better. It's just the way the cycle works.

Another soul crushing defeat in a lifetime of them. Nothing else to say.

Once again, I am right there with you. I love CMW as a person and loved him as a player. But, in this job he will be judged by the performance on the court. I want him to be the guy who brings us back to prominence so that the next guy takes over a top program. Man, I've been watching since the Archie Dees days and have seen a lot. Hopefully we can get back to that level of success.

No argument from me. But it was pretty clear at the end that Crean wasn't the answer. He couldn't capitalize on his really good teams with Zeller and Yogi. I thought Crean was a good guy and had some ability to coach offense, but everything else was a mess. I didn't like how it ended but couldn't see a way forward for Coach Crean.

They also turned the ball over on about every third possession and played no defense. Retrospect is often much kinder than the reality of what was happening at the time.

I spent a lot of my early years listening to IU games on the radio. Really enjoyed the years when every game was available on over the air TV. I will never never pay for extra streaming services beyond what I already have. Fans no longer matter, just revenue from broadcasting contracts. The Pacers have done the same thing with the Bally contract. It shuts out people who lack the means to pay for the service. In my opinion, not a great way to build a fanbase. Ok, I'm done with my grumpy old man rant.

I think it's safe to say at this point that he is NEVER fouling out and he will rarely get called for camping out in the lane. Opponents have to accept that they have to beat Purdue with him on the floor. The best attack might be five out with a three point barrage and constant cutting to the basketball. I don't believe they can be beaten in a conventional manner.

But.....they are good and will have to be dealt with. OMG, I hope not but this could be their year. They've gotten older and added pieces to a team that was good already. CMP's blueprint is working for now and he is a good coach and good guy. We need to step up our game.