IUCrazy2

Yeah, that makes it even worse.

Where do you live?

No, just no. Mike Woodson was in the Top half of the BIG. The Top half is 9th place or better now. You don't fire a guy for those results after 4 years and hire a guy you think will take 3 to 5 to get back there. If you want to say 3 to 5 to regularly compete at the top 25% of the conference, I can buy that. Top half? No f-ing way.

No, it would be awesome.

If that is true, he is already a failure and he should probably drop down to D2. Like it or not, money is going to be THE biggest factor in recruiting in D1. This is a job for these guys now, not wanting to emphasize money is as stupid as corporations that post they want a person with a degree and 10 years of experience and when you go to the interview they are at average or below market for a new hire. "We are looking for people passionate about the job, asking about money is so uncouth." Nah dude, I am here to make money while pursuing my passion. If you want to hire big boy employees you have to pay big boy salaries. This is professional sports. Professionals go where the money is. They may be willing to take a little cut to chase a championship but you can't be skimpy with the purse if you aren't at that level. That isn't to say that all the intangibles after that don't play a role, but if we roll out the midmajor white boy "lunch bucket" team every year because we won't take on anybody with money as a motivation, we are going to remain a 20-12 bubble program. (Thank the Lord we got Kenny Johnson on staff because there is a narrative building up here that we need to break like yesterday.)

That is sales 101. The minute you leave, the likelihood you will buy from that person drops dramatically. It doesn't drop to zero but it makes closing the deal more difficult.

If we were all being honest, having this stuff attached to Universities is a complete joke. I would be lying if there wasn't a certain part of me that kind of hopes this all implodes.

Mike Woodson sucked and he could.

He is such an @$$.

Guys like Gabe Cupps are getting several hundred thousand dollars now. I honestly can't be bothered by this small ball junk anymore. $1300 and car rides? Phbbt. Any "name" coach in the past 25 years you can think of was neck deep in worse. These assistants were just the fall guys so Pitino and Coach K and Bill Self didn't take the heat.

Yeah, it means when people say the fans are the problem with this program, they are !@#$ing stupid.

Feeling better. Still like to see a defensive enforcer down low.

Hope that is the case. Get our assistants filled out this week and then start filling in some more pieces. I would like to see a rim protecting and rebounding 5.

Now that Duke is out, I don't care who wins. I always root against the other teams who are around or ahead of us in Title count. I haven't liked Duke since 1992. One of the dirtiest programs in college sports and ACCSPN always whitewashed for them.

Former Illinois players tend to be *******.

I mean that is all well and good, but at a certain point the Jims and Joes matter too. That was part of what lead to the downturn at the end of Knight's career too. Yeah, his worst was as good as some other guy's best in that he was still delivering about 19-22 wins a year and making the tournament, but running out Larry Richardson, William Gladness, Lynn Washington, etc. in the middle to late 90's was definitely an anchor on the program. I want a well oiled team but I also want a talented team. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Running out a D2 All Star team every year that wins 20 games isn't going to be enough long term. He has a chance to fill out his team and he will get a little latitude since the decision was made that not one Woodson guy was apparently good enough to stay around, but if the past week ends up being the norm, then we aren't a program that is attempting to win a title. Hopefully some things start shaking out here quickly.

Tournament or bust for me. 68 teams make it and we are one of the biggest spenders on basketball in one of the richest conferences. Barring a big unforeseen loss on the roster, that should be the expectation.

Fanbases are fanbases. It is easy to be "better" when you win 3 titles over an 11 year period because when the team is winning people don't complain. Kansas is already complaining about Self. Kentucky ran off Calipari. UNC is likely going to be casting off another coach after next year. Everybody involved on the product side of college sports wants to be pros until they get pro expectations placed on them. You know what happens in the pros when you don't perfirm and win? You get fired. A bunch of these kids at the big schools are making 12-20 times plus the average salary for the states their schools are in. Devries is making 40 times as much. You demand that kind of money, people are going to demand results. That being said, we don't have a team yet. This is a fanbase used to hearing at least something and either this staff is more tight lipped or we have nothing lined up at the minute. I hope it is more the former than the latter. Getting the rest of the coaching staff officially announced this weekend would be a nice reprieve from the parade of misses the past week. And those misses may end up not mattering, but they are not nothing. Those guys were at the top of the staff's list for a reason.

Make then sign contracts. Honestly the money thing dies down a little if it isn't guaranteed free agency every year.

To be clear, I still support. Even if I am underwhelmed by the end of the offseason I am still going to give him a chance to do his thing. I just think that he has to get off to a solid start and that isn't all his fault. Frankly this has been a compounding problem that started with Myles Brand. Each new guy is dealing with mistakes that have been compounding over 25 years. The shadow of Dusty May along with Purdue being on a historic run (for their program) doesn't help either. Hopefully some stuff starts shaking out soon so we can stop worrying about hypotheticals.

I am not saying win big. I am saying win now. He cannot miss the tournament. We ran off a Hoosier legend (who admittedly soiled his own legacy) for winning 19 games every year with talent. Michigan and Louisville overhauled their entire rosters last year and ended up in the tournament. Michigan won the BTT and made it to the Sweet 16. Kentucky, Sweet 16. If we have to "build from the bottom" then why would we reward the basketball program with a bigger budget than our competitors instead of rewarding the guy who took the worst football program in D1 to the CFP last year? Reward the guy who already did it if we are going to have to be patient. I will answer that, it is because the expectation is win now. We have gutted our women's team and are continuing to put our football program at a competitive disadvantage to win now in men's basketball. The resources being expended do not indicate patience.

He isn't going to get delayed gratification. If we miss the tournament again next year his seat is warm. Everybody knows that. There are 3 local examples, 1 with an IU alum that a big portion of the fanbase thinks we should have had if the administration knew what the heck it was doing, that showed you shouldn't have to wait to "build it the right way." If we are going to build over time, just give the money to football so we have something to enjoy. You spend $11 million to win NOW.

You realize there is a middle ground between that and "everything's fine" right? Isn't a dead period quickly approaching? We have a ton of positions to fill and he has to make a splash this year. The real annoying thing is that I think the school once again ****ed itself by not making a move on Woodson last year knowing that was the likely outcome anyway and it appears to have been a massive mistake as 3 close by schools all reloaded and are now going to be competition for local guys. Hope things start shaking out here soon and, no offense to him, but I hope the caliber of players is higher than Enright. A team full of that talent level is going to be hard to get where I think most of us expect to be next year.

That is the most important thing. He is going to have to win out of the gate. I get the whole "We want guys that want to be here" thing but in order to have the type of program I think we all want, there is a certain ability level that is going to be required too.

Yeah, like I said, 11 spots to fill.