Todd’s Take: The Only Optics That Matter Are On The Hardwood

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Optics. You hear a lot about optics these days. The image that an entity projects to the outside world – and that includes college basketball programs – is often given more thought than the core product itself.

There was a lot of concern about the optics of Saturday’s Indiana-Michigan game.

The Hoosiers, preordained before the season as Big Ten contenders in a textbook example of why fans sometimes scoff at the “experts” when they’re way off-base, had lost four in a row. Indiana’s NCAA Tournament hopes, thought to be a minimum standard of success entering the season, were rapidly slipping through their fingers.

However, the optics were more about different things. Fans have turned on Indiana coach Mike Woodson increasingly during the season. He’s endured boos in pregame introductions, at halftime and after games. There have been “Fire Woodson” chants. Bad optics.

Coming to Bloomington on Saturday was Michigan coach Dusty May – a son of Indiana and a local son done good. Oft-mentioned as a possible Indiana coach long before the current season slipped into mediocrity, the mind raced during the days prior to the game about what might happen.

“Fire Woody, Hire Dusty!” chants? You can let your imagination run wild. All of it falling under the header of bad optics for Indiana.

You can make an inference if you wish to the announced end of the Woodson era as Indiana coach to the events that could have transpired on Saturday. There’s no reason you shouldn’t, because Indiana gave that impression itself.

“We want to encourage Hoosier fans to rally around the program and support it in the same positive way that Hoosier fans did during Mike’s All-America and Big Ten MVP playing career,” athletic director Scott Dolson’s statement said.

Optics. By resolving any ambiguity regarding Woodson’s status, perhaps the scene might be a little sunnier at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall instead of the boiling cauldron of irritation that some pictured in their minds.

It’s another way, though, that we lose sight of the obvious. The only optics that matter are the product you’re putting on the floor. From that, everything else flows.

So it was at Assembly Hall on Saturday.

Before the game, there weren't any fireworks to fear. May got a nice ovation from the crowd, but one that he likely would have received regardless of the circumstances of Indiana’s program. May is an Indiana kid, and Indiana fans always treat their own with respect. His ovation was par for the course.

The reaction was muted to Woodson, but not in any way nasty. A few fans around my spot booed – I don’t know why other than to pile on given that his fate is sealed – but it was in no way a majority of people. I think most fans absorbed the Woodson news, many were likely relieved the situation had an endgame and just wanted to move on to watch their team.

It’s the performance of the team that dictates the optics. Indiana gave its fans plenty to take in with their eyes on both sides of the spectrum.

The first half was the kind of joyless slog many of the games in the five-game losing streak have been. Indiana was passive way beyond the point of parody. How can a team be so lifeless on its home floor? The fans didn’t react too much to it. They’ve become accustomed to it, which is an indictment of the Woodson regime all its own.

There were some boos at halftime with the Hoosiers down 43-27. So much for the rally ‘round the Hoosiers vibe that was hoped for. Kind of hard to do that when the home team is down 16 after a lifeless half. The biggest ovations from the crowd to the point were for the Bucetto’s scoreboard topping race and a sizzling battle between dachshunds and corgis at halftime.

Then, as Indiana has the bizarre penchant for doing, it flipped a switch. Woodson settled in a rotation of Anthony Leal, Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, Trey Galloway and either Luke Goode or Bryson Tucker. It clicked. Indiana reeled in the Wolverines.

The comeback had the desired effect and provided the intended positive optics. Indiana fans were on their feet, finally having a reason to get behind their Hoosiers. The “Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers” chants echoed throughout Assembly Hall. Indiana would eventually tie the game after trailing by as much as 18. It was what you want when you come to a game at Indiana.

Indiana had its typical combination of late-game bad luck/bad execution/bad decision-making and lost, 70-67. There again, the optics are ultimately determined by the outcome. For all of the good Indiana did, a loss is a loss and the wheels continued to spin the Hoosiers in reverse in the Big Ten race.

Results are your optics. Everything else is window dressing. In the long view, I hope Indiana keeps this in mind. When looking for a coach, it’s easy to get caught up in the distraction of what this person brings off the floor.

The only thing that matters is what product they put on the floor. I will tear a page from the Book Of Curt Cignetti. Whoever is the next Indiana coach has to keep the main thing the main thing. That person has to be the most competent at putting a winning product on the floor. Forget everything else.

At the end of the day, winning games are the only optics that matter.

Related to Indiana basketball ...

GAME STORY: Indiana fights back, but can't overcome Michigan in a 70-67 defeat. CLICK HERE.

WHAT WOODSON SAID: What Mike Woodson said in his postgame press conference. CLICK HERE.

WATCH REACTIONS TO MAY, WOODSON: Assembly Hall reacts to both coaches during introductions on Saturday. CLICK HERE.

LIVE BLOG: Follow the game as it happened. CLICK HERE.