Tasmanian Devil

Penn State was 5-5 in their last 10 games. They did have a win against Illinois in that span, but most of those wins were against the bottom feeders. Today’s gonna tell us whether we’ve really turned the corner or not. Nebraska is a pretty decent team and if we beat them then, yeah, you’ve showed me something.

It's like he's trying to be snarly like Knight was, only he doesn't have the cred to back it up.

We’re too good to look this bad

Exactly. some people are ecstatic we won four straight but who the hell did we really beat teams that are playing poorly down the stretch. I want to see what we do against Purdue, Illinois and other really good teams then I’ll say we’ve turned the corner or not. my money is we get thumped like we have already this year.

What have they done their last 10 games?

What exactly is your affiliation to the university where you can give their perspective?

Wanna bet??

Winner

I’m surprised no one in the media has asked that question during a news conference or post game press conference.

Hey, I’m not insecure with being an Exorcist. (Hehe)

Wives - can’t live with em, can’t live without em.

One thing to note with the Carolina success: much like recruiting one and done five star freshmen, Carolina had some building blocks already in place with Armando Bacot, and RJ Davis - much like Kentucky had with Darius Miller when they win in 2012, or Duke with Quin Cook when they won in 2015. Whether you’re planning on building your roster with one and done’s or through the portal, you need established players already in place to make either process work to develop a championship level team.

Post enough to get rid of the Purdue Jockstrap!

Now that’s funny - I don’t care who you are!

That’s fair. Hindsight is always 20/20. Had Woodson not had the surgery until May/June would have we been able to get Knecht here for a visit BEFORE he took his trip to Knoxville? Maybe, maybe not. What we DO know is once he got to Rocky Top, no one else got a chance. Knecht would have been an impact player for us. Critical miss.

Agreed. Chris will readily admit that something he stated prior has been proven to have been false. Hell, nobody believed Woodward & Bernstein either until John Dean and Alexander Butterfield blew Watergate wide open.

Deflect all you want. The KID HIMSELF said the visit was postponed because of Woodson’s surgery. You say “it wasn’t” - but provide nothing of context to support that statement. Hmmm . . . believe you, or believe a direct quote from the kid? Pretty easy choice.

Regarding the starter argument: read in the article where Knecht himself said he just wanted to compete for a starting spot. So isn’t it fair to assume that if he was willing to compete at Tennessee - where there was more of a log jam at his position - he would have been just as willing to compete at Indiana? Only makes sense to me.

Media stories? Pat Forde - a much heralded, respected sports journalist - quoted the kid directly. So is Forde making the story up? Is the kid lying? I’m not “picking and choosing what to say”, I’m just showing what has actually been said by those involved.

This right here is a perfect example of deductive reasoning. Same as Tom Allen wasn’t good as a Head Coach but has demonstrated his ability as a defensive coordinator, Payne might do well in a “GM” role for IU. FTR: I’m not a fan of using the portal as a primary source for roster construction. IF we do go that route, you need a competent guy in the “manager” role. Based on his past success at UK, it’s not out of the question Payne could be that guy.

Let’s be clear: I’m not trying to hurt his credibility or “call him out”. John Adams once said “Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” I make judgments based on upon facts and deductive reasoning. And if I’m going to comment on something, I always try to support my statement with evidence therein.

Knecht had "no intentions of visiting"? Or @Chris007 knows what he's talking about? And don't take my word for it - let's hear it straight from the kid himself, shall we? From the article: "North Carolina and Kansas were in contact but playing it more deliberately, Knecht says. He took an official visit to Oregon and one to Tennessee, with a third trip to Indiana postponed by coach Mike Woodson because he had a scheduled knee surgery, according to Knecht. The Tennessee visit was arranged quickly. Clark believed that if he got Knecht on campus and met the rest of the team, he would commit . . . Shortly after the visit, Knecht shut down his recruitment and became a Vol." So, let's recap: Knecht had several schools contact him via phone calls and Zoom meetings. He made a trip to Oregon, but didn't commit. Mike Woodson had knee surgery April 11, 2023 Knecht made his trip the following weekend to Tennessee, heard their sales pitch, and shut down his recruitment. Now, care to tell us again how @Chris007 had it all wrong?

Woodson had his knee replacement April 11 - right when Dalton Knecht was making visits. By the time the annual Huber’s Winery event took place, Woodson felt good enough to joke to Don Fischer that he could out-run him: https://www.si.com/college/indiana/basketball/now-healthy-mike-woodson-has-rebuilt-indiana-basketball-roster-and-raised-national-perception If he could make those comments in June after having surgery in April, he easily could’ve had his surgery in mid May even or even after the Huber event, and been ready by the time practice started. And don’t forget - he’s not only a multimillionaire that has the ability to schedule his surgery different than you or I, he also has at his disposable the best rehab facilities available. So there’s no reason why he couldn’t have been ready by the time practice started had he delayed his surgery to focus on recruiting. That article also mentions how Woodson - in his own words - said he coached different with TJD on the roster and that this year was going to be more like his pro teams. Contrast that with his recent “inside-out” comments defending the offense we run.

100% spot on A very successful high school coach (who was a college assistant for years) once told me “My job is to put my players in position to succeed.” Always think about that when I hear comments like “not my job to find him shots.” Ummm, yes it is, Woody. That’s what a coach does to get the most out of his players.

Even with him, it could be a challenge and they could possibly win that. But the deeper that you go it is going to get harder and harder and, as I said before, I don’t see anything in our play from these last four games that gives any kind of assurance we can win this tournament which is what we need to do to get in the big dance