DWB

It's starting to look like the only person MR will pass to is Ware. Leal & Taco are wide open on the perimeter while he's getting triple teamed, and he forces up a horrible shot.

9 pm game tomorrow nite

Ware for the overall game, but Leal has become 6th man of the year late in the season. If Woodson would've played him 2 seasons ago, he'd be far higher on the valuable list. 

I'd prefer he'd start over Cupps.

I have yet to see 1 pass fake, or shot fake from us this entire game.

Obviously, great coaching.

I think they all took at a nap at halftime and haven't woken up yet.

I can make a cut harder than any of the IU guys and I have an artificial knee and can't run.

So far, Cupps has played better than I expected. Thought Baldwin would take him to school. So far Cupps has held his own.

Just now, Hoosier4Life53 said:

Can we close out the half strong for once?

I bet not

10 minutes ago, NCHoosier32 said:

didn't realize Walker is listed as questionable with Galloway.  so we'll have Leal and Sparks off the bench?  wish we had another scholarship player.  

Not sure what that does. You've got Gunn (supposedly a guard) and Banks. Not being used. Whose to say another bench player would get time even if needed?

PSU ended the half on a 13-2 run for a sizeable lead.

I'll read about the 2nd half finish in the morning. Game's not that entertaining.

Maybe we should do an "over/under" pool before the portal opens up, and then do the update a week after it opens. My guess is we'll have a max of 4 returning scholly's (assuming Gallo & Leal don't change their minds)

53 minutes ago, iuthruandthru said:

Iowa last I saw was second last 4 out on ESPN.  IU is not even listed.  Win it all baby!  That’s the could be the only way, though a quad 1 win over Illinois would help.  If Galloway is out someone is going to have to be the catalyst of the offense.

The only other guy that comes close to Gallo's intensity (IMO) is Leal. And him starting will never happen with this coaching staff.

He shoots far better than Cupps, plays defense better than Cupps, rebounds, which Cupps only does when it hits him in the chest, and is a true leader on this team.

But hey...I'm just a life long fan of 50 years. What the hell could I possibly know?  

To no one's surprise Ware wins it going away. Pick any category you want:

1. weighted based on top 3 vote getters
2. only one voting winner take all
3. total votes accumulated

For the Big 10 Conf:

Weighted voting: Mgbako comes in 2nd, with Gallo and Reneau 2 votes behind

Total votes rec'd: Reneau 2nd, Gallo 3rd.

Entire Season to date:

Weighted voting: Reneau 2nd, Gallo 3rd.

Total votes: same

results beg the question: Who's gonna make up Ware's production, boards, and rebounds next year?

3 hours ago, IUFLA said:

But I'm also not buying into the narrative that Mike Woodson isn't a good basketball coach. He is. I hear commentators like Shon Morris and Robbie Hummel comment on our sets all the time. I saw 2 kids... INDIANA kids... stand up for his coaching... I've heard TJD, Miller Kopp, JHS, and many others vouch for him...

There is no doubt that Woodson is good at the X's & O's, especially after time outs. Couldn't agree more. But...if a coach can't recognize a huge lack of fundamentals (for the past 3 years), then IMO he's missing a big piece to be a good coach (an OK coach...sure, but not championship caliber). The 2 Indiana kids (I assume you mean Gallo & Leal) are the 2 kids on the team that DO HAVE good fundamentals. There's a signal there. 

I'm not saying Woodson is a complete failure at all. He (and his staff) need to find ways to get better with the fundamentals.  The "drills" that he claims he runs all the time obviously aren't working. At least to my eyes.

You're right, guys like Mac, Ware, and others never had to be fundamentally sound growing up, since their offensive talent was stellar. (esp those from outside of IN) All the more reason to focus on it at this level.

I wish there was a way to quantify our un-forced turnovers to lack of fundamentals. It would create an interesting discussion. There's not to my knowledge, so my observations are just subjective.

Personally, I separate the players from the "coaching". Players tend to do what they practice. Doesn't matter if it's sports, music, acting, your job, etc.

If players don't block out for rebounds, or even don't hit the offensive glass at all (see 4 opposing jersey's under our basket), then there is a problem with "coaching".

I also separate Coaching, from the person. I'm sure Woodson is a great guy. Have absolutely no doubts about that. Same with the assistants. But it doesn't automatically translate that just because they are good people, that they are good at their job.

But that's just me.

1 minute ago, IUFLA said:

 

My own opinion is, Woody didn't mean fans that simply criticize the things they've seen...

I hope you're right, but based on his attitude at Sr speeches, and his word choices, I have my doubts.

1 minute ago, Artesian_86 said:

True fans of understand everything and don’t complain about the team like you just did…lol😉

Guess I should have said "educated fan". My bad..... 

23 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Have McNeely or his family commented publicly on his decommit yet?

I haven't seen anything... Not saying it's not true, because I know numerous outlets reported it, it's just that usually the recruit puts something out himself... 

Honest question here....did McNeely decommit before or after it was announced that Woodson was coming back? Could it be possible he actually wanted to play for Woodson? And there would be a chance he'd re-commit? (highly unlikely I know, but just asking)

Just finished re-watching the MSU game, and we had no reason to win it. We are so fundamentally flawed it's disgusting.

Lazy passes, no look passes that aren't close to anybody, sloppy passes, telegraphed passes. 16 turnovers, and the bulk of them were shitty passes.

NOBODY knows how to block out for a rebound except Leal. Mgbako and Reneau don't have a clue how to block out. MSU got 12 offensive rebounds, vast majority because no IU guy put a body on their man. Maybe we should hire Izzo to teach our guys how to block out...

And we don't call out screens at all. Leal got mugged the entire game because nobody called them out to him. Puts us at a real disadvantage when we don't hedge that screen. 

And speaking of screens, we also don't know how to set one, nor does our ball handler know how to rub his guy off of it.

But hey...what do I know? I'm just a true fan....

14 minutes ago, 94hoosier said:

The field will be set before the championship game tips off

Not always. I've seen a couple of instances where the "winner of game currently on" gets the at large bid.

But you're right. The vast majority of the time the field is set. Seems to me the championship game should be on a Saturday before Selection Sunday.

8 minutes ago, MrsStoller said:

And I think that open scholarship is one example of CMW not doing his job. 

I'm sure he thought he would have an "overflowing" '24-'25 season recruiting class, and use it there.

Oh wait....he'll have up to 9 scholly's to use.

3 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Every team in the league is going to regret letting him get by.  

I don't really follow NBA anymore, but the lack of posts concerning JHS is conspicuous by it's absence. Is he even getting much playing time?

Woodson's problem (one of them at least) is he's too accustomed to losing. Got that from the NBA. 

We should have a raffle on how many pages this thread will grow to by the end of next season....could hit 4 digits....

No doubt Ware was MVP, but maybe Leal made the defensive play of the game on the last drive by MSU, by closing down that driving lane and forcing a bad shot.