HoosierDPU95

Bingo! Had we executed on that one play out of the timeout where Race threw the ball away trying to get it to Trayce we would be talking about an entirely different outcome in my opinion. I'm sure the plan was to "get the ball to Trayce" but when that broke down, nobody made an adjustment to a secondary option. All the ranting about Stewart guarding Branham down the stretch is just head scratching to me. Who else did we have to put on him? One of the 3 guys in track suits? Leal? Double team it and leave him to find someone wide open (which he did numerous times)? They didn't completely piss away our tournament hopes with that nonsense in Chicago but it certainly contributed to it. Rob's absence has been the biggest factor there IMO. We are all disappointed by more than likely being on the outside looking in again but to say we haven't improved from last year is flat out wrong. People are dogging Woodson for his "gotta get them over the hump" comments but at least he has them to the hump. Last year's team couldn't even see the hump. Sure that doesn't make us feel better about the W-L results for this year but I'm sure not ready to jump on the "we should have hired big name blah blah blah" wagon.

He was 3-9 all from 5 feet in. How does his game translate to the next level?

Well once again it comes down to executing at the end of the game and we spend 12 seconds with two guys trying to feed the ball to Trayce only have the defender intercept the pass. It was almost like he knew we were going to throw that pass. 🤪 I'm sure that is exactly what Woodson drew up though

As this team says "hold my beer"

Ah but you forgot the critical variable that is Big Ten officiating.

I don't see how this team (I don't care how we match up on paper or what we did to them when they came to AH) walks away with anything other than a 15pt loss. OSU hasn't lost a home game all year, we are a mental mess, and it's still February the last time I checked.

I'm surprised we didn't hang a banner after beating Purdue.

And Bailey is a great example of how RMK's attitude towards recruiting changed in those last several years. I was at a Seymour regional Bailey's freshman year and remember the buzz because Knight was there in person to watch him. He was sitting on a metal folding chair in the corner of the upper deck walkway. Crap!! Now I just feel old 😔

I think there was a significant % of the fan base that arrived at the opinion that it was time for a change over those last 4-5 years. It would have been great if RMK made that decision and started grooming someone (not named Pat) to be his successor and handover the keys but it just didn't happen that way. The administration forced the issue, put in what I'm sure they were thinking was an interim coach who they then were stuck with because he took the team to the championship game. The "death spiral" then ensued.

I agree. This doesn't get talked about too much but I always felt like those last several Knight teams played scared and tight all the time. Not scared of the opponent but scared of making a mistake. To me, this is why that 02 team did so well, they were trained under RMK but were finally allowed to play a little more loose. Coaches have to be able to adapt to the mentality of kids as that changes over time.

There's a big difference in coming in late and settling for guys you can get and hope will help vs recruiting/landing guys (over years) that fit the system you want in place. And for the record, I'm a Reds fan so there is never any hope 😄

One factor.. None of those teams are in the Big Ten. Did any of those conferences have anything close to the level of competition that the Big Ten does? I would argue that it's not even close

25 games! That's all it took for the "we should have hired Marshal, Pearl, blah blah blah" banter to kick it. Unbelievable. The new staff had to scramble to re-recruit players from last years team, cobble together parts from the portal (late in the game), teach the team a new system, plus have a head coach adjust to the college game. Some folks act like we started with a fully stocked pantry and botched making dinner when in reality all we had were some stale crackers, a few cans of tomato soup, and some canned tuna. Is this staff "the answer"? Only time will tell and it certainly needs to be more time than 25 flipping games. Just look at the conference standings. EVERY team ahead of us has one thing in common, solid to exceptional guard play but sure, Marshall/Pearl/Pitino would have totally fixed that this year. Good grief. Talent (especially at the 1-3) is 90% of recipe for success.

Rob being out has hurt for sure and the Windy City 5 episode was a huge disruption, but at the end of the day we're just not a very good team. Wisconsin was just another example of how critical smart guard play is to the game. Our bigs destroyed their bigs but their guards destroyed our guards. In crunch time, strong guards will wins over strong bigs 99% of the time. I listened to the game on the radio and Suhr made a comment in the first half that really summed things up for me. It was on an IU possession where we got 2 offensive boards and on the second one kicked it out to X for a wide open 3 that clanked out. He said something like "Good teams hit that shot. How many times do you see good teams extend a possession like that and just deflate their opponent by knocking down a 3". Shortly after that, Davidson splashed a 3 in transition off of a turnover. Until we get consistent, smart guard play (decision making, shot selection, actually knocking down shots, and defense) we shouldn't expect anything beyond last night's results. My disappointment level has maxed out at this point so at least I won't get too worked up in the remaining games. I would just like to see improvements in the players that will be here next year (I'm not even going to speculate who those are).

My projection: we lose a heartbreaker 59-61 (in regulation) and spend 8 pages of post-game thread talking about horrendous free throw shooting, lineup changes, and Trayce's lack of a jump shot. 😔

Hope you're right but it's February and the late season skids of the past leave me doubting

Waiting for @IUFLA's super setup. I'll just start it by reiterating that I still hate February

I hate February

Starters: 1. I. Thomas 2. Wilkerson 3. Calloway 4. Thompson 5. Zeller Bench: Yogi Alford TJD

Is Mike Woodson the new Chuck Norris?

and he told that group they had to play to entire game and if they lose they're off the team

That kind of talk makes me wonder if some of you didn't break curfew last night.

Sounds like a lawn service

The Windy City 5 (thanks for the name @IUFLA) took all my optimism away