OKHOOSIER

Purdue in A FF. Gross

My big question today is what gets us to 1000. A Purdue win of a Purdue loss?

If Cupps has to play big minutes or start next year we are in trouble. He needs spot minutes situationally.

The problem is replacing ware or changing the system. I don’t believe he changes the system, so Woody has to have an NBA caliber 5 or it gets real ugly next year. Maybe he will change his system and modernize, but I’m skeptical. It’s pretty clear MR and MM were made promises to be developed as 4 and 3 respectively. I am guessing Tucker wants to be a 2. I’ll be shocked if he isn’t looking for a starter level 5 right now.

I’ll be interested in where shertz ends up.

What a comeback and performance. USCe is very very good. Would not be shocked at all to see them barely tested from here on.

There is no planet where we should have been a 4 and in this region. Horse sh*t. I refuse to believe there are 12 teams better than IU in the country.

I am stressed out. What an effort.

LFG

Good foul. Make her earn it.

I love these jerseys with the infinity stripe.

Bruh. I am tempted to refer to our NIL funds as The Voluptuous Warchest forever now.

We had a guy using “getting to know the team” in February as an excuse. And now he needs to turnover over half the roster. You hit the nail on the head with how I view Tucker. Liam filled an obvious and quantifiable need on this roster. Tucker really doesn’t other than filling out the roster. And I agree with you on the NBA thing. He didn’t just come here to come off the bench. So my assumption is what we have is our out of position 2 guard that can’t shoot 3s pushing Gallo to the bench and keep playing MM and MR out of position. I’d almost wager a bet we land someone much better than a bench rim protector. Woody will land a high level 5. And it will be Groundhog Day.

There has been snark in both directions and a couple posters have been downright hostile towards you and others. I’m certainly guilty of snarky BS lol. However, I also wouldn’t be in a I LOVE COACH WOODSON thread trying to argue they shouldn’t. I think that’s more your point (not to put words in your keyboard). I will always root for IU to win, but count me as President Emeritus of the #nottruefanclub until Woodson is fired. So I will keep comments of that ilk here.

I don’t begrudge Woody for spending it, I begrudge woody for mismanaging the program to the point where we have to use NIL just to field a team. Transfer portal NIL should be a tool to fill out a good roster— not build one. UCONN is a great example this year, they added exactly 1 player via transfer portal for 2023, and he might be their best player— Cam Spencer. Top-5 HS class last year, 94th ranked transfer portal class. Thats how you build sustained success and if Woody had done that we wouldn’t be here. And no one would be belaboring the spending. IMHO.

Well said, and I will add Tucker just simply does not move the needle on the fire Woody train. We trade an objectively MUCH better 5-star who filled a need for one who really doesn’t fill a need other than a body that was obviously holding out for more cash. This is nothing like MR, JHS or MM and those recruiting situation. Were they all “short?” Sure I guess, but MM and MR were late de-commits. People call the JHS one short but he was committed for a full year before he enrolled in the school. Without Ware this team was sub .500, with some horrific early losses, and Woody would probably be fired. Full stop. Army, FGCU and Morehead are losses without Ware. What I will be watching for next is the center. I suspect Woody lands another high level starting center (we’ve showed their development and commitment to pounding the ball inside). If (when) that happens the reality of the situation will be clear— MR and MM are entrenched as 4/3 despite being out of position and history repeats itself. Then, to have any chance of sniffing the upper half of the conference we HAVE to land a dynamic PG/CG that can create and score off the bounce and shoot the 3. Woodys offense does not work without it. We’ve seen it. At its best with JHS creating his own shot, or good X slashing. And we know what the ceiling is. Sorry for the long winded regurgitation of your thoughts. Fire the guy better at recruiting in March than having his team playing basketball games in March.

Is it crazy to wonder about Liam? It is not completely unheard of to have a player recommit. I find it strange he has not landed yet, especially with Kansas getting bounced before the SS.

To be clear, Liam decommitting was about 500 pages in. We are back to a 1 person class. It is good news, it does not make Woody a good college basketball coach.

Does this basically signal Gallo off the bench? (assuming we get a starting 2)

Well luckily no one else is recruiting our targets and we have infinity money... /s This basically sums up where I am at. 2-3 impact players would be a home run more or less. It is not enough to fix the holes due to the mismanaged roster. My guess is it ends up with one or two impact at positions we actually need, and then stacking the highest talent level we can to fill out a roster. I also see a lot of folks hoping we are waiting for some tournament teams to end. Last year we landed one person who played in the SS or beyond...Walker who had been reduced to bit minutes at Miami. On paper I am fairly confident our transfer class will be in the top-5 once ranked out by 247 and on3, but I think that will be a by-product of size. Parts being greater than the sum so to speak. But, it is fun to speculate on an absolute best case scenario combined with scheme changes. Also, watched some tape on Conwell and I have developed the same love affair as hov. Offer that kid max money the day before he declares for the portal.

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?