OKHOOSIER

Well they literally can't be or Malik's foul problems are really going to be an issue! Can't auto bench with two fouls if there is no bench lmao... I am joking of course, I am sure we will fill at least 6 of the 7 open slots. I hope.

Absolutely, and to be clear I am 100% in support of college players getting paid. What I am not in support of is the IU basketball program being in such a state that we have to try and persuade players with money to build over half the roster. I want our NIL resources to be a tool to finish building a championship roster, not a lure just to fill it out.

That is all true, except coaching, play style, and program still matters. I mentioned this earlier but it was pretty widely reported Dickinson took less money than he could have because he wanted to play at Kansas. And I am not talking rumor mill stuff, like interview with Bleacher Report type reporting. Did he still get a bag that probably dwarfed his UM bag? Of course he did, but that was not the only motivation. We are not the Yankees laughing at the CBA or the Lakers laughing at the luxury tax when others simply do not have the money. This notion we can outbid for high level targets is baffling to me. Our NIL would be FAR more effective when combined with "cheaper" high school recruiting. Instead we have to build half a roster. It is madness.

We’ve got three years of evidence and quotes that point to Woody simply not believing the 3PT line is a viable strategy to win games. Period. I more or less expected this. He is obsessed with stars and athletes, which, given his systems is probably what he needs. I don’t believe it’s a recipe for major success in CBB. The ceiling is what we saw with TJD and JHS. Thats just the reality. The Tucker kid doesn’t move the needle for me at all. He was a G League Ignite lean until they disbanded the team. And was the only top 30 player not committed elsewhere until Liam bounced on us. In the words of my man Kenny Powers this is simply about Dollar Dollar Bills Yall. It’s a desperation move, not filling a need per se.

Woody is burning through Simon 100 dollar bills in the portal?

Mike Woodson should not be the head basketball coach at Indiana University.

And that is before you start talking about that we need a PG that can create off the dribble and a shooting guard that can actually shoot the basketball. The roster is so flawed with MR, MM, TG and to a lesser extent Cupps I honestly do not know how this gets pieced together. One would have to assume given Woody's history MR, MM and TG are locked into some combination of 5/4/3/2 as starter minutes.. Much in the same way TJD did, Ware hid a lot of the warts in Woody's offense (even though they were clearly visible). Adding a dude that is a mid range threat, even one as seemingly talented as this one simply allows defenses to sag and crowd the paint and extended foul line-- which has been the read on beating Mike Woodson's offense for 90 games. In a vacuum it can work sometimes when it shouldn't (JHS going unconscious from 2 at PU), but throw in the confusing defensive scheme that can only really be effective with freak athletes at every position and length to boot and it is a recipe to not win many games in CBB. You didn't have to be a basketball savant to see that even with TJD and JHS we were heading in this direction without major stylistic and roster changes.

Replying to you because I am not trying to platform this dude and you know he probably loves seeing his tweets regurgitated here. This whole "money others cant match" take is just so ludicrous it is hard to fathom. We need 7 players. All are going to need to be paid. A team like UNC or UK or Kansas does not need 7 players. Simple math says we could not have outbid Kansas for Dickinson as an example. He is worth "max money" on the open market in CBB, and he did not even do that, Kansas was not his highest offer, he took less money...To play for Bill Self on a good team. These teams have as much money as we do, and coaches who do not even need it in some cases. . The only players we are going to outbid for are ones the top of the pool are not going after. Anyone believing we could pay like 1.5m or more and outbid another high major basketball school is delusional. Hell, outside of the lottery, late first round rookie money is only around 2.5 a year. This is insanity.

UL seemingly getting further down their list of wants is really concerning, particularly when we let Dusty slip away in conference. There is also a very real chance next year is Cal's last at Kentucky. I really do not want our job open at the same time as UK.

I will say, based on some of the rotations at the end of the season if you squinted, there was a tournament team there. Shooting is still a problem and athletic guards would still torch us, and I might get killed for this take, but we would have been miles better with MR off the bench as sixth man playing center. A starting lineup of KW, MM, TG, AL, X/GC would have been interesting to me and we never really saw it until the win streak. I hated playing two centers and MM at the 3. He is not a 3 at the high major level. Small ball 4.

