Thad Matta to Butler

[IU Scott 2,375]

27 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Same question as many others.  If Mata can coach, why isn't he IU coach?  This makes very little sense.  

Maybe he didn't want to be the HC at IU and everything that goes with that position.

[Dontshootthemessenger 19]

1 minute ago, IU Scott said:

Maybe he didn't want to be the HC at IU and everything that goes with that position.

Think about it from Thad’s perspective. If you’d made a *ton* of money in your life, and someone offered you the Louisville job for 3.5 mil, but you thought there was a good chance the IU job would be open and pay you 2.5 mil at some point soon, would you think for a second about taking the Louisville job? No.

Outside of money, it’s not clear to me why anyone would think Thad would ever *want* IU over Butler, and money is not as important at this point for someone like him. 

[Chris007 43,909]

51 minutes ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

No, the physical thing was never real. IU wanted TM to be HC. TM did not want to be HC at IU. His health is fine. He’s got a bad foot. That’s it. He doesn’t have to dunk to be a head coach. It’s blown way out of proportion. 
 

He wanted the Butler job. It’s as simple as that. 
 

don’t shoot the messenger. 

I totally believe he wanted the Butler job. He was good there, he lives there, I believe his daughter goes to school there, him & Collier are best friends. Plus he’s probably set up to take over as AD.

But I thought or have been told he’s had a couple back surgeries and one of them was botched. Watching him walk it looks worse than Coach K.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,628]

36 minutes ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

Look for news of Lander and Phin visiting Butler in the next couple of days. 

More power to them.  I don't begrudge either one of them for entering the portal any more than the 1,000 other kids have done this year.  

[MikeRoberts 6,998]

51 minutes ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

Look for news of Lander and Phin visiting Butler in the next couple of days. 

Ok, then I am not jealous butler got Matta then.

thank you for making me feel better!

[MikeRoberts 6,998]

22 minutes ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

Think about it from Thad’s perspective. If you’d made a *ton* of money in your life, and someone offered you the Louisville job for 3.5 mil, but you thought there was a good chance the IU job would be open and pay you 2.5 mil at some point soon, would you think for a second about taking the Louisville job? No.

Outside of money, it’s not clear to me why anyone would think Thad would ever *want* IU over Butler, and money is not as important at this point for someone like him. 

Nor is winning if he is chasing IU’s bench players

[IUFAN1976 3,071]

Wish you luck Thad, sorry to see you go!  

[Dontshootthemessenger 19]

2 minutes ago, MikeRoberts said:

Nor is winning if he is chasing IU’s bench players

If you don’t think KL’s upside is worth one of 13 scholarships, or that Phin is worth having as a handler, even off the bench, I don’t know what to tell you. No one is suggesting you can win big with these guys as your featured players, but are they worth 1 of 13 scholarships, yes.   

[MikeRoberts 6,998]

1 minute ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

If you don’t think KL’s upside is worth one of 13 scholarships, or that Phin is worth having as a handler, even off the bench, I don’t know what to tell you. No one is suggesting you can win big with these guys as your featured players, but are they worth 1 of 13 scholarships, yes.   

I figured they were hiring him to improve the program, you don’t do that worrying about your 12th and 13th man on the roster.

 

[lillurk 3,738]

I know IU fans have had lots of disappointment over the last twenty (heck, thirty) years, so there’s plenty of fatalism around here. But Butler’s been in a pretty bad spot for awhile now. If Matta’s there a couple years to right the ship, they’re not going to suddenly overtake IU

[IUFAN1976 3,071]

Thad Matta surprises me. Actually, I am surprised they didn’t offer Matta the head coaching job at IU, they may have but didn’t want it.  Even though it was speculated that Woodson wasn’t happy that Dolson had hired Matta.  I don’t think  Woodson liked having him around. Honestly, I think it could be a huge loss, IMO!

[Ryno6284 2,645]

Last week we were bitching about Woody not listening to Thad, only to hear he didn't have day to day tactics with the team.  Now we are pissed that TM has left to be Butler's head coach!  He used IU as a stop-gap to get him where he wanted to be.  Good for both parties!  I'm sure both benefited from each other.

 

Now...........Let us be the best team out of the state from here on out!

