General Coach Candidate News

[Unexpectedflash]

10 minutes ago, JF87 said:

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. 

The thing is if you want to win a title which I think we all do you need to be good at offense and defense. Even though Virginia plays at snails pace the year they won a title they had a top 10 offense. Jay wrights Villanova teams were the similar although slightly faster. They played slow but made a lot of threes and were extremely efficient. Archie was very one sided at Dayton and that works at the mid majors but we need both. I watch a lot of nba so I will say the fast paced spread it out offense is what I’m used to but I just want to see wins honestly. 

[JSHoosier]

10 minutes ago, Unexpectedflash said:

The thing is if you want to win a title which I think we all do you need to be good at offense and defense. Even though Virginia plays at snails pace the year they won a title they had a top 10 offense. Jay wrights Villanova teams were the similar although slightly faster. They played slow but made a lot of threes and were extremely efficient. Archie was very one sided at Dayton and that works at the mid majors but we need both. I watch a lot of nba so I will say the fast paced spread it out offense is what I’m used to but I just want to see wins honestly. 

Rhode Island's 5 fans might disagree that Miller's one sided style works.

[Unexpectedflash]

Just now, JSHoosier said:

Rhode Island's 5 fans might disagree that Miller's one sided style works.

You know Archie may just be a bad coach lol

[Henryville Hoosier]

https://x.com/IUBarstool/status/1757112120993272242?s=20

 

[str8baller]

3 hours ago, Unexpectedflash said:

Even though Virginia plays at snails pace the year they won a title they had a top 10 offense. Jay wrights Villanova teams were the similar although slightly faster.

Correct. All their best teams were good at both even playing slower. At a major program I’d ideally want a coach to play a little faster but it’s hardly a deal breaker.  Either guy would have killed it at IU. 
 

If IU actually had a top notch and dynamic athletic dept like an Alabama or Ohio St or even Kansas, I’d say there might be a small outside shot at getting a Tony Bennett type. But you’d have to really make the pitch to get someone to leave a spot like that. But if you look at NIL and the transfer market UVA is in tough spot going forward. They lost a rotation guy to Texas (and IU was rumored to be a bidder). His program is currently much better than both but will lose players based on resources. Not to mention what would even happen to a school like UVA if Fl State went and blew the NCAA up. All those variables are probably in the back of his, and other coaches, mind.  
 

But even without the sister stuff, I don’t think IU has ever proven they have that type of dynamic and capable administration. Not in this century anyways. Wells could’ve done it. Ryan too. 

[realTomCrean]

On 2/11/2024 at 3:06 PM, JF87 said:

Instead of discussing names, what style do you want from our next coach (whenever that may be)?  Would you prefer a coach that has a  kenpom adjusted offensive rating in the top 25, but defensive rating is in the 50-100 range?  Or would you prefer a coach whose adjusted defensive rating is in the top 25, but the offensive rating is in the 50-100 range?  

Not ratings but more style of play I’d say Shoots a ton of 3’s and really aggressive D w/ pressures traps and doubles. Basically Tom Crean, say what you want about his teams but when they were humming it was fun basketball to watch 

[hoopsta007]

25 minutes ago, realTomCrean said:

Not ratings but more style of play I’d say Shoots a ton of 3’s and really aggressive D w/ pressures traps and doubles. Basically Tom Crean, say what you want about his teams but when they were humming it was fun basketball to watch 

Creans teams had their flaws but at least  they were capable of some big wins just because the style may have been gelling that night.  Funny thing I remember one year he beat two number one seeds during the season and still didn’t get a bid.

[str8baller]

8 hours ago, hoopsta007 said:

Creans teams had their flaws but at least  they were capable of some big wins just because the style may have been gelling that night.  Funny thing I remember one year he beat two number one seeds during the season and still didn’t get a bid.

We swept Purdue (#1 seed) last year and won at Xavier and Illinois.  We beat Purdue in Woodys first season.    
 

Nostalgia must be a helluva drug if people are pining for Crean.

[hoopsta007]

22 minutes ago, str8baller said:

We swept Purdue (#1 seed) last year and won at Xavier and Illinois.  We beat Purdue in Woodys first season.    
 

