Fife on Woodson

[str8baller 7,814]

3 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

^^The bold is it in a nutshell^^

Fife on Woodson's staff was like serving rib eyes at a vegan restaurant or bean sprout-tofu salad at a carnival fried chicken booth; might be things that can work in a different scenario, but should have anticipated that the combination was doomed.

That’s on the IU administration. By most accounts they set it up this way thinking it would be a positive when it was a negative. They hired Matta under the same concept. 
 

A major whiff on all fronts. It goes up there with the Sampson and Davis hires as “anyone competent should’ve known better but IU didn’t.” And still…somehow the Archie hire produced the worst results. Lol…

[Kentuckysucks 4,350]

26 minutes ago, str8baller said:

That’s on the IU administration. By most accounts they set it up this way thinking it would be a positive when it was a negative. They hired Matta under the same concept. 
 

A major whiff on all fronts. It goes up there with the Sampson and Davis hires as “anyone competent should’ve known better but IU didn’t.” And still…somehow the Archie hire produced the worst results. Lol…

True but without Archie's stud recruit that was handed to Woodson on a silver platter I'm not sure he sees year 3.  Would've been very interesting to know what Would've happened had TJD bolted right away.

[str8baller 7,814]

2 hours ago, Kentuckysucks said:

True but without Archie's stud recruit that was handed to Woodson on a silver platter I'm not sure he sees year 3.  Would've been very interesting to know what Would've happened had TJD bolted right away.

Almost no chance Woody wasn’t getting 4 years, imo. Especially coming off Archie.
 

Also, it’s not like TJD wasn’t a really good player under Archie. It’s just that Archie couldn’t coach. It’s not like TJD was the only one. That ‘21 team had Durham and Franklin—who went to good programs after IU and were contributors—along with the same Race and Phinisee Woody took to the tourney. That ‘21 team should’ve made the tourney, not win 12 games. I’m reluctant to give Archie credit for much of anything. 
 

If TJD bolted after year 1 (or initially) we would’ve hit the transfer portal and the fans would’ve suffered like the other two years we didn’t have him.  

[ebridges24 2,779]

3 hours ago, str8baller said:

Almost no chance Woody wasn’t getting 4 years, imo. Especially coming off Archie.
 

Also, it’s not like TJD wasn’t a really good player under Archie. It’s just that Archie couldn’t coach. It’s not like TJD was the only one. That ‘21 team had Durham and Franklin—who went to good programs after IU and were contributors—along with the same Race and Phinisee Woody took to the tourney. That ‘21 team should’ve made the tourney, not win 12 games. I’m reluctant to give Archie credit for much of anything. 
 

If TJD bolted after year 1 (or initially) we would’ve hit the transfer portal and the fans would’ve suffered like the other two years we didn’t have him.  

Give him credit for looking like a credible coach before he got here. That;s about it.

[AZ Hoosier 11,140]

5 hours ago, ebridges24 said:

Give him credit for looking like a credible coach before he got here. That;s about it.

He was a con man among con men. The Knicks fired him after pulling the same tone-deaf, lazy schtick that he pulled here. ZERO RESPECT.

But, like the song says, THANK GOD AND GREYHOUND, HE'S GONE!  Moving on.

[iu eyedoc 4,544]

On 8/15/2025 at 8:29 AM, Stuhoo said:

 

Woody is a good guy and a pretty good NBA assistant coach; he he just wasn't equipped to be the head coach in an organization where the head coach is also general manager, team president, and the face of the university.

I mean, is he really? Don't know him personally and I'm not saying he is a bad guy, but does a good guy surround himself with yes men and fire those that dare disagree? Does a good guy mock a large portion of the fan base? Does a good guy doing a half assed job  proclaim himself "King of Indiana?" Does a good guy collect million yet refuse to go out and do his job on the recruiting trail?

From afar he looks more like an entitled lazy @$$ with a fragile ego, not a horrible human, but far from a good guy.

[Hoosierfan2017 25,283]

2 hours ago, iu eyedoc said:

I mean, is he really? Don't know him personally and I'm not saying he is a bad guy, but does a good guy surround himself with yes men and fire those that dare disagree? Does a good guy mock a large portion of the fan base? Does a good guy doing a half assed job  proclaim himself "King of Indiana?" Does a good guy collect million yet refuse to go out and do his job on the recruiting trail?

From afar he looks more like an entitled lazy @$$ with a fragile ego, not a horrible human, but far from a good guy.

Maybe he’s a nice guy in his personal life (as long as you’re completely subservient to him), but the Mike Woodson we had the displeasure of experiencing the past four years is a petty, lazy, insecure narcissist. 

[str8baller 7,814]

10 hours ago, iu eyedoc said:

I mean, is he really? Don't know him personally and I'm not saying he is a bad guy, but does a good guy surround himself with yes men and fire those that dare disagree? Does a good guy mock a large portion of the fan base? Does a good guy doing a half assed job  proclaim himself "King of Indiana?" Does a good guy collect million yet refuse to go out and do his job on the recruiting trail?

From afar he looks more like an entitled lazy @$$ with a fragile ego, not a horrible human, but far from a good guy.

Meh…time heals all wounds. People will be fine with Woody, eventually. It’s happened with Davis and Crean. 

[Brass Cannon 25,637]

43 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Meh…time heals all wounds. People will be fine with Woody, eventually. It’s happened with Davis and Crean. 

Both those guys tried.  Crean almost too hard.  Effort matters.  

