JF87

Ngw7183- you seem to have some relationship or at least insight to the current staff or coach Woodson, so I find your posts interesting. Over the last couple of days, you've mentioned a possible change in assistants and changing our offense for next year. Have you heard that we will be wanting to run more 4 or 5 out? Are we considering prioritizing the three-point shot more? Have you heard anything on whether Mgbako will return or go pro? I believe he and his family's desire was to be one and done? Based on mock drafts, I assume that Ware is a certainty to go pro?

I've heard that Woodson believes that IU deserves to sit at the table with the Big Boys. I remember Mike Davis trying that strategy and we finished 2nd or 3rd for a lot of top recruits. Nothing wrong with chasing a few of the top players. But, how about finding a few diamonds in the rough as well who are rated lower? Crean did this with Oladipo, Sheehey, Anunoby, and Morgan.

In the video, it appears the kid plays with some emotion and swagger. I like that.

This is an interesting read. Chris Holtmann's path to Ohio State dismissal showed the danger of players getting too good, too fast (msn.com)

I keep noticing on all the Ohio State lists He Who Must Not Be Named is never listed. You know, coach facial hair.

We're doing our best! LOL

That could be risky to wait on IU. Dusty may never again be the hot commodity that he is right now. I know people said that Dusty isn't money driven, but a contract from another major university could be 15-18 million dollars guaranteed. Who knows what happens at IU. Maybe you wait on the IU job and Woodson makes the tournament in 2024-2025 and then pushes for one or two more years. Hypothetically, it's possible that Dolson may be gone in a few years. These are unknowns, so passing on a huge payday may not be in his family's best interest even if IU is his dream job.

Is Richard Pitino a good coach? I know that he struggled at Minnesota, but he seems to have New Mexico playing well. Does his dad's issue slant how we perceive Richard?

Can we save the season? What do we need to do to salvage this year? Short of winning the Big Ten Tournament, what would be satisfactory? Should making the NIT be our goal at this point? What do we want to see the rest of the year? We currently stand at 14-10 overall and 6-7 in a weak Big Ten. That has us currently 7th in the Big Ten. We have 4 home games and 3 road games remaining. The home games are winnable. All of the remaining home opponents have losing Big Ten road records (Northwestern 1-5, Nebraska 0-7, Wisconsin 3-4, Michigan State 2-5). Would winning 2 of 3 on the road (Penn State, Maryland, Minnesota) be out of the question? If we go 6-1 down the stretch that would put our record at 20-11. Assuming we win one Big Ten Tournament game we would be 21-12. That should get us an NIT invite. What I want to see the rest of the year is: Improve the defense (we are currently 91st in Kenpom) Improve the rebounding (all 5 guys need to be rebounding on the defensive end) Improve shot selection (avoid long 2-pt shots, shoot more threes) Improve Cupps confidence on offense. We need him shooting when he's open. Get Johnson back and have him finish his last year strong. I don't want any player's career to end on a sour note.

IU 65 NW 63 Unlike the Penn State game, we defend our home court.

We'll probably land Okpara. LOL

Be careful what you wish for. This could mean that we are sub 500 and don't qualify for the new Big Ten Tournament but happen to win our last game of the regular season.

Archie was a bad fit. Louisville was a trash fire and Dino Gaudio threw gas on Mack and then pushed him in. Holtmann seemed to lack consistency because he had a lot of players moving in and out the last three years. Reaching for the brass ring doesn't always work out for mid major coaches. Which is why I think Sean Miller may be content to stay at Xavier this time.

I'm going to bet on Purdue to win the NCAA Championship. I never win, so that will be the kiss of death.

Yes, but would IU pay the buyout? Assuming Dusty gets a 6 year/18 million dollar deal from another school, IU could be looking at a 15 million dollar buyout. Would the AD look stupid paying that buyout if he could have avoided it by moving on May one year sooner? These are questions that the Administration should be having internally at this time.

I still worry more about Miami or Florida State if Larranaga or Leonard Hamilton retire.

Does Gene Smith hire the replacement or does Ohio State hire Smith's replacement as AD and let that person hire this next coach?

Must have been a fun junket to Vegas! LOL

I believe this is correct and I don't blame Woodson for this. Part of building a program and culture is players developing each year and earning minutes. Galloway, and to a lesser extent, Johnson have progressed in their time under Woodson. Would it be right to promise a guard would start without letting Johnson or Galloway a chance to compete? I applaud Woodson if he told portal guards they would have to compete for the position. Young players need to know that they can earn playing time and that another player won't be handed minutes ahead of them because they are perceived to be better. It's disappointing that we missed on guards, but I think establishing a culture of earning minutes is vital.

I think our philosophy is recruit these 5-star players and build a relationship. Even if they don't choose us initially, we have a relationship to sign them out of the transfer portal in the future.

A final payday before retiring would be my guess.

FAU has 1 quad 4 loss and 1 quad 3 loss this year. The quad 4 loss is bad. So, Dusty doesn't walk on water. However, FAU moved to a better conference this year and are currently 4-3 on the road. FAU is 6-1 in neutral site games. They are also 3-1 in quad 1 games. That's a solid record, especially for a team that has moved from being the hunter, to being the hunted. The Final Four run was magical last year and will most likely not be duplicated. Losing earlier in the NCAA Tournament would not diminish what FAU or Dusty May have accomplished. Teams playing the 8-9 games or 7-10 games are typically a coin flip. You know this. That's why you are trying to set a higher bar.

You do realize that Bob Knight was 11-13 his last year at Army. IU wanted a coach whose teams played good defense and with discipline so they hired Bob Knight. You should hire for fit, not always the record. Dusty (like Shertz) has built a program from the ground up. Archie was not a good fit for IU. He was never comfortable at IU. Don't pass on a mid-major coach because Archie was a bad fit.

I like Nate Oats and they are currently the number 1 ranked adjusted offense on Kenpom. From a stylistic standpoint, I prefer a coach that has a great offense. Tony Bennett is a winner with a great defense, but his offense and offensive tempo are not fun to watch. Give me the offense-oriented coach. I'd love for IU to steal Oats away from Alabama. I'm not sure if the scandal last year would keep IU from considering him.

TJ Otzelberger is intriguing. Currently, Iowa State is 3rd in adjusted defense and 45th in adjusted offense. I think Cronin is a good coach. He recruits length and his teams play good defense. This year with a young team they are currently ranked 28th in adjusted defense. UCLA's adjusted offense is 175th. Not good. In comparison, IU's adjusted offense is 108th.