pumpfake

FYI. yootoob link to the introductory presser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu9WBFM6esA

Looking forward to the presser to hear from Coach Woodson. I'm looking for the enthusiasm for IU and the position that I never really got from Archie.

Heck yea! He'll always be part of the IU family...

As I reflect on this process and result, something just dawned on me: Coach Woodson has been involved in the NBA for about 40 years as a player and as a coach. He's apparently highly respected and liked in that fraternity. Frequently we see sons of ex-NBA players rise in the recruiting rankings, so it would seem Woodson would have a solid "in" with some of those guys. Significant? Not a major reason to hire a guy, but it could be a real benefit down the line.

Sounds interesting. With a former player at the helm and his son on staff, what would Danny possibly find to ***** about with IUBB?

Matta as GM. Woodson as head coach & director of player personnel. Is Dolson building what amounts to an NBA organizational structure at the college level? If so this may be a stroke of genius. I saw some media person a couple of weeks ago saying IU should embrace a evil-empire type approach to basketball. This may be a route to that.

Good post! Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that in this situation SD and the people involved n these decisions know far more than we do and some of them likely know more about how to run a CBB program than any of us.

Those two and Stewart were who I first thought of. Now we know PS wasn't one of the no-shows.

Not being a wise guy, but I want CMW to get whoever he thinks would do the best job.

I don't know if there's video of it, but it's claimed Wilt Chamberlain was able to dunk free throws. https://sports.stackexchange.com/questions/16974/could-wilt-chamberlain-dunk-from-the-free-throw-line

Speaking of individual dunks, Mike Conley Sr. was in a contest for non-basketball playing athletes. As a long jumper he was flying, took off from the FT line and dunked. He didn't let go of the rim and ended up horizontal in the air. It's in this compilation:

Yep. There was a rash of broken backboards that gave rise to the breakaway rims used today. I suspect the rims are more forgiving today because of that.

If he fails he'll probably be relegated to being a commentator on some obscure sports network. Like "Stadium", or something like that...

OT. What if we had "poached" him. Imagine the board reaction when they found out it was 'Stephens' and not 'Stevens'. Whoa!

I hope the two first things CMW does are: 1a. Review tape of our current roster and determine who fits in with what he envisions. If a player isn't a good fit, let them know. Same goes for players in the portal. If they don't have the abilities/potential he wants or are fully invested - let 'em go. 1b. Focus on recruiting/attracting other players in the "portal". None of this garbage that was alleged to have occurred in 2017 - let the coach decide who he keeps and who he brings in. No need to hamstring the guy out of the gate.

Exactly. I don't follow the football team as closely as BB, but I was totally underwhelmed when Tom Allen was hired without even a search. So far it's turned out damn well - in large part because of TA's enthusiasm. It's said that Woodson really wants this job and has for several years. IMO there's a definite chance this works out well (DISCLAIMER: No coaching hire ever comes with an assurance of success).

IMO, not likely. Matta appears to have permanent health issues from his back problems. If that was the "plan" I'd consider it a greater risk than hiring Mike Woodson. This is Dolson going "outside the box", or at least against conventional wisdom. I like the idea (unless it fails).

Who knows? Perhaps other candidates were interviewed or there were negotiations. We will probably never know much about how the search progressed.

Must be powered by the same software as HSN....

I'd agree. I'll add that it'd be really great if we can bolster the staff with CBB recruiting/coaching experience.

Maybe, the guys you mentioned were contacted to guage their interest and it wasn't reciprocal. There were 2 grand slams and maybe 5 realistic home runs out there. I'd have absolutely preferred one of those, but if they weren't interested I'll take this approach over going for the mid-major or current assistants with limited/no head coaching success. NO coach is a guarantee, and the ones closest to it would have been unlikely anyway.

Don't forget more recently, Kofi Cockburn....

I have no interest in the NBA, but that's what interests young players today so there's that. If the top recruits want to play in the NBA, and play in a system that is like and prepares them for the NBA, a veteran NBA player and coach makes sense. I don't know how well it will translate, but Dakich claimed the previous staff did little to no instruction on shooting - Woodson was a damn fine mid-range shooter. Hopefully he can teach the skill.

I'd be more inclined to say Geronimo is the one who won't return. His "farewell tweet" sounded pretty final. The only player whose parents might be familiar with MW could be the Franklins - but I don't know if they've lived in Indy that long.

Now Dolson needs to hire a world-class back and spine specialist. For Woodson & Matta. This has the potential to go really well, or really poorly. IDK. If we couldn't get one of the few grand slam hires, this might have been worth the gamble? One more thing: Screw Boston, screw the Celtics, and screw Brad Stevens...lol