Ohio State has lost three of four; Indiana fans chanted “Fire Woodson” Tuesday night. Something has to give, right?
With the Indiana Hoosiers rolling into town Friday night, we reached out to our friends over The Crimson Quarry to discuss the state of IU basketball — which, at the moment appears to be “on fire.”
Mike Woodson’s Hoosiers (13-5, 4-3) currently sit in seventh place in the Big Ten, and have twice as many conference wins as Ohio State (10-7, 2-4) thus far. However, most analysts how the Hoosiers on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA Tournament goes, according to Bracket Matrix.
Indiana’s two best wins on the season, based on the NET, are over Penn State (52) and Rutgers (87). Meanwhile, all five of its losses have been by at least 15 points, and three of those five were by at least 25 points. Tuesday night’s 94-69 loss to Illinois resulted in the IU student section to shout a unified “FIRE WOODSON!” chant.
“Fire Woodson” chant coming from the Indiana student section.
An embarrassing start from Indiana in the first half. #iubb pic.twitter.com/C6GbVBfwvL
— Dylan Traeger (@dylan_traeger) January 15, 2025
Both developments — the blowout loss and the chant to fire the head coach — are things you’d never expect to see in Assembly Hall. With things in dissarary in Bloomington and Ohio State having now lost three out of four, Friday’s game looks like a must-win for both teams. The vibes around the losing team could get pretty dark once the clock hits zero on Friday.
This week, we had a conversation with L.C. Norton of The Crimson Quarry to get a better feel for the vibes in Bloomington right now, as well as how Ohio State can snap its three-game losing streak against the Hoosiers.
From the outside looking in, a 13-5 record with a 4-3 record in Big Ten play isn’t bad. Are IU fans exhausted with Woodson solely because of this season’s performance, or just his entire 4 years?
L.C.: It’s a bit of both.
Indiana has been prone to getting blown out under Mike Woodson, he owns some of the worst losses in program history and a solid amount of the worst defeats at Assembly Hall. Even during the “good” year in 2022-23 Indiana was getting blown out in the non-conference and, out of nowhere, against Iowa at home.
This season? It was supposed to be a fix for last year when Indiana didn’t have the backcourt talent to compete on a nightly basis. Now it does, yet here we are seeing the same results.
Is Woodson the one to blame for getting blown out at home the way Indiana did this week, or is it just as much/even more on the players?
L.C.: Like above, a bit of both.
Woodson built this team and put these guys together in the locker room. At the end of the day, it’s on him. But the body language on the bench when Indiana was getting sandblasted on its own home floor just wasn’t great.
What does this team lack right now that will make it difficult for them to make the NCAA Tournament?
L.C.: Defense.
That, and an overall identity as a program. We’re four years into Woodson’s tenure now and any sort of identity that is supposed to guide you through these tough times has yet to emerge.
Indiana’s offense isn’t as bad as you’d think, they’ve just become entirely too easy to score on. The team is worse at an individual level on that side of the court than it’s been in a long time and the guys who have the talent to defend are either in the backcourt or have had motor issues this year. It’s not a great mix.
At the end of the day, IU is still above .500 in conference play and has a shot to reach 20 wins this season. If things start to click, do you think this team has the talent to win a game in the NCAA Tournament?
L.C.: The talent? For sure. Anything else? Nope.
Indiana, on paper, is a highly talented basketball team. That should be enough for them to win out on a few nights here and there. That just hasn’t proven true as all the issues of the past like poor shooting, defensive miscues and weird lineups have come to roost.
Indiana has won its last three games against Ohio State. What will they need to focus on this Friday if they’re going to make it four in a row?
L.C.: Very honestly I’m not sure Indiana has exploited any weaknesses or anything against Chris Holtmann’s teams lately. I think the Buckeyes have just been caught on some pretty bad nights and Indiana has made the plays it’s needed to.
Indiana needs to figure out how to defend, especially if Oumar Ballo ends up being suspended for the scuffle against Illinois. When Ballo’s not on the floor, Indiana’s rim protection goes out the window and it’s pretty much a layup line if you can get by your man with the ball.
Ohio State has lost three in a row and four out of five against Indiana. If Jake Diebler is smart, what mismatches or weaknesses should he try to exploit to give his team the best chance to win?
L.C.: I know Ohio State is a solid shooting team. If Indiana comes out in the nail-slot-rim system that Mike Woodson loves to run, Diebler’s gotta get shooters on the wings so the backcourt can drive and kick out for open 3s, just about every solid shooting team has been able to exploit that.
If Ballo is available, find ways to draw him away from the paint on defense and exploit any mismatch with speed and quickness to drive at the rim. If Ohio State has bigs it feels good about matching up against Ballo in space, that’s also a solid plan.
Defensively, Ohio State should keep guys like Myles Rice or Trey Galloway from beating them off the dribble. The ball is going to Ballo if he’s available and he’s gonna get his. If Ballo isn’t available, Indiana’s offense has to depend on the backcourt much more. Shut down Galloway and maybe make Myles Rice beat you every time.
Would a win against Ohio State this week be enough to calm down the mob? Would a loss force Scott Dolson to consider making a change mid-season?
L.C.: Indiana would not fire Woodson mid-season. It would be a substantial embarrassment for a program legend and probably doesn’t fix much now because the bench is not rife with dudes who have head coaching experience and it’s a question of if any of them would even want something like that.
If things get really bad, I could see some scenario wherein Woodson announces his “retirement” or something like that. Or even maybe what LSU did for Ed Orgeron a while back. The fanbase is getting restless and there are more ugly nights to be had at Assembly Hall.
Kanaan Carlyle and Bruce Thornton were high school teammates for 3 years at Milton. What role has he played for IU this season?
L.C.: Great question! The answer is “none.”
Indiana has not figured out exactly what to do with Carlyle. He played alongside Rice at the shooting guard spot and that didn’t go well because he wasn’t making shots. Now he’s coming off the bench and gets to play with the ball more but sometimes he leaves you scratching your head.