Interesting thoughts on Coach Miller, Moren (IUWbb)

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Transcript from HoosierScoop (yeah, I know), by Andy Graham.  Some talk on Coach Miller, Brian Agler, Coach Moren.  Other topics included at link, but moreso interested in the IUWbb talk.

 

http://scoop.hoosiershq.com/2015/04/fridays-live-chat-transcript/

 

Friday’s live chat transcript

Posted by Mike Miller in Just sayin' on Friday, Apr. 24, 2015 at 3:33 PM.

QUESTION: MODERATOR: Good morning and welcome to today’s IU sports chat. Thanks for being here.
Andy, Mike and Jeremy: How are you today? Ready to get started?

JEREMY: As ready as ever this Friday. Let’s dive in.

MIKE: Hey, everybody. Doing well. Let’s chat.

ANDY: Sure looked and felt like football season last evening as IU concluded its spring sessions with a public practice, with a ton of other IU athletes from sundry sports present for the festivities. Got one in the mood to … chat.

QUESTION: With the circus that was IUWBB this offseason, what should fan expectation be for next year? Lost two huge assets for next year including Brooks and Stratman!

Robert, Bloomington

 

JEREMY: Robert,
Good question, and keep in mind that IU may not be done adding pieces for next season. The spring signing period runs through May 20.
That said, I think you have to expect progress. For one, because the roster is at least a little more balanced in terms of guards and bigs. For two, because this will be the second year under Teri Moren’s system and with players who theoretically suit her preferences. That said, there won’t be a senior on the roster, so still a very young team overall.
The full schedule hasn’t been released yet either, so maybe we can revisit some actual numbers then.

MIKE: Tempered. They still don’t have a post player that can help them achieve the kind of conference breakthrough that they need. I expect they’ll do fine in November and December, but I’ll be curious to see what the non-conference schedule looks like when it’s released this summer. It’s been embarrassingly soft the last few years, something that is partly — maybe mostly — attributable to coach Jack. I know Miller wanted to beef it up a bit down the road, so I imagine we might see a game or two of his choosing this year. Personnel wise, I don’t think they’ll have a single senior. So I don’t know, but I’m not expecting a much different win/loss record than this year’s. Best case scenario is getting rid of all the drama that followed this team from beginning to end and giving Teri Moren an opportunity to try again with players who have bought in to a system they feel comfortable with.

ANDY: Robert:
Circus, maybe, who was the ringleader for the circus? I’m hardly an expert on the women’s program, but I sense this team perhaps had a clique or two. I find it intriguing that Brooks and Agler both ended up at Texas Tech. And that Agler’s dad, Brian, reportedly angled for the IU job and didn’t get it (and if so, just guessing here, perhaps due to some NCAA transgressions while at Kansas State in the mid-1990s). And that Agler’s dad just hired Curt Miller with the LA Sparks. All of that at least implies, to me at least, that Coach Moren probably had some issues to confront upon her upon arrival in Bloomington, both overt and covert. Could she and her staff have handled situations better? Maybe. I’m just looking in from the periphery. But I also don’t know that I’d lay all of the off-season “circus” at her feet.
I imagine Stratman, who ended up never playing a second for Indiana, will head back to Butler. Muensterman, who seems like a great kid, wasn’t going to be a great fit, given the style Coach Moren wants to play, and Belmont seems a good avenue for her.
As for expectations next season, well, the roster almost certainly isn’t set as yet. But there will obviously be some growing pains as Coach Moren rebuilds the program and reshapes it in the image she prefers. The hurdle got a little higher with the transfers, to be sure, but in the long run the program might be better off with players who are happy in Bloomington and anxious to play for Coach Moren.