EvilleHoosier

8 minutes ago, bronkonagurski said:

I watched the stream. The crowd seemed supportive of basically everything that was said, or at a minimum no signals of discontent. 

Maybe the crowd was excited from the win and wanted to be supportive of the seniors and the players in general. The ceremony should be about them and not the coach.  

16 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

All the respect in the world. I just disagree but you already know that. Coach Woodson will learn...he was trying to develop players in November and December against lesser teams. Unfortunately he has to keep his starters in (and worry about the folks that complain about dead legs come March) and run up the score.

 

He could've mixed in 1 or 2 subs at a time with starters, but instead he chose to sub all 5 starters out at a time or 4 at a time.  

33 minutes ago, Inequality said:

How many 4 & 5 star players does Dusty have on his roster? How does FAU NIL compare to that of IU?

Serious questions I don't have time to research. I wouldn't be surprised if FAU has no 3 ⭐️ players

I think Dusty would would kill it here. I would love a proven P5 coach but don't see it happening.

Dusty always looks like he has fire in his veins on the sidelines.

0 top 100 players.  Looks like Gaffney was just outside that.  Goldin and Lorient were in the 200 range and everybody else, including their two best players were not ranked at all.   I think Dusty could have success here and I don't think it would take long to get it going especially if he brought a couple of his guys with him.

7 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.

He left a scholarship open and only targeted highly ranked guys.  There were plenty of guys a level below he could've added to have more guard depth, but he put too much focus on top tier talent much like he has done for the 2024 high school recruits.  

8 minutes ago, dgambill said:

Can’t blame the kid for not wanting to play on a team with no support. Woody has failed to add any help in the recruiting class and brought in none in the portal…saw what Woody put on the floor and Woodt double down on an inside focused offense. Kid said “F” it I’m not untrusting my future to a coach that thinks this is winning basketball. I can’t carry that team by myself.

Self has examples he can point to in how McNeely would be utilized in Johnny Furphy from this season, Grady Dick from last season, and Braun the season before that. Pretty easy sell when up against Woodson's "inside-out" offense. Plus two of those guys are in the NBA and Furphy is a projected 1st rounder in a lot of mock drafts.  

1 minute ago, KDB said:

If Mgbako stays, I’m not mad about this.

Liam at the 3, Mgbako at the 4, Reneau at the 5.. me likey.

I like it on offense, not so much on defense.  Rebounding will be awful too.  

2 minutes ago, dgambill said:

The thought of Reneau and Mgbako playing defense and rebounding at the 5…

 

If Reneau is the last line of defense at the rim, he'll be in foul trouble by the first TV timeout.  

17 minutes ago, Indykev said:

This one got my blood boiling. We shot 51%, NW 35. this coach, use the name loosely, might be the dumbest person to ever be paid to do it.

How about free throws, turnovers,  and offensive rebounds. NW hit 10 more free throws, grabbed 8 more offensive boards, and turned it over 8 less times.  Woodson was looking at a stat sheet when he answered that question.  Not sure what the hell he was seeing.  

I would also say it is a little bit of both, but It's on Woodson to build a complete balanced roster and put his players in position to succeed.  We have had poor execution and very inconsistent play, but it is up to Woody to field a roster with enough talent to go to in the event there is an injury/injuries, foul trouble, or if rotation players aren't bringing it on a given night. Everyone except Galloway, Leal, and Gunn are his recruits.  He built a roster with 2 point guards, shooting guards who can't shoot consistently, a crap ton of 4 and 5's and no true wing players.  Woodson keeps saying the team just isn't knocking down shots, but it is his job to find players who can and it's his job to run an offense that gets his players good looks.

Just now, Cbp4IU said:

So Gunn will shoot what next game? 

He can shoot when the game is already decided and there is no pressure.

3 minutes ago, IUKane21 said:

So the answer is 2012 and ‘16. 
 

fucking brutal being an IU fan

We made it to the sweet sixteen 2012, 2013, and 2016 and yes it is brutal being an IU fan.

Happy for the guys being able to keep fighting and get the W. A loss tonight followed by the mud stomping we'll likely recieve at Purdue on Saturday, and it could've completely deflated any remaining confidence in this team.   Loved Leal stepping up again.  Hope he has more of these down the home stretch. Liked seeing the team push the tempo off rebounds, which allowed some easier offense.  Need to continue to hit the boards hard like tonight. It will do worlds to improve the offense with transition opportunities off defensive boards and 2nd chance opportunities off offensive boards. 

