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Idk, Sean Miller had a pretty good machine humming at Arizona before everything hit the fan... could definitely see him recreating that in Columbus

I don't think this is exactly groundbreaking "news" at this point, but Mackenzie has not been very well coached throughout his career. For the first 3 years of his HS career, he went to a small Catholic school that happens to have a pretty good basketball program. Dime a dozen coach - he got some talented players there but clearly does not teach fundamentals very effectively. Only in his senior year did he transfer to one of the NJ powerhouse programs and that coach is more of a recruiter than a developer of talent. His AAU team was, I believe, coached by DJ Wagner Sr. and it's AAU, so not a lot of teaching goes on. His size probably covered up a lot of deficiencies in his game. Not that the staff really spent much time evaluating him............. All this to say, it's very hard to navigate the basketball landscape if you're not being brought up in the right "tree" IMO. I'm sure they were excited by the idea of playing for a former NBA coach and trusted in his ability to set Mackenzie up for success. For some reason they seem(ed?) very set on him playing as a 3. Kind of weird for a family that does not have a deep understanding of the sport. I can't imagine they feel great about how this year has gone and think the typical move in these circumstances is to transfer so it looks like your poor play was more a product of being in a dumpster fire system and not about your own ability. Maybe Woody and him have a good enough relationship that he comes back, but I doubt it. That kid needs a sophomore year...somewhere. Ideally here. But no reason to wither away in the G League by leaving college now.

Nebraska 82 Indiana 69

Given all the systemic changes that need to be made, Dusty's track record in building up FAU seems worth a bonus point or two. Obviously he'd need to be empowered/given the authority to make/influence some of those changes, but he's already shown he can elevate a program that's been in a bad place for a long time.

It obviously won't happen for a lot of reasons but it sure would be nice if we took a page out of OSU's book.

So, no Queen or McNeeley. Mgbako likely gone. Ware certainly gone. Banks and Gunn likely in the portal. Not even apparently out of the question that Gallo potentially goes elsewhere... even little brother. How demoralizing would that be? If we have 0 recruits and are filling 7+ roster spots and still bring Woody back, I'm personally not spending another dime on IUBB until there's a new coach, at a minimum. It would defy all logic to do this again. Put this tenure out of its misery while we can still end things amicably.

If he won't play for us, I wish we'd lose him to Houston or Kansas. Picking another crappy B10 team over us ... sucks

So, now that the Queen ship seems to have sailed... I suppose speculation about McNeeley will ramp up. Cross another item off the waning list of excuses/justifications to keep Woody around for next year. We're gonna have to build darn near an entire team through the portal, regardless of whether Woody sticks around or not.

Is that your sense or are you basing that on specific info?

Quite sure that's all this is... His wife has made it known that she does not want to be far from her family in Jersey/likes to put down roots. Dan said he had a hard time convincing her to leave URI. Dan likes having Bob Sr. at his games. UConn and the Hurleys fit like a glove. He will get a nice raise, but we have nothing to worry about IMO

Admittedly not super tuned into all of Dolson's tenure... but from what I can observe, still better than Fred Glass... not that that's a very high bar. Lol

At this rate my question/concern is whether the problem is Buckner or Dolson... With Glass and McRobbie out, I'd like to believe Whitten (who I believe understands that athletics can be a real asset for a place like IU) and Dolson, may handle things differently than IU historically has... maybe it's more so the BOT having Dolson's hands tied? Any way you slice it - not smart that Dolson gave Woody a raise after last year. Rookie mistake? Idk... I'm just grasping at straws to find any reason to believe that all hope is not lost yet.

I don't even think Dusty is necessarily going to be the next big thing that some people do. But at this point, if given the choice between him and Woody next year... I'd consider Dusty a home run lol. Sad state of affairs in Bloomington.

Honestly... I'd have a tough time telling you of any other programs that, before a terrible season has even ended and no momentum on the recruiting trail, would be willing to go into the following season with the same coach. We have HUGE roster holes to fill. We've seen how successful they were (not) with the portal last offseason. Same issues his entire tenure mostly still there. Only a fool would buy the argument that X being injured is the difference between this team being tournament-ready or not. We couldn't get guards to play here over him and Trey - fine. Are we gonna be able to get ANY players when it's clear they're going to play for a losing team with a coach who is likely gone after the year? Another season like this and we'll be lucky if we can convince even "the next big thing" mid-major candidate to come here. If your stock is high, why on earth would you step into a mess like this? So that leaves us shopping in another undesirable aisle. I don't know how we break the cycle, or if the admin even wants to.

I don't doubt Mike Woodson is a good guy on an interpersonal level. He'd probably be a fun guy to sit at the bar with and BS. He's "old school" which is perfectly fine, but it's a new day and new age in college basketball. It's sort of astonishing for things to be bad on so many levels...clearly not working... and it's somehow still an open question what to do... meanwhile football school OSU realized their basketball coach wasn't working and cut ties before March even rolled around. I'm sorry, I know IU is not the program it used to be... but if we're ever gonna get there again, we need decision makers who are ready to meet the moment. A 4th year of Woody is basically a few guys from the glory days holding the program hostage. Normally I think things are never as great or awful as they seem. But for a myriad of reasons, this time around, things actually do feel like we're in a really, really bad spot unless a change is made. Wild how different the energy is around the program after just a few months.

