str8baller

I’ve thought about this thread and I kind of go back and forth. On one hand, I probably shouldn’t expect much because of woody and all the things you mention. Otoh, I see a top 10-15ish roster and think maybe we should expect that. After 25 lackluster years I think I’ve come to the following sad reality about IU basketball: I expect very little to nothing from this program.

The thing with the 3rd perimeter shooter off the bench is you have to convince them they’ll play mins over 5th yr senior and former starter Galloway and 5* frosh Tucker OR get a commitment from the staff they’ll stagger the bigs a play small consistently, and often. If the kids have good advisors they’ll rightfully be skeptical of both. Because if you come here and neither of those things happen you’re suddenly and uncharacteristically riding the pine your last year of cbb in exchange for a few extra thousand dollars and the privilege of partying at Kilroys instead of some other B1G/SEC/ACC campus bar. Obviously guys like Hickman and Essigian heard the pitch and decided against it. If Goode bites that’s great, but I’m guessing he has some other nice options.

Agree 100%. It’s still a sentiment I see fans express though. Sparks last year was probably in the minority and even he transferred back out once he got a taste of irregular mins off the bench.

I think a lot of people expected the money to solve the min issue. Or in other words, people thought we could pay starters/borderline starters enough to come off the bench and rotation guys to sit the bench in case we needed them situationally.

I think you mean high-ceiling. We can—and did—manage blowout losses to Purdue and UConn by ourselves, thank you very much! All kidding aside I’m for bringing him in for the reasons usps stated.

That cuts both ways. If we falter in the regular season but make a run to the E8 with favorable matchups we'd have to conclude the season did not meet expectations, correct?

Woody Post-Offense Motto! Math? We don't need no stinking math!

Uh... they all have shot 3s at a higher clip than the guys you think will come in and suddenly start shooting 3s. That doesn't even include guys like Kopp and Ware. Your argument is literally we can't have those guys shooting more 3s because they shoot them at a higher percentage than the guys coming in who will shoot more 3s. Lol... Somehow, you've actually deciphered the Mike Woodsons offense. Having stared into Woodsonpost offense and having it stare back, I can conclusively say....Fire Mike Woodson!

TJD shot 58% from 2. Reneau shot 59% from 2 last year. Both seasons we shot about 15 3’s a game, nearly last in the NCAA. So I guess your conclusion is that as long as Reneau shoots 58+% again from 2, we can count on shooting about 15 3’s per game as a team?

Kopp and Galloway shot north of 40% that season. Why not get them more 3’s that year? That’s even more efficient than TJD shooting two’s. One might argue the combo together might get a tan into that vaunted top 15 offense. Yet, we were nearly last in the country in 3s attempted despite being one of the best 3P shooting teams.

If it weren’t for the players always screwing up and not shooting enough, or shooting too much, or not making shots, Mike Woodson would never lose a game! Players can be pesky like that.

I always love the blame the players phase of a failed coach’s tenure. Can you extrapolate on this further? Kopp averaged more attempted at NW than IU? Why did he suddenly start “passing them up?” Xavier Johnson averaged more 3s attempted at Pitt than Indiana. Why did he start “passing them up” at IU? Is it the uniform? Assembly Hall? Don Fisher? Tell me please…what causes IU players to pass up 3’s?

What's your source for this assertion? We had this exact claim from you and others this time last season regarding Ware. And in fact Ware was capable of playing out on the perimeter shooting 43% from 3 yet he rarely ever played out there shooting only 1.3 per game and was mostly in the lane with Reneau. So you'll have to excuse those of us who don't quite believe the same pitch being sold last year at this time when it turned out to be just the wishful musings of internet fans and not some offensive philosophical shift by Coach Woodson.

I'd like to see how the portal shakes out, but it's looking like we may have the most talented team in the conference and one of the more talented teams in the country. I'd like to have results consistent with our talent.

I'm skeptical on the 3pt volume suddenly taking a dramatic shift but it should increase. The increase in talent should bump our offensive efficiency numbers too. Top 15 offense is probably pushing it and no amounting of stomping one's feet an insisting so will make it come true.