BGleas

I think what the Pacers have done is phenomenal. I thought they were really good before the Siakim trade, and now they're even better. As a Celtics fan, I honestly would prefer we don't come across the Pacers in the playoffs, and I felt that way before the Siakim trade. With all of that said, given what the Celtics have done so far this season, I don't think you can say the Pacers are the best team in the East. The Celtics have the best record in the league, the best offensive rating, 3rd best defensive rating, and #1 overall net rating. Along with that, they have the most wins/best record against over .500 teams. But yes, I think the Pacers are right in that next group and maybe #2. Big thing for the Pacers will be how much ground they can make up? Often in the playoffs homecourt is the difference in a 7-game series. You'd prefer to have homecourt, especially in the 2nd round.

Yup, super easy adjustment that has the potential to take our perimeter play from a net negative to maybe at least neutral, while not really taking anything away from the advantage our bigs have because everyone would have more space.

It would certainly be something if Doc Rivers ended up the East All-Star Coach 🤣

I envision a "K" with a green background. Anything else is unacceptable IMO @KoB2011

Calbert Chaeney couldn't adjust to the NBA line. You'd think the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten history and an excellent shooter could make that small couple of steps back, but he never could. He was almost 44% for his career from 3 in college, but just under 30% in the NBA.

I think we had better defensive players in Year 1. XJ, Stewart, Kopp, Phinisee and Galloway was a pretty good defensive backcourt/wing group. Phinisee came with offensive flaws, but he was an excellent defender. Stewart and Kopp caught a lot of heat that season, but I always thought they were pretty strong defenders. Certainly from a defensive IQ standpoint. The scheme is pretty much the same. I think it's been a steady decline in the jimmy's/Joe's in terms of perimeter defense.

Yeah, its kind of one of those chicken/egg things. Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, Duke, etc., have fans just as crazy as IU fans. The difference is that those programs have delivered winners. Those programs for the most part are delivering on their promise of being ranked, winning conference titles, competing for and largely delivering Final Fours and National Titles. Maybe IU fans are worse over the last 25 years, but that's because the program isn't holding up their end of the bargain.

Mavs players were mad because the game was in Dallas and the Mav entertainment ops team showed the replay on the jumbotron 🤣

It's good for IU that Illinois plays today and Wednesday. IU will have plenty of rest comparatively.

Great reference on the Cubs. Very applicable if there is a candidate out there that would be interested. My reference was the Eagles when they fired Doug Pederson. After a 4-win season the plan was to give him another year to try and get things back on track. But when he met with the owner on offseason plans, the owner wasn't happy with the lack of change that Pederson was proposing. That's when Pederson got fired. It wasn't necessarily the plan initially going into the offseason.

Yeah, and I think if you determine he's "up to it", then the next question from Dolson has to be "show me your plan." Then if you're not aligned on the plan I think you also need to make the move. If the plan is basically "we just need to keep working", then I think you need to make the move then too.

I think Galloway, Reneau, Cupps, Mgbako and McNeely is a solid core to build off. Bring a coach with the cache to hit the portal hard for guards and some depth frontcourt guys, and that wants to play a modern style of basketball, and you can be back in pretty short order.

Same. Seemed like a no-brainer.

Does the staff not even look at data at all?

I think it's a little early in the season for a guy like Ware to think about shutting it down. He would slide down draft boards, and as crazy and unrealistic as it sounds, there still is a path to making the tournament. Mid-to-late February maybe, but too early at this point.

That's what got me excited. I was extremely underwhelmed at first. But when Matta and Fife were hired, along with some of the other moves, I thought maybe Dolson was actually being innovative here. I thought maybe IU was going to be at the forefront of building the college version of an NBA Front Office. Matta as sort of a quasi General Manager helping with developing the stylistic makeup of the program and the recruiting philosophy, with Woodson as the Head Coach/President of BBall Ops or something like that. That's what got me excited.

I said this in the IUBB 24 thread, but I'll say it here too. I think Woodson deserves another year, but I also think whether he deserves another year is irrelevant. If you're Scott Dolson, the only thing that matters is if you think Mike Woodson is the right guy to turn this around next season. Do you believe Mike Woodson is the guy to make this a top 25 team next season? If the answer is yes, then you give him that next year that he deserves. If the answer is no, then you have to make the move after the season. You can't lose a year because the coach 'deserves' the chance.

Got them over the hump in the 2nd half!