IUFLA

So last year finishing 2nd in the Big 10, beating Purdue and Illinois both twice and securing a 4 seed was... Nothing?

You can have the conversation all you want, but don't complain when someone comes in and refutes your points...that's basically what y'all do... Now we're into saying "well, he's not the recruiter, the assistant's are." CEOs don't run cash registers either...

And plenty of room for banners (even irrelevant ones!)

I don't see it as "generalizing" at all... Did you want Coach Woodson fired after the first year? My guess is "no" Did you want him fired after last year? Again, I'd guess "no." So that brings us to this year...And if you look at the teams that have beaten us, for the most part it's a pretty good group...Connecticut is #1, Purdue is #2, Auburn #12, Kansas #4, Wisconsin #11, Illinois #10, and Nebraska is unbeaten at home, including a win over Purdue...The 2 that have no explanation other than we didn't play well are Penn State at home and Rutgers on the road... Did we get steamrolled in some of those? Yes, we sure did... But you never factor in that our most common starting lineup is 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores, and a senior... I'm not going to make excuses for this team...they are what they are...I'd hoped for better, but as I've said many times, I think it's more a floor leadership issue than anything... My own opinion is that some of you can't see the forest for the artificial trees you've planted...There's not an AD alive that's going to fire a coach over "how" they won or lost, or schemes, or not getting technical fouls when some of you think he should...Mike Woodson is going to be judged by his overall won/loss record, and that's the truth... He'll be here next year, and despite what some think, I believe the majority of the core we have now is going to come back as well...He's said "we'll add some pieces" and we all have seen how one guy can many times make a difference... At the end of next year, we can assess then, and see where we're at...But starting a thread like this now is way too premature...

Interesting that the Albers guy didn't figure in the fact that CJ Gunn pulled his stunt against Wisconsin, and then Woody put a "DNP Coach's decision" on him for Illinois... And for what it's worth, I thought Aikens' tech was BS too...

Yet there's this thread which essentially is saying we need to fire Mike Woodson over one year...one year... You can't say it was entertained in the first year...we hadn't been to the tourney in 6 years, and Woody got us there...You can't say it's over the 2nd year, as we were a #4 seed and finished 2nd in the Big 10... I'd really like to think y'all are reasonable, but that's not the word that comes to mind... This conversation has basically turned at least this thread into Rupp Rafters North as far as I'm concerned... And the names I hear...You think Bruce Pearl, Nate Oats, Chris Beard, or Eric Mussleman have never had a "down year"? Of course they have... One year...

For those that want to relive...

You should have had them over last year... And I'll point out that our starting 5 has 264 D1 games under their belts when we played Saturday... Less than Edey and Jones combined...

When: Sunday, February 18th 3:00 PM EST Where: Simon-Skjotd Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana TV: FS1 Head Coach Chris Collins (11th year 173-169) leads his Wildcats (17-7 8-5 in Big 10 play) into SSAH for a meeting with our Hoosiers. The Wildcats are coming off of a home victory over Penn State yesterday, and have a Thursday meeting at Rutgers before they travel to Bloomington. The Cats are 1-5 in Big 10 road games with the only win coming at Penn State. The Wildcats are led by our arch nemesis, 6'2 senior Boo Buie. Last year Buie averaged 23.5 ppg against us, giving Northwestern 2 narrow victories over our Hoosier, including a last minute basket at Evanston. If you remember that shot, Buie pretty much shoved Trey Galloway out of the way to sink a 5 footer...This year Buie checks in at 19 ppg and leads the team in assists at 5 per game. Sophomore 6'7 forward Nick Martinelli (8 ppg) is a high energy player much like Will Tschetter of Michigan, and has jumped into the starting lineup in place of 6'2 junior guard Ty Berry who injured his knee in the Nebraska game. Berry is out indefinitely. Joining Martinelli is 6'6 junior and Hoosier native Brooks Barnhizer (15 ppg) and 7'0 senior Matthew Nicholson in the frontcourt, while 6'4 senior transfer (Princeton, where he was a part of their surprise Sweet 16 team) Ryan Langborg (12 ppg) joins Buie in the backcourt. Missing Berry, their top 3 point shooter hurts, but Northwestern is still leading the Big 10 in 3 point percentage, and Buie, Martinelli, and Langborg all shoot over 40% from behind the arc, while Barnhizer is at 36%. They have shooters, but are middle of the pack as far as volume goes. 6'10 sophomore big man Luke Hunger, 6'9 senior transfer (Liberty) Blake Preston, and 6'2 freshman guard Jordan Clayton provide minutes off the bench...Clayton even more so in Berry's absence. Not a good rebounding team, and mediocre on defense, but they don't turn it over and they play a very physical style. They'll go as Buie goes, especially late. He can kill you down the stretch if he gets going. I would expect us to use Trey to guard him, as I'm nit sure Cupps is up to guarding a player with Buie's talent and experience quite yet. Would love to have XJ back if for nothing else to check Buie. We should have an advantage inside, but Nicholson is no slouch. Not real athletic, but he does defend around the basket well. This team hasn't missed a beat losing Chase Audige from last year, and is one of only 2 teams to best Purdue. Tough game, but we really need this one. Hopefully a raucous crowd and a great effort carry us to victory... GO HOOSIERS!

25 today...Struggle with the Rockies...

I love the Bears, but if you want to know why they rarely contend look at this article about Super Bowl rings and scroll down to 1985...

Cool that we both picked guys off of Connie Mack's second "sell off" of a dynasty team with Grove and Foxx...

63...Like @5fouls I struggle with the "newer" teams...Was able to sneak my man Shawon Dunston in there though...

It was a joke

Mighta been the same coach that game planned for the 2 Penn State games last year 🙂

Starting guards, or guard depth?

Painter looks like Little Lotta with black hair 🙂

At the beginning of the summer, we had 6 guards... XJ Galloway Leal Gunn Cupps Newton Newton wasn't out until August as reported by @ledies22 And I'm sure you're correct in stating that Woody wasn't going to make promises on starting or playing time... We have to face facts that between XJ's lack of maturity and injury, it's put us in a bind...

I'm no Illinois fan, but the T on Coleman was BS...

A little of both I'd suppose... Storr was the difference for Whisky earlier in the Big 10 season, but he's started playing outside of the offense, and is 1-13 in his last 3 games from 3... The Badgers are totally out of sync, and I hope they stay that way... And at least at that little bandbox of a gym they play in, Rutgers can be a handful...

Fire Greg Gard!

🤣

In 7 years at Rutgers he's made the tournament twice, has a winning percentage overall of .537, and he's never finished above 4th in the Big 10... Come on...

Rutgers up 9 on Whisky at the break...