That’s A Wrap: Team defense
Welcome to “That’s A Wrap,” our recap of the 2023-24 Indiana Hoosiers. Yesterday, we examined Indiana’s team offense, and today, we examine Indiana’s team defense.
Previous player recaps: Gabe Cupps, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Kel’el Ware, Kaleb Banks, CJ Gunn, Payton Sparks, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Anthony Walker, Xavier Johnson
Defense (33 games): Adjusted efficiency: 101.1 (84th), eFG%: 49.0 (93rd), TO%: 14.9 (308th), Opponent Off. Reb%: 29.7 (211th), Opponent FTA/FGA: 31.6 (150th), Opponent 2PFG%: 47.4 (51st)
After finishing with a top-25 defense nationally in Mike Woodson’s first season at IU and a top-50 defense in year two, the Hoosiers slid to 84th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (according to KenPom) in year three under Woodson.
The Hoosiers lost several key contributors from Woodson’s first two seasons, including Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson and Miller Kopp. All three veterans knew their roles and what Woodson expected from them defensively on every play.
The defensive issues for the 2023-24 Hoosiers showed up regularly in the season’s first two months. Indiana allowed Florida Gulf Coast, Army and Wright State to shoot a combined 37-for-67 (55.2 percent) in the season’s first three games. Yes, the Hoosiers won all three contests, but closer-than-expected results contributed significantly to IU’s slide in the computer rankings. After opening the year at No. 50 in KenPom, the Hoosiers had already dropped 23 spots to No. 73 by their fourth game.
“The game is like this: If you get stops and you rebound the ball, you have an opportunity to get out and fast break and make plays,” Woodson said after IU survived a scare from Army on Nov. 12. “If you get in passing lanes and you get easy steals where you can generate offense that way, it’s a quick way to get out and play faster.
“Right now we’re not doing none of those things. We’re not getting stops. We’re not getting the ball out and getting up the floor and playing faster.”
After allowing 77 points on 1.156 points per possession in a 20-point loss to UConn on Nov. 19, the Hoosiers allowed 1.399 points per trip in a 28-point loss to Auburn in Atlanta on Dec. 9.
In a 12-game stretch from Jan. 16 through March 3, Indiana allowed more than a point per possession in every game. The Hoosiers went 4-8 in those contests, sealing their fate as a program that would be on the outside looking in come NCAA tournament time.
The problems defensively came in a variety of areas. Indiana regularly allowed opponents to take and make a high volume of 3-pointers. The Hoosiers allowed ten or more made 3-pointers by their opponent 11 times and IU’s opponents scored 34.7 of their points from behind the arc, the 48th-highest mark in the country.
With Xavier Johnson in and out of the lineup due to injuries, IU’s ball pressure on the perimeter suffered. While forcing turnovers has never been a huge focus of Woodson’s defenses at IU, opponents only turned the ball over on 14.9 percent of their possessions, which ranked just 308th in the country.
Despite having one of the nation’s tallest teams on the frontline, Indiana regularly gave up offensive rebounds and second-chance points. Hoosier opponents grabbed 29.7 percent of their missed shots on the season. Part of this can be attributed to the long rebounds stemming from a high volume of 3-point attempts.
To its credit, Indiana did have a solid three-game stretch late in the season against Minnesota, Michigan State, and Penn State, where it held three straight opponents under a point per possession. But all in all, the 2023-24 season was one to forget from a defensive perspective and represented a step backward for a program Woodson wants to be built with a defense-first mentality.
Bottom line: When the season tipped off, it was quickly apparent that Indiana’s defensive issues were going to be a problem. The Hoosiers had far too many close calls against inferior competition early in the year and suffered several beatdowns to high-major competition in non-conference play. The issues continued into league play in losses to Purdue and Wisconsin, where the Hoosiers weren’t even competitive because of their lackluster defensive play.
Quotable: “When you give up 51 points in the Big10 in a half, you’re not going to beat anybody. Yeah, we played great the second half to get back in it to cut it to three, but we had no defensive effort I thought the first half. We just weren’t up to touch. They made some tough threes, but you can’t have to halves like that. You have to have a half like you did the second