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Grading the entire HC decision process

IUNorth

Hall of Famer
Oct 25, 2002
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I give the Woodson hire a C-

He’s a well respected NBA guy. Which I think is good. Assuming he knows how to parlay all of those connections into an “NBA prep” atmosphere, it’ll be a big deal in Bloomington.

He’s an IU guy. I don’t really think that, in and of itself, is positive or negative. It becomes a big positive if he wins, and then if he brings all the boys home. But that only works if he wins.

On the bad/questionable side...he’s never coached in college before. The college game has changed a recently, but it’s still very different than the NBA.

He’s also 63. I don’t really worry about his age as much as others are. As I think the next 4-5 years are critical, and more important than us landing a younger guy that could have coached for a decade or two. His job is just to reestablish IU as a B10 contender again. It didn’t need to be a guy that will have his name on the court someday. But, any time you have qualified guys out there like Beard, Oats, Drew, etc... that are much younger. The age card will always be scrutinized.

I give the decision to get rid of Archie now, and then however it came to be that someone paid for it...an A-

Very risky move by Dolson. Shows me he truly does care deeply about IUs flagship program. And that has carried a lot of weight with me with this whole process.

And the fact that we have people out there still that are willing to stroke that kind of check...tells me we’re still a big time program. No one at Minnesota or Iowa State was going to be footing 10 million to change their basketball coaching situation.

I give the Matta hire an A+... Woodson is going to need some guidance on the college game. Matta has deep and varying experiences, all very successful, on how to succeed in college. Small, medium, and big schools. Recruiting top 10 type kids. Changing your program philosophies when said too 10 kids move on, and you have a new crop of kids to coach. At worst, he’s there to help guide Woodsons program. At best, he gets healthy enough in the next few years to take over when Woodson is ready to be done.

Overall grade...B

There are probably better Head Coaches out there we could have gotten. But there are guys that I’m convinced would be worse. Moser as an example. But I’m excited about the mindset and “Give a $hit” that Dolson and others have shown. And thinking out of the box a little bit. He could have puked out the same decision that Glass made with Archie, and just hired Moser. Who likely wouldn’t have wanted Mattas help. And wouldn’t have had any immediate success. This way, you have an experienced NBA guy as the face. And an experienced college guy helping behind the scenes.
 
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One forgotten grade in this process:

fpeaugh2 - A+

I’ll hand it to the guy. He did have the scoop. He knew the Matta rumblings before Twitter. He then reported today about the rapidly developing situation with the Woodson and Matta tandem. Matta was not B.S. all along there was a negotiation involved.

He did not whiff on this one.

Rabjohns = F-

Those guys are supposed to get the inside scoop and all they report on is IU basketball for their job. It seemed more like a scramble drill at the Golden Corral buffet on a Saturday night. Running with info, then backtracking.
 
Let’s be honest, the days of paying money for premium college sport content are over. These guys don’t know much more than the average poster (see how today unfolded). I used to be a paying member on Peegs years ago and looked forward to the ITLR weekly. Looking back there was little I ever learned from that you couldn’t put together with a little research and reading on your own.
 
I give the Woodson hire a C-

He’s a well respected NBA guy. Which I think is good. Assuming he knows how to parlay all of those connections into an “NBA prep” atmosphere, it’ll be a big deal in Bloomington.

He’s an IU guy. I don’t really think that, in and of itself, is positive or negative. It becomes a big positive if he wins, and then if he brings all the boys home. But that only works if he wins.

On the bad/questionable side...he’s never coached in college before. The college game has changed a recently, but it’s still very different than the NBA.

He’s also 63. I don’t really worry about his age as much as others are. As I think the next 4-5 years are critical, and more important than us landing a younger guy that could have coached for a decade or two. His job is just to reestablish IU as a B10 contender again. It didn’t need to be a guy that will have his name on the court someday. But, any time you have qualified guys out there like Beard, Oats, Drew, etc... that are much younger. The age card will always be scrutinized.

I give the decision to get rid of Archie now, and then however it came to be that someone paid for it...an A-

Very risky move by Dolson. Shows me he truly does care deeply about IUs flagship program. And that has carried a lot of weight with me with this whole process.

And the fact that we have people out there still that are willing to stroke that kind of check...tells me we’re still a big time program. No one at Minnesota or Iowa State was going to be footing 10 million to change their basketball coaching situation.

I give the Matta hire an A+... Woodson is going to need some guidance on the college game. Matta has deep and varying experiences, all very successful, on how to succeed in college. Small, medium, and big schools. Recruiting top 10 type kids. Changing your program philosophies when said too 10 kids move on, and you have a new crop of kids to coach. At worst, he’s there to help guide Woodsons program. At best, he gets healthy enough in the next few years to take over when Woodson is ready to be done.

