2020-21 Indiana Athletics thread
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my guess is Stevens is happy where he's at and he gets along fine with Ainge. it could also be he doesn't want to do the recruiting grind anymore which is understandable. regardless of where Woodson ranked on their list, they got him and as far as I see so far, he's doing a solid job getting things together. -
That begs a couple of questions:
Was IU so "all in" that they fired Archie clearing the path to IU fully expecting they would have enough money that Stevens couldn't refuse?
Was there ever a plan B or was it always: 'Open the position and go get Stevens'?
And how did Stevens refuse that???
He must either have no interest in IU (or college?), or some faith and a guarantee from Ainge.
He was REALLY wanted by IU. It would've been a tiny section of fans indeed that didn't want him. A long honeymoon awaited him.
And a Brinks truck...
If that report is true, is does make you wonder about some things. Including, where the IU job really sits these days. I know some of us think the tradition, banners, fanbase, and in theory 'facilities' still carry some weight and most any high level coach could make a go of it at IU.... But with Stevens turning down 70 million... And weeks after firing Miller, Mike Woodson was the hire, has me wondering.
I'm having a hard time seeing Woodson's name being 2nd on the list after Stevens to begin with. His path to #1 on the list is probably an interesting story we'll never truly hear. Obviously, 1 domino was Stevens rejecting the job, but I suspect there were more dominos between that and Woodson putting his name on the contract
Was he one of a short list of candidates that WANTED the job? And one that had some fanbase name recognition to give him a chance vs the next "Archie Miller" (mid-major getting a chance?)?Last edited by Bball; 04-18-2021, 12:01 AM.Leave a comment:
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Woj reported that IU was prepared to offer Stevens 7 years/$70 million, but Stevens turned it down.
Wow. No wonder there were a lot of people who thought we were getting him.
I guess Stevens simply doesn’t want to coach at IU. Hopefully this closes the Stevens dream for good and that we don’t get sucked into that again.
Props to IU for trying for the home run. And props to them for having a pretty decent backup plan when it didn’t work.Leave a comment:
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I'm surprised anyone thought Brunk would be a meaningful part of the rotation lol. TJD is going to hopefully play 35 MPG and Race will hopefully played 25-30. So you should really never have to fill the center role with anyone but those two. IU could use just a little more front court depth but I would rather take a flyer on a portal guy than Brunk tbh.
This is partially why I was surprised he was bailing. I thought he was more at IU because it was IU and the Big Ten and he was just playing out the end of his basketball career as a Hoosier. Not that he wouldn't want to play, but that he'd be OK with a 'role', even if it was a lockerroom guy, practice guy, and just being ready when called upon.
In fact, I'd actually consider it a bit of a good thing if Woodson did say "We'd love to have you for practice and situations, but I don't see a big in-game role for you with what we plan to do next season. So if you're wanting to play, a chance to start, a 6th man role, this isn't going to be it"
That would tell me Woodson has plans to modernize the offense... and the Archie Miller HS offense will be long gone. Not even available as a crutch.Last edited by Bball; 04-13-2021, 10:15 PM.Leave a comment:
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I'm surprised anyone thought Brunk would be a meaningful part of the rotation lol. TJD is going to hopefully play 35 MPG and Race will hopefully played 25-30. So you should really never have to fill the center role with anyone but those two. IU could use just a little more front court depth but I would rather take a flyer on a portal guy than Brunk tbh.Leave a comment:
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Wow, Brunk bailed.
I didn't see that coming. I could've maybe seen him opting to finish up basketball now and move on due to injuries, time, and having a future somewhere other than basketball. But I didn't see him leaving the program to play elsewhere.
Edit: I wonder if this was 100% his decision or did Woodson tell him he didn't see a place for him with what Indiana will be doing in their new offense/defense?Last edited by Bball; 04-13-2021, 12:52 PM.Leave a comment:
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I can't say I blame Franklin. He had a pretty good year and upswing from year 1 (minus the injuries), and he's riding a bit of a high. IU is a question mark. He already took one gamble on Miller and now Miller is gone. He pretty much knows what he's getting at UVA. Nobody really knows what to expect with IU next season.
Things could've worked out great at IU and the Woodson honeymoon could turn into a national championship next season. Or not. I can understand not wanting to roll the dice on that if you don't have to.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.Leave a comment:
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Brown is clearly going to be around the program a lot. He jokes he'll probably be in Bloomington as much as Woody's wife.Leave a comment:
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Interview with Larry Brown about Mike Woodson, IU, college basketball...
The amount of name-dropping Brown does is pretty incredible. One minute I think he must've really talked to Woody a lot about the situation, with as well as Brown is tuned into all of the staff and player names. But then he also seems able to do that about basketball in general and not just IU.
Anyway, Brown gives Woody high marks... as well as Matta and Fife and Mike Roberts and....
https://www.wdrb.com/sports/bozich-l...tn-0K-m61IoCD4Leave a comment:
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Race Thompson returning to IU.
And then there was one...Armaan Franklin.
Tough to get a read on that situation, obviously at this point his return would be a cherry on top and give IU and absolutely stacked starting 5, but Xavier Johnson makes it basically a non-blow if Armaan leaves.
It sounds like UVA may be the leader to get Armaan which is funny since I compared his game to Malcolm Brogdon about a month agoLeave a comment:
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That might be true, but it doesn't really change Joe's point that Gonzaga is getting some benefit from the NCAA seeding system and the circumstances. In fact your point might even help his point because the NCAA doesn't have a way to hold it against Gonzaga for not jumping to a bigger conference if they don't really have that option.Leave a comment:
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Where would they go? There's one major conference in that region of the country, the Pac-12, and Gonzaga doesn't play football. I don't know how it benefits Gonzaga to join the Pac-12, and I don't think it helps the Pac-12 to have Gonzaga join just for basketball.
There's no west coast Big East.Leave a comment:
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People really wanted Gonzaga to go wire to wire number 1 and also there was this sense of not this year then when with Gonzaga.
I honestly think Gonzaga presents an interesting problem to the NCAA tourney right now. Did you know that in the last 20 years Gonzaga has only beaten one team seeded 3 or higher in the tournament and that was no. 3 Utah in 2016?
Why is this an issue? Well now that Gonzaga has escaped their mid major label and has been free of it for a while tbh, they get quite a big seeding boost just by being in the WCC and mopping up those teams. We have made every other mid major that wins consistently and escapes the label switch conferences to really see their benefits and for some reason Gonzaga has gotten away with not doing it mostly because they are on the west coast.
There's no west coast Big East.Leave a comment:
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It doesn't mean he can't make the transition.
But until he does, he's a 63 year old rookie coach in the college ranks. Nothing can take that label away from him except year two beginning on his resume.Leave a comment:
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