I've watched several Indiana State games and probably their entire starting 5 could probably move up to power 5, but Conwell and Swope standout as guys would could possibly start at that level and make and impact.  Avila is a very skilled big and kind of reminds me of Cameron Krutwig from Loyola a few years ago, but with a 3 point shot.  They also have a Jayson Kent, a 6'8" wing? (listed as a guard) that rebounds the heck out of the ball and can step out and hit threes. He had a 20 rebound game recently.  I watched their game against Bradley who has Conner Hickman from Bloomington.  6'3" 200 junior averaging around 15ppg 3rpg 3apg and shooting 40% from three on 6 attempts. Hickman may be someone to watch. I've not seen any other of his games to see if he could guard anyone at the power 5 level, but he can shoot the ball.

1 minute ago, Hoosier987 said:

Actually…someone asked a pointed question. Typical Woodson response though. At one point he played all 5 subs together.

I've tried to stay positive about Woodson, but if his answer to that question is anything but, "because my starters were playing like hot garbage", he needs to go. That or some variation of it, is the only acceptable answer.

I want the 2 hours of my life back I spent watching this game. This was a winnable game and abysmal free throw shooting, poor rebounding effort, driving into multiple defenders, and our 6th year senior getting ejected cost us the game.  I'll add the first half substitutions to this.  Woodson subbed out both Reneau and Ware at the same time.  I understand thinking Sparks might help against a physical team, but if you put him in, it needs to be with Reneau. There were two groups Woodson put out there, with 4 subs and a starter.  

Nearly every missed three has been way off.  Gunn had one rattle out, but everything else has been horribly off.

1 minute ago, 5fouls said:

XJ and Gunn are our best perimeter defenders.  Having them both on the floor at the same time and playing well makes a big difference.  

Galloway is a good defender too, especially when he has help out there.  With XJ back, if we can get more of the Michigan and Ohio State version of CJ Gunn, we are a much different team.  

The only hope for the season to overcome the roster construction issues is to get the team locked in on defense.   Abandon the scheme and let X and Trey go straight up against the other teams best guards.  They are capable high level defenders.  We all have seen it.  Defense is killing us.  Quit letting teams drop 80 plus night after night. 

4 minutes ago, tdhoosier said:

I think PG’s will be okay; I’m more concerned about the scoring guards/wings. 

I’ve been watching Tennessee a lot lately. Dalton Knecht is a player i sure would’ve liked for Woody to nail down. However, it pains me to say this, but I think he made the right choice going to TN. We would not have utilized him in the same way. I honestly can’t imagine Woody giving Knecht that much freedom, I can’t imagine him having lanes to drive to the basket, and i can’t imagine Knecht getting the first look in our offense. He get’s all of this in Barnes’ offense. Heck, I wouldn’t put it past Woody to yank him after a defensive lapse or two. (Which he does have at times)

Maybe I’m over-reacting because we haven’t had a wing with that type of play making/scoring ability. But not having that type of guy yet, is ALSO going to make it that much harder for the staff to sell a recruit on us. Having a tape of the style you want to play is one thing. Having a ‘vision’ that we haven’t been able to pull off for 3 years is another. 

I want Woody to succeed so bad. I want to give him more time to do so. These comments weren’t made because of our loss yesterday. It’s been on my mind for quite some time. 

I would have loved to get Knecht too, but watching the Tennessee Illinois game yesterday, one of the announces mentioned he picked Tennessee because he wanted to go somewhere that would make him better on defense.  Barnes has had a top 5 defense the last 4 years in Kenpom.  They also mentioned he was a huge Kevin Durant fan, so having an inroad to meet his favorite player may have also figured into his decision.  I'm with you though on if we did get him, we may not have maximized his skills and it's possible he would've been used as Miller Kopp was, but who knows.  I do think Woodson understands the wing spot is a weakness with the staff targeting Sanon.  Hopefully there is a backup plan if that doesn't work out.

1 hour ago, tdhoosier said:

After calming down a bit I will say this is just a game. One really bad game, but a game none the less. We can bounce back.