Overall grade...B

There are probably better Head Coaches out there we could have gotten. But there are guys that I’m convinced would be worse. Moser as an example. But I’m excited about the mindset and “Give a $hit” that Dolson and others have shown. And thinking out of the box a little bit. He could have puked out the same decision that Glass made with Archie, and just hired Moser. Who likely wouldn’t have wanted Mattas help. And wouldn’t have had any immediate success. This way, you have an experienced NBA guy as the face. And an experienced college guy helping behind the scenes.
IMHO the AD has a vision to bring back IU basketball to a consistent level of excellence. This is a vision that will result in sustainable, long-term success. But it is going to require a major cultural change in the program that will be similar to what Coaches Allen and Moren have created.

Mike Woodson is the person Dolson wants to create this change.
 
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IMHO the AD has a vision to bring back IU basketball to a consistent level of excellence. This is a vision that will result in sustainable, long-term success. But it isvgoing to require a major cultural change in the program that will be similar to what Coaches Allen and Moren have created.

Mike Woodson the person Dolson wants to create this change.
This.
It begins w the culture. If Woodson hires Mike Lewis as an asst it can be a seamless handoff to a younger IU guy with a good future.
 
I give the Woodson hire a C-

He’s a well respected NBA guy. Which I think is good. Assuming he knows how to parlay all of those connections into an “NBA prep” atmosphere, it’ll be a big deal in Bloomington.

He’s an IU guy. I don’t really think that, in and of itself, is positive or negative. It becomes a big positive if he wins, and then if he brings all the boys home. But that only works if he wins.

On the bad/questionable side...he’s never coached in college before. The college game has changed a recently, but it’s still very different than the NBA.

He’s also 63. I don’t really worry about his age as much as others are. As I think the next 4-5 years are critical, and more important than us landing a younger guy that could have coached for a decade or two. His job is just to reestablish IU as a B10 contender again. It didn’t need to be a guy that will have his name on the court someday. But, any time you have qualified guys out there like Beard, Oats, Drew, etc... that are much younger. The age card will always be scrutinized.

I give the decision to get rid of Archie now, and then however it came to be that someone paid for it...an A-

Very risky move by Dolson. Shows me he truly does care deeply about IUs flagship program. And that has carried a lot of weight with me with this whole process.

And the fact that we have people out there still that are willing to stroke that kind of check...tells me we’re still a big time program. No one at Minnesota or Iowa State was going to be footing 10 million to change their basketball coaching situation.

I give the Matta hire an A+... Woodson is going to need some guidance on the college game. Matta has deep and varying experiences, all very successful, on how to succeed in college. Small, medium, and big schools. Recruiting top 10 type kids. Changing your program philosophies when said too 10 kids move on, and you have a new crop of kids to coach. At worst, he’s there to help guide Woodsons program. At best, he gets healthy enough in the next few years to take over when Woodson is ready to be done.

Overall grade...B

There are probably better Head Coaches out there we could have gotten. But there are guys that I’m convinced would be worse. Moser as an example. But I’m excited about the mindset and “Give a $hit” that Dolson and others have shown. And thinking out of the box a little bit. He could have puked out the same decision that Glass made with Archie, and just hired Moser. Who likely wouldn’t have wanted Mattas help. And wouldn’t have had any immediate success. This way, you have an experienced NBA guy as the face. And an experienced college guy helping behind the scenes.
Good assessment. The Matta hire really gives me hope this could work. There are too many unknowns for Woodson moving into the college game and Matta can help with making the right decisions.

One area of concern is that it now seems all the coaches we really pursued already had Indiana connections. If, God forbid, we are in this spot again in a few years the pool needs to expand.
 
Good assessment. The Matta hire really gives me hope this could work. There are too many unknowns for Woodson moving into the college game and Matta can help with making the right decisions.

One area of concern is that it now seems all the coaches we really pursued already had Indiana connections. If, God forbid, we are in this spot again in a few years the pool needs to expand.
What you say is logical, but the "IU guy hire" has never been tried, so I am willing to give Dolson a pass for not having a broader net. Of course, I think the "IU guy hire" should have been tried a long, long time ago too.
 
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I give the Woodson hire an A-. It is personal for him, and former IU greats, and he will have the gravitas needed given his NBA chops. It will translate to HS kids and he'll get the right assistants in place.

I give the Matta hire a B. I love the hire, but I just am not clear on the responsibilities. Too many Chefs can viciate the bouillon.

I give the Miller termination an A+.

Overall: A-
 
If Dolson had brought on Woodson alone without Matta, I would view the hire in an extremely negative light. With Matta on board as the de facto GM, I'm willing to give this experiment a chance. Personally, I would love to see Woodson and Matta create a program centered around a message that if a kid buys in, those two will get him to the league. That way, IU will be a "cool" place to play again.
 
What you say is logical, but the "IU guy hire" has never been tried, so I am willing to give Dolson a pass for not having a broader net. Of course, I think the "IU guy hire" should have been tried a long, long time ago too.

you obviously never heard of Lou Watson.
 
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D at best.

Smells of a desperation 5th choice. Have no idea what it's meant to accomplish other than to fill the seat for a handful of years.

