Danomatic

We’re going to be looking for a new head coach in Madison. The juniors, or seniors to be next year is a big class of 6. At one point there were 14 in that class, but some transfers and natural attrition ran its course. Watching the Cubs not being able to get over the hump this season is a big part of why things didn’t work out. They lost 12 games by 8 or less, 9 games by 6 or less and actually had the lead in 8 of the 12 games with under 5 minutes left in each of the 8 respective games. Lots of tension at Madison, and some with unrealistic expectations. It’s clearly not what is used to be, and is no longer viewed as a great job…. hasn’t been in some time. But, they have a decent six man senior class coming in that should make them a tough group. 

22 minutes ago, btownqb said:

My Braves have been banged up all year... 

Benter has dealt with a calf strain, broken bone in foot, and had 103 degree temp yesterday to work through. He missed the Attucks, LN, Ev Christian games.. and was NOT 100% against Jenn Co. 

Colby Hall has been out for 3 weeks with an ankle sprain, he played big mins yesterday... be missed the Providence, SW Hanover, and Sullivan games. 

Micah Sheffer was out a month with a broken vertebrae. 

Now... we get 2 weeks to get right before Wapahani. 

I like their chances. They’ve had a great run with this group.

1 hour ago, 5fouls said:

First off, congrats to @btownqb for his alma-mater Braves making it to the 2A State Championship game.

And, congrats to Mid-Southern Conference foe Scottsburg for making it to the 3A Championship.

Finally, congrats to the Jeffersonville Red Devils, for a great season that fell 1 point short in the 4A South Semi-State Championship.  

The Fouls family is visiting my wife's parents in the South bend area this weekend, and my son's birthday is this weekend as well.  His birthday wish was to watch some semi-state basketball, but since we were not home to watch one of the locals, we went to Elkhart for the 4A North Semi-State instead.

Morning session featured Fishers beating Crown Point.  Fishers led comfortably most of the way, but Crown Point did cut it to 5 with couple of minutes left before Fishers pulled away again at the end.

The second morning game was Mishawaka vs. Fort Wayne Wayne.  One of the strangest games I've ever seen.  Mishawaka controlled the first half and led by 9 at the break.  Wayne proceeded to open the 2nd half on a 20-0 run and cruised from there.

The Championship game featured a fantastic 1st half that ended in a 36-36 tie.  In a reversal of the morning session, Wayne was on the short end of a big run coming out of the half as Fishers scored the first 10 points of the 3rd quarter.  Wayne threatened to get back in it a couple of times, bit never could get over the hump. and Fishers ultimately won by 8.   Some ref had to make it about him by assessing a technical on Fishers with 0.3 seconds on the clock.  The Wayne players had already walked off the court.  I'm not sure what the ;T' was for, unless it was the Fishers bench stepping onto the court to celebrate before the buzzer sounded.

Players of note we saw:

• Dikembe Shaw - Sophomore wing for Crown Point.  Extremely athletic with raw skills that could become something if developed.  
• Jevon Lewis - Senior point guard for Wayne.  Small, but one of the quickest players I've ever seen.  Took some bad shots, but wreaked havoc, and dominated at times defensively, especially in the morning session.
• Chase Barnes - Junior wing for Wayne.  My favorite player of the day.   Smart, good handles, super-sweet mid range pull-up game.  Scored over 20 points both games, but did miss some crucial free throws in 4th quarter of Championship,  I really, really, liked this kid's game and hope he gets a chance to play D1 somewhere.  
• Cooper Zachary -  Freshmen PG for Fishers.  Did not have big stats in either game, but starting at PG for the best team in the state speaks volumes.  Watching the kid dribble and shoot in warmups was eye-popping.  Probably on 5'9 or 5'10 at most, so probably needs to grow 3-4 more inches to reach full potential.
• Jason Gardner Jr.  - Freshmen guard for Fishers and son of former Mr. Basketball.  Came off bench, but showed flashes driving to the basket.  Needs to improve his shot to approach the success of his dad, but I expect that will come with time.   

 

 

Jason’s dad showed us the door back in the late 90’s. We were a very good team, but he was by far the best player on the floor. We went to the Seymour semi state, and watched Scottsburg get revenge on GC. Scottsburg did not sub one time… all five starters played every minute of the game. I’ve never seen that, but know that they only played six deep all year long. They’ll lose almost everything next season, but they’re making the most of it. I’d say BC and Scottsburg have a strong chance to win it in their respective classes. What a fantastic run by Jeff! They will be very, very good next season. I heard that the Washington kid might very well look to join Sherron and the Red Devils next season. That could be scary for the HHC!

