tdhoosier

In the post you can only see the top of his head. I thought it was Bruce Weber! lol

I'll preface this by I'm not sure what to personally think about Pearl's past. My opinion on the issue is not relevant. But, If there's one thing that we know: it's the desire for IU (especially the basketball program) to hold an ethical high ground. Virtually every decision they made in the past 25 years has been navigated through the path of the least ethical resistance. (except for Sampson, which they go burned for and as a result are even more hesitant to dabble in these waters). If history is an indicator of future decisions at all.....I just don't think the powers that be think Pearl is a good fit at IU. I don't think they make that move. I also appreciate the inside info, but these rumors are coming from the same sources that got it wrong last time. I honestly think this is all wish-casting projected as inside info.

Well, if there's one way the fans can steer the decision to fire Woody, it's to not attend games. An empty assembly hall for a pre-season game is embarrassing, let alone a conference game.

Well, that one answers my question in regards to why IU steered clear for the last 3 searches. The Deon Thomas story is wild....I always knew IL fans hated him, but didn't know the details.

To be clear, I'm not saying I agree or don't agree with their previous decision to not go after him. I'm just wondering out loud: what has changed? Yeah. I love Cig. The football program needed a shot of confidence.

Pearl's name has come up before the Crean hire, the Archie hire and the Woody hire. I always assumed that the school thought there were instances he flirted too close to the line (regarding NCAA rules). But I can't remember the details that surrounded narrative. You do have to wonder if Pearl's a good enough candidate now, then why wasn't he the 3 previous times?

What was Eric saying?

And ten pop up ads every time you click on a new page.

That's an interesting stat for Cupps. I do believe that he has a very low usage rate because he doesn't get used in the offense. He dribbles the ball up court, passes it and rarely gets it back. So, I'll concede. Regarding Trey, it depends on the role he's playing on a team. Put 2 shooters next to him and he's going create a lot mis-matches for the opponent. He'd find a LOT of minutes no matter the system. Find the right system and I believe he's a second or third team all Big Ten. But that's hypotheticals. I'm getting into the weed's though. The overall point is that WE HAVE TALENT. It's not put together nicely, but it's enough talent to be WAY more competitive. We're not dealing with a team of walk-ons here. Two players could make it to the NBA. A few more could be pros in Europe. And we are sitting at the bottom of the B1G and are getting blown out by PSU.

Gallo is a fringe starter on just about every team in the conference. If he's able to play the role the excels in, any team would gladly take him. I don't think this system does any favors for Cupps. His job is to dribble up the court and pass it into the interior. it doesn't create spot up 3's for him. He doesn't get help on the defensive end because we can't rotate. I think he's a Freshman, who will ultimately be a valuable asset though. Are you saying he's not performing like a 3 star freshman? That's not really a high bar. I don't think a 2 star sees the court no matter how bad we need him.

Before we say stars don't mean anything..... -Ware is individually playing like a 5 star -Malik is individually playing like a 5 star (although he may have been a 4 star out of high school) -Mgbako is working his way up to individually playing like a 5 star (highest freshman ppg), but let's say he's playing like a 4 star for the sake of argument. -I'd say Cupps is playing like a 3 star. -I'd say Gallo is playing like a 4 star. That's our starting line up. I don't necessarily think there's a disconnect in the rankings as much as there's a disconnect in the system.

Thanks. Not my intention to single you out. I just have a feeling things are going to start getting loony up in here. I hope the HSN walls are ready for the poop to be flung at them. I just want to know the origination of said poop.

Am I being too much of a Karen by simply requesting that we clarify posts like these? Are we posting about absolutes, inside info, speculation, rumors, opinions, etc.?

I don’t know what effect it has on IU, but OSU’s recent wins lead me to believe that the players didn’t buy into Holtman’s system. Like us, OSU has talent to win in the B1G, perhaps they were just being held back.

How about some grass? 😎

No. Gard and Painter can get those guys because they have a developed system and know exactly who they need. I don’t think this staff can identify lower ranked talent because they haven’t so far. I’m not sure you can even say one player brought on to this team, other than JHS, has over achieved. But more importantly, I don’t think we have a system that the players, or even the coaches, have completely bought into. it seems like the staff is just guessing at this point. Get a player with athleticism, try to plug him in somewhere and hope it works.

Good points. An interesting hypothetical question though… IF there is a coaching change, what does he do with Malik? It’d be very interesting how the whole situation would play out.

This is our only saving grace. If Woody stays, we’ll know our answer probably by June, depending on who we pick up in the portal and who we go after. My concern is that Woody will have no problem getting a highly ranked big, because what big doesn’t want to play in this offense when they are touching the ball at an obscenely high rate? And we’ll take him because it’s easy. And we’ll have to play him because he’s talented. We’ll continue putting up a low volume 3’s and we’ll continue to compete at a mathematical disadvantage. It’s going to be a never ending cycle.

I admittedly drank the kool-aid on the whole idea that Mgbako could be a 3. He’s improved a lot this year, but he’s being forced to defend on the perimeter more, and that’s not where he’s comfortable. If his defensive assignments were opposing 4’s I think he’d be in foul trouble a lot less and he’d have more rebounds. On the other end, he’d pull defenders out of the paint. If I’m being honest - and i hate saying this - it’s Malik that doesn’t fit. I think he thinks he’s a 4 and Woody thinks he’s a 4 because why else are we searching for another 5? I think Malik is a 5 who’s not good at rebounding. The sooner this can be accepted, the better the chance we may turn the corner.

I’m more concerned that guards looked at how the offense is ran and simply said: ‘nope’. If it really was a ‘minutes issue’ it’s not because of Trey and X. It’s because Woody plays 2 bigs at the same time. Woody’s old school line-ups eat up the minutes for potential guards because only 2 guards/wings are on the floor at the same time. MM should be a 4 (with Walker as a back up) and we should have 3 guards/wings on the floor. If he does that, then there will magically be more minutes for a guard transfer. But he doesn’t. And it’s his line up history that will haunt us again this off-season. Bet. It’s already been rumored he’s going to go after another 5, now that he missed on Queen. 4 out/1 in, my arse.

We probably also lead the league in goaltends and fouling 3 point shooters.

At least the game thread is entertaining. All 4 pages of it.

He needs both hands. One for the cigar. One for the wine. Can’t blame him.

There’s a new rule in the NCAA, If a coach has a player foul out, then they get their hand chopped off.

I like the line up now. Just getting it on record. 😎