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The curse of mediocrity.

My worst fears about Woodson and this team have been realized. Simply put, we just do not have enough talent to be better than mediocre in the Big Ten. And yes, I include Trace Jackson Davis in that assessment as he still has no outside shot, still cannot shoot free throws and disappears in crunch time much like he did yesterday. Leal and Lander are jokes and Xavier is selfish, and has no shot along with being a bit of a thug. You don't ever hit a guy in the groin like he did yesterday. Kopp and Stewart never make a shot if they are guarded and rarely make one if they are open. I would start Geronimo and Bates who seem to have some heart and some potential. I think Woodson is in over his head. but no he does not deserve firing. I also sense his total frustration as nobody on the team is improving. Compound that with the reality that plays after times out never work and we fall apart at crunch times in winnable games. And worst of all is that no help is coming. Woodson is 63 and is used to coaching NBA guys with tons of talent. He doesn't have that at IU where he is expected to recruit and improve his players. Who has improved this year? I ask the board again to assess where we might be had we not fired Mike Davis. I would rather have Davis, a national championship game, Bracey Wright, Marshall Strickland and DJ White instead of Kelvin Sampson, Dan Dakich, Tom Crean. Archie Miller, Romeo, Langford, Leal, and Lander. Woodson is a victim here and has no chance since we have fallen too far to ever get up again.
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We need a play making guard again

I don’t think it’s a coincidence the last time we were good and relevant, was Yogis senior year.

There are times in games when you need a ball handler that you can clear out for, ISO for, run a pick and roll for, and feel comfortable they’ll generate something positive.

OSU had Branham tonight. We didn’t. Wisconsin had Davis, we didn’t. Syracuse had Boeheim, we didn’t. In the past few years Wisky had Trice. Purdue had Edwards.

So…no matter what happens, this year will be forgettable. Even if we win our next 3 somehow.

So let’s hope JHS is that guy. Or Gabe Cupps maybe the year after. Because we can’t become relevant again if we don’t find guards like that.

Is this team really different from last year?

In a lot of ways, this is a redux of last year. Swap Durham for X, Kopp for Armann and Brunk for Durr and you've got a lot of similarities.

I do nevertheless think this team is better. I think not having Rob is killing us and definitely Trey tonight as well. This team hustles better and plays better defense. If we won tonight, I don't think it was because we played particularly well, we had a lot of things fall our way.

We've got three games to rattle off and we need to blow the doors off these teams to get into the tourney before we get blown out in W. Lafayette to end the season.

I'm usually not the optimist on this forum but I think it might happen, we'll see what they're made of.
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This from a Big 10 assistant last night...

"IU doesn't put any pressure on the defense with its screening."


Everything is designed around getting angles to get the ball into TJD, which for the most part is a great idea, until teams realize the above. IU's spacing is awful, and it goes beyond players struggling to hit shots. It's also about players struggling to get great looks.

My reply to his text: "They're screening?"

Even their Horns action is another way just to set up post entry. I want to see Kopp and Stewart come off flare screens and double screens. I want to see them come off Floppy action. I want to see IU attack drift passes with Hammer screens as the back action (action behind the ball). I want misdirection. I want physical, occasionally illegal, screens.

Culture

Woodson sat those guys and it was the right thing to do at Northwestern. Setting expectations is vey important in year one. But you will eventually have to have a winning culture and system like Wisconsin does. In the end it will come down to Woodson's coaching a few years from now. Like I said I will stay positive but I do feel like Wooson needs to make some big improvements next year or recruiting could dry up fast. You usually get a few years to recruit well without winning. after that it gets tough. You have to make the ncaa to sell guys on the program imo in the next year or two.

If Brad Davison had done what XJ did last night

Everyone would be lighting him up for being a douchebag and that he deserves to be punched…. XJ essentially gave us Zero chance to win (it was close already by that point) with that BS crotch shot against Liddell. I understand Woody had no choice but to grab up leftovers from the portal last year but if we’re truly trying to develop a good culture at IU, we need some guys who don‘t become head cases when things aren’t going their way
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