He will probably wait til he gets fired like most coaches he seems pretty arrogant and stubborn. They always think they can get it fixed the next year.
If you were CMW tonight, what change would you make?
- Thread starter Woodsa
- Start date
If you aren't supremely confident in yourself you'll never make it as a head coach.
I agree, I didn't mean confidence guarantees success, only that it is a requirement to even do the job.
I think he might decide to step down on his own if he wants to retire from coaching entirely. Otherwise he probably will not. Archie nor Crean would have either.
Off topic
Jokic is 39/44 in his last 5 games plus the usual rebounds and assists and just beat the warriors with a 40 footer at the buzzer. He is an example of not so great athlete that is one hell of a basketball player. Good size but not that fast and not a great leaper but a deadly basketball player.
Jokic is 39/44 in his last 5 games plus the usual rebounds and assists and just beat the warriors with a 40 footer at the buzzer. He is an example of not so great athlete that is one hell of a basketball player. Good size but not that fast and not a great leaper but a deadly basketball player.
c'mon guys be fair. TJD was way better prepared for the NBA after he came back, and he credits CMW for his development. And, no one thought JHS was going to be a one and done, until he kept improving. I think JHS had a great work ethic, but I think he too would credit CMW. I think this team looks horrible and appears poorly coached, but he's done good things with TJD, JHS, and Malik. Cupps is going to be a good player, he's just being asked to do way more than he is capable of at this point and was expected to be on the bench backing up X.
From his soph to his senior year his ppg was up 2.6 ppg and fg% down from 59.3% to 58.1%. His 3% stayed the same at 0% and small improvement in blocks and assists. I don’t think most fans saw noticeable improvement-close to the same. But the issue is more seeing team improvement season on season with the goal of a championship run or at least a run to the effin sweet sixteen. Lots of NIL money and a super loyal fan base but bad scoreboards with no apparent path to a deep tourney run.
If you define "low hops" with getting up on his tip toes, I'd agree.
I feel like we are stuck with Woodson for at least two more seasons regardless of how bad things get. I really don't think we can recover anymore after the current possible fiasco. That would be two fiascos in a row
Anyone who watched TJD during his time here saw a much improved player as a senior. He was always the focal point of our offense, so he wasn't going to score a ton more. Shooting north of 50% from the floor is excellent, period. Where I saw the most improvement and what I think makes him super valuable to GS is his passing out of double teams, handling the ball more (which drove me crazy at the time, but I believe did help him) and his help defense. He's not earning PT right now by scoring points, but it's all those additional skills that make him valuable, and he credits CMW for that, so I'll trust his opinion over folks on this board.
It's fair to expect improvement, but after losing TJD, Race, JHS and even Kopp, anyone who expected this year to be better was fooling themselves. I give CMW credit for landing Ware and MM, but would agree the team looks poorly coached and lacking energy and fundamentals. Still, had you told me we were losing JHS with the other guys, I thought we'd be sub 500 and bottom third of the B10. We have the talent to avoid that, but still not sure we will.
As to the improvements re TJD, I agree 100%.
As to Ware and MM it’s hard to say where the credit is due. Maybe I’m just cynical, but in the age of NIL any recruiting credit at a program like ours needs to go largely to those cutting the checks, IMHO.
Good perspective to have with handling expectations with this team, right now.
Sucks that its where we are as a program though. And I think we should be in a position to have higher, realistic, expectations in any coaches year 3 at IU. Too many resources, and its MUCH easier nowadays with NIL and Transfer dynamics what they are, to reshape rosters, change how you play, etc...
You're absolutely right in what you say...losing who we lost created a ton of unknowns, and being in the position we're in right now isn't the end of the world, and shouldn't have been completely unexpected. Its o.k. to want more for IU basketball though.
Play zone.
Our big defensive weakness is defense by the guards. Most all the teams we played so far (including those from the smaller schools) had at least 1 and usually 2 guards that were blistering fast and good ballhandlers. They killed us.
Playing zone hides at least some of the weakness caused by guards that can't keep up with fast guards because they are either (1) too slow or (2) too indecisive.
I like winning more than a traditional man-to-man defense.
Last edited:
TJD and JHs. TJD is playing major minutes this year. Yes I’m aware he moved to 2nd round
As a team with TJD we made it only to the round of 32 and this year have a steep climb to make it to the tourney and reasonable to expect next year to be another rebuilding year (I dont know what else to call it). There is no visible plan to improve the program by building a team over multiple seasons. If your idea of a successful program is putting a player or two in the NBA each season then I understand why you defend the trajectory of the program. I am foolish enough to judge IU basketball by contending for a national championship and no plan in place to progress in that direction.
single digit turnovers, perimeter defense, and hit free throws... simple
Our problem is guard play.
We don't need Isiah Thomas. If we had two players like Yogi Ferrell and Verdell Jones on this team, this thread would be about something else.