His tone this year leaves an awful lot to be desired. Not even taking issue with lack of insight/substance because you're unlikely to get that from press conferences, post games, etc. To me he just sounds tired and conceited... and like he knows he will be protected. I don't pretend to know what goes on behind closed doors, but the whole narrative around Quinn pulling strings / calling shots certainly makes sense, especially with all the context this season has provided. His response about "continuing" to put us in position to compete for championships is so corporate and disconnected from reality. He could've delivered the same message in a way that's much more reflective of the current mood. Mike Woodson has forgotten more about basketball than most of us have ever known but at 66 years old he's not equipped to do this job at the highest level. Not at all.

Allowing Woody to come back and further sink the program while simultaneously ruining his own legacy, is such executive malpractice I can't begin to understand. The boo birds will be out in full force basically all year. Fan turnout on the road will likely be lower... since the admin basically only wants to act based on financial interests (which they don't seem great at managing, based on recent buyouts) guess they're going to have to viscerally feel the frustration of fans at home and watch their bottom line shrink. I try to find the positive as a fan, but to go into a year with zero momentum/optimism is brutal. If we don't move on after the season, it's going to be very hard to not shout from the rooftops and call the entire admin a joke for their total incompetence / negligence. Bringing Mike back is doing a disservice to everyone who cares about IUBB, including Mike himself. Common sense has to prevail when the season wraps up. On the bright side, if we do run it back with this staff, I'll know to just save my time, money, and energy.

This absolutely may be how he actually feels/thinks at the moment. It sounds like he's coming back for a 4th year. That said, when asked this kind of question, the current coach with several games left this season, has to say something along these lines. Lot of time for circumstances to change. Maybe I'm just in the denial stage of grief lol

Shoot, you think we get to 18 wins? Idk if we do this year and as of now, next year's roster basically has like 4-6 guys on it. I get it's unlikely Woody retires this year... but the fact the admin is not forcing the conversation and is content to let fans suffer through another year of this is sickening. They truly don't care about the product on the court as long as the money keeps rolling in. You'd think somewhere in the last 20 years we'd just get lucky and strike gold with the right hire coincidentally... maybe next time... life as an IU fan lately.

Yeah, I agree. Feels like the stars will have to align. If we got Dusty, I'd be hopeful. If we got someone like Oats, I'd say f*** yeah and feel confident. Have been hopeful for IUBB since the beginning. Don't think I've been "confident" except the 2012-2013 season. It's tough to not be envious of UConn and Purdue these days. The wheels are falling off. There's no reason for a 4th year with Woody. I'd love to keep Reneau... Mgbako would be nice too IF his D improves... and Gallo would be good in a 7th/8th man role. Otherwise, I'd be happy for the team and staff to look completely different next year with names we mostly don't know right now. God, this season has sucked the joy out of it for me. What frustrates me is how optimistic the tone was all pre-season. The staff clearly had no idea what they were working with, despite having ample time to work up close with it. That's alarming on so many levels it's enough for me to say no way should Woody coach next year, and that's not even bringing up the fact we have a ton of holes to fill in the roster. No way he should get another chance to construct a team. Thanks for your service Mike. Let's figure out the retirement buyout terms

That half court oop to Newell was insane. Jokic like passing ability

I know Pearl's buyout figure is large but I'm sure (hopeful, at least) that there are accounting tricks that could be worked out... My ideal scenario right now? Extremely unlikely to happen, but I'd love to see us move on Pearl, have ~6ish good years with him, then bring in Dusty May who has hopefully proven himself in P5. If they both covet the IU job as much as rumored, I don't think it's so crazy to imagine. The money/timing and IU administration are the obstacles... things would have to align perfectly. So, it's very unlikely. I'd be happy with May, Schertz, Schrews (also probably unlikely after just 1 year at ND)... Oats and Pearl would be great too. I'm more hopeful than most others that Woody decides to hang it up after this year. To me he just sounds worn out. TL;DR: I wish Woody would be the on-ramp to Bruce Pearl who is the bridge to Dusty

Basically, let's keep the main thing... the main thing. Do what's best from a basketball perspective and let the rest work itself out. Success on the court has to be the first and most heavily weighted priority. There's really no reason to believe right now that a 4th year with Woody has us on the right track. I just want to look forward to watching IUBB again instead of it being the chore this year has been and next year looks to be shaping up at the moment.

Not a fan of these at all. I like a black jersey concept, but this just seems really lazily executed. I do think they'll look better on the court than in the weird marketing photo shoot, but that shouldn't be hard to do. It feels like jersey design overall has really regressed in recent years.