8 hours ago, BobSaccamanno said:

He will do better somewhere else, book it.  It wasn’t going to happen here and that is damning to player development here.  

I agree. Although we haven’t been consistently good in some time… IU is no longer, or I should say can no longer be a place to fully develop. IU, along with any other program that spends big money on players, will look for instant impact, whether it be from top tier high school players or the portal.

Going into the season, CJ’s development was going to be paramount in order for IU to have a successful year. I have watched from afar and don’t understand how Woodson hasn’t been able to help this young man. I was told multiple times heading into the new school year that the most improved player during the offseason was CJG. I mean, you can see the raw abilities, but he needs reps, and IU(now/portal era) is no longer in the development game. 

I almost guarantee this post breaks the record… potentially 4K posts by next March!

I bet Bruce Pearl and Auburn go to the Final Four. Gut feeling…. 

Season, thankfully… is over.

7 minutes ago, B_A said:

NIT bound?  

They should, but they’ll probably turn their irrelevant nose up to it. The NIT was always good for young teams in the past, but the current landscape screams no, primarily due to constant roster turnover thanks to NIL and the portal.

1 minute ago, B_A said:

CJ Gunn, career high. LFG 

Sigh… 🍻 

1 minute ago, IU Scott said:

Have any of our guards ever hit a shit while driving to the basket 

No, but they’ve most likely took one.

Hurts seeing us this bad for this long. The under 30 crowd doesn’t really understand how great this program once was. I still think that we’re the right coach away. 

6 minutes ago, Hoosier219 said:

Until there’s a different coach I don’t see that happening. Woodson is stubborn and thinks he knows better. 

It’s the entire program. The philosophy and their inability to escape the past. 
 

Edit: But a coaching change would be a step in the right direction.

IU needs a complete overhaul. They absolutely have to change their identity. 

Nebraska can fill it up from deep. Mbako the only one that showed up? Malik is a walking turnover. Has Ware shot more than twice? Does anyone else cringe when they watch this team?

Survive and advance. How bout it gents!?!

Man, we’re wasting opportunity after opportunity. Should have a fifteen point cushion. 

5 hours ago, Indykev said:

No longer looking at IU.  SHOCKER. Damn fans.

Nike kid… never was serious.

Timing has always been an issue whenever IU has decided to part ways and go after their “guy.” Sampson being the exception. Then his dismissal, which gave the athletic department plenty of time to find his replacement. That being said, according to a few people I know, Crean wasn’t one of the top 3 choices. The guys who would’ve taken the job under normal circumstances, didn’t want to go into that mess and have to clean up. Therefore Crean saw an opportunity to catapult his career, and capitalized. There were many folks surprised by settling on Archie Miller, similar to Woodson, but they missed on their guy(s). So here we are. My opinion and maybe I’m alone here, but, if you have identified your guy… you go get them. It may cost you, but ramifications of hiring the wrong guy again, will cost more in the end.

They’ve completely gone away from Ware. Galloway and Ware have great chemistry and Trey feeds Ware, which usually produces good results. Without Trey, everyone is just jacking up crap.

No Galloway, not a good sign. 

21 minutes ago, BADGERVOL said:

What I can’t grasp is by coming out in support of Woodson you’re saying “we trust he’s the man for the job.”

 

That puts your neck on the line with him. Even more so.

Why??? Why do that??

I don’t know how much clarity this will bring but I’ll give it a shot. I’m at a point in my career where my position of leadership has its limitations. I’m responsible for every transaction of every product that my company sends out. I’m basically the last person to sign off on any and every shipment that leaves our facility. I work for a large global manufacturer. That being said, I still have to answer to stock holders and a few others that control or sway my decisions. Although I may have the ability to make some changes from within to improve my company’s bottom line, I still need approval from those who hold large shares before making any decisions that could positively impact our situation. While it’s a completely different situation, I can understand Dolson being cuffed right here. He may want better for the university, but he may not be able to act on his own accord, which is often the case. 

3 minutes ago, kyhoosier29 said:

Wonder if maybe Liam was just told that CMW was retiring at year end regardless of what’s been leaked. And maybe that’s why he wanted out. 🙏😂 

Doubtful, but you never know. If they do in fact change, I hope they do it swiftly. I’m usually one who is calm and collected, but this could get very ugly the longer it goes.

19 minutes ago, btownqb said:

Then win games!!!!!!! They have the power to silence everything.  

If we'd be bringing in the type of recruiting class we should have, if '25 looked promising, if CMW would just ONCE take ANY sort of responsibility and not sound absurdly candied when he did... I'd be on here defending him. 

Nope. He and Buckner get no more blind trust. 

Winning cures all. No doubt about it.