An L of a finish?

 Read the superb Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star this morning about Indiana's latest crime against basketball, and I commend him for not taking the easy way out. He wrote a whole new column when he could have just changed some names and details and recycled whatever he wrote last about IU, because IU just changes the names and details itself at this point.

Another night, another L. Substitute "Nebraska" for "Northwestern", "85-70" for "76-72" and it's all just the same old lost night in Assembly Hell, er, Hall.

This time the Hoosiers didn't even put up a fight until it was too late, falling down 20 at the half before rallying and then collapsing. Again they couldn't hit the broad side of a cruise ship, missing 17 of 21 tries from the 3-point arc and 35 of 61 overall. Again they couldn't even shoot free throws straight, making just 14 of 24.

That's 58 percent for you non-math majors. Shaq and Wilt would be proud.

At any rate, it was same-old, same-old, even in the postgame. Once more Mike Woodson trotted out the Xavier-Daniel-injury line. Also the freshman-point-guard line. Also a bunch of other lines, all of which Doyel chronicled in pointing out that Coach Woody doesn't seem to have a clue what he's doing -- itself a recycling of current themes.

What he wrote that got my attention was this, however: Indiana could easily lose out at this point.

The Hoosiers have already lost their last three games and eight of their last 10. More disturbing, they've lost four of their last five in the Hall. That could easily go to six of their last seven to finish out, because their two remaining home games are against Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Now, the Spartans are down themselves this year, so maybe Indiana wins the latter. And maybe they beat a dreadful Maryland team on the road. But their other remaining roadies are at Penn State and Minnesota, and both are far from gimmes.

The Nittany Lions, after all, have already whipped them by 14 in Bloomington. And Minnesota has always been a notorious black hole for visiting teams.

So, yeah, Indiana could finish on an 0-9 run, as Doyel points out. And then what do you do, if you're IU athletic director Scott Dolson?

It's always been an article of faith in the less hysterical precincts that Woodson would get a fourth season, no matter how lost this one turned out to be. If you're gonna give Archie Miller a fourth go-around after failing to make the NCAA Tournament in his first three years, the reasoning goes, how could you not give a revered son of IU a fourth year after getting Indiana to the Madness in two of his three?

Well ... you couldn't. Not after one bad year, and especially if Woodson gets another crack at the transfer portal to remedy the fatally flawed team he put together this year.

However.

However, there are bad years, and there are bad years. And if you lose 14 of your last 16 games (the end result of that theoretical 0-9 finish), how do you justify not pulling the plug? Especially when it becomes increasingly obvious this is a team that actually seems to be getting worse at aspects that go to coaching?

They booed the home team off the floor last night, once an unthinkable occurrence in the Hall. How much louder do you think  that will get if IU loses out and Dolson brings back the architect of that anyway?

Invest in some earplugs, Mr. AD. Because you'll need 'em if that happens.