IUCrazy2

The fans. For mostly sticking by a program that has just not been up to par for a quarter of a century.

We need to jettison some of the assistant staff. All they do is recruit and frankly they haven't done that well. Cheaney gets mentioned as a guy that is developing players rather frequently. We aren't always seeing the results but he is someone we hear. Our last few big recruits were landed by Walsh. What exactly are Rosemond and Hunter doing other than collecting a check? We need an X and O guy and a development guy in those spots who also recruit.

Groundhog Day.

What makes anyone think that is going to turn out any better if it were to happen? It isn't going to happen anyway. This hire was a huge gamble. There were all the questions going into it and the worst part of the gamble is that Woodson has a good buddy on the BoT and a bunch of support from quite a few people that make letting him go if things go south much more difficult to do. He has an ego to boot so I would be shocked to see a resignation as well. Your best place to put your hopes is a change to the staff and a whole bunch of new faces next year along with a complete overhaul on just about everything we have seen from a strategy standpoint the last 2.5 years. Welcome back to the times when the best part of the year is April through mid October. Yippee.

Don't kid yourself. Time is up. We got 2 more thumping coming and then we see how much of a disaster we are in the middle of against Iowa. There aren't enough games worth a darn left on the schedule that we are likely to win to matter. So unless you are excited about playing another P5 loser team like us or some mid-major that had a good year but miffed their conference tournament in the NIT, there isn't a whole hell of alot to cheer for this year. Just a turd circling the bowl.

All I got is a Bob Knight rant in me. Like f bombs flying, if you aren't gonna guard Greg Graham and sick and tired of f-ing Purdue rant. Get a f---ing team back here for the love of God. This sh*t is beyond old.

So is it bad that I am already ready for this season to be over? Like I am turning off this game. The season is flushed at this point. Anybody saying we have a chance to turn it around is technically correct but you live in fantasyland.

He and Liam could share the court. Whether that be as a 2 and 3 or a 3 and 4.

Yeah I know. Of the list Walker is clearly done. Ware is likely and I think Mgbako is quite a bit less than the 100 or 99.99% that people are saying because I think he is going to get feedback to stay. He doesn't even have a guarantee to get drafted. Unless things change with how he us viewed between now and then, it would be astronomically dumb to hop into the draft this year. I don't think he and family are dumb. Take your NIL and see what another year does for him.

I believe that people think that is the case but I don't think the NBA is going to draft Mgbako. So then what?

Where is Mgbako going: https://www.nbadraft.net/players/mackenzie-mgbako/ https://indiana.rivals.com/news/checking-in-on-nba-draft-stock-for-ware-mgbako Based on your posts here I don't think you have any inside knowledge so to say he is 100% gone is just you talking out your ass. Unless he has specifically said he is transferring or going overseas after this year (and you are privy to those conversations and we both know you are not) then you can't say the kid is 100% gone.

The staff isn't drafting. Ware is more likely to have a chance than Mgbako but if you were Queen would you be willing to bet on it. That's what matters.

Only 1 of those is 100% certain right now.

I would be more interested in whether Malik and Ware were going to be there.

How much was the travel an issue? What time were they supposed to arrive in Iowa before the game. I know, I know there are those that take the tack that you gotta be ready to go whenever but having to be the team to travel in that weather was more of a burden on the visiting team than usual. Iowa was probably going to win that game at home either way (we'll see what the return trip is like) but if the IU women don't normally play that way (the men do), then there may have been some other factors in play. I can go out and give you work after a night of interrupted sleep. I can even travel and do that. What you are not likely to get is my best performance. Iowa wasn't likely to lose at their place but I don't think that performance is indicative of the team as a whole. Get them on the return trip.

We played pretty well last night. Good to get back in the win column. We have some life if we can go 2-2 over the next stretch. We have to beat at least one of those ranked teams to get a Q1 win on the board.

No. He didn't show anything in that game that said he should start. The tie up he had that had him running halfway down the court before he "helped" the player from Minnesota was because of him doing a hook and hold. If you are the staff I don't see hoe you trust him. It is Russian Roulette. Then to add to that, the offense didn't flow with him in. I know people always say that he is a great on ball defender and all of that but right now that isn't enough to outweigh the negatives. Head case, lazy with the ball on offense, doesn't facilitate offense...but he may slow the other team's point guard a bit. No thanks, we have a rim protector back there. He would get really small doses of time until I felt he was truly positively contributing.

Minnesota is an unknown. Like us they haven't exactly been playing the cream of the Big Ten crop yet. So that win streak may be a little suspect. We'll find out tomorrow.

