Steve Alford
- Thread starter Kelly_32
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IDK why we keep opening this discussion on Alford. We'll never know what he might have done here, but his performance elsewhere says it would not have been remarkable, and at this point he's certainly not someone we should hire. He's nearly 60, at this point he is what his record says he is.
This should be repeated in every Alford thread. He ain't coaching at IU after that.
I think it took Beilein a few years to make Michigan somewhat successful, right?
We'd never have given time to an older man like that to develop a team. At least he did show some progress, which Woody isn't doing.
You are absolutely correct on Mich. Many Mich fans I know wanted him gone before he got rolling. Now, they want him back.
I remember laughing at Michigan those years because he just wasn't having success. Then he got his guys in there and they really got better.
I remember being at Assembly Hall for a UM game in Crean's 2nd year. It was the first game after Mo Creek's knee injury. I.left that game thinking the IU program was in better hands with Crean than Michigan with CJB. Hot take at the time I guess.
I agree with everything except "it's easily defended now". Motion went away because of more players with dribbling/drivong skill and coaches willing to oblige. Motion assumes a player would rather shoot an open jumper than try to break someone down 1v1. The psychology of the game has shifted to accommodate more and more athletic moves off the dribble. It isn't easier to guard. Guarding a guy standing in the corner waiting for a kick out is easy to guard.
He would have at least been an elite recruiter at Indiana.
I would have liked to have seen him get a shot. If I was going to take a chance on a Hoosier hero it would have been him.
It always is. It's never missed.
I agree he won't or wasn't coaching here after that. It rightfully is something people consider as to his character, or at the least, to his awareness about life.
To say he's average at best at basketball though, that some say, seems off. His teams have done well. He's pretty good.
Alford is mediocre at best. We have had that for the majority of the past 24 years. Sampson was the only above average coach we've had since Knight and he was run off. You can argue it was for good reason or not.
What is sad is the administration at IU could care less about IU athletics. Alford? That hire would further prove that.
What is sad is the administration at IU could care less about IU athletics. Alford? That hire would further prove that.
Yeah, taking Alford now would show we aren't serious.
But Sampson, how could anyone argue the NOT a good reason side? It wasn't for phone calls... But yeah, he can coach hoops big time.
Alford finished 5 years at UCLA. He went to the NCAA Tournament 4 years, 3 sweet 16 appearances. won a PAC 10 tournament, and other than one bad year (10th) finished 2nd, 3rd twice and 4th in that conference. That’s way better than any of the failed hires here. He’d have advantages at IU no other coach we might hire would have. It’s a no brainer and it has been since 2000. He’s IU’s Matt Painter. Just because you say he’s bad or mediocre coach doesn’t make it so. It’s not just the program and it’s not just the coach. It’s the combination that counts. Wake up and hire Alford.
Plus, the shot clock being reduced to 30, IMO, hampers the motion offense somewhat.
He was "run off"?
Maybe my memory is foggy but he was given a show cause from the NCAA (back when they actually enforced things) which essentially banned him from coaching and is why he went to the pros.
Isn't that the series of events?
And just because you say he is the one, doesn't make it so.
Yea, he did so well at UCLA that they fired him. Hmmm.
And bringing up IU's results is a LOW bar to clear.
Respectfully, I didn’t just say so, I cited to facts; specifically, his actual record at UCLA and his actual and unique connection to IU and to the state. Unless you have special information about the personnel decisions at UCLA, his record is all we have to go on. And finally IU’s results are our reality as much as it pains us all. I used to worry that we’d sink to the level of Illinois or Wisconsin after Coach Knight was fired, now I’d welcome being that relevant again. It sucks, but that’s the bar now.
lol. Who doesn’t get fired at UCLA??
After Knight or after Davis it would have been a great hire. Much too late now. Although he'd be better than what we have
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When Beilein took over Michigan they were still under NCAA-mandated scholarship reductions due to the Ed Martin debacle. By December of his 2nd season iirc UM beat both UCLA and Duke when each was ranked in the top 5 and he had a 20-win season. In his 5th season they reached the championship game and lost to a Louisville program that later had its title “vacated” by the NCAA.
