BGleas

1 minute ago, btownqb said:

I disagree on Miller. We saw how ineffective he was when offense ran through him at NW. He was truly only a stand still shooter, which is fine... 

I'm more frustrated we didn't send Race to the bench, tell JG to take a hike, and find a 4 man that was better suited to play with TJD than Race, over long stretches. 

If you found a 4 man that could facilitate at all, I think in turn, that would have created more opps for Miller organically. 

Think of the lineup you'd had-- 

TJD 

Insert a better 4 

Kopp 

JHS 

XJ 

 

Bench of TG, Race, Malik, and Bates. Thats a squad. 

But we wanted to twiddle our thumbs with Race and JG another year. 

Completely agree on the 4. Easier said than done, but put a 4 like junior year Troy Williams next to TJD? Wow! 

Disagree with you on Kopp. I don't think anyone is saying IU should have run the offense through him by any means, but there were a multitude of more creative ways to utilize his shooting (which the team needed) other than just having him stand in the corner. 

As far as development goes, I think Mike Woodson clearly helped develop TJD. Some of TJD's development was also just natural year-to-year progression, but Woodson definitely helped. 

Under Woodson, TJD became a better passer and ball handler, played with an improved motor, etc.

Did Woodson run him through ball handling drills in the offseason? I don't know. But, I'm sure he spent a lot of time talking to him about passing, pushing the ball, etc, etc. 

Woodson put him in a position to be comfortable grabbing a rebound and pushing the ball, etc. 

With all of that said, I'd argue the opposite with Miller Kopp. I think Woodson did a terrible job developing and utilizing Kopp and some other guys. 

1 minute ago, IUCrazy2 said:

If Woodson is here next year I pray that this program gets the support they deserve so it looks more like what they supposedly want.  Take the percentage of fans in the stands at Memorial Stadium on Saturdays and the activity you see discussing IU football and give them a year of that positive but minimal support in basketball.

Most of the team is going to be a bunch of paid mercenaries who I have zero attachment to, the staff sucks, and the administration is full of incompetent finger pointers who abuse their customers.  I hope Assembly Hall looks like Maryland's home court advantage this past year and everybody can get what they want.

Completely agree. Can't remember, but I think you've been one who has said this before, but the fans are one of the only things (maybe the recruiting budget too) about Indiana Basketball that keeps it elite and relevant. 

With the results IU has had the last 20 years, how many other programs in the country would still be top 10 in attendance, top followed programs on social media, have a player like Gabe Cupps being a leader in NIL apparel sales, etc. 

To your point, maybe the fans should go away for a year.  

The landscape has changed, but not that much in terms of how you construct a successful, cohesive program. 

I get he's trying to be positive, this is the type of stuff that makes me mad. The vast majority of the stuff IU fans are mad about is/was controllable. 

It's totally controllable to not run a garbage system. It's totally controllable to not load up on bigs and leave a scholarship open when you desperately need shooting and better guard/wing play. 

It's completely controllable to play your McDonald's AA freshman at the 4 sometimes when he's clearly a 4 and ypu clearly need to play smaller and faster. 

it's completely controllable to not ignore your prized, and only 2024 recruit for 3 full months. 

The staff hasn't "controlled" anything. 

3 minutes ago, tdhoosier said:

Did this go over my head but do we know what transfer recruit he was referring to? Ledlum? Knecht?

They said it was on a campus visit, right? It really seemed like they were talking about Knect or maybe Caleb Love, but I don't think either of those guys ever visited. 

20 minutes ago, MoyeCowbell said:

"See what I'm doing with Gallo? I can make you a point forward at times. I'll give you a chance to make plays. I WANT YOU INVOLVED."

That took me 30 seconds to type. It's not hard.

100%. A competent coach is not only keeping in touch with his signed recruits, but doing things like having his video coordinator put edits together showing the players how he'll be used next year, sets he'll be in, etc., so the player can begin visualizing and understanding the system. 

23 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

If Woodson is here next season, the Hoosiers aren't squeaking into the BTT, let alone the NCAA.  It will seriously be on par with Crean's first year or UL last season. 

There will be 1-2 current players, at most, that will stick around, and the roster additions will be from Quad 4 level environments.

