Maedhros

That's not how the NET is used.

NET should only ever matter when it comes to the ranking of a team's opponents, not of the team itself. NET has shown to be heavily reliant on efficiency metrics, but those are predictive, not descriptive. A team's own ranking in the NET tells you nothing about who they played, who they beat, or who didn't. Too many analysts, and fans too, are using NET interchangeably with an S-curve, and that's not at all how the tool should be used. MSU has a quality win against Baylor that we don't have, and that's really the only thing that should have them in the field ahead of us. By Wins Above Bubble they rank 60. We rank 61.

I would have been incensed if MSU won after being gifted two free points, but since that didn't happen I can say: what a thrilling game! I was on edge the whole second half. Just the way I like. Happy to see the boys pull it out, without Galloway who'd been so effective. Won that last sequence with defense and rebounding.

At the start of the season, we all expected a team that would struggle to start, but find itself and be playing its best basketball at the end of the year. It took longer than expected, and started from a lower point, but that's exactly what happened. The IU of these last four games looks a lot like the team I expected.

HA! A truly amazing take, from the guy who's first column after parachuting in to Indianapolis was to call for Tom Crean to be fired.

Of course you have to keep in contact. Liam was going to be on your roster next season, spending time with you every day. Of course you needed to keep a relationship going. A commitment should always be just the start of that relationship, not the end of it. That said, this is all granting the premise of the conversation. We don't know if Woodson dropped communication or not. Lots of good basketball minds have pointed out that IU needed McNeeley a lot more than McNeeley needed IU and the system we run. The decommitment could be for purely basketball reasons. I think there's potentially a lot of confirmation bias in the internet rumors we choose to believe at times like these.

The Assembly Call response has been weird to see. They were fully supportive of Archie, defiantly so, right up until that losing streak to close out his fourth and final year. Hell, Jerod still cheers for Virginia to this day, just because we hired a coach who ran the pack line and Tony Bennett was having success with that system at the time. Conversely, they turned on Woodson quickly. I had chalked it up to the compounding effects of doing a postgame show immediately after each and every loss. That shit adds up, and clearly does things to your brain. But maybe it's also because they are hearing stories like this one? Odd that they've never mentioned hinted at these reasons before. And surely there were hearing some not great stories about Archie behind the scenes too. I don't know, but something's been off about the Assembly Call product this season. There's something gatekeepy and populist in their tone that has me turning away. Maybe that's just because losing seasons are no fun for anyone, but maybe some of you have heard a change, too.

I'm brought to mind the Tom Moore quote when asked why they don't practice without Peyton Manning. The response was "we don't practice fucked". This is Mack's team, built around her and complemented to maximize her efficient work in the post. This team isn't designed to play five out, and it showed yesterday in their game planning. Next year Lilly Meister can take over for Holmes. She's not an All American, but she's better than what she was able to give tonight, on a bum ankle. I also think Moren having a full offseason to design an offense without Holmes is far different than a few days immediately after an injury.

I sure did. That was a dire collapse. Ah well, on to bigger things.

If this lead holds, Mack can take the night off.

It's their spacing that I love. Shooters all across the floor, with an All American in the post. I'll miss Scalia's effortless stroke after this season, but with Garzon, Parrish, and CMM that spacing should still be there.

Lilly Meister into the game before Mackenzie Holmes. A surprise, but hopefully due to Moren playing it safe with her star, rather than an indicator of Mack's availability.

Both Mack and Lilly participated in the shootaround. Per Seth Tow on Twitter, Teri Moren says Mack won't start, but will see some minutes:

In a stunner, Maryland knocks off top seeded Ohio State 82-61. OSU's press has given us fits the last two years, though we wouldn't have met until the championship game in this year's tournament.

Let's be clear. Wheaver his failings at Indiana, Mike Woodson is an accomplished man. He has spent a lifetime playing and coaching the game of basketball, with the relationships and reputation that develop from such a career. That, and his alumni status, are why he was hired at Indiana, not BLM or DEI. The fans using those terms as perjoratives are doing so only because of the color of his skin, and I find that far uglier than any number of basketball games Woodson could ever lose.

It's game day! Big Ten Tournament starts tonight against Michigan, around 9:00 PM EST. No official word on the status of Mack or Meister, but Lilly was at least walking unassisted to the plane in a video posted yesterday. Wouldn't be surprised if Mack gets some load management to prep for the NCAA Tournament.

This is why I'd previously been okay with a fourth year for Mike Woodson. When you dispassionately view the response of other fan bases have to one bad season, it makes our own look far less reasonable. Every program and coach has ups and downs; falling back some after a Final Four is entirely expected. What matters is how you plan to get back on track. Larranaga is 74, and that definitely complicates things a bit. But their recruiting class has the 7, 52 and 137 ranked prep recruits coming in. Guards and wings. That's a nice mix of instant impact, sweet spot multi year guy, and upperclassman contributor. Exactly what I'd want in every class. That's how you make a case for things getter better soon.

Well... nevermind all that.

Just a few days ago, the Hysterics said out loud they needed to actively harm the program to make it good again. No fucking way they get to throw stones at the fans now.

That quote. It all comes back to that quote. Every complaint I have above Woodson can be explained as a failure to adapt to how programs are built, run, scouted and recruited at the college level, as opposed to the NBA where Woodson spent a lifetime ossifying. And that quote is a confession of everything he never learned before or after taking this job.

Welp. Recruiting was always my concern. If you can't hold on to McNeeley, then what's the point? I'm officially flipped to Woodson can go. There's no future with Woodson. He hasn't built a foundation, and there's no point in keeping him.

2016 we came down Tibbs, got out with no problem afterwards. 2022 we parked at a friend's place on the west side, that's when we got stuck for two hours without going anywhere. Saving money on parking wasn't worth it. 😄

Bought my tickets today. Got a spot on the SE Vista, the outside of Turn 2. Row X, which I estimate to be about halfway up. Hoping for a good view. Using the 3D Seating Map on the website, it looks like we'll be able to see the cars entering Turn 1 and all the way through into the backstretch.