Silat Player

You take that back, Chris...LOL

Yeah, this. There is zero, absolutely zero, reason to believe that Stevens would have any interest in coaching in college basketball in 2025. The only people who even delusionally bring this up are IU fans every time there's a coaching change (which unfortunately happens regularly around here). Our fanbase is showing massive signs of trauma at this point...LOL Move on, people. I'm trying to figure out what would be the draw of Bloomington to May. Is IU really a better job than Michigan at this point? And he's already in Ann Arbor, he's well on his way to getting his program established. Why would he even remotely consider moving? The way it's going to go down, IMO, is that May is going to use IU interest to get a nice bump in salary.

Yep. There were numerous warning signs long before the Iowa game. Louisville certainly comes to mind. Also, IU wasn't exactly blowing out the cupcakes on their schedule, either. People paying attention could easily see that...

So the pressure of the job caused Woodson to be a lazy and unsucesseful recruiter of high school players? LOL Got it. That must be why he struck out on all of the high school guard prospects he went after after he got JHS.

Armond would have to step down. No way he would want to stay awake through entire games...

Now I know you're trolling. Woody was absolutely NOT the "best available coach." Dude had ZERO college basketball coaching experience. I'm sure that IU could've hired a coach with college basketball experience...

We definitely should have listened to the people who said that Carlyle was not an efficient player at Standford. LOL

Agree. There will always be some rules that have to be adhered to. But, I'm not so sure that I agree about academic rules. I mean, UNC ran fake classes for 18 years and didn't get sanctioned. That still blows my mind...

What? Getting rid of Crean was not a mistake. He was 7th, 8th, 1st and 10th in the B1G in his last 4 years. And the B1G wasn't exactly worldbeaters during that period. Also, Crean couldn't get past the Sweet 16 with 2 of the top 5 players chosen in the NBA draft. How much talent did he require to make an elite 8 or final 4? LOL

Only half? That would be really disappointing...

Completely agree.

The vibe in here feels very much like when Steuben was trolling everyone in here last Spring. I know we had a brief Steuben sighting earlier today, but still...

The only danger of an interim coach is a Mike Davis or Diebler situation. It would HAVE to be someone who will not be considered for the head-coaching job next year. There's some real talent on this team...

No, you said that "short of a dramatic turnaround, IU would move on..." That was the point of my post. There should be zero circumstances in which Woodson keeps his job at this point. Statistically, nothing has changed this year. The decision-makers at IU decided to ignore all of the issues in the program and spend a bunch of NIL money to buy a roster in year 4 of Woodson's tenure to try to achieve success. All of the issues remain: - He can't recruit elite guards and the team can't shoot. - He can't recruit HS players. - His teams get blown-out in B1G games and against decent teams. Obviously IU's decision-making when choosing basketball coaches is bad. The fact that they chose a basketball coach with ZERO college coaching experience was an astoundingly bad choice. There is no way to defend such a choice. The next coach should not be chosen in the same manner. That process obviously didn't work. Whatever checks and balances (if there were any) that should have been in place failed miserably.

No, a "dramatic turnaround" wouldn't change the fact that Woodson should not keep his job for another season. A "dramatic turnaround" wouldnt change the lack of high school long-term high school recruits (or Indiana recruits). He simply can't recruit kids that require building relationships over time. He lost two 5-star indiana recruits this year. A "dramatic turnaround" wouldn't change the fact that Woodson is 0-31 on recruiting Top-100 HS guards since he signed JHS. The lack of shooting on his teams has been a consistent, huge problem, and he hasn't been able to resolve it. A "dramatic turnaround" wouldn't change the fact that in year 4, more than half of Woodson's B1G losses have been in double-figures, and nearly half have been by 15 points or more. How is it possible that his teams get consistently blown out so often? The fact that you believe that he should still be able to keep his job tells me that you're the one who is being emotional. If one just looks at statistics, Woodson never should have been brought back for his fourth season. The program has not been progressing. He missed the tournament last year. He has been getting blown out of games. He barely recruits any HS players anymore because he can't. The progression of the program is poor.

Uh, why WOULDN'T this admin do the inept and irresponsible thing, though? For the last 25 years, they have made running a competent basketball program seem more difficult than a combination of brain surgery and rocket science. We can count on them to make the worst possible decision at any point in time...

Uh, the last search came up with a dude who had never coached in college before, so...

Thank goodness Quinn Buckner is the chair of IU's BOT and a good buddy of IU's outstanding basketball coach...

L'ville may come out during the 2nd half and miss a bunch of 3-pointers. IU may come out and play better. But anyone expecting a different IU team overall hasn't been watching the last 3 years. IU basketball is what it is. What else were you expecting? LOL

A title?

In business, "bad bosses" who are successful, (yes, I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but it happens all the time), are given much more rope. Like sales directors who sell like crazy, but are horrible bosses or brilliant R&D guys who put out great new products, but run their teams like fiefdoms. They're allowed to do what they do because the positive results of their departments are so massive that they can be ego-maniacs. We all saw at IU for years with RMK. After the Dane Fife situation, and the Senior-Day situation last year, it's obvious that Woody's a prickly guy with a massive ego. No one can honestly argue against that. Anybody who says what he did on Senior Day last year as the coach of at a B1G program with a BB history whose team didn't even make the field of 68 must one. Many of us have had bosses who dont like criticism. Nothing wrong with that. But it seems like Woody is really thin-skinned for a guy who has such a public job.

I dont' think large enough text or bold enough text was used Stu. I mean, it IS Mike Woodson, here. And Mike Woodson's word is Gospel. When Mike Woodson says something, it is the final word. Because it is from Mike Woodson. Just ask Mike Woodson...

Agreed. I think people need to remember that this was an EXHIBITION game. We shouldn't be seeing a finished product yet. In fact, we don't want to be. How many Purdue teams have peaked in November and ended the season with a whisper in the tourney? So far, this team looks fine. There is plenty of room for improvement, but there should be in November...

Thoughts from the exhibition: 1.) Myles Rice is by far the best player on the team. He's the one guy this team can't lose and he makes the team go. He's even better than advertised. Definite first-team all-B1G talent. 2.) Ballo is the other guy who can't get hurt. No real backup for him on the roster, so stay healthy big fella. Less offensive minded than I expected, but we were massively spoiled last year. Ware was really good. 3.) A little disappointed in Carlyle. His D was really good and he looked a little taller than I expected, but he seemed to bring very little to the table offensively. It's a night-and-day difference between him and Rice right now in that regard. 4.) Defense was really good, but Tennessee also missed a lot of open shots. It was great to get a road win, even if it was an exhibition, though. It had a big game atmosphere and I'm glad that the game was close. Great environment to get better for later in the year for the team. 5.) The big point of worry from the game is obviously shooting. Still an issue and IU doesn't see improvement in that area from the guys who didn't play due to injury. Overall, much to be optimistic about.

Yep. Agreed. I should've said, "How long has it been since he actually developed a relationship with a recruit and signed one?" It seems all of his signings are quick, last-minute ones. MM, BT, JHS... Talking about long-term program development here.