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Idk what you want me to say man, I've been calling it 50/50. I'd be pleasantly surprised if he is back. If you're looking for someone else to constantly find reasons to ***** and moan, sorry but you'll have to look elsewhere. I want to be able to enjoy IUBB as a fan, so I'm going to look for reasons to be optimistic. Two days ago there was a lot less certainty about next year's coach. Now we know, so I will rally around him even if I don't think it's what is best for the program. I will hope he is successful even though I know I'm going to be frustrated, probably most of the time. I simultaneously do not believe IUBB is a "serious" program anymore, but hope Woodson proves me dead wrong. I think it's unlikely but hot take... I'd rather us be good next year than bad.

Yeah... just don't underestimate an 18/19 year old former MCDAA's ability to bet on himself and enter the draft anyway. The dream has been to be a one and done. His family has always done what it took to position him for that dream to happen. That was his plan, not their plan. They are, I'm sure, quite thrilled he is getting a college education while playing basketball for a former NBA coach. I 1000% believe that his parents want him to come back to IU. Will he listen to his parents about this very big decision? Idk, won't pretend to know what goes on inside his head. He obviously respects his parents very much. But he could change his mind at any time... you know how kids are :) It certainly bodes well and gives reason to be hopeful he will be back. No certainties though.

Yes I think it will be his choice if he goes pro or not. Less concerned about transferring but I wouldn't say it's impossible. Obviously I know nothing. The only thing I am aware of is that early in the season, after the whole TBell incident, when an old friend/former teammate checked in with him, Mack told him all he planned on doing was trying to block out the noise and lock in on the development plan he and Woody had discussed. That does give me hope he will be back for year 2 but I really doubt he himself even knows right now. I think a sophomore MM could be very special.

The conversation a lot of fans really need to have is by looking at themselves in the mirror about their own expectations. Thinking that the minimum is going to the tournament every.single.year is just not realistic. Most years, sure. But every program is bound to have **** happen from time to time and just end up with a stinker. Now, that shouldn't happen often... but it happens, such is life. If you want to compete for national championships, the expectation I have for what "good" looks like would probably have a lot of overlap with baseball batting stats lol. You're never going to bat 1.000 - you are REALLY good if you bat .300. If we're talking about making the tournament, let's view it in 10 year chunks (just to simplify the math because lord knows my IU transcripts will show I ain't great at it)... I think our program batting average - making the tournament - should be around .700-.900. The bottom of that range is how you know the program is on solid foundation. The top is when you're rolling like a machine. If we're talking about "competing" for championships, it's probably more like on base percentage. .340 is solid .360 is great, .400+ is exceptional. Defining competing for championships here is the tricky part. To me it means being top 3/4 in B10 and an E8 appearance. If you do that 4 times in a decade, your program is competing at a very high level. Those decades should be cherished. If you can do that 3x a decade, you are IMO at minimum relevant in the CBB landscape... maybe an elite program. National championships don't grow on trees... it's like finding a pot of gold. B10 championships, we should win at a higher rate. How you experience someone else beating you to the pot of gold (cope with a "down" year in terms of winning championships) is up to you. The main reason I am so unforgiving about Woody having this off year is the fact we've got no recruiting momentum and his age (plus his style of play, I know others will differ there).

I hear you on some of these concerns like MM and Reneau being an awkward fit, but LM plays a lot of the 2 at MVA and he plays it pretty darn well. I fully expect we will see him get minutes as a 2 next year. And I don't think we will generally dislike that too much.

Extension. This is my first and last "extension" joke

I wouldn't be surprised if Liam shoots similarly to how Mack did this year. He is a very, very good 3 point shooter but I would not say he is elite in the same way Grady **** was as a freshman (just my opinion from looking at some of the box scores/handful of games) I do think he is going to impress in terms of his playmaking and I think he will be solid for a freshman on defense. Those two would be a hell of a duo. EDIT: Lol, Grady "Richard" (who plays for the Raptors)

If somehow by the grace of God they land the GOAT portal haul... open up the checkbook and put together a monster ... sure it could be a really good year. Hope we maintain that level of commitment/investment once Woody moves on though. Because if we don't land basically the best class of transfers ever assembled, the likelihood of next year being worse than this season is IMO very real. And man, would a year like that be toxic. Especially when it's the elephant in the room before this year is even over. Just brutal.

Mrs. Mgbako is determined to singlehandedly salvage Mike Woodson's IU legacy. Lol Initiated his recruitment. If he does come back for year 2, she will undoubtedly be one of the main factors in that decision (as will his father). They are the type of family that I could believe the parents saying no to a transfer... you made a commitment... see it out. That is the vibe I get from 2nd and 3rd hand stories of them, no personal experiences with them. Let's hope! My gut says 50/50 right now. I will be very pleasantly surprised if he comes back here. I fully expect he will go through the draft process and maybe even enter the portal but end up withdrawing. Who knows. Gonna be an interesting next month!

