bigrod

10-2

There's actually more than one around Fort Wayne.

To be fair - part II: That's probably what he told them. I wonder if he got confused when they asked if he want to be a member of the Kings.

My take is that he is looking for certain types of players, and isn't willing to sacrifice building the culture he wants to establish for a year of success. I think he is looking for long term success, and it's what we as fans should be looking for as well. It's easy to look at purely physical ability, but mental fortitude and culture is what will fuel long term success. It's what we see Cignetti building with football. I think we had a pretty good look at what talent alone gets us this past season. The good coaches are looking for mentality as much as physical ability. Just my opinion...

I love it! We must be on the right track. Last year at this time, most on this board were ready to hand us the conference title. This year, we're doomed. I think what you described is his intent: Make opponents pay for playing too many bigs. Will it work? Who knows, but it should be fun.

Maybe he didn't do it intentionally. We know that he was living in a delusional world where he thought the fans should embrace his mediocrity. But he and his players were blaming the fans for his inability to consistently win.

What is he, 32 now?

Right. I'm optimistic because we at least have a coach with a plan. The question is, how good is the plan. He seems to know what he's looking for and I think he's looking for guys who want to win and play with an edge. I hope his vision translates. Personally, I'm excited about IU basketball for the first time in quite a while.

But... Why? I appreciate everything he did last season, but he doesn't seem to fit with the type of team they are building.

IU coming in at 23 on this early top 25. Unfortunately, PUke is no. 1.

Sorry, I meant I don't disagree that we should make the tournament. I was disagreeing that we should look for a new coach if we didn't.

So we're looking for another coach next year if we don't make the tournament? I don't disagree that we should, but I think we should all be looking for a sound foundation building season before all else. This program is broken. Let's crawl, walk, and then run. We've had more resources than most for the past 25 years, and it's gotten us here.

Manifest destiny... I like it! Do another one!

This is nonsensical and makes no sense.

Woody really did that whole roster a disservice. Not only do they all have to take a pay cut, but the lack of development screwed them for the future. Now they have to try to go out and prove themselves again. I sincerely wish them all the best. This is what happens when administrations take the easy road instead of the correct one. You end up screwing over the very people you supposedly are trying to help.

Yeah, I think he'll probably perform better with a coach who is willing to run plays for him, but I don't ever see him living up to that 5 star ranking. I was surprised by his lack of athleticism. With a better attitude, he could be much better. Maybe this coach can pull that out of him.

Last time I ate at Taco Bell, I was on my way home from being out of town, and was too hungry to wait, so I stopped about an hour from home. Unfortunately, I needed to be about 40 minutes from home.

I don't think Crean was a great coach, but he would do well with IU's resources in this NIL era. He needed lots of talent to win, but at least he mostly knew how to utilize it. His problem was he didn't put the time into planning and building a sustainable program. He was always looking for the next best thing, like fart in a skillet.

I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion, this has to be a hard sell to the type of players DD is looking to recruit: players who want to win. This is a total roster reconstruction. Lots of these players want to be one of the final pieces of an already successful roster. Honestly, I'll be pretty happy with a record similar to this past season if we are seeing players who want to be here and play like they care about winning, and a coach who puts them in the best position to do that. We don't have to be elite in the next couple years, but it would be nice to see a team that makes you want to cheer for them, and is leaving it all on the court, win or lose. Its almost never as bad as some make it out to be, and probably rarely as good as others want it to be. Enjoy the journey. Hopefully, in a couple years, we all look back at this time and laugh about how terrible we thought it was. And if not, get some therapy ;)

100% doubt. That's funny... All of this is hear say, no? I mean they don't have to report it to any public source.

We could use another Rod up in these parts! Just not a big one.

I'm not a proponent of the people who claim our fan base is the issue, but wow, spend a little time on the board and it makes you wonder.

We won the last two off seasons, and this is what we have to show for it. I don't mind letting this play out.

So, we're like the dude who pulls up to the corner in a new Ferrari, but the chicks he's hitting on are wondering what he's trying compensate for.

Maybe we've made the strange decision to target players who value other things besides money.