Jack’s Take: Hoosiers’ Low Morale A Concern With Difficult Schedule Ahead

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When coach Pat Knight brought Marian University to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for an exhibition game in November, his team wore shirts with a message that paid homage to his late father, Bob Knight.

The back of the shirts read, "The mental is to the physical as 4 is to 1,” a quote widely attributed to the Hoosiers’ three-time national champion and Hall of Fame coach.

When evaluating the current state of Indiana’s season, I thought of that quote. The Hoosiers have lost four of their last five games, dropping their record to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in the Big Ten. Three of their next four contests are road games against ranked opponents, and the outlier is no easy victory, a home game against Michigan (15-5, 7-2).

There are plenty of reasons for pessimism and few moments that have inspired confidence Indiana can finish strong, but the fact of the matter is the season isn’t over. The Hoosiers have 10 more Big Ten games, and whether those are viewed as opportunities to boost their resume or dates marking their demise depends on one’s mentality.

Coach Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers must choose the latter, or their aspirations will become impossible in short order. Climbing out of that hole requires perhaps even more mental fortitude than execution of the scheme or maximization of the roster’s talent. And after letting a four-point lead slip away in the final 38 seconds in Sunday’s 79-78 loss to Maryland, it’s fair to wonder if the Hoosiers have that in them.

"Any time you lose a game like you lost [against Maryland], the morale is a little low,” Woodson said on his radio show Monday night. “But hey, I don't have time for that as a coach. I'm not made like that. You lose some games, you gotta figure it out. You gotta get 'em back feeling good about themselves, and we got a big game coming up on Friday, so we gotta get them ready to go."

“I know how our players feel, but as their coach I gotta stay positive. I gotta try to keep them in a positive frame of mind, because we’ve got 10 more Big Ten games and this stretch is a tough stretch, starting with Purdue.”

Extended practice time this week could allow the players to renew their optimism after Sunday’s discouraging loss. But between portions of the Assembly Hall crowd turning against the Hoosiers during games and constant negativity surrounding the program on social media, blocking out the noise is no easy task.

A player’s confidence can be affected by that, or when shots simply aren’t falling. Take Kanaan Carlyle, for example. Carlyle averaged 11.5 points per game as a freshman last season at Stanford, and he was brought in to help improve Indiana’s guard play. But Carlyle lost his starting job six games into the season, and he’s averaging just 4.6 points per game and shooting 29.2% from the field.

“He’s struggled some this year, ain’t no doubt about that,” Woodson said. “… As Kanaan’s coach, I gotta get him some confidence, man. I mean, that’s what coaches have to do when guys are feeling low and not doing what they’re supposed to do, you gotta try to figure them you.”

“You gotta try to push the right buttons, and I’m not throwing in the towel on him because you never know when you might have to really need him. I thought he was great in the Ohio State game, when you go back to that game he was fantastic in that game. Great in the Penn State game. Just gotta keep ‘em up and keep ‘em moving.”

Indiana’s next game is Friday against Purdue at Mackey Arena, which makes overcoming those mental hurdles even more challenging. There will be thousands of fans cheering against the Hoosiers in what many consider the loudest environment in college basketball, and communication will be difficult.

Indiana is already not on the same page defensively far too often. Even in Sunday’s home game, there were multiple instances of finger-pointing after defensive breakdowns against Maryland, suggesting that players were confused on their assignments.

Anthony Leal said it was discussed in the huddle that the Hoosiers were supposed to foul before Rodney Rice’s eventual game-winning 3-pointer, but they didn’t execute that coaching instruction.

After using its final timeout on the following possession, Indiana’s initial out-of-bounds play to Malik Reneau got tipped out of bounds with 3.8 seconds remaining. Woodson then made several substitutions, which caused confusion, depending on who you ask, further illustrating Indiana’s disconnectedness.

“I think we were trying to run a play, but then I think the substitutions kind of got everybody confused a little bit, trying to put everybody in their right spots,” Indiana point guard Myles Rice said. “Then we didn't have a timeout, so we were trying to fix everything on the fly a little bit in such a heated moment. We've got to be better as players. No matter who's in the group and who's on the court, that we can get the play off no matter what. We've just got to be better.”

“It wasn’t confusion,” Woodson said. “We called the play. You gotta execute it, and we came nowhere near close to executing the play. They know our plays, and we just failed to execute. Again, as a coach, you wonder what they’re thinking at that particular time because there’s times throughout the course of the game they executed very well. They executed well enough to come back and take the lead by four or five points. I know it’s there, I just gotta keep hammering home and keep teaching and hopefully it will register.”

Indiana's Anthony Leal (3) after losing to Maryland at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That brings up the question of whether Woodson is able to put his players in the right frame of mind, from both a confidence and execution standpoint, as well as his motivational tactics. When Woodson was hired, some wondered if Woodson would be able to relate to college athletes after only coaching NBA players since 1996. I’m not in the locker room to hear those conversations, but the product on the floor suggests something isn’t translating.

Woodson said defensive lapses in critical times were the biggest problems in the last two games, losses at Northwestern and at home against Maryland. That was evident on the perimeter, as Indiana allowed the Wildcats and Terrapins to shoot a combined 25 for 51 from 3-point range.

Part of that is because Indiana’s defensive scheme appears to prioritize limiting drives to the lane and higher percentage shots inside. But in turn, that often leads to overhelping and open 3-point shooters.

The combination of scheme and poor execution has led to a decline in defensive performance throughout Woodson’s tenure. According to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, Indiana has gone from 24th nationally in Woodson’s first season, down to 45th and 84th and back up to 68th this season.

Somewhere along the line, the message seems to be getting lost. Not only does that impact wins and losses, but in turn it can affect confidence and shake belief that the current plan may not work moving forward.

“I take full responsibility because you can tell them what you want and sometimes it just doesn’t register,” Woodson said. “And that was obvious [against Maryland] because we just didn’t make the plays in critical times. The only thing that could beat you was a three with a foul to give and we didn’t give it and we got burnt and didn’t execute the last seven seconds coming out of the timeout that we had.”

“So all things that are learnable, but to lose a game like that, it’s tough to swallow and I’m dealing with young men, young kids, and I get it. I was in those shoes many years ago, but you gotta pick yourself up, man. I mean, when you play sports, it’s not gonna always go your way and people are not gonna always cheer for you. I get all that, it’s a part of it. I can’t concern myself with it, and they can’t either. You wish that wouldn’t be a part of it, but at the end of the day we gotta win games and we gotta get these guys to finish games when we’re in them.”

Indiana's Malik Reneau (5) against Winthrop at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

In some ways, Sunday’s loss to Maryland felt like Indiana’s last chance to take control of its season because of the gauntlet that lies ahead. The nature of the defeat enhanced the sting. But as it stands, the Hoosiers are still considered to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and they have several chances to pick up marquee wins they currently lack.

Along with all the x’s and o’s, Indiana’s mental strength, motivation and connectedness will be tested and required at a high level if the season is to be turned around.

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