Operating a sports franchise (in the professional entertainment industry, btw) is entirely different from having expertise / background / strong understanding in the strategic aspects of a sport itself.

Sadly it seems IMO the cesspool of internal politics at IU is a hereditary trait, considering multiple administrations made up of entirely different individuals have operated in the same way over the past ~25 years+. Appears to be a feature, not a bug, of the IU system. Engrained in the institutional culture you may say. The Board should not interfere with an AD making a sports decision aside from where the usual financial and ethical scrutiny is applied. It seems that is how we operate though. Now... that is not to say that the Board has not delivered many good things (it has) from an academic and research perspective. It's just that they should stay focused on that and not stick their nose where it doesn't belong. Of course a lot of the blame does not IMO rest on the Board, at least not alone. The mega donors were equally part of this call. Make of that, what you will in terms of what it means for our ability to field a competitive basketball team anytime soon.

I'm not saying we necessarily "missed" on all those coaches because I didn't follow that stuff so closely at the time. However, with all due respect, this "stat" does seem sort of disingenuous based on Beilein and Stevens having not coached in college during that time. The stat is really just comparing Woody to Matta, so it's fair IMO to say he shouldn't have been included on Hornsby's original list. I recognize it's been a long time since those guys have coached college basketball and it's no guarantee they would have been more successful than Woody here. But they had done it before, Woody hadn't. Not sure I'd say we "missed out" on them but would find it fair to put them in the category of stud coaches who aren't employed here. Where you place the blame for that (administration or elsewhere) is probably up for interpretation - who knows how realistic they actually were at the time? Apparently not very... Would they have done a better job? I definitely think so. I do agree with your last point 100%. Realizing I'm more negative than usual at the moment but yesterday's news is hard to swallow. Wound is still fresh and people are venting, little bit of hyperbole (some of which I am also guilty of) going on. Woody is our guy, I'm rooting for them to figure it out and finish strong/have a great year next year. Just wishing I could see a more realistic path toward that happening... with so much going on this month and next, I'm looking forward to the news cycle giving us more reasons to be hopeful/optimistic/excited.

But then it's not "cool" anymore because he doesn't have the cache of being IUBB's HC. Lol

Maybe I should have used another word than skillset. Maybe "utilized him in a different way" is a better way to put it. I don't dispute Ware has improved leaps and bounds in terms of his motor/production, etc. What I'm getting at is we had a perfect stretch 5 man to play a 4 out, 1 in offense with. I don't think we necessarily played to his strengths in that sense and would have liked to see more DHOs with Gallo. Just my two cents

Plus, this year we can more hopeful than usual for football!

Just imagine if we used the full extent of Ware's skillset this year. That's one of the things about this year that most upsets me. He should be putting on a show in the tournament.

Not sure about that personally, but, a moral victory (something all too familiar for us IU fans)... will help me cope for now. I want to be more positive but I have very little reason for optimism right now. I will feel better if we get some big fish in the portal, early in portal season. Two starting caliber guards shortly after portal szn begins would boost morale a lot, for me anyway. Let's see how this works out...

Is there any doubt if Crean had the portal and NIL, we'd be way more competitive than we are today? Lol Maybe he was the hero we needed, but never wanted... (mostly said in jest... but knowing what we do now about how Woody was treated when Archie was hired... may have spared us all some headaches if Crean was still coaching the team today). JFC

Hopefully "better portal connections" mean we've done enough back channeling to have a really good idea about who we are going to get. Hopefully some of them will announce shortly after the portal opens. If they are big enough gets, that would reinvigorate some optimism.

If I've come to understand anything over the past 24 hours / the general discourse on Woody in recent weeks ... it's that this board will see some seriously unhinged content posted leading up to / shortly after the first Tuesday in November lol

I would too man, but it's not happening... gotta let go of the dream (for now) :(

I'd be very surprised if Cupps and Gallo's fathers who are great coaches allow their sons to endure another year of this.

No shot 90% of them have much of an idea about who he is unless they grew up around the NYC area. Most of these recruits barely remember the 2013 team. Sure hope those portal connections come through this year better than last.... not that it'll make a difference

What's one more useless position on the staff to help shift blame and do enough work so that Woody just literally has to show up when they roll the balls out. I hope like hell they pull off whatever their "strategy" is for next year... but right now... it's a lot easier to envision a scenario where Mike Woodson is missing games with knee/back problems than us competing for a B10 or national title... you know, his stated goals (that he's not willing to work toward)

You're not being dramatic, it most certainly will for at LEAST 2 or 3 years