It is probably going to be another long season, but oh well, Go Tigers. Fun though they are finally playing the Braves at home in interleague so I will get to see them in person.

I want my Mother Bears money. I miss it so much, my MIL goes frequently when she has to go Btown for stuff and send s me pizza pics lol. I still blow peoples minds in the south putting goldfish on salads. I use them instead of croutons at home. IU should part ways with Mike Woodson.

Are people advocating for that? My only thoughts are that he needs to be used differently if our goal is to win basketball games. His shooting splits are pretty insane for someone on a mismanaged roster. Using him and Ware at the same time clogged the lane. I want to see his passing improve-- but he needs shooters to pass to. When there is MM as the only reliable option from 3 the whole offense sorta breaks down. Whether it is coaching (I tend to lean here when it comes to not looking to pass out of double teams) or simply his vision needs to improve I don't know, but it is the most glaring difference between running the offense through him vs. TJD. The defense is also a conundrum, he is 5 in college but we havent been playing him there. I would guess some of the silly foul issues would be alleviated by not having to guard high major 4s and switching onto wings. Just IMHO.

I have wondered along the way about MM at the 3. I do not think he will leave unless for the draft because of it. It became clear early on he is a college 4, and playing him there would have probably resulted in more results like we saw at the end of the season. That said, he clearly envisions himself as a 3 and was promised minutes at the 3 here and Woody to his credit or detriment stuck to it when he was clearly a liability on defense (benching instead of going small). He got better, but if we were looking at it from a purely program wins standpoint a lineup of Ware, MM, TG, X, GC with MR off the bench probably wins more games. That is a long winded way of saying I do not think MM transfers, its NBA or bust.

I think the next 7-10 days are going to be telling at least for the guards. Several high level guys entered the portal this week that we desperately need to overhaul the offense. So far the biggest commits have been to teams still playing. Gonzaga and Alabama. I would really like to land Mack from Harvard.

That was hard to watch. Of course working for RMK came up.

My B. I’m 100% back to chillin. Fire Mike Woodson

We had minutes and money last year for guards and they all said no. We got one impact transfer. I am not a rocket surgeon but the writing was on the wall. We weren’t getting 2-4 high level impact transfers. No matter how much money we were throwing around. Someone said it earlier, but money is good, but having fun is better. And anyone believing we could drastically outbid other big programs for top level talent is completely deluded. I work with several UNC and Duke alumni. Some pretty connected. Our 6 million dollars doesn’t set us apart and was never going to. It’s a pipe dream. And that’s before you even get into coaching and system. We had the NPOY runner up and a lottery pick and we finished 3 games out of first place and got nuked in the round of 32.

Right?? Some of the “don’t bash woody, that can’t be true,” stuff I read is hilarious. It isn’t opinion, you literally only have to go back and listen. Woody has told you over and over again he’s arrogant and thinks he’s the smartest basketball mind in the room. Other team have 90 games of data to point to and say, “IU doesn’t value shooters or guard play.” This was always going to be a disaster and that was before Liam left.

Not to get too far off topic but Cignetti has the goods. I really hope he can find some success here. Fire Mike Woodson.

I don’t think anyone taking something as gospel is your fault, it’s theirs. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I appreciate every tidbit we get from you or others. It’s my own decision as the reader to make a choice whether it seems plausible. It would appear Woody has successfully divided the fan base. Mark me not a true fan I guess. Hope you stick around.

Ware officially in the draft.

I’ll add that one doesn’t need to be clairvoyant to see that anyone who stays is getting a huge pay increase. Anyone transferring probably was urged in that direction by lack of a better offer to stay. I would not be surprised at all if what you said was true and they got doubled or tripled before announcing their returns. It’s common sense not hyperbole.

Don’t say bad things about Mike Woodson. He probably has a very valid and very important reason for not being there. Portal stuff probably.

You posed the best case scenario hypothetical, so what about worst case. Say we start the season something like 5-5 or get to January in 16th, 17th, or 18th place and trending towards missing the BTT. Would you be in favor of a mid season firing? Or do we just ride it out? This is the problem behind the “former player vs. current coach” debate IMO. And for the record, while personally I would still prefer to find the coach of the future, if he somehow goes to a EE or FF he’s coming back and would deserve to. I’m not even willing to entertain the idea of him winning a natty with team mercenary hahaha