Nostalgia must be a helluva drug if people are pining for Crean.

Definitely not pining for Crean.  Just pointing out that Crean’s system had a greater chance to overachieve vs. a Woodson offense.  Neither coach should be the bellwether of what fans should expect at IU

[8bucks]

I think many would love to have a guy like Painter but he has had some lean years.  I am fine to go with a guy like May (assuming some sure fire guys say no) but we would have to become more patient here if we do.  Let him build a program and be patient if/when he has some lean years.

Here is Painter's coaching record.

[realTomCrean]

59 minutes ago, 8bucks said:

I think many would love to have a guy like Painter but he has had some lean years.  I am fine to go with a guy like May (assuming some sure fire guys say no) but we would have to become more patient here if we do.  Let him build a program and be patient if/when he has some lean years.

Here is Painter's coaching record.

1 season past S16 in 20 years. Gross

[GnarlyNormEllenberger]

1 hour ago, 8bucks said:

I think many would love to have a guy like Painter but he has had some lean years.  I am fine to go with a guy like May (assuming some sure fire guys say no) but we would have to become more patient here if we do.  Let him build a program and be patient if/when he has some lean years.

Here is Painter's coaching record.

A lot of IU fans like to knock Painter because of his lack of deep tournament runs. But you know what? I'd love to have a coach like him on the sidelines. A coach that has made the NCAA Tournament eight of the last nine years. 14/18 years total. He has won four Big Ten regular season tiles. Two Big Ten tournament titles. His teams have finished in 4th place or better in the Big Ten in 13/18 years. His teams are almost always near the top of the Big Ten. Also, lean years are okay when credit is built up around it.

He has a clear scheme and system. He recruits to it and he does it well. While he can land top-tier talent (Jaden Ivey, Caleb Swanigan, E'Twaun Moore, etc.) he doesn't just chase top talent. He knows what his system requires to make it work. And it doesn't require a team of top recruits. He always has shooters. He always has big guys. They move on offense. They play aggressive defense. They rebound. They always have bulldogs. They always play with intensity and they always hustle. You pretty much know what Purdue is going to be every year... tough, competitive and disciplined. They're always (at the very least) good. It's easy to identify because that was how Knight ran the program for many years.

This is why I can get behind potential hires of guys like Micah Shrewsberry or Dusty May in the future. Because I really feel they would try to develop the same type of program in the same manner. Build the team/system and add the top talent vs. add the top talent to build the system. One style allows you something to fall back on when you miss on a top recruit or two... which is something that IU has struggled with a lot in recent years. I could be wrong... but I just get the feeling that Shrewsberry and May are cut from that same cloth and would win a lot of games at IU. No guarantees, though, and I could be wrong. Still can't believe how badly Archie flamed out.

Also, I would recommend folks getting in their pot-shots on Painter soon because it appears there is a good chance the proverbial monkey will get off his back in another couple of months. They have a really good team.

 

[LamarCheeks]

Don't recall seeing Michael Lewis' name mentioned at all in the recent revisiting of this thread. 

He was sorta a hot name a couple years back. I don't think he was ever a serious contender for the IU job since he had no head coaching experience. But I think some floated the idea of him joining the staff and possibly becoming a CIW (as Fife claims he was) before he took the Muncie job. 

Seems to have had a pretty good first season (21-12) at BSU, but has fallen back a bit (12-12 so far this year).

I haven't seen much about him. Not advocating for him at all. Just curious as to what folks thought of him at this point? 

[Chris007]

22 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

Don't recall seeing Michael Lewis' name mentioned at all in the recent revisiting of this thread. 

He was sorta a hot name a couple years back. I don't think he was ever a serious contender for the IU job since he had no head coaching experience. But I think some floated the idea of him joining the staff and possibly becoming a CIW (as Fife claims he was) before he took the Muncie job. 

Seems to have had a pretty good first season (21-12) at BSU, but has fallen back a bit (12-12 so far this year).

I haven't seen much about him. Not advocating for him at all. Just curious as to what folks thought of him at this point? 