Yes, it is his in part fault (sometimes shots don't go in so there is that) and people have pointed out why it is his fault on several occasions. Why? Well let me list those for you. 1. Has shooting been an issue since before he got here? Yes. Has this been a known issue to anyone paying any amount of attention? Yes. What was done to address it in the off-season. What shooters were brought in? 2. Knowing the above, do we have an open scholarship not being used? If so, why did we not get another shooter? We couldn't find one more guard out of the over 1000 dudes that were in the portal? Forget the fact that everything we chose to add was big men, but why leave one spot open knowing we needed a shooter and a ball handler? 3. Our scheme is not designed to get shots for open players. Our pick and rolls are set to get our bigs open going to the basket. Almost every other team we play has their bigs setting high picks in an attempt to pressure with the 3 point shot. And they get a bunch of open ones because we are always going under the screen or switching late. They have a scheme to get 3 point shots. A scheme they run consistently. We don't. 4. We get the ball on the interior. When that happens you can get open looks, particularly when you are getting double and triple teamed in the post. Our posts are either God awful at recognizing their open teammates or they are told to attack the basket whenever they get the ball in there. Both of those are coaching because, even though we have seen Woodson tell Reneau once that he needs to pass, there never really seems to be any consequences for not. 5. Everything Woodson does has been set in stone. You are the starter so you start. We play so many minutes and so all of you sit and all of you go in to play. He has his way and that is the way it goes. That's dumb. Hall of Famer Bob Knight changed his way to fit Isaiah Thomas and that guy was a better coach and more stubborn than Woody. If that guy could take a look and adjust, then Woody needs to stop being so damn stubborn and do the same. Everything happening this year is stuff that the "pessimists" have been warning about for awhile. And the pessimists are usually just regular old people who notice stuff. Indiana spends millions of dollars on its coaching staff. If it just comes down to players being the ones who decide things, then let's drop those salaries and bring in somebody who just notices things and can say, "Maybe we should try this guys..." (And we all know that isn't the case which is why I don't understand why the first reflex to protect a coach who isn't performing super great is to throw the players under the bus. That isn't super team supportive either.)

I don't understand why you are so annoyed. Most of the criticism has been constructive and in the case of the analytics discussion (like the thread you were posting "yawn" in), the criticism has been backed by numbers. People aren't just saying "We suck". They are saying, "We aren't playing well and based off of this support, it appears there is a really apparent way we can improve so why aren't we doing that?" If the stubbornness continues and this really goes off the rails, the real boo birds will start to pop up.

And we are likely the exception because we have only played one of the teams above us so far. The next few games are going to make or break the season. I am of the opinion that it is probably already over but there are still games to play for the eternal optimists.

He has been sharing a bunch of uncomfortable statistics....not filling that last scholarship with another guard was criminal.

It is our system. We do next to nothing to get our guards the ball in a position to do something with it. If we have any action for a guard it is typically for whomever is running point and the action is out of the pick and roll (which usually is designed to get the big who is doing the pick the ball). Stand here and hope you get the ball in a position to do something with it is not a great way to set up a shooter. Furthermore, on the rare occasions the ball is coming back out is is usually a wild ass pass out of the post that doesn't hit the shooter in a position to get the ball up. That half a second to adjust to the catch and get back into a shooting position usually means they are covered again. Everything we do revolves around the guys in the paint. Everything.

Brian Evans makes a point around the 14 minute mark that I have made about past teams. The atmosphere around the team is like a country club. We bring guys in here on a regular basis and treat them like superstars simply for the fact they are at Indiana. And most of that mystique was built by guys who are currently in their 40's (at best, those last Knight guys weren't lighting it up at the end of his tenure but you know they put in work because he wouldn't allow anything less). The hunger isn't there. Come to Indiana, do like any old program would expect for an athlete, enjoy the facilities, take a nice check, and then do whatever on the court. That isn't a recipe for success. As the old saying goes, I get the impression that so many of our players start on third base by coming here and then feel like they hit a triple. Eventually the old heads who were alive for what this program was won't be around anymore. And we lose more and more of them every year. This program is in big flipping trouble when people younger than me (mid 40's) are going to be those counted on to keep the ship floating. I haven't seen much to get excited for since my early 20's. People currently in their 30's had a Championship loss in grade school and a couple of Cody Zeller/Victor Oladipo years. That's darn close to Iowa. This gravy train the current players are squandering won't last forever. It needs fuel.

You can't wait until recruiting dries up. If Mike misses this year and we see the same garbage next year that we have seen for the previous 3 (the things we are seeing are nothing new, we just don't have a generational player and/or a 1st round draft pick to mask it this year), then I really think an exit strategy discussion needs to be had. Also, I would push out at least one of the assistants and get an actual coach (not a recruiter) on the staff. If Woodson wasn't on board with that I would let him go. The only issue we are going to have is that there is a major backer on the trustees that is likely to keep things locked down. Something has to change. I would prefer Woodson figure it out because that divorce would be messy.