I agree but maybe for somewhat different reasons. The immediate problem is guard play but season on season you need solid players that will be back for 3 or 4 seasons that you can build around with transfers and freshman. If you are rebuilding your starting line up each season then very unlikely you are building a program that can make a legitimate championship run.
Last edited:
You can always control your attitude and effort: I would start there. Rebounding and defense are based on attitude and effort and being in the right spots. The good news is these things are extremely fixable. If Woody's roster construction has made this roster a grind it out team and offensively challenged, then he is going to have to defend and rebound a hell of a lot better.
I would make not beating yourself a priority: being smarter with the basketball and limiting turnovers. The other team will be trying very hard to beat your ass, and you don't have to help them with this endeavor.
Woody is going to have to make some adjustments on offense. Big Ten teams aren't stupid and will take away the post. That means he is going to have to run some plays to get people open and do something with what the defense is giving IU.
I would make not beating yourself a priority: being smarter with the basketball and limiting turnovers. The other team will be trying very hard to beat your ass, and you don't have to help them with this endeavor.
Woody is going to have to make some adjustments on offense. Big Ten teams aren't stupid and will take away the post. That means he is going to have to run some plays to get people open and do something with what the defense is giving IU.
Last year is probably the best team Woodson will ever had and they could only reach the final 32. I used to think his ceiling was the sweet 16 but now I m thinking last year was his ceiling.
Our offense still has those Creanlike 5-minute scoring droughts that make me scream. Stupid turnovers are a big part of the problem (many are not even legitimate steals by the opponent).
Guards are supposed to set up the offense and make it work. Hmmmm. Do they do that enough?
If that fails, guards are supposed to hit outside shots, to draw the defense away from our front line. They certainly don't do that enough.
We have a great front line. In fact, 40-50 % of the time, Reneau (a damn good center) is the ballhandler bringing the ball up the floor. WTF? Mgbako is our best foul shooter and is starting to hit his threes. And, nobody seems able to stop Reneau and Ware when they get the ball down low (where they're supposed to get it).
If somebody is not carrying their load on this team, why in the world would anyone blame anybody else but the guards?
Low hops, but big solid body with speed and quick hands. Yes, skills improve but those are givens. My point is that some good bball knowledge and skill players might not have it.
IMO many overlooked Gabe Cupps for that reason (size, speed) knowing he had some serious gym-rat coaches-kid AAU experience and a ton of heart. I think he's a helluva a 'player' ... and yes a freshman, but we all wanted X's speed back.
Also, IMO, in the opposite direction, Jordan Geronimo has all the size, hops, stamina but now three coaches struggle to "coach him up."
I just think its complex, and every recruit, with every coach, is somewhat of a crap shoot until you get them there (and I left out how the classroom or Taco Bell is working out, as well as fitting into new geo/social/academic culture).
The guards are the weak link. Either Woody can get good guards or he can't: if he can't, time to step down.
Purdue's two sophomore guards make a difference, and they're both from Indiana. Those guys are better than anyone IU trots out there.
The talk is we can just get guards this spring but last spring we could not so that is no guarantee. We have no choice but there is no guarantee woodson can get them. He can get big guys no problem but guards is a whole other matter.
I'd agree, Braden Smith has gotten a lot better. Determined, can shoot and really good at probing into the D and finding a shot, foul or assist. Loyer is too hot and cold and I think mostly benefits from the extra attention to Edey and Smith. I really hope X is healthy and he and Cupps can focus on Smith and let TG guard Loyer. I think he can pretty well neutralize Loyer if he doesn't have to get drawn over to Smith because X is missing or in foul trouble. No idea what we'll do with the big Canuck. I suspect get in a lot of foul trouble.
I liked Smith out of HS and thought it was a mistake not to pursue him, but I always thought he'd just be a heady PG who could make shots and FTs. He's become a weapon.. and that wasn't even a good game for him. Loyer is a good role player, imo. I haven't watched WI this year and don't know what's happened with Essegian, but I liked him a lot better than Loyer. Why is he playing so little?
I don't believe Mike Woodson should start Xavier Johnson because he doesn't appear to be ready yet. When he started Johnson against Nebraska, it reminded me of the Hoosiers' 1975 game against Kentucky in the Elite 8. That was when Bob Knight started Scott May for the first time since he broke his forearm earlier in the season against Purdue.
My girlfriend (now my wife of 47 years) was watching the game against Kentucky with me and I questioned whether he should play May when he was announced as a starter. After all, John Lazkowski (sp) had been May's replacement and the Hoosiers were most likely going to win the NCAA championship with Laz as the starter.
Unfortunately, May wasn't ready to play yet and IU barely lost the game as a result. Knight mentioned in a book years later that he should not have played May.
All of that said, I hope Johnson doesn't play much--if any--against Ohio State tonight. I like Johnson when he is healthy, but not when he's still struggling with his foot injury.
One of two notable coaching mistakes RMK made in my opinion-starting May (1) and not supporting Larry Bird (2).
Similar threads
