tdhoosier

Fox looks like one of those adults who still plays Pokémon

That will start when 4:00 is left on clock.

I like when ware is in there sans Malik.

A 5 point lead when I posted this. A 5 point lead going into halftime. I’ll consider it a win.

I’d love to se them finally close out the first half.

I have no stats to back this up, but I just know we lead the nation in fouling 3 point shooters.

I don’t know, but if we’re talking about IU making that move, it only matters what our BOT thinks. And if history is a guide, they’re not huge fans of coaches who toe that line. I’d just personally be surprised to see them hire Pearl….they’ve had multiple opportunities to do so in the past, but didn’t.

Me too. But that was my point: we have the luxury to not care about any of it.

I'd be 100% fine with Pearl....I mean: why not not at this point? Great coach. Big personality. Endless energy. But as far as the university's ethical concerns, I don't think it's as simple as the notion: 'what Chuck Person did is not illegal any more.' It's that Pearl failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance for the 4th or time in his career. I think it's more about him being a repeat offender of the rules in place, at the time. Having Craft at a BBQ is not really a big deal in itself. But he lied about the situation. And then videos surfaced of Craft at the BBQ. And then a few days after Pearl gives a tearful apology to the media, his assistant makes illegal contact with another recruit. Pearl didn't get fired at UT for the Craft incident alone - it was the chain of events. It was a failure to comply to the rules (no matter how dumb they are) in existence, lying about it and then letting it happen again. At Milwaukee he did the same thing (inviting a recruit and his family to a graduation party) So, even though I think Pearl would crush it at IU, I do see why the administration would have hesitations about hiring him. They do want some degree of compliance in the program. I think deep down we all do. But as fans, we have the luxury of hoping it doesn't happen, while the administration is on the hook if it does happen.

Do you know any of this as this as fact, or is it just what people are speculating? I know Rabby has disputed that allegation in the past. If we're speculating, I'm sure I could come up with a few more plausible theories to why Rabby leaked the info. Doesn't mean they are true.

I went over to BTB, closed out a few ads and let them know that they could use my location 3 times. Honestly, KathywithaC (again, great name) does have logical points. The main one, why would Dolson wage war on the administration? That's career suicide. Not only at IU, but if he wanted to be AD anywhere else, it may not be the best idea to start blowing shit up - so to speak. AND the season is not even over yet. I've mentioned before that we need to remember there are some very egotistical boosters that push narratives as a way to turn up the heat. I swear these leaks always originate from boosters who play like they have clout, when they don't. Some can be a bunch of chatty Kathy's (with a K), who like to stir shit up. I'm not claiming I have any inside info at all....I'm just looking at the historical batting average of rumors surrounding program altering decisions. It's not good. I think it's safe to assume Woody is on the hot seat simply because this team is horrible and our roster outlook is bleak. BUT I am skeptical to the degree of this Dolson/QB feud. Sure they may disagree on the future of Woody, but is Dolson deliberately creating a smear campaign? Seems a bit far-fetched. Does he have Pearl waiting in the wings? Please. He may be interested in Pearl and rightfully so.....doesn't mean he has him close to being in the bag....especially as he's getting his top 15 team ready for the post season.

interesting tweet by Tony. A big portal class next year seems risky. because it's cutoff, here are the rest: Georgetown-194 (27) West Virginia-133 (2) Georgia Tech-130 (19) Arkansas-116 (7) Arizona St.-115 (42) Penn St.-90 (18) LSU-87 (15) VCU-84 (49) NC State-78 (25) Mississippi-75 (9) Memphis-72 (14) Butler-67 (44) UCF-65 (46) Washington-58 (33) Texas Tech-33 (30) Florida-31 (12) St. John's-28 (6)

Great username.

Man, some tea is spilling. Is Woody's contract public record and Osterman dug for it, or was he leaked that info?

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe he just wants to win - especially if there’s going to be a mass exodus.

Booo! i need to call you Senator IUFLA because you like wiggling out of answers. 😎

Curious….if you had to put money down….knowing what you know now, do you think we make the tournament next year? I know you want to give him the chance to make it, which I respect, but do you think we will?

Definitely. I think we'd maybe have another 3 wins. Mainly because he can pressure the ball. I still don't believe we are a tournament team with a healthy XJ though. And this has to be the bar. I don't see Woody running the offense differently with XJ in the lineup - and I don't think the way we play inside out is sustainable in CBB, let alone fun to watch. And I don't think his presence hides our roster construction issues. I also think XJ getting injured was why so many were right when they were calling for another guard in the portal. There wasn't a contingency plan in place. It was always a risk banking on an injury prone player to start every game of the season.

