Hoosierdave

Apparently a fan account this morning said X and Malik’s x rays came back negative. 
 

Anyone hearing something similar? 

Scary to think we almost blew a 17 point lead but solid effort in the final 2 minutes. Honestly thought we were gonna lose because of our free throw shooting. MVP was Leal and Ware is a stud for battling through that injury. Can’t believe people question his heart and motor. 
 

im terrified what this season might end like if X/Reneau/Ware are out for extended periods/rest of season. 

Already mentally prepared myself that we are not March Madness bound.

My hope/goal for the rest of the season is to see this team play every game like it’s do or die (because it is), find a way to finish 4th in conference, and have Mac end up at conference FOTY. 

40 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Your team losing shouldn't ever bother your mental health. It isn't that important to let it bother you that much.

I think for me I could deal with the extreme- either consistently good every year like Kansas etc and enjoy games even when we lose because we could still win big or consistently bad every year like a DePaul and just be pleasantly surprised if you beat a rival etc.

I’m just at my breaking point with the glimmers of hope (2012, 2016, last season) followed immediately by terrible seasons (2017, this year). At my breaking point with a new coach every 4 years too. 

I said I would give them until the end of the month but I think for the first time ever I’m officially not planning my day/evening around a game. Not making the tournament, this team picks and chooses when they want to play with heart and hustle, style is painful to watch and super low basketball IQ from players and coaches.

Its negatively impacting my mental health tbh and I’m struggling to find a reason to justify allowing a hobby to feel like a chore. 

Just now, Hoosier987 said:

Serious question…why would any guard or shooter want to play in this style of offense? I hope Mcneeley isn’t watching these games lol. 

If you’re a good recruiter you know how to entice them with playing time and a large role where they are being given the green light to do their thing. But yes it’s tougher when this is the second year in a row where it’s so heavily played through your center and you have little film showing off guard play. 

3 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

Yea that’s unacceptable for a D1/Power 5 school. 

6th year senior missing both free throws in the final minute of a must win game summarizes this season. 
 

This team is so frustrating because they rarely if ever string together multiple possessions with good decisions (ex- leal turnover, Malik 5th foul). 

I’d like to see mac play the 4 with X/Gallo/Cupps. Force Illinois into tough shots on the defense (maybe some points off turnovers). Plus you can kick it to Mac for a 3 if they overhelp on Malik. Just don’t think Walker brings enough on the offensive end. 

Keep feeding the ball to Reneau. We’re in the bonus and they weirdly won’t double him. Gotta take advantage 

Mac at the 4, miracles do happen! 

6 minutes ago, Hoosierfan1901 said:

Nope, left once Tiller was done 

Interesting lol…

So are we looking for Tyler Jackson or Mikel Brown Jr reclass? I’m confused as to why he didn’t watch Davis if we’re trying to get him on campus. 

5 minutes ago, Hoosierfan1901 said:

Saw Rabby saying Woody lefty after the 1st game

So he didn’t even watch Davis lol? 

Impressive numbers in front of Woody yesterday. 
 

Wonder if that’s what he was waiting for. 

2 hours ago, DC2345 said:

Ok so I’m going to address 2 things here the first is that Woodson didn’t develop JHS until he had to. He didn’t maximize his potential until after X got hurt because he was playing off the ball a lot. As for TJD his overall skill set didn’t really develop. He was just put in situations to succeed at a higher level under Woodson. The second is that people claiming coaches would be scared of taking the IU job are just wrong. Most coaches think they can be the one to fix a situation. Was Saban scared to take the Alabama job because they weren’t what they were under Bear Bryant and had gone through several head coaches since? Absolutely not and look what happened. I actually think there are some parallels to Alabama pre Saban and IU currently. The right coach can change everything. 

To clarify, I don’t think Woody is some player development guru. I was just saying that college coaches aren’t sitting down and watching IU games all year, so they would look at surface level things the media discusses like record and awards. Last year we had a good record/season, and our 2 best players walked away with impressive awards. Also, TJD and Woody get the last laugh because he’s proving he can make an impact in the NBA doing solely what he already did best. Also, Let’s be real, Woody would have been criticized by fans had he prioritized TJDs draft stock and had him taking a bunch of mid range jumpers to prove he could instead of easy dunks/layups and that strategy resulting in a handful of additional loses. 
 

The Miami game killed a ton of momentum IMO but those results nonetheless led to so many highly ranked 2024 recruits visiting, Ware committing, Mac’s mom reaching out to Woody to recruit him, Liam coming next year, almost landing Boogie Fland, and possibly Queen. While I don’t think Woody is a good coach, he hasn’t even finished his third year yet and this is his first college coaching gig ever.  It wouldn’t surprise me if other coaches were saying to themselves “what exactly were IU fans expecting from him in the first place?”

“Scared” was dramatic word I used but like IU Scott said, my point was that coaches feel they can do just as well/better at their respective schools while also avoiding a more vocal fanbase like ours if things were to ever go downhill. That’s part of the reason why we ended up with Woody in the first place. 

