Shooter

Again with the guys who were young coaches in their 30s. Do you acknowledge that if Woodson turns it around this year, he is not going to give IU 5 NCAA titles over the next 40 years like Coach K gave Duke? The situations are not comparable. What do you mean "most wanted Archie gone after 2nd season?". Archie was a young coach, I supported giving him time. Four years was appropriate. He stunk that fourth year and then was rightfully fired.

Almost all of the coaches you have listed were young coaches just getting started. Most were showing some improvement by year 3. None are a good comp for Woodson - a veteran coach in his 60s who had some initial modest success with an inherited All American, then fell off sharply in year 3 after that guy graduated. If you can't see the differences between evaluating Mike Woodson's record at IU after 3 years versus Scott Drew's record at Baylor after 3 years, I'm not sure what else to say. The only guy I've seen you name that is a half decent comp for Woodson is John Beilein at Michigan. IU had a tough choice to make this offseason. Woodson did a great job in the portal, better than I expected. I hope he crushes it this year. But if he does, that won't change the absurdity of comparing his first three seasons to Scott Drew.

UConn was in the American conference when Hurley started. They were Kenpom #171 in Ollie's last year. Nobody expected Hurley to have immediate success. There probably would have been mild grumbling from IU fans about early tourney exits in years 3 and 4. But no chance his job would be in serious danger. Situation is not remotely similar to Woodson at IU.

Dan Hurley is a ridiculous comparison. Hurley took over in a worse spot than Woodson, but by year three he was clearly on the upswing. Years 3 and 4 he went 11-6, then 13-6 in the Big East. 7 and then 5 seed in the tourney. He was 49 years old. He would not have been fired at Indiana with that resume and it's absurd to suggest otherwise.

I hope you are right. Dolson and Woodson don't need to be best friends, but open disdain between them would not be healthy for the program.

I have never listened to their podcast, only read the summary posted in this thread. But I agree, their story fits with the things Woodson said publicly down the stretch last season, so I don't see any reason to not believe them. The only part that I found surprising was "I am the coach here until I say so", said directly in front of Dolson. I had no doubt that Woodson felt that way. But if he really said that in front of his boss, the dynamic in the athletic department is worse than I realized.

If he fails like last season it will be easy, he gets fired. If we are really good, also easy. Nobody cares how arrogant you are when you are winning. (Obviously I am rooting for this outcome... I want IU to win way more than I want to be "right" about Woody) The tough one is the middle outcome. Say we are a 8 seed in the tourney and lose second round... a lot of fans will be frustrated but I'm pretty sure Woodson stays in that scenario.

I haven't posted much in this thread, but the "soft" accusation is ironic in this setting. This situation exists mostly because Woodson reacted so poorly to criticism during a season in which he deserved it. He's extremely thin-skinned. I thought the Rick Bozich article was spot on. Woodson has Knight's ego, without a fraction of his success.

I think a large part of the disconnect is that Woodson feels like he does have that track record - based on his playing career and NBA coaching resume. That's why he bristles when fans or local media question him. On the other hand, the fans only look at his IU coaching results and think "this guy has accomplished very little, why is he so arrogant". If Woodson acts the same way but has us in the top ten this year, it won't be a problem. He just needs to win.

I admit I have not seen him play. But looking at his stats, how is it likely that he's significantly better than Sparks? Prior to IU, Sparks had better numbers and a bigger role on a significantly better team than Bellarmine. Numbers don't always tell the whole story, so maybe someone who has seen him play a bunch can give an opinion.

To your second point, I would suggest Woodson is the one who needed to "grow a pair". His team was playing awful for months - sitting at 6-10 in a down Big Ten, barely beating cupcakes in Assembly Hall, outside the top 100 in Kenpom. All of that is completely unacceptable at IU, and Woodson should know that. Yet he was the one who got "butthurt" and lashed out because fans and media dared to question him. All that said, he and staff have done a really nice job building a roster this offseason, and I'll be back in the Hall cheering on the Hoosiers again this winter. Just won't be cheering quite as loud for Woodson in particular.

Agree. I actually saw Hemenway play once in high school and thought he was really good. But if we add him, then my projected 10-13 spots on the roster are all filled by guards. Would like to see another depth big.

I think he's more like 6-7. And I could easily see him finishing some games. Pretty much an ideal role player, I love this addition.

Yea his three point and free throw shooting were awful last year. We both agree on that. You said his finishing at the rim was subpar, which was a completely false statement. 58% on 2s, second best in the Big Ten amongst guards.

I am curious to see how the guy we ultimately sign compares with Payton Sparks.