Huge difference AND we still need another guard. haha. but even healthy i'm not sure he's consistent enough for first or second team all B1G.

Yeah, but it’s not Monday morning QBing if you bring it up Sunday before the game. I remember having discussions with you back in the summer about picking up one more player to fill that last roster spot. You were ultimately right because you didn’t think we were going to fill that spot and I did. (Not that you were against filling that last spot) I just thought that there could be no way the roster was complete because we needed another guard. I also remember @BGleas saying that in this day and age of the transfer portal, you simply can’t not leave a roster spot open. There were many more forewarning this sentiment. And then once we accepted that spot wasn’t going to be filled, as good fans we tried to justify it. (Now, bringing up these points is Monday Morning QBing - haha): - Gallo shot over 40% last season! - Gunn and Banks are having amazing workouts! - Cupps was a great shooter in high school and he’s starting the ‘Breakfast Club’ - WHY ISN’T XJ PRESEASON ALL BIG TEN! WHO’S BETTER THAN HIM? Lol - Malik and Ware are not Race and Trayce because Ware will play out on the perimeter. - The guys putting out preseason rankings are under estimating us!

I'd rather have Timberlake on the bench than an empty chair. Regardless, I think that pigeon holing us into a reality where Knecht, Timberlake and Love were our only options is not accurate. That's just who we went after. There were hundreds of guards in the portal. But if you want to use Timberlake as an example: we were never really in good shape with him anyway. He made his decision relatively early, and we had a ton of time to identify more guards to plug into this roster. We didn't. It's just the cold hard truth. I just hope the lesson was learned.

My theory, even though I don't know anything.... I truly think that Woody wanted to delegate tasks, similar to how you would in the NBA - thinking it'd be more efficient. I don't think it was laziness....maybe naive, but not lazy. I think how he utilized the transfer portal last year again was not laziness, but a huge error in judgement (I'm sure this is something that he'd HAVE to admit privately). The mistake was big enough to possibly bring him down. The question is: can he dig himself out of the hole he finds himself in? This spring will tell us all we need to know...his back is against the wall.

back on subject..... I didn't get to see the game until last last night. I think that run in the second half was the most fun I had watching IU play this season. It looked like out guards were hunting for shots, rather than hunting feeds into the post. XJ, Gallo and MM had 33 shot attempts Ware and Malik had 16 shot attempts I like that balance.

I think that this is a loaded topic. To your point it's better to be analyzing minutes played vs. how many years they were on a college roster. However, this can also be easy to cherry pick teams to fit a narrative. Teams like Purdue and Wisconsin who don't recruit highly ranked player and have great development will rarely have an inexperienced roster. Teams like Kentucky and Duke who are able to get 5 star recruits every year will naturally have inexperienced rosters (for most seasons). I'd think as a coach, there is a risk/reward when you go big game hunting, you'll have to deal with the woes of having a younger roster. If you're not going after 5 stars then you may need to deal with a lack of athleticism that can create mismatches in March. Bottom line though: you need to build your roster accordingly. I'm not advocating one strategy over another. I will say if you want to have a roster with 300+ starts, you better be developing the underclassmen you recruit straight from high school. If you're going to constantly be working with an inexperienced roster, you better consistently be recruiting high school players and transfers who can come in, and are ready to play on day 1. All that said, if the goal is to play experienced players with starts under their belt, is the future that bright for us? Banks and Gunn are likely transfer candidates who have no starts under their belt. Jakai is obviously injured this season. I'm excited about Cupps, but he has a long way to go still and I can't imagine him starting over a portal PG (fingers crossed). And we only have ONE high school recruit coming in so far. If Mgbako stays, we may eclipse that 300 starts mark late next season, but what about the year after that when Gallo is gone and MM is most likely gone? I know you and I disagree...and that's okay...I enjoy the debate. You put more importance (than me) on what Woody has done when he has an experienced roster. I think it's a fair point, but I just don't know how he's going to get back to that success. I personally am unable to see the path, when I factor what we have coming in next year (so far). I also have concerns about if another systematically inexperienced roster can run Woody's system the way he envisions it being ran. I mean, this is one of the main reason we aren't playing well this year, right? To me, it looks like the house is being built on stilts right now.

And I think this is exactly why the whole sectional game is being talked about. The timing is just horrific.....Woody isn't doing himself any favors when his back is getting closer to being against the wall. From what I understand, the staff wasn't' there either. It just feeds the narrative that when it comes to game planning, roster construction, recruiting, etc., Woody just keeps tripping over these smaller things. The mistakes are compounding and it's effecting the larger picture. It's like the analogy I heard on a podcast yesterday: "the hump is becoming a mountain"....and every mistake is making that mountain bigger.