College Basketball is back and so are the Indiana Hoosiers.
Week 1 wasn't exactly as pretty as some hoped but the Hoosiers are 2-0 headed into week 2 and that's all that really matters. Technically.
IU opened up with a Florida Gulf Coast team that is going to be a really good mid-major all year. They were without their best player in Isaiah Thompson, but they are still a really good team nonetheless. Game 2 was a little different coming against a 300+ KenPom ranked Army team with no real expectations this year. Both team's seasons are going to go in different directions, but I think we saw some similarities in these games that impacted Indiana on the defensive end of the floor.
Look, I am mostly a doomsday guy but I don't think these two games warrant that reaction at all. Coach Woodson's quote post-Army is getting a lot of attention on social media and I understand why. I also don't think he's wrong? For context, after IU's 72-64 win over Army, Coach Woodson said, "For the most part, we played pretty good basketball."
To be fair, IU shot 58% to Army's 39, went 18-22 from the free throw line, and they won the rebounding battle. Additionally, IU shot 51% to FGCU's 39, shot 30 free throws, and they won the turnover battle. They actually did play OK?
Indiana's offense is going to have its limitations this year and I am not here to harp on the offensive end of the floor 2 games in. However, I think these 2 games showed us 3 main issues the Hoosiers face right now.
1.) Communicating switches & handing off cutters:
This was a clear problem in both games, shown in different ways. Gulf Coast's Head Coach Pat Chambers put IU's defense in a disadvantage all night by attacking the help side defender's top foot with dribble penetration, cutting his man through, causing the bottom ball side defender to switch and pick up the cutter. This then creates an easy draw and kick with a shooter left alone where IU's defender who helped on the drive is in no man's land. The defender not only has a long way to close out, but he is closing out to an offensive player he wasn't guarding prior to turning his head. Photo for reference with an example of this action below:
One of the main issues with the communication and switches right now is the fact that Malik Reneau and Kel'el Ware have to be on the floor together... A LOT. That's not going to change throughout the year. Malik is guarding a different position, having to switch 1-4 and handle the communication that comes with that, all while also closing out to shooters. That's a tough thing to do, especially at his size.
These two teams are also not exactly what you will see in Big Ten play. FGCU and Army both have smaller lineups 1-4 that will take and can make deep 3's. Both teams know coming into these games that if they are going to beat Indiana at Assembly Hall, they are going to have to do it from the 3-point line. They are playing with the freedom you most likely won't see throughout the Big Ten season.
2.) Defending the 3-point line:
The first point leads me to the second, defending the 3-point line. Again, as I mentioned, this is going to look a little different come high-major play. With that being said, there is no hiding the fact that Army and Gulf Coast both had 13 made 3's to IU's 4. Anytime you are giving up 27 points in a single category, that's really hard to overcome. Especially when you're playing good teams.
The fact of the matter is Miller Kopp isn't coming through that door anytime soon. IU doesn't have the personnel on this roster to take and make 3's at a high clip. Most nights they are likely going to lose the 3-point battle. That's just the reality of things. The early season disparity in 3-point field goals made and attempted does have a lot to do with the style of play between Army and FGCU. Still, it has a lot to do with Indiana's defensive pressure, lack of communication, and sense of urgency.
The first made 3 for Army Sunday night was as easy as you could possibly get playing in a college basketball game. There were 200 people in the stands at Assembly Hall who could have walked onto the floor to knock in that shot (200 might even be low in Bloomington, Indiana). The effort and energy was much better in game 1 compared to Army but still lacked closing out to shooters.
3.) What is Indiana's defensive identity and purpose?
The 3rd and final question I have with Indiana's defense is a question I honestly don't know the answer to. Luckily, I'm not coaching the team. I think 2 things are true about Indiana right now:
Indiana's offensive limitations will require them to be a disciplined and sound defensive team.
Indiana's offensive limitations will require them to be a team where their defense has to create offense.
It's tough for those 2 statements to coexist. I don't know what IU's defensive identity is or should be. I think the latter probably most immediately addresses guarding the 3-point line. However, with IU's potential to struggle down the stretch in games offensively to find baskets, they are going to need to string together stops in big moments. With their offensive limitations, defensive possessions are going to feel extremely important, especially in the second half of games. IU is capable of stringing together empty trips on the offensive end of the floor and if you are going to string together empty trips on one end, you better lock in and create empty trips on the other to stay in games. It's easy to talk yourself into IU's roster being properly equipped to be a sound defensive team that is always in gaps, keeping the ball in front, in the right position, and ready to finish the possession with a rebound. At the same time, Coach Woodson just said he wants to get away from playing so much in the half-court. Which is understandable and not something this style of defense would translate to.
It's also easy to talk yourself into IU's roster being properly equipped to be a denying defense that pressures you 94 feet with their guards, is in passing lanes, creating turnovers, and Kel'el Ware is a terrific shot-blocking safety blanket at the rim if those guards get beat on a back cut or off the dribble. The 3 guards (Johnson, Galloway, Cupps) are very capable of getting in your shorts and causing opponents to be uncomfortable. We have seen this plenty in the past with both Xavier Johnson and Trey Galloway. Additionally, we have seen Gabe Cupps' obvious defensive impact immediately here in 2 short games. The Hoosiers are really long and athletic at the 3 & 4 spot with Mgbako, Reneau, and Walker. Finally, as mentioned, Kel'el Ware can step over and impact shots at the rim when necessary.
There are probably 2 arguments to be made against this style of defense and how it fits IU's roster. The first is the fact that IU has been put in rotation a ton throughout the first 2 games and they honestly haven't looked great in it. When you are constantly pressuring the ball, getting into passing lanes, and trying to create turnovers, you are more likely to gamble, get out of position, and be put in a spot where you are playing 4 on 5 and now you're in rotation. To be determined if that's a position they want to be put in throughout the season. The second argument is IU's depth seems to be quickly dwindling down to about 7.5 guys right before our eyes. I'm not sure you want to run those 7.5 guys all over the court pressuring the basketball for 40 minutes.
Although Indiana didn't cover the spread in games 1 or 2 and maybe they didn't meet some expectations. Realistically, I think they had a pretty decent opening week. Anytime you lose the minutes you did from a year ago and 2 guys like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino, it's going to take some time to find your identity on both ends of the floor. As a Coach I know says, those 2 guys are now 3 letter words and that word starts with a P, ends in an O, and there's a f*ckin R in the middle. Losing 2 NBA guys is going to impact your program and create an adjustment period.
The Indiana Hoosiers have a huge one next weekend on National Television in the world's most famous arena against arguably the most dominant and overwhelming basketball program in the past 3 months of actual basketball being played. Much like I just did in that last sentence, IU cannot look past Wright State on Thursday night. The Raiders are a program filled with past success and are very capable of winning this type of game. Trey Calvin is a stud and can score in bunches.
I'm excited to see how the Hoosiers attack week 2.
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