Dane Fife leaves IU staff

[Uspshoosier 45,675]

30 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

I'll bite. Pretty sure these are answers we've all seen before. One Fife talked politics to players and it bothered them, he was asked to stop but didn't. Next, he told a top 10 recruit and his family they should be happy with a scholarship from IU and not worry about NIL money. He openly talked about how he didn't like NIL. He openly talked in meetings with basketball staff or athletic staff about how he is going to do things when he's the head coach. He offered a high school player a scholarship when he was told not to. I also believe Woodson & Fife had their differences in day-to-day basketball operations. 

Told recruits that as well about being coach in waiting.   Recruits calling IU to see if true is a bad look.    Gave other schools ammo to negative recruit.   Why would you go play for Woodson if he is t going to be there in a couple years when you are suppose to be there.   

[str8baller 5,233]

6 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would think our current struggles have anything to do with Fife leaving. 

I haven’t read anyone who wrote that. I’m trying to figure out why you think that is what is being discussed. 

[Uspshoosier 45,675]

7 minutes ago, str8baller said:

How did such an incompetent boob like that last ten years at a more successful program in MSU? And who was the incompetent boob who wanted to bring him in?   
 

I always take these post-firing narratives with a gram of salt because they’re incredibly self serving and don’t generally pass basic scrutiny. It’s not just an IU thing, lots of organizations do this when a high profile employee leaves. 
 

“ also believe Woodson & Fife had their differences in day-to-day basketball operations. ”. 
 

Now this is something I’d be interested in hearing more about. 

10 years is a long time.   Even a successful assistant  coach can go from beloved to fans wanting to move on.   After fife was hired at IU I went to the MSU premium boards.   As you would expect some were mad he was leaving but the majority were glad he moved on.    They were concerned with the level of recruits he was bringing in at that time.  It’s a message board so whatever but usually when you take someone’s coach you want them to be hurt he is leaving not excited he is gone.    I really believe that Dolson hired him more so then I believe Woodson did.    Add all that up and it makes sense to me that woody would have lost trust in someone that he didn’t even hire.   Woody wanted it known he fired him and not the other other way around.   They could have easily let him walk with a statement to save face.    People can believe what they want though on all of this stuff 

[Uspshoosier 45,675]

12 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would think our current struggles have anything to do with Fife leaving. It's not like the team woke up a few weeks ago and realized he was gone. 

Some are trying to say the defense is struggling because he isn’t here anymore 

[TheWatShot 13,968]

4 minutes ago, str8baller said:

I haven’t read anyone who wrote that. I’m trying to figure out why you think that is what is being discussed. 

No one had posted in this thread for over 3 months. A few hours after our game Sunday, you posted this:

"Hey…maybe Dane and Thad Matta had some valid viewpoints that shouldn’t have been so readily jettisoned?

 

 I dunno… Strange."

 

What exactly was your reason for bumping this thread, if not to question whether Fife's departure had made an impact? 

[str8baller 5,233]

7 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

 I really believe that Dolson hired him more so then I believe Woodson did.    

I do to. Same with Matta.  And I totally support Woodsons prerogative in firing them if he didn’t want them. The administration thought he needed a little help acclimating to the college game, and he disagreed. 
 

The problem is, Woody has an awful basketball team on his hands. They’re awful fundamentally and they don’t seem to play real hard.  It’s hard to say that anyone but Woody owns it at this point.   
 

I’m simply curious about where those disagreements are and if thats telling at all about some of the problems we see on the court.    
 

 

(Of course, it could be that Dane is a really bad assistant and IU hired him because we’re incompetent. I’d believe that. The part of that theory I have a hard time buying is that Tom Izzo kept a bad staffer on for a decade. That doesn’t make much sense. But Izzo is good friends with Crean, so I guess anything is  possible.) 

[str8baller 5,233]

13 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

What exactly was your reason for bumping this thread, if not to question whether Fife's departure had made an impact? 

See above

[Chris007 44,065]

6 minutes ago, str8baller said:

I do to. Same with Matta.  And I totally support Woodsons prerogative in firing them if he didn’t want them. The administration thought he needed a little help acclimating to the college game, and he disagreed. 
 

The problem is, Woody has an awful basketball team on his hands. They’re awful fundamentally and they don’t seem to play real hard.  It’s hard to say that anyone but Woody owns it at this point.   
 

I’m simply curious about where those disagreements are and if thats telling at all about some of the problems we see on the court.    
 

 

(Of course, it could be that Dane is a really bad assistant and IU hired him because we’re incompetent. I’d believe that. The part of that theory I have a hard time buying is that Tom Izzo kept a bad staffer on for a decade. That doesn’t make much sense. But Izzo is good friends with Crean, so I guess anything is  possible.) 

Thad Matta left to become the head coach of Butler. He was not fired.

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,149]

54 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Some are trying to say the defense is struggling because he isn’t here anymore 

That is crazy. 

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,149]

I can't believe anyone cares about Matta and Fife still. It's like 9 months since they left. eeeesh...

I can't believe I read "Woody has an awful basketball team on his hands"... that's a crazy statement. 

