pumpfake

Yep, and we have posters pencilling them in and calculating NIL and minutes/game. And, oh yeah, suggesting we could be a top-15 team.

Reading several threads on RR and it's both amusing and depressing. Amusing in how all week there was an air of how, being UK they could just offer megabucks and multiple accomplished coaches would come running. Also, it was almost unanymous that Pope wasn't worthy of consideration - but now they're beginning to coalesce in support (sounds familiar). Depressing that the criticisms are similar to us (hired only because he was an ex-player, never won on the big stage, etc.) with Woodson, yet Pope is markedly more qualified than Woodson was (is). What will the landscape be if/when we look to make a change?

It just occurred to me - imagine the angst around here if May were still available and was in "talks" with UK. Yikes!

Yes to almost all of these. I would add how dejected I was when the news came out that Alan Henderson had injured his knee. Despite 2002, that was our last powerhouse team (IMO)

I hope this isn't just a "coping mechanism", but I want IU basketball to be fun to watch again. A good, high activity system for offense and defense is what I want - no more of this crap where our "shooters" run down to their designated spots and wait before moving (if they do at all). No more slow help letting opponents go on runs from behind the arc - I see little effective difference between Archie/Woody in this regard.

And if/when we get off the pot, we'll be left standing with our schmeckle in our hand.

3 Floyds has a new variant called Armond Dust...

Yes, and I see him as a valuable player to retain if there is a change next year.

Ideally the best scenario would be hiring a younger coach who can be here for 10+ years. On the other hand, an older, sure-thing guy could basically rehabilitate the program for a future coach. We were led to believe that was the strategy behind hiring Woodson, but he was the opposite of a sure-thing. He was a first time cbb coach who had never been involved in much of what is essential (recruiting would be the prime example). Dolson needs to be ultra-prepared, and willing to put it all on the line for the best coach he can hire (or be allowed to hire).

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Just look at the contrast in the school coomercials shown on B10 broadcasts. The other schools show laboratories, while we show fat kids wandering around the campus.

I finally realized what Woodson actually meant when he said he was here to "compete for championships" - he meant make it into a tournament where "championships" are decided. The 1st round of the NCAATand B10T is, to him, doing his job. Now he and staff have "not too much" work to do to ensure they make it into the expanded B10 tournament next year. Then he'll figure he's still performing satisfactorily. If he meant actually seriously contending for champions, he's failed spectacularly.

I became a fan in the early seventies as a young teen and was an avid follower of college basketball (not USPS avid, but who is) with my street & smith's & sporting news publications. I remember in the early 80's looking down on teams that celebrated wildly just for making the tourney. Now we're one of those teams. Few traditionally elite basketball schools have fallen so far and for so long. We're headed toward SF Dons territory. It won't be fixed without bold moves.

That's just great! Now we need a new choreographer too.

Leal is a good student and smart kid. He's in the Kelley program workingtoward a valuable degree. It was a total no-brainer: work toward a business degree and play the game of basketball while getting paid handsomely. I saw it as the most practical approach for AL, not some great coaching job to retain a modest bench contributor.

If the third is who I suspect it is, why bother? Once a masshole, always a masshole. I really fear our choices in a year will be limited, with no consensus preferred candidate.

I wonder how the coaching landscape/carousel will look this time next year. It may very well bear no resemblance to how it appears today. I fear we'll be in a "day late, dollar short" predicament (deja vu anyone?). With recruiting DOA and possibly another flawed roster, I could see targeted coaches saying No Thanks.

I feel like a little Jewish kid on Christmas day....

Well, if Dusty himself holds similar concerns, it kind of supports those questiong his ability to withstand the pressures here (r.e. crying after taking the FAU job). IDK, it's still a lot of conjecture and may be moot if he takes a new job soon.

At this point, I'd welcome Maxwell Smart.

Has Woodson or the Simon-Skojdt's announced who will be managing our new Department of Strong-@$$ Offers?

It's true about most teams having lots of cash to throw around - especially major conference teams with big football & TV revenue. That's why we may not harvest the portal like the NY Yankees with no salary cap. Top players can get similar money and play in better programs with a greater prospect of winning.

This. Woodson is NOT a teacher of the game. He is NOT a motivator. He is not a good assembler of rosters. And he definitely is NOT an X's & O's master. He is a manager of talent and his ability to win is completely dependant on having superior talent. It appears to me that he needs vastly superior talent to just be competitive with really good teams. We'll see if the gamble of trying to acquire a roster using a fool's fat checkbook succeeds. My guess is we won't get the massive haul of studs CMW is counting on and however successful he is at it, he won't know how to use it.

Win close against lesser competition. check Get blown out by better teams. check CJ shoots lights out when it doesn't matter. check Same song all season.

Like the old joke, at this point I'm rooting for injuries.