[jk34 1,105]

9 minutes ago, IUFAN1976 said:

Thad Matta surprises me. Actually, I am surprised they didn’t offer Matta the head coaching job at IU, they may have but didn’t want it.  Even though it was speculated that Woodson wasn’t happy that Dolson had hired Matta.  I don’t think  Woodson liked having him around. Honestly, I think it could be a huge loss, IMO!

Is the huge loss in optics, recruiting, or in game strategy? Not being combative, but I've not heard a current player or recruit, mention Thad Matta once. He was a very good coach, and a good guy, however the 3 guys on staff, are the type of guys these young players relate to. 

[str8baller 5,214]

1 hour ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

Look for news of Lander and Phin visiting Butler in the next couple of days. 

That should put everyone’s mind at ease if he’s fishing for IU discards. 

[Ryno6284 2,645]

18 minutes ago, jk34 said:

Is the huge loss in optics, recruiting, or in game strategy? Not being combative, but I've not heard a current player or recruit, mention Thad Matta once. He was a very good coach, and a good guy, however the 3 guys on staff, are the type of guys these young players relate to. 

The majority on here wanted him as HC, so........I'm going to say this has nothing to do with anything that we have going on!

[Ryno6284 2,645]

46 minutes ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

If you don’t think KL’s upside is worth one of 13 scholarships, or that Phin is worth having as a handler, even off the bench, I don’t know what to tell you. No one is suggesting you can win big with these guys as your featured players, but are they worth 1 of 13 scholarships, yes.   

They are worth one of the last 9-13 scholly's on IU!  I don't disagree, but they chose to leave and I'm sure IU will benefit from it!  Good luck to both of them as long as they don't choose PU or UK!

[HoosierHoops1 5,024]

 

3 hours ago, connchr71 said:

Didn't I mention overall history???? Isn't what matters to these high school kids is recent history? Yes, IU has more money, supposed better recruits, higher expectations (unrealistic for current crappy program).Which school has easily won at every metric in the last 15 years?? Not only is that very clear, you can say it has also been done with less (recruits, money and coaching). Where do Butler's former coaches go....Celtics President and Ohio State??? IU's- UAB-fired, Texas Southern something or other, Georgia- fired, and Rhode Island-soon to be fired?? 9-6 in tournament appearances with a HUGE disparity in results. Hmmmmmm all that is real interesting going forward with what these kids are looking for today. Matta and Big East will be a combination that Butler has not had yet with probably a major upgrade in recruiting. Their conference has teams that also get past the Sweet 16 occasionally, not get pounded in conference play, then not make tournament, and then see your conference get pounded in the first 2 rounds.

Butler is a stepping stone school, coaches leave for bigger jobs, Indiana is a destination school, coaches stay until they are fired.

[str8baller 5,214]

1 hour ago, Dontshootthemessenger said:

Think about it from Thad’s perspective. If you’d made a *ton* of money in your life, and someone offered you the Louisville job for 3.5 mil, but you thought there was a good chance the IU job would be open and pay you 2.5 mil at some point soon, would you think for a second about taking the Louisville job? No.

Outside of money, it’s not clear to me why anyone would think Thad would ever *want* IU over Butler, and money is not as important at this point for someone like him. 

That makes a ton of sense…except for the part where he left them for Xavier, who he then left for OSU.  
 

This is more like Butler finally made a misstep in their hiring  lineage and played upon his loyalty to come home. 

[Dontshootthemessenger 19]

12 minutes ago, str8baller said:

That makes a ton of sense…except for the part where he left them for Xavier, who he then left for OSU.  
 

This is more like Butler finally made a misstep in their hiring  lineage and played upon his loyalty to come home. 

Do you really not see how the calculus is different when you’re 34 and have made little money versus 54 and have made a ton of money?

Edited April 4, 2022 by Dontshootthemessenger

[Dontshootthemessenger 19]

28 minutes ago, str8baller said:

That should put everyone’s mind at ease if he’s fishing for IU discards. 

Whatever does it for you, man. Don’t shoot the messenger. The fact is the last couple of weeks, starting with the St Mary’s abomination, have been a dumpster fire for us. Having players follow a departing coach (maybe following two departing coaches?) doesn’t help the image. And if either or both of them go there and play materially better, you better believe every big ten coach is going to be pointing that out on the recruiting trail.