cthomas

Love me some Robert Johnson.

I was about to take a leap of faith and jump. Now you're saying I should leave the parachute on?

Something happening here.

If she is a person who recognizes what athletic programs can do to bring visibility to the university, great. I also hope her primary objective is to raise IU's status as a world class university. I hate to say it, but Mitch Daniels has been kicking our @$$ the last few years.

At this point, I'm not sure the staff was the problem. I loved the Miller hire. I thought he would be successful and be here at least for the rest of my life. I was wrong. He was too rigid and stubborn to adapt to his personnel and put them in a position to succeed. Instead, he forced a system that our players couldn't make work. The staff was probably fine, just not the head coach. CMW seems different.

Every choice seems to fill a need. CMW appears to take advice from others and recognize areas where he needs help. I love that Fife is on the staff and the edge that he brings. Everyone there knows what winning basketball looks like. I truly believe if this doesn't succeed, we have way bigger problems. I'm usually naively optimistic at the beginning of a season, but this feels different.

If it doesn't, I'll believe there is a much deeper problem. I don't know how IU could be better positioned for success. All the elements seem to be in place. For me, there is nothing not to like.

Ahh yes, the splendid splinter.

If he can figure out how to make it go in, I don't care what it looks like. Hulls had a weird shot that started at the side of his head. Worked for him.

This staff is what I thought CAM's would become. These guys are there in two weeks. I love the attitude and I don't think anyone of CMW's team will shy away from expectations.

I have to think that the staff in place is pretty good at evaluating talent. And, I also think CMW is comfortable having hard, realistic conversations. He talks and acts like he is here to win in the short term, not some time down to road.

Some coaches see a player for who he is, others see a player for who he can be. I think CMW is the latter.

I hope, and think he will, build a style of play that fits the talent on hand rather than the other way around. 'System' coaches really worry me. It almost always ends up being 'pound a square peg into a round hole' kind of thing. And, I can't wait three years for the team to be able to play defense.

This sets up perfectly for CMW. Our young talent from last year is a year older and will undoubtedly benefit from a change in philosophy and staff. Get a couple of pieces from the portal to fill the holes and we are automatically better than last year. It may take a bit to get off the ground, but this team should get better and better as the year goes on.

I understand that no coach is a sure thing, but CMW is saying and doing all the right things to be successful. He is surrounding himself with people who are great in there own right. For my perspective, I don't know what else he could do.

I like that CMW said he's a hands-on coach and likes to be on the court. I think his assistants will probably share that approach. Sounds like a much more personal and less clinical style.

At some point I think we should just trust that CMW knows what he is doing. If he wants someone, then I'm OK with that. I don't see how this can possibly go wrong at this point. Every move seems calculated and intentional. IU basketball is moving into a new era and I couldn't be happier. He is surrounding himself with people who fit a vision and can help him achieve it. I don't doubt his coaching ability for a second. He has been involved with way more sophisticated offenses and defences than he will ever see at the college level. I think he'll do just fine. Let him build the monster.

Sad but true. In fact it has probably never been as clean as some of us want to think.

CMW doesn't seem like a guy who would tolerate anything that would damage IU's reputation. If there was a question about him, no way he would be part of the staff.

This will be interesting. From the department, I can see wanting to do something that keeps IU basketball front and center. But I heard Coach Fife be pretty specific that they were not going to tolerate social media criticism from parents and relatives. To the point of saying the players would be held accountable for that kind of stuff. I don't think he would have addressed that without CMW's approval. So, the question is does an active program social media profile encourage the interactions that they want to avoid. Fife went so far as to say 'take your son and leave. We'll win with you or without you.' I just am sceptical that CMW wants to be on the cutting edge when it comes to social media. He did also say he wanted to 'insulate' the program. Will he interesting to see what happens. Remember, we just hired an old school kind of coach. Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Would love to have him. It will be interesting to see how CMW and staff evaluate kids and who they settle on. Woodson seems considerably more open minded in his approach to, well everything. I like everything I've heard him say. Hopefully he'll look at how a kid can help the team and not just how they fit into a system.

From everything that I have read about CMW's relationship with players and colleagues, he has the exact temperament that I have been hoping for in a head coach. Compassionate and no nonsense. I believe he will hold everyone accountable and at the same time do everything he can to put them in a position to succeed.

That's why I love him as a coach. There is no hate, arrogance, or phony in that man. Just the confidence that he knows what he is doing.

Great example of what I meant. When something went wrong in my department I always said it was either a people problem or a process problem. Either way, I analyzed and fixed.

There different ways to lead. I was involved with my people on a daily basis. I never talked about 'I' and 'you' in meetings. It was always about 'we'. That worked best for me. I asked them to commit to me and I committed to them. We were successful that way. I see a whole lot of that in CMW.