I think he was a better candidate when he was the #1 assistant at UCLA. Now that we've seen him coach I think most people think we can get better. We took his best player from last year and he's not very good. 

[TheWatShot]

1 hour ago, LamarCheeks said:

Don't recall seeing Michael Lewis' name mentioned at all in the recent revisiting of this thread. 

He was sorta a hot name a couple years back. I don't think he was ever a serious contender for the IU job since he had no head coaching experience. But I think some floated the idea of him joining the staff and possibly becoming a CIW (as Fife claims he was) before he took the Muncie job. 

Seems to have had a pretty good first season (21-12) at BSU, but has fallen back a bit (12-12 so far this year).

I haven't seen much about him. Not advocating for him at all. Just curious as to what folks thought of him at this point? 

I don't think he has the recruiting chops to succeed at this level. BSU's previous coach was soft as Charmin, and so were his players. I thought Lewis did an outstanding job last season. Then the portal gutted his roster and he had to start over. BSU fans hate this team. The players he has now are even softer and play scared most of the time. Their season in a nutshell was the end of a home loss to Miami: up 11 with 5 minutes to go, slowly gave back their lead, Miami had a chance to tie on the final possession and the BSU coaches were screaming at them to foul. No one fouled, Miami hit a 3 at the buzzer and went on to dominate the overtime. 

 

Had a BSU fan tell me: "the Bob Knight tough-guy schtick is a lot less amusing when Little Rock is beating you 90-55." It's crazy how different Lewis and Woodson are in their styles. Lewis tries too hard to be like Knight and Woodson is nothing like him at all. 

[SamIam]

1 hour ago, Chris007 said:

I think he was a better candidate when he was the #1 assistant at UCLA. Now that we've seen him coach I think most people think we can get better. We took his best player from last year and he's not very good. 

He's a good coach, maybe not elite level. Did a great job turning BSU around immediately last year but it's such a tough job. BSU has no NIL whatsoever, and he got absolutely screwed by the transfer portal this year, lost both his top guards and Sparks. One of them, Jaylin Sellers is averaging like 18 at UCF and the other, Jarron Coleman was poached super late in the game by Nebraska. Had to go find literally anyone to play guard and the results haven't been good. He's turned his new center Basheer Jihad into a legit top player in the MAC but he will probably get poached this offseason too. 

I think this season should be treated like Matta's last season. He needs a chance to rebuild the roster with his guys now that he understands the portal situation. Got a couple of young guys like IUFB's Cooper Jones' younger brother and Zane Doughty who was a state champ at Ben Davis last year. I don't think we should write him off just yet. Not that anyone asked for this much info lol

[str8baller]

2 hours ago, SamIam said:

BSU has no NIL whatsoever, and he got absolutely screwed by the transfer portal this year, lost both his top guards and Sparks. One of them, Jaylin Sellers is averaging like 18 at UCF and the other, Jarron Coleman was poached super late in the game by Nebraska. Had to go find literally anyone to play guard and the results haven't been good. He's turned his new center Basheer Jihad into a legit top player in the MAC but he will probably get poached this offseason too. 

This is such a good illustration of how things like NIL and immediate transfers benefit schools like IU at the expense of everyone else. 

[LamarCheeks]

I think we're missing the obvious here. A new candidate has just become availble ... 

After all, didn't Goodman insist that we reached out to Holtmann after Archie was let go? 

[OliviaPope40]

1 hour ago, LamarCheeks said:

I think we're missing the obvious here. A new candidate has just become availble ... 

After all, didn't Goodman insist that we reached out to Holtmann after Archie was let go? 

Take anything Goodman says with a grain of salt.

[8bucks]

2 hours ago, LamarCheeks said:

I think we're missing the obvious here. A new candidate has just become availble ... 

After all, didn't Goodman insist that we reached out to Holtmann after Archie was let go? 

A friends son played for him at Gardner Webb and from their perspective he was a great guy and coach. He seemed to be reluctant to leave Butler and OSU had to up their offer to get him.  He probably jumped against his better judgement and hopefully he lands back at the mid major level. No shame in being really good and comfortable at that level (especially if you have $12.8 million in the rainy day fund).