[IUCrazy2 2,413]

2 hours ago, TheWatShot said:

I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would think our current struggles have anything to do with Fife leaving. It's not like the team woke up a few weeks ago and realized he was gone. 

I don't think Fife leading led to the struggles, I think it is possible that the reason Fife had to leave is merely one symptom of what is causing the struggles.  Again, Fife came from a successful program at MSU.  Arguably THE most consistently successful since the very late 90's.  He did ok there.  He only lasts one year here.  If Fife was acting like the heir apparent, who put that in his head?  NIL was new, technically he isn't supposed to be involved in NIL discussions so it is possible that led to those items.  He talked politics with a team that was pumping BLM in 2020.  You think that stuff didn't come up from their end?

There are players arguing with fans on Instagram after the Northwestern game.  Losing Fife wasn't what made things go south but it very much could be a small glimpse into why things are going south and that looks to go up to at least the AD from the outside looking in.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3451701/checking-in-on-indiana-basketball-theyve-lost-two-games-in-a-row-annnnddddd-players-are-now-fighting-with-fans-on-instagram

Soft like a Twinkie filling.  

[Alford Bailey 12,375]

Liked the idea of bringing Fife aboard but he just screwed up big time. No problem with Woody letting him go.

[HoosierHoops1 5,024]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:44 PM, AKHoosier said:

And Woodson just lost at home to NW, is 2-4 in his last 6 games with the wins coming against Elon and Kennesaw State, and will likely lose the next 3.

What's your point.

Who was out for Ohio State?

[BGleas 7,903]

18 hours ago, TheWatShot said:

I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would think our current struggles have anything to do with Fife leaving. It's not like the team woke up a few weeks ago and realized he was gone. 

Agree completely. The largest reason for the current struggles is crystal clear, we're missing two of our best players. It's not rocket science. 

With a healthy team we're 2-0 in Power 5 games.  I promise if X and Race were healthy we would not have the record we have. 

Before people get upset and say I'm "making excuses", the injuries flat-out matter and have negatively impacted the season, but with that said we still should not be losing to NW at home and should be able to beat Iowa on the road. 

Regardless, none of this has anything to do with Dane Fife. 

[Stuhoo 80,649]

9 hours ago, HoosierHoops1 said:

Who was out for Ohio State?

Zed Key is out with a shoulder-got hurt in the first few minutes of their Puredoo game. They’ve lost two in a row since then.

As BGleas said, losing guys like Key, Wahl for Wisky, or Race/X for us affects the bottom line immediately.

One of the plusses for us is that we are deep (really!) We clearly haven’t adjusted to the loss of Race and X yet, but we have players with enough ability to allow us to do so. Let’s hope that guys step up before our record gets ugly.

[Hoosierfan2017 21,345]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

Zed Key is out with a shoulder-got hurt in the first few minutes of their Puredoo game. They’ve lost two in a row since then.

As BGleas said, losing guys like Key, Wahl for Wisky, or Race/X for us affects the bottom line immediately.

One of the plusses for us is that we are deep (really!) We clearly haven’t adjusted to the loss of Race and X yet, but we have players with enough ability to allow us to do so. Let’s hope that guys step up before our record gets ugly.

I really don’t think we’re deep at all and that’s why the losses of Race and Xavier hurt so much. Trayce had to play all 40 minutes (with a bad back) and JHS played 35 minutes just to lose at home to Northwestern. That’s after they played 38 and 37 minutes against Iowa. They’re the only two guys who scored in double figures in either game. We’re those two plus a bunch of meh with Race/Xavier out. 

[Stuhoo 80,649]

7 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

I really don’t think we’re deep at all and that’s why the losses of Race and Xavier hurt so much. Trayce had to play all 40 minutes (with a bad back) and JHS played 35 minutes just to lose at home to Northwestern. That’s after they played 38 and 37 minutes against Iowa. They’re the only two guys who scored in double figures in either game. We’re those two plus a bunch of meh with Race/Xavier out. 

I guess it depends how one thinks of “deep.”

Clearly our backups don’t have the defensive recognition, focus, or experience of Race or X, but from a talent standpoint? We’re far better stocked than many P5 teams.

If the light doesn’t turn on soon it won’t matter this year. But if we can get to .500 in conference and then get Race and X back? There’s a lot of potential with this group.

[Golfman25 5,359]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

I guess it depends how one thinks of “deep.”

Clearly our backups don’t have the defensive recognition, focus, or experience of Race or X, but from a talent standpoint? We’re far better stocked than many P5 teams.

If the light doesn’t turn on soon it won’t matter this year. But if we can get to .500 in conference and then get Race and X back? There’s a lot of potential with this group.

Unfortunately, talent don't me squat if it's out of position, especially on defense.  

[str8baller 5,233]

4 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

As BGleas said, losing guys like Key, Wahl for Wisky, or Race/X for us affects the bottom line immediately.

Maybe one of you could explain how Iowa came back from 20 down to beat IU with a starter out?   

[str8baller 5,233]

22 hours ago, btownqb said:

I can't believe I read "Woody has an awful basketball team on his hands"... that's a crazy statement. 

Crazy how?  Bardo was calling the team out for sloppy turnovers and lazy defensive rotations. If he can see it, I’d expect your average IU fan to be able to.