IIRC Beilein’s overall NCAA tournament won-loss percentage was about 65%. In April of 2006 Beilein was 53 years old, I.e., a decade younger than Woodson was when Dolson hired him. When UM hired him in 2007 they were able to convince West Virginia to drop the buyout from $2.5 million to $1.5 million (about $2.35 million in current dollars).
IMO a Beilein hire back then would’ve been IU’s best chance to preserve the basketball program’s elite status. But instead we got yet another sterling example of IU athletics’ ability to “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” And the basketball program has been paying the price for that ever since.
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Preach!
Also, it’s pretty obvious when a coach is good and when one isn’t. Doesn't take four years to know. There are obvious signs, like the big wins in year 2 for Beilein that you mentioned.
He seemed older. lol
I'm not saying he wouldn't have been a good hire. I'm saying it would have taken him some time to build here and I'm not sure we'd have been that patient.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
If he could get the results he got at UM as quickly as he did when that program was still dealing with scholarship reductions, I feel pretty confident he would have succeeded fairly quickly at IU and kept the program at a high level. Plus I think it’s reasonable to assume IU fans would’ve been at least as patient with Beilein as they were with Crean.
More importantly, the then-AD wanted to hire him but was overruled, due in no small part to some “administrative micromanagement,” to put it politely. And that part isn’t hindsight, it’s actual history.
Currently 13-11 overall and 8-5 in conference in 4th place.
Oh, and Maryland beat them by 9 and Ohio State beat them by 7. Also lost to some school called CSUN. All at home.
Yeah, HUGE improvement over Alford. lmao
2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule - UCLA
The official 2023-24 Men's Basketball schedule for the UCLA Bruins
There's got to be someone out there that can coach and can recruit at IU and wasn't involved in trying to cover up what Pierce was convicted of.
He's been to a Final 4, 2 Sweet 16s, and won the conference championship. And even with this off year has a .733 winning percentage compared to Steve's .633. So, yes. HUGE improvement over Alford.Currently 13-11 overall and 8-5 in conference in 4th place.
Oh, and Maryland beat them by 9 and Ohio State beat them by 7. Also lost to some school called CSUN. All at home.
Yeah, HUGE improvement over Alford. lmao
2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule - UCLA
The official 2023-24 Men's Basketball schedule for the UCLA Bruinsuclabruins.com
Nobody really expected Woodson to be hanging a banner by now. But it's getting hard to give him much more patience. I do think that he would get it if it was clear that we were on a path to getting better. I think almost everyone hoped he would succeed, given his IU history, even if they had doubts about the hire from the start.
You won't find me defending Woody coaching. I had high hopes, but I'm not seeing it. Hope he surprises me.
So, he's done one thing more than Alford - a FF. Where he lost.
Did Alford ever lose to.... what was it again? CUSN? Anybody know WTF that is?
He has 676 career coaching victories. When he’s done, he’ll be the winningest coach in NCAA history.
We all can agree Alford is better then Woodson.
Absolutely.
2024 and we still have tons of Alford talk. Amazing.
I think because he is a IU legend he was on the last national championship team. Knight loved him he is from Indiana has had success in college basketball so there is alot to like. Could he be successful at Indiana absolutely I think he has a higher floor then ceiling at Indiana then say someone like Chris Beard or Bruce Pearl.
Personally I don’t expend much time or energy on the “Woodson vs Alford” debate because imo it’s pretty clear that
1) there are other coaches out there who are better than either one of them, and
2) IU really needs one of those other, better coaches to come in and resurrect the program, and
3) it’s probably not happening, at least not in 2024
1) there are other coaches out there who are better than either one of them, and
2) IU really needs one of those other, better coaches to come in and resurrect the program, and
3) it’s probably not happening, at least not in 2024