I think the thing that frustrates me the most is that I’m not sure what the future (beyond this season) will hold. Will we accept a program that will make it to the second weekend every 4 years? Is that success for us? 

I fear that we are going to keep getting sucked into a style that’s not conducive to winning at a high level in the modern game. 

- Woody was hired and talked about his Knicks teams that shot a lot of 3’s and he was going to bring that style to IU.

- Woody said that the last 2 years were a fluke and that personnel forced him to play inside out. (Paraphrasing)

- Knowing that shooting was our weakness last year, the transfers we recruited were Walker, Ware and Sparks. All forwards. Not only were they only forwards but combining Ware with Malik brings us back to the Trayce/Race buddy ball clogging the paint.

- This year, we have the same problems. We failed to get the personnel to play the way Woody claims he wants to play.

- Next year, we have a good chance of getting Derrick Queen. He’s a great player. If he wants to come here we gotta take him, right? But then again, we’ll be playing more buddy ball with Queen and Malik. You’ll have to feed the post because they are so good. 

I don’t know. It’s great that Woody is proving that he can develop bigs, but it’s a detriment to how we need play. And it’s proving to be a deterrent for they type of guards we need. Guards do not one to come here and have the PG’s every first, second and third look be into the post. 

It’s hard to not bring in guys like Queen, Ware, Malik, etc. if they want to come here, but are we going to get pulled into this never ending cycle? 

You take what you can get especially if they are top 20 guys like Queen. Guards should want to play with a guy like Queen.  He is skilled and a good passer.  He is going to find guys when he is double teamed, at least he did the few games I have watched.  He can hit cutters too.  Schifino had a good season under Woodson despite playing with a dominant post player.  Woodson missed on some guards in the off-season and without knowing all the details, it probably had more to do with guys looking at a X and Galloway as playing a lot of the minutes at the guard spots.  From some of the guys mentioned as recruiting targets for 2024, (Davis and Sonon, if he reclasses) it looks like, Woodson understands the need for backcourt depth.  We'll see how it all plays out though.

11 minutes ago, SawatchHoosier said:

Hear me out. Our 3 point defense is better in a zone because we have the length at positions 3, 4 and 5 to bother shooters. 

Woodson has to try it more.  I like the idea. It would also help keeping our guys out of foul trouble.  Need to find ways to maximize the teams strengths which at this point is size and post scoring and not much else. I would also like to see a some post ups ran for Mgbako against teams that play 3 guards. I'd also like to see him used at the 4 so he can drive.  He is automatic at the foul line and Woodson has to find ways to get him in positions to get there more often.

55 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

Who could have seen this coming?!?

I think this is equal parts us having 1 guard who can consistently score in double figures and he was out with an injury and also having just 3 guards total in the rotation.  Auburn has 5-6 guards who play in their rotation.

Liked seeing Cupps look for his shot more, we started the game firing from 3, and ended up scoring 76 against a top 15-20 defensive team. Beyond that, there wasn't a whole lot of positives to take out of this game.  We make twice as many 3's as our season average, but give up 14.  A lot where contested or step backs, and there isn't much you can do about it, except having guys that can do the same thing on your roster.  This season is far from lost, and looking at rest of the Big 10, this team can probably get to 12-13 conference wins, but next season, Woodson has to finds some guards who can create and make tough shots. 

Just now, IU Scott said:

I don't care if Galloway has two fouls you need to bring him back in

Most of Auburn's run has happened with Galloway on the bench.

This is one I thought would be a loss going into the game.  Road game against a team that can shoot and McDaniel is a tough matchup for this team.  I knew they couldn't guard Ware and Reneau, but thought it would be trading 2's for 3's with the way the team had been defending the 3 point line.  It looked like Woodson made some adjustments to positioning on defense and guys were better able to rotate out on shooters.  Gunn and Cupps were really good disrupting drives.  Bench play was great tonight all around.  Mgbako had his 3rd game in a row in double figures. There were a lot of positives from this game despite the 1st half turnovers and missed layups down the stretch. Got the win and go beat Auburn!

Yesterday I said Woodson needed to shorten the bench to 7. Shows what I know.   Walker, Sparks, Banks, and Gunn all brought energy and toughness.  Never thought we'd get 30 bench points and 19 boards. Nice adjustment on the zone.  Got the win and looked better than we have.