bigrod

My guess is Ballard knows he has to win to save his job, so he isn't as worried about trying to let AR develop. What a mess...

At some point, we have to realize Ballard is not this genius he was made out to be when hired. He has done nothing but stack mediocrity on bad on mediocrity. His way of building the team is making them irrelevant year after year. Time to move on to someone who has a set and is willing to make big time decisions.

I always thought Eric Anderson never really got the credit he deserved. He was he did make all big ten in 91, so l guess maybe he was more appreciated than I remember. He was just a tough, steady, player who did all the little things to help the team win.

For me, I'll believe the expectations when I see it. I realize it was just a scrimmage, but while I saw some nice talent, I didn't see much to make me believe we are going to be a great shooting team (outside of Goode). I think this needs to be a good shooting team for a whole lot to change. But I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

Surely that's not the problem. He's accomplished so much. Just ask him.

I've been watching IU football for years and this team is just simply different than any team I can remember, even going back to the Mallory years. They are just fundamentally sound, play hard nosed defense, and a fun offense. The portal definitely helped, but you can also see the coaching in these players. Even when they were turning the ball over in the first half yesterday, this team was always in it because they didn't throw in the towel like years past. I'm having so much fun watching this team. Finally!

Not only not building a good secondary, but depending on a starter who is made of glass.

Brents injured again and on IR. Has he ever played 2 games in a row?

I agree. Last year, this was probably more like 38-17 win.

I agree with everything except extending him with an E8 appearance. Our biggest failure over the last 20+ years is sustainment. Personally, I'll be elatedly shocked by an Elite 8 out of Woodson, but either way, he needs to show he can put together more than a good year here and there. He needs to show that he can build the program for yearly success, especially if he's going to depend so heavily on the portal.

...and they just continue to mismanage every situation. That seems to be the one constant.

I guess maybe they're worried about cap space ;)

I would hope so. Could have really helped last year.

I hope you're right.

I'm having a hard time with even the "on paper" part. I'm not saying the roster isn't vastly improved, it definitely is, but there are just so many new pieces. Having all of them fit together with the current pieces and having minimal issues is a big ask. We had less new pieces last season and sometimes they didn't seem to fit together well into the season. Lots of new personalities and styles to expect a smooth transition in my opinion.

Is Ware a center in the NBA?

Why are you so angry? Like, all the time. Lighten up dude. Most of us are just here talking about sports. No one dies at the end of the day if they don't "win" the argument.

Be the change you want to see in the world. How can you be the change if you really don't even know or have empathy for that change? You're right. Take the time and effort to get organized and make real change. Just picking up a sign and joining a protest? How many people have you ever seen change sides on a protest? Its usually just for show and benefits the very people you are protesting against.

Stu was making a valid point the other day that there are people on here that want Woodson to crash and burn just so they can say they were right. But it seems there are just as many people on the other extreme that want to say anyone with any expectations of him is being unreasonable.

In my opinion, it's hard to accept any comparison of Woodson and RMK. They are totally different in approach and results. Knight could be condescending, but I rarely felt it was directed at the fans. And, it was after tons of success. I also don't think the comments directed at the fans have been overblown. It's part of his MO. Instead of owning up to the disappointing season, his best course of action was to blame the fans for having expectations. By his own stated expectations of hanging another banner and winning conference championships, his team vastly underachieved. He took no responsibility (recurring theme). I think that is many fans' issue with Woodson. When things are going well, he takes full credit. But when the going gets tough, he starts pointing fingers (or gets himself an early exit). He could have gotten much more grace with many fans by just saying the season didn't meet his expectations and he was going to make sure it didn't happen again. Instead, he announced that he was doing his job and anyone who thought differently was wrong.

I will say that I have definitely seen more purpose in the roster construction this year. But that failure last year is still on him. He took zero accountability for it. Now, my fear is he is going to sit back and revel in his "work" and think he is done. This "I don't take the shots" and "it's not my job to get 'player X' shots" attitude is his downfall. It IS his job. If he doesn't understand that, he will underachieve no matter how much talent he has. IU is not just here to get players into the league. Other schools can win AND get players in the league. That is where he and his staff come in.

I'm not sure who you're referring to, but I'll give my two cents. I've said numerous times that I hope the staff prove me wrong, but we have 3 years of data to go on. The continual drop in numbers speak for themselves. Woody has given no indication at all that he sees any reason to adjust. In fact, quite the opposite. If that is the case, I don't see a ton of success when it comes to evenly matched, well-coached teams. I'd feel much better if, after the disappointing season, he had said something like, "We all need to be better," but what we got instead is, I'm doing my job and the fans are the problem. So, I hope like hell that he can produce a level of basketball commensurate to the talent, but I will believe it when I see it.

Yep. I didn't want to put this in the expectation thread, because I've seen others get scolded for being honest in other threads, but my expectation is that we will underachieve yet again. I sincerely hope the coaching staff proves me wrong, but unless something changes, that is my expectation.

I was totally sucked in until you said Armond Hill was wide awake. Just too unbelievable, Stu :D

Quality depth...