I get what you’re going for with the Bama comparison but Bama had good seasons before Saban arrived in 2007. They had multiple 10 win seasons since 2000. They won the cotton bowl 2 years before Saban arrived. That would have been like us trying to hire a coach after Archie Miller takes to an elite 8 or sweet sixteen. We haven’t been relevant like that since 2016. Were not a blue blood nowadays so that would be more like Coach Cal or Self going to the NBA and coming back nowadays to coach at like UCLA, Michigan, Louisville, etc. 

Like I said, I think with a competent AD you can sell a good coach on coming here because we still have a good home court advantage and invest a lot in our basketball program.

I’ve said it countless times but we are in a “purgatory” state right now.

It would be really tough to convince a coach to come here if Woody gets canned after 3 years, with some of the things he accomplished last year (TJD with PF of the year, Fino NBA and conference FOTY, top 2 regular season in conference, conference semis, top 25 pretty much the whole year, tournament win.) Last year was massive for this program not walking away with some trophy or getting to the second weekend in March because that would have solved a lot of recruiting problems. We’ve just had so many coaches in such a short time span so I could see that scaring some away. Also Dolson giving Woody a raise makes it harder to afford a home run hire. 
 

The only way I think we can turn this around is if Woody has a desire to evolve his thinking and his roster construction. Emphasize guards and a balanced offense, shorten the bench and build a team where guys can either play multiple positions or play a position that maximizes their skill set (ex- Reneau at 5).

That said, get a competent coach here and I think between the transfer portal and NIL you can turn it around quickly and succeed here. I think there’s a ton in CBB that can do that. The key is, can Dolson not fall flat on his head. 

7 minutes ago, Boiler Sam said:

I read somewhere that the staff promised Mgbako that he would play the 3 if he came to IU. Don’t know if that’s true obviously. 

Oh totally, which is evident by the fact we haven’t seen Mac play a single minute at power forward. 
 

I just think any decent coach with a spine would tell these two that we tried it your way and it unfortunately didn’t work. That being said, we see the potential in you and what you need to improve on to have a long NBA career and well pull our resources together to develop you in your free time. 
 

Im terrified at the idea that our staff potentially is looking at Queen, Reneau, Mac and Liam all starting together. 

21 minutes ago, Boiler Sam said:

Nah. IU has some nice pieces. Bring back Reneau and Mgbako, with McNeeley, and then go fill out the rest of the roster in the portal.

 

If you need to send some kids packing, well it’s nothing personal, just business. 

 

I don’t think Woody knows how to assemble a roster, and why would he ? NBA coaches don’t do that. He needs a GM. 
 

Just my unsolicited two cents.

I agree but my concern is that Woody refuses to play Reneau or Mac at the positions that maximize their skill set (5 and 4 instead of 4 and 3). Either those 2 players have convinced themselves they are something they aren’t, or the coaching staff is suffering from hubris and thinks they can rapidly develop them into what they want to be. If Mac is seen as solely a SF, him or Liam will go elsewhere. They won’t split time when both have vocalized their goal to be OAD. 

To me, Liam you have to do everything in your power to keep him. His skill set is ideal for a small forward and any guard or big would love to play with a 3-level, high volume scorer. That skill set to me is priority number 1. If we have to gut the roster, I can at least feel optimistic Building a team around him. 

Excuse me?!?!
 

How about, “Gunn lost his composure and made a terrible decision. It was selfish and he put himself before his team. It’s inexcusable and I’m embarrassed by the recent actions of our players and how they’ve represented this university. I apologize to Rutgers, Wisconsin, and our fans.”

I mentioned this in the game thread but frankly the biggest takeaway for me was Robbie Hummel commenting on Gunn’s flagrant. You could hear in his voice genuine hurt and frustration. That’s super telling to me about the state of our program when an alumnus from our rival school is saddened with how this season has turned out and the idea that a rabid passionate fan base is rapidly turning apathetic about something they’ve loved so dearly.

9 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Questions for Coach:

 

1.  What was the thought about doubling the post when they get going fron 3?

2.  When Klesmit got hot, what was the strategy to adjust to that?

3.  What’s your opinion on your guys frequently shooting long two’s even to the point where their heel is on the three point line?

4.  Why have you had two ejections and several flagrant fouls the past few games?   

5.  What are you doing to instill the IU culture you grew up in?

6.  What’s your opinion of the team’s ball movement?

Sadly even simpler:

1) what do you think your teams’ identity is?

2) what do you think your team is good at? What do you think they are bad at? 

4) How do you plan to turn the season around and keep fans optimistic about next season? 

5) Do you think you’ve done a good job coaching this team? 

I’ve been half watching the last 10 minutes but did we really wait until 2 minutes left in the game down by double digits to apply a press?! 

The only silver lining in this game is that it’s one step closer to not having to see Purdue or Illinois win the conference