Alford would do alot better than Woodson
- Thread starter GeorgeStrait IU
- Start date
If the season ended today Nevada would be about a 9 seed in the tourny and we wouldn’t be close to even an at large based on their NET of 34 and ours of 102 (before Nebraska loss). It will never happen but interesting question that IU fans have strong feelings about on both sides.
Stop. Both would've been bad choices though Alford certainly more qualified than Woody.
Alford should've been hired after the Sampson debacle.
This has always been the perfect job for him. Too bad it never happened.
This has always been the perfect job for him. Too bad it never happened.
Yep he and Neal would be far ahead of all those suits Woodson surrounds himself with..
He had two runs at major conf jobs and couldn't last at either.
He's pretty good in the Mountain West though
He's pretty good in the Mountain West though
Still took UCLA to 3 S16s in 4 years. Woody will never even sniff one.
I agree. One of my favorite sports memories is when Craig Neal stole the ball against Loogootee and came down and slammed it. I was behind that basket. The Hatchets rolled them that day and I spent three months bragging to my cousins who lived in Loogootee.
I am going to get lambasted. We will never know but I think if he, Neal and his dad were hired when we hired the cheater, he would still be here and we would have a solid program. Alford and Neal would be recruiting great every year. In the tournament every year and several deep runs in the tournament.
Seriously, are any of our assistant coaches worth a damn as coaches? They sure ain't killing it on the recruiting trail. I'd be curious to hear what our recruiting philosophy is because Woody has managed to build one of the most unbalanced teams I can remember.
Alford has the same problem in some ways that Woody does. Remember him at UCLA? I think he recruited really well. His teams just didn't achieve at the level that he recruited.
Maybe I'm just not remembering it correctly, but I <think> I am.
But the kid in me who watched the 1984 team upset North Carolina would've loved to see him coach at IU. But the logical side of my brain tells me it wouldn't have worked out and we might be in the same situation that we are with Woody right now...
Alford has not done anything in his coaching career that indicates he is or was the answer for IU. He might not have been the worst choice and certainly has his supporters in the fanbase but we're not hanging more banners with Alford.
He is certainly more qualified as he is a college coach but I doubt he would do a ton better.
How many we gonna hang with Woody? Because that's the comparison.
Alford may have done better than Woodson, but would it have been good enough?
| 1999-00 | Iowa | Big Ten | 30 | 14 | 16 | .467 | 9.00 | 11.83 | 22 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | Iowa | Big Ten | 35 | 23 | 12 | .657 | 14.25 | 10.71 | 14 | 24 | Conf. Tournament Champion; NCAA Tournament | ||
| 2001-02 | Iowa | Big Ten | 35 | 19 | 16 | .543 | 12.39 | 7.91 | 9 | 7 | |||
| 2002-03 | Iowa | Big Ten | 31 | 17 | 14 | .548 | 8.44 | 5.83 | |||||
| 2003-04 | Iowa | Big Ten | 29 | 16 | 13 | .552 | 8.70 | 6.18 | 24 | ||||
| 2004-05 | Iowa | Big Ten | 33 | 21 | 12 | .636 | 14.98 | 9.34 | 14 | NCAA Tournament | |||
| 2005-06 | Iowa | Big Ten | 34 | 25 | 9 | .735 | 14.18 | 6.80 | 20 | 12 | 15 | Conf. Tournament Champion; NCAA Tournament | |
| 2006-07 | Iowa | Big Ten | 31 | 17 | 14 | .548 | 9.12 | 6.35 |
You can't really compare what he did at Iowa to what he could've done at a blue blood school in a state where he's a legend. The caliber of player he would have been able to recruit at Indiana is way different than what he was recruiting at Iowa.
To play devil's advocate with Alford, in his 3rd year at Nevada, his team finished:
13-18 overall
6-12 and 8th place in the league
Just to compare to Woody. Not exactly a great finish. I know he seems to have righted the ship this year.
Just throwing that out there...
13-18 overall
6-12 and 8th place in the league
Just to compare to Woody. Not exactly a great finish. I know he seems to have righted the ship this year.
Just throwing that out there...
Steve Alford's third years....
Missouri State: 16-16
Iowa: 19-16
New Mexico: 30-5
UCLA: 15-17
Nevada 13-18
Missouri State: 16-16
Iowa: 19-16
New Mexico: 30-5
UCLA: 15-17
Nevada 13-18
At the end of the day, he failed at a blue blood and failed in the B1G. IMO, he belongs at a smaller school, and there's nothing wrong with that.
There is no doubt he could have recruited the Midwest at the highest level.
After that it is anyone’s guess.
After that it is anyone’s guess.
And at least at Nevada, the program was in really good shape when he arrived. His predecessor was Musselman, the current coach at Arkansas. They finished in first place in the their league the three years before Alford got there.
I think whether you think Alford would have been successful or not, the time to hire him would have been 10-20 years ago when he was a big name in the state. Him going to Iowa probably ended any chance of him ending up at IU.
No reason he couldn't have done the same thing at IU that he did at UCLA, which might not be enough.
No reason he couldn't have done the same thing at IU that he did at UCLA, which might not be enough.
Lute Olson was a great coach and did way better at Iowa than Steve. Arizona didn't have the history of UCLA, and Lute did way better at Arizona than Steve did at UCLA. Steve isn't a great coach. I don't think he would do any better than Tom Crean did at IU. You can't get fired at UCLA and then claim you would do better at IU. Woody isn't the next Bob Knight just because he played for him, and the same goes for Steve.
Thanks! No use drawing it out. Is there anyone left on this board who would seriously play this worn out card?
The "we need an IU guy" argument is idiotic and short sighted. Alford and Woody are perceived by many in our fan base as being far better coaches then they have proven to be based in part on their connection to Knight and IU. Hell, our current team under Woody is everything a Bob Knight team never was! Undisciplined, soft, poor free throw shooters, poor jump shooters, take bad shots, commit lots of sloppy, unforced turnovers, shoddy and lazy defenders etc etc etc.
Yep. Everyone seems to forget that RMK wasn't an "IU guy" when he came. Just sayin'...
It’s no cool story. I happen to think they would have done well. You don’t. WTF is the purpose of being a smartass? Just say you disagree and I get it.
Should’ve been hired when they hired Davis after the interim tag was removed. Will never know now what could’ve been.
Frankly, I’d rather have Dusty May if we’re going to take a former IU guy. May has certainly done more with a lot less. It sealed it for me when Steve was at UCLA and underachieved with a roster filled with NBA talent.
I don't know if we'll hang any with Woody. Not this year, I'd guess. But that wasn't the point, I was talking about Alford.
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