But hope springs eternal around coaching hires. Good news is if it fails again he is old enough to just "retire ", rather than being canned.
 
One forgotten grade in this process:

fpeaugh2 - A+

I’ll hand it to the guy. He did have the scoop. He knew the Matta rumblings before Twitter. He then reported today about the rapidly developing situation with the Woodson and Matta tandem. Matta was not B.S. all along there was a negotiation involved.

He did not whiff on this one.

Rabjohns = F-

Those guys are supposed to get the inside scoop and all they report on is IU basketball for their job. It seemed more like a scramble drill at the Golden Corral buffet on a Saturday night. Running with info, then backtracking.
Um, F- for Feepie. Yesterday morning he posted that it would be a done deal with Beilein with Fife as associate head coach. In the afternoon after news was already breaking he posted that things took a major turn and that it would be Woodson. Another swing and miss by Feepie.
 
Doesn't anyone think it is strange that Associate Head Coach Matta will not report to Head Coach Woodson but instead will report to the AD? Wouldn't that potentially undermine Woodson's authority?
 
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Doesn't anyone think it is strange that Associate Head Coach Matta will not report to Head Coach Woodson but instead will report to the AD? Wouldn't that potentially undermine Woodsons's authority?
The entire situation is weird. Matta is being paid $400k/yr to be a part-time advisor.
 
Let’s be honest, the days of paying money for premium college sport content are over. These guys don’t know much more than the average poster (see how today unfolded). I used to be a paying member on Peegs years ago and looked forward to the ITLR weekly. Looking back there was little I ever learned from that you couldn’t put together with a little research and reading on your own.
Twitter eliminated the value of premium content
 
If Dolson had brought on Woodson alone without Matta, I would view the hire in an extremely negative light. With Matta on board as the de facto GM, I'm willing to give this experiment a chance. Personally, I would love to see Woodson and Matta create a program centered around a message that if a kid buys in, those two will get him to the league. That way, IU will be a "cool" place to play again.
I still don’t understand what Matta will actually do.
 
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The entire situation is weird. Matta is being paid $400k/yr to be a part-time advisor.
It gives Matta a chance to get back into the game, and gives Woodson an invaluable resource. I think it was a helluva play by Dolson. We'll see if it works out.
 
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Matta is now the IU basketball CEO. He'll help Dolson and Woodson. Allows Woodson to focus on team and rebuilding the IU family. Takes pressure off of decisions in areas Woodson has no experience in but Matta rules the space like recruiting compliance. Shrinks the learning curve. Great job for him if he wants to be an AD or great job for him if he wants to retire at IU as Assistant AD for hoops. I'd have been happy with Thad as our coach so I'm thrilled with this creative solution. Job is bigger than one person so get two. Can go faster. I love it. Hope it works. Go Hoosiers!
 
Doesn't anyone think it is strange that Associate Head Coach Matta will not report to Head Coach Woodson but instead will report to the AD? Wouldn't that potentially undermine Woodson's authority?
Matta is not Associate HC he is Assistant AD over basketball and reports to Dolson. Need to correctly listen to the presser.
 
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Yep this deal of hiring Matta as Assistant AD and Woodson as HC is genius!!! You have two extremely gifted men working toward the same goal and they do understand their roles. Woodson is the head coach and it stops with him. Matta is very happy with this arrangement and is excited to help IU basketball get back to where it should be.
 
D. Feel like Dolson rushed to the first tee, snap hooked his drive, and needs a mulligan. Hope I’m wrong.
 
It's going to be fun to watch either way because we just don't know. The majority of his 'coaching' has been as an assistant in the NBA where it's hard to really stick anything to him.

He was supposedly the defensive assistant for the bad boys. That's historically good defense.

But he's been a journeyman NBA coach and assistant. I would think he would have been much more desired over the years. Maybe he was? He coached on a lot of bad NBA teams so....what are we getting?

That's the fun part.

I could see him keeping the majority of the team together, having a revival year next season and immediately becoming a super hot coach with incredible NBA ties and contacts. He's close friends with WWW, next thing you know top recruits want to play for the hot, innovative coach who has NBA experience at a basketball school.

Or most of the team could leave making this a rebuild and Woodson struggles out of the gate, becoming another ex player/ex NBA casualty ie Sidney Lowe, Avery Johnson, Eddie Jordan, etc.

The next three months are critical.
 
I give the Woodson hire an A-. It is personal for him, and former IU greats, and he will have the gravitas needed given his NBA chops. It will translate to HS kids and he'll get the right assistants in place.

I give the Matta hire a B. I love the hire, but I just am not clear on the responsibilities. Too many Chefs can viciate the bouillon.

I give the Miller termination an A+.

Overall: A-
What Coach Woodson did in the first month alone gives him a high score... The hire was a homerun; the sequence of events seemed a bit in disarray at first, but the results were outstanding. Retaining key players, attracting others from the portal and securing some future recruits shows Coach Woodson's ability to adapt. We shall see what comes into fruition this coming season. I believe he will achieve much better results than CAM.
 
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