Mike Woodson hired as new Indiana coach
Well, he's an alum, and he's spent a long time in the NBA, so he's got that going for him at least.
Yay for not-Beilein.
That job would’ve been way too high of stress for a guy who is just freshly removed from having heart surgery. Indiana has higher expectations than Michigan and would’ve expected national title contention from Beilein by year two.
If Beilein was 5-10 years younger I think he would’ve been a more serious candidate, but he’d be 72 or 73 by the time his program was comprised solely of “his guys.”
Woodson is 63 and has never coached in college nor ever recruited.
Why on earth would you hire him and not a proven program builder in Beilein?
The Juwan effect.
This has an Avery Johnson to Alabama feel to it
Mike Woodson was at least a competent NBA coach.
What?
Avery Johnson coached the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals (where they lost to the Miami Heat in 2006 after some very one-sided officiating).
The next season the Mavs were 67-15 (which is one of the best NBA regular seasons in history) but suffered an all-time shocking upset to the "We Believe" Golden State Warriors in the 1st round.
He can coach.
(Yes, he had Dirk. So what? There has never been a great coach without great players. Gregg Popovich isn't winning NBA Championships these days because he doesn't have multiple all-stars on the Spurs.)
/That said, I don't know why Avery Johnson struggled at Alabama and why Nate Oats is having so much success in year 2.
where they lost to the Miami Heat in 2006 after some very one-sided officiating
There needs to be a catchy name for that series so it's never forgotten that it should not count. That was a Black Sox moment for the NBA and they try to act like it was no big deal.
That said, I agree that Avery Johnson was a pretty good coach. In hindsight, he might not have been a good coach for Alabama, but when they hired him I was worried. Last thing I wanted to see was Alabama succeed in both football and basketball. **checks score** Shit.
March 29th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
I upvoted both this and the post it responded to for recognizing the travesty that was the 2006 NBA Finals.
I mean kinda? He was decent for the Hawks, was a flash in the pan for the Knicks because he had a loaded roster, then besides that has been a journeyman assistant. People will compare him to Juwan, but they are/were in complete opposite spots in their careers
disregard.
Not a bad hire considering they're a tire fire right now. Woodson has won as a coach, probably their best hire since the chair thrower was made to leave.
Kelvin Sampson was a great hire. He just couldn't stay off the damn phone....a crime that pales in comparison to the stuff coaches get away with now days.
Sampson is a great coach but the problem is he left that program in chaos that took a few seasons for douche Crean to straighten out.
Can't be considered a great hire if you end up doing that.
He was just caught on the phone a few years to early was really his only sin.
Career winning percentage of .463
We can look forward to many more years of dominating Indiana basketball. I am pumped with this hire!
Hey Pete, going off of memory here but that stint with the Knicks probably didn't help his record.
The last time the knicks were actually good, Woodson was the coach. He was 22 games above .500 there. It was his first 2 years with an awful Atlanta roster that tanked his W/L%. Also of note, his Hawks teams improved every year he was there. This doesn't seem like that bad of a hire if you assume he can make the transition to college. He's had a lot of success in the NBA
The last time the knicks were actually good, Woodson was the coach
Woodson had literally one good year with a loaded roster of vets and Melo at the peak of his career, then he was fired the next season
Don’t see how any of this makes what I said wrong? They had a good roster and the team did well despite Amare missing 50+ games. Does Woodson get zero credit for that?
I just think that any coach could've succeeded with that roster
Pretty sure he actually made the Knicks respectable during his time there? Woodson isn’t a bad coach by any means.
Also Thad Matta added to staff as Assoc. AD for Basketball Administration.
I wonder how long it will take for the RCMB denizens to attribute any success they have to Matta.
Started...
I think it's a monument to the loss of IU's dreams, kind of like what people do at the site of an auto accident.
Going...
His resemblance to Steve Harvey could prove to be entertaining as well
They're still gonna suck and look silly doing it in their goofy-ass striped pants.
The striped warm-ups are classic, but they've always sent my mind straight to 'candy stripers', the old nurse assistant uni's. Even back in the 70's, when I barely broke into double digits.
There have been a lot of black coaches hired this year for high end programs. I’d like to think Howard’s success has a lot to do with these hires. A lot of them are first time coaches or coaches from much smaller programs.
Great observation--agree 100%. The man is blazing trails.
“It’s nothing Howard is doing—it’s the old white guy on his staff.” —RCMB
I prefer to think of it as the social justice and equity pendulum swinging in the correct direction.
We can thank our AD for getting the ball rolling in the BIG.
Three of the last four mens basketball coaches at Michigan have been African American.
Since Juwan was hired, the last three big ten coaches hired have been black
2 of the 3 are alums
Don't think that's a coincidence
I just hope Howard spends another 5 or 6 years at Michigan and not jump to the NBA where I think he would be successful pro coach.
I’m starting to wonder if Beilein is gonna land a decent coaching job. It seems like he keeps getting passed over.
Have there been anything other than rumors that he is pursuing or even interested?
Exactly. If anyone thinks Woodson was hired over Beilein, I don’t know what to say.
I have a hope that Beilein takes Martelli's spot when he decides to hang it up.
But...didn’t you know he’s never been an assistant coach?
They say he's been a head coach at every level, but did he ever coach middle school?
That’s all you’re gonna get because most of these programs don’t do public searches. He’s been rumored a lot so I assume he’s at least interested. It’s not like he’s came out and said he’s retiring from coaching. Maybe being passed over is the wrong wording but he’s not getting hired so far either.
not even rumors, just “hey, beilein would make sense” chatter from people like us.
He's a good coach and is from the Indiana tree... i think he really needs to bring in some juice for assistants.
Fife makes the most sense...not sure if he has an 'understanding' with Izzo succession wise, but Indiana landing him would be a really smart hire to help Woodson
March 29th, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^
I have no opinion on Fife in particular, but Woodson's hires will make or break him. Woodson' short-comings would seem to be no experience running a program under the NCAA's rules and recruiting. For the first, maybe Matta can help or he finds a Martelli type. For recruiting, he needs some younger go getters who know the AAU and HS coaches and players.
I really thought it was going to be Porter Moser, especially since they waited until today. Shows you how accurate a wild ass guess can be...