OKHOOSIER

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

Nothing he did as a player has anything to do with Mike Woodson, bad basketball coach. I haven’t said anything about Mike Woodson as a player, because I never saw Mike Woodson play basketball. I have only watched Mike Woodson coach basketball, and Mike Woodson is not good at coaching college or NBA basketball. This is a really strange argument right now you guys are having lol. Fire Mike Woodson.

I’m old enough to have kids at IU, and have many friends that do, and were not alive much less young for Mike Woodson, IU basketball player. I don’t know him like that and huge numbers of fans are the same. I know Mike Woodson as sub .500 NBA coach and guy who called me not a true fan. I would venture a guess there are plenty in my demographic who could not care less about Woody the IU player. I certainly don’t. I care about the program, not Mike Woodson or what he did or did not accomplish as a player. To my eyes, it seems like the money people are seeing a guy they rooted for in the 70s and not the bad basketball coach. I can empathize with people who knew him that way. It would be difficult for me to see Oladipo or Zeller trash their legacies.

Exactly this. I don’t know yet who UL pulls, but so far it looks like they are not garnering the interest I would have assumed with some of the numbers being leaked. Our recruiting of HS players is completely irrelevant until we get a new coach. Lame duck coaches don’t win recruiting battles. Hell, we didn’t win any when he wasn’t a lame duck. Our brand isn’t the same as it was even when TC took the job. “It’s Indiana” was a lifetime ago. I think the list of coaches willing to risk their careers on a really difficult rebuild gets shorter and shorter the longer Woody is allowed to play “NBA Jam” with our college roster.

Never heard of her.

“Good game Rusty.”

Can't wait to see Dusty stalking the IU sideline in a Michigan sweater.

I agree that Dusty is somewhat of a risk, but I also think that opinion is another case of letting great get in the way of good. The reality of the situation is we let a native son who was a serious commodity on the market go elsewhere to keep a program “legend.” One HUGE difference is Dusty is fireable whereas Mike Woodson, apparently, is not. And herein lies the conundrum. Instead of taking a chance on a guy we can move on from if he fails, we are keeping someone we can’t. I’ve moved on to acceptance, and that means I am going to hope Woody doesn’t crater the program for being gifted an ego year. Despite common sense pointing in that direction.

I am not a smart man, nor am I a "numbers guy." However, based on my rudimentary understanding of mathematics, it would appear we are Grambling State. In all seriousness, this is a pretty amazing data set, and to see just how far we are from the UCONNs and Arizona's of the world. You are doing the Lord's work. Feels like you could juxtapose this over guard/wing commitments over the last three years of recruiting and find some trends...

If that actually happens, it will be a great example of what serious basketball school looks like. Assuming there is not some sort of negotiation and they straight up fire him, that would be the second largest NCAA coaching buyout in college football history. It is a staggering amount to move on from a basketball coach, much less one with his history at the school. And you can bet the farm they would throw some HUGE contracts at the usual suspects. Like nine figures-- and I don't care what anyone says about "not coaching" anymore or staying put, you start putting Alabama football HC numbers around, people are going to listen. Kentucky opening after the success Cal has had would be an absolute market resetting nightmare.