I agree, just making the point or asking the question, how bad does it have to get next year to where Woodson and Buckner can't claim "improvement"?

43 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

I was thinking about that last night. What if we had landed Love, Knecht, and kept Bates....

I'm of course assuming we actually change styles too, but a lineup of Love, Galloway, Bates, Knecht, and Ware would be the most unstoppable offense in the country if we played the right way. 

To expand on your point, I don't think we all even fully realize what a weapon and difference maker Ware is at the 5 spot in college basketball, and IU has completely mismanaged the roster around him. 

10 minutes ago, HoosierDom said:

His answers after the last game sure didn’t sound like they were coming from a guy who thought he would be back next year.

Yeah, his answers the other night were really kind of puzzling, though his answers to questions all season have really been kind of puzzling. 

Instead of, "Scott and I are on the same page. The admin and I are on the same page. While we're disappointed in this season so far, we're building momentum here in March. Hopefully we can go on a run next week at the BTT and we'll see what happens. We have a lot of these guys back next season, a stud coming in with Liam, and we're going to work our tails off this Spring to add more pieces. I'm excited about next week and excited about the work we're going to in this offseason!"

Instead Woodson said, "don't ask me that."

1 minute ago, Hoosier219 said:

I’m not sure the program will recover from this debacle of hiring Woodson. He’s an IU legend with a giant ego…I don’t see them firing him even after next season…I think he stays until he’s ready to retire or his 6 year contract is not renewed. If he cared about iubb at all, he would retire instead of sitting around smoking cigars and taking the program for millions. 

Can’t blame Liam for looking out for his future. With the mass exodus that’s coming, next years portal team may be worse than Crean’s first year. 
I can’t believe it’s too much to ask to find a coach that cares, that can recruit, and make the tournament yearly. We are well past the point of having high expectations. Sad, sad state of affairs for iubb. 

Amongst many other things, that is the problem with keeping him another year. Where does this end next season?

How bad does it have to get next season to fire him? If he squeaks into the play-in round or say a 10 seed in March, is that "improvement" and Woodson and Buckner try to sell it was a "get right" year and he now has things heading in the right direction?

Where does this end?

Take our NIL money and try and pull a "Self" on Rutgers' recruiting class? 🤣

Just now, Hoosier987 said:

Some reports are Mcneeley’s camp was waiting for the Woodson announcement because if he was fired it would’ve been an easier excuse to decommit…but since Woodson was retained, why wait any longer? Which is why he made the announcement. 
This has everything to do with our style of play. In what world does a kid with his talent/skillset want to play for this system?

Seems like that is what happened. 

2 minutes ago, HoosierDom said:

I don't mean to defend him too much, but what was he supposed to do with this team? Have Cupps score 20 a night? X? There just weren't options. Certainly the roster is his fault, but he at least tried to get guys like Love and Knecht.

Play MM at the 4. Play Banks some at the 4 instead of trying to force him to be a wing. Run the offense through Galloway and the high PnR with Ware as opposed to stuffing it in the post all season. 

Look at last game, MM started knocking down 3's once we played smaller with MM at the 4.

But as you said, a lot of it goes back to poor roster construction and leaving a scholarship open. 

9 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

But that's my point. The timeline doesn't line up. He sees MM developing. Knowing full well the shots are there for someone capable of making them. 

Kansas set this whole thing in motion saying just decommit once he gets fired. Again...it's an easy one for people to understand. Once IU said he's coming back, you add in MM development....Kansas said for their own self (pun intended) you say yes to us now or we're moving on. Kid and the family panicked and said yes.

All disappointed for sure. I know I am. I don't like getting played like this but it is what it is. 

But it's not about "shots" being there. It's a terrible offense and fit for a shooter. It's a bad offense. 

I'm with you on the timeline and that McNeely was probably waiting for Woodson to be fired, but this happened because Mike Woodson hasn't done his job, not because Bill Self pulled a fast one on an impressionable kid/family. 

1 minute ago, OGIUAndy said:

Neither does the style of play excuse make sense either though. It's the same style we've been playing. 

It does make sense though. Woodson spent two years saying the two bigs/post offense wasn't what he wanted but he had to use TJD and Race. 

He sold the fans and probably McNeely on that too. 

Then this year is more of the same, except even worse.