BASKETBALL

IU basketball ‘taking it day-by-day’ as it looks to form its identity heading into Big Ten play

There are still numerous questions IU basketball needs to answer heading into Big Ten play, including what its identity is.

Published

3 days ago

December 31, 2024

Alec Lasley

Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Being battle tested in the non-conference slate should always be a positive but for the IU basketball program, it has continually been tested against inferior opponents with little improvement from game-to-game.

Entering the season, IU head coach Mike Woodson made it known and didn’t mince words when he said this was the most talented roster he had in his four years at Indiana. That most talented roster has turned in losses of 28 points to Louisville, 17 to Nebraska and 16 to Gonzaga. The wins haven’t come much easier — back-to-back single digit wins over Chattanooga and Winthrop, who have 10 combined losses already.

And in the last week, the performances haven’t been getting better from the eye. After ‘discouraging’ signs last week in IU’s win over Chattanooga, the team had a week to ‘clear everyone’s minds’ and come back with one final tuneup before Big Ten play kicks into full gear. Nothing materialized the way it was expected — instead, leaving more questions than answers hiding into the next stitch of play.

Those questions still revolve around; what is Indiana’s true identity? Can this team turn things around defensively? Can a two-big lineup truly exist? Is IU going to finally start making shots like they say they are?

None of which have a clear answer — or path of improvement — up to this point.

But, as the saying goes — winning solves everything. That can be the case for now, but massive improvement is needed.

“If you win the game that’s in front of you and you keep winning, that solves 99.9 percent of the problems,” Point guard Myles Rice said after IU’s 77-68 win over Winthrop. “For us, it’s just taking it day-by-day. We’re not getting too caught up in the metrics.”

The metrics are clear, however — Indiana continues to slide backwards. At the moment, IU is 56th in KenPom and 66th in the NET rankings with no notable win on its resume. That’s significant as Indiana enters Big Ten play, a stretch that the Hoosiers are just 32-30 in over the course of Woodson’s tenure. That won’t cut it this year if it wants to avoid back-to-back absences from the NCAA Tournament.

Whether it’s scoring, defending or hustle plays, everything is a point of emphasis to improve on and improve on quickly.

“I think on the offensive end, we are as talented and we have as much firepower as anybody in the country. But it doesn’t take just one side of the floor. It takes the other side as well,” Rice said. “So we have to be playing better defense. We have to contain the ball more from the perimeter guys. And down low, we’ve just got to make it harder for those guys to catch the ball so that way we are not playing from the back side or giving them easy looks.

“It’s not just one collective thing or one person doing one thing. It’s like we all have to do our jobs better, and that’s on the defensive side for sure and we’ve also got to rebound better.”

Indiana does have talent, there is no question. But the question has always been whether or not the pieces truly fit together.

That talent has also struggled to live up to the ‘potential’ it had at the start of the season. Indiana is shooting just 30.6 percent from three this year and rank in the 300s in every three-point metric. Its 12.8 turnovers per game are the most by an IU basketball team since the 2016-17 season as well. Missed shots and no shots are a recipe for disaster — especially when you look at some of the close games that IU has been able to win strictly due to talent or size. That won’t cut it in Big Ten play.

“I think gradually we’ve been getting better and better,” Rice said adamantly. “We have a lot of close games. Teams are trying to come in here and win, as well. And I mean we just, like I said, game-by-game, I feel like we’re improving. And over this break in the last couple, I’d say, days, or even last two weeks, I think we have been taking the strides to put our emphasis on that and get better.

“You’ve just got to focus on the next game. I mean, we can look at all the stats and the numbers can tell you everything.”

That next game is Rutgers, a Rutgers team that brings in two of the top-5 projected draft picks in this upcoming NBA Draft.

There’s no question things need to get better but the unfortunate part is typically teams are hitting their stride at this point in the season. If for nothing more, they are at least finding out what their identity is. Both of which are still a ways away for the Hoosiers.

As Rice stated, winning solves problems. But can IU basketball continue to squeak by in these close games moving forward? Time will tell.

“Every game is important moving forward. Can’t look back. Every game is important,” Woodson said. “We’ve got Rutgers coming in. That’s my only focus right now.”