[str8baller 7,814]

41 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Both those guys tried.  Crean almost too hard.  Effort matters.  

Davis was talking about bailing for the pros two years in. He sent misadressed mail to Mike Conley. He was probably lazier than Woody. Crean tried…sure. But he tried so hard his hyper mania nonsense turned everyone off. He never tried just being normal.   
 

Woody will be reclaimed in time. It’s the IU way

[AZ Hoosier 11,140]

1 hour ago, str8baller said:

Davis was talking about bailing for the pros two years in. He sent misadressed mail to Mike Conley. He was probably lazier than Woody. Crean tried…sure. But he tried so hard his hyper mania nonsense turned everyone off. He never tried just being normal.   
 

Woody will be reclaimed in time. It’s the IU way

Maybe for some of y'all. Woodson's arrogance and sense of entitlement will be his legacy. Good/great player, entitled $20M waste as a coach.

[Brass Cannon 25,637]

1 hour ago, str8baller said:

Davis was talking about bailing for the pros two years in. He sent misadressed mail to Mike Conley. He was probably lazier than Woody. Crean tried…sure. But he tried so hard his hyper mania nonsense turned everyone off. He never tried just being normal.   
 

Woody will be reclaimed in time. It’s the IU way

Disagree on Davis.  Guy just didn’t get it on any level but he still tried.  He was in over his head plain and simple.  
 

And I already admitted Crean tried too hard. 
 

Sending the wrong letters is a lot less offensive than skipping dinners with recruits to smoke and drink with a gaggle of yes men. 

[str8baller 7,814]

7 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Disagree on Davis.  Guy just didn’t get it on any level but he still tried.  He was in over his head plain and simple.  
 

And I already admitted Crean tried too hard. 
 

Sending the wrong letters is a lot less offensive than skipping dinners with recruits to smoke and drink with a gaggle of yes men. 

Where do you rate Lou Watson on that scale?

[iu eyedoc 4,544]

13 hours ago, str8baller said:

Meh…time heals all wounds. People will be fine with Woody, eventually. It’s happened with Davis and Crean. 

Could be, still doesn't make him a good guy.

[Home Jersey 16,841]

13 hours ago, str8baller said:

Davis was talking about bailing for the pros two years in. He sent misadressed mail to Mike Conley. He was probably lazier than Woody. Crean tried…sure. But he tried so hard his hyper mania nonsense turned everyone off. He never tried just being normal.   
 

Woody will be reclaimed in time. It’s the IU way

Yep I have no doubt the IU admin / community at large will try to reclaim Woody. Will he ever accept that and return though? Not sure. He seemed to be pretty aggrieved about his time here. I suppose if Knight eventually came back, Woodson could too... lol 

[go iu bb 10,036]

1 hour ago, Home Jersey said:

Yep I have no doubt the IU admin / community at large will try to reclaim Woody. Will he ever accept that and return though? Not sure. He seemed to be pretty aggrieved about his time here. I suppose if Knight eventually came back, Woodson could too... lol 

I personally couldn't care less if he ever gets over it or not. I'm not old enough to remember him as a player so my only impressions of him are from his time as the coach. Needless to say, they are not positive impressions. So whether an arrogant, thin-skinned, unlikeable guy who should have never been hired in the first place and got a year longer than warranted gets over getting fired for the half-assed, low effort job he did gets over it or not doesn't matter to me at all.

[str8baller 7,814]

5 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

Yep I have no doubt the IU admin / community at large will try to reclaim Woody. Will he ever accept that and return though? Not sure. He seemed to be pretty aggrieved about his time here. I suppose if Knight eventually came back, Woodson could too... lol 

He’s old. I don’t really care how he feels. 
 

I’m just saying that I’ve seen guys with a ton a vitriol aimed at them— including some from me—be rehabilitated with the passage of time. Woody will be too. It’s only recency bias that gets people more worked up over him than other failed coaches. Understandable. Fans are fickle—in both directions. 

[Hoosierfan2017 25,283]

People warmed back up to Crean in part because Woodson was such a disaster/ahole. Woodson’s not changing his stripes in his late 60s. Maybe the old timers will warm back up to him, but he earned his reputation with the under 45 crowd during his coaching tenure. I’d prefer for him (and Buckner) to never set foot within city limits again. 

 

(not calling anyone over 45 an “old timer,” just using that as a divider of people who would have no memories of Woodson as an IU player). 

[go iu bb 10,036]

1 hour ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

People warmed back up to Crean in part because Woodson was such a disaster/ahole. Woodson’s not changing his stripes in his late 60s. Maybe the old timers will warm back up to him, but he earned his reputation with the under 45 crowd during his coaching tenure. I’d prefer for him (and Buckner) to never set foot within city limits again. 

 

(not calling anyone over 45 an “old timer,” just using that as a divider of people who would have no memories of Woodson as an IU player). 

Woodson graduated in 1980 which is 45 years ago. I turn 48 next month and, while I was alive while Woodson was at IU, I was too young to remember him. Even someone born in 1975 (50 years old this year) would have been only 5 when he graduated and highly unlikely to remember him at all. If they did remember him, it would likely just be vague impressions.

[ebridges24 2,779]

On 8/15/2025 at 11:40 PM, AZ Hoosier said:

He was a con man among con men. The Knicks fired him after pulling the same tone-deaf, lazy schtick that he pulled here. ZERO RESPECT.

But, like the song says, THANK GOD AND GREYHOUND, HE'S GONE!  Moving on.

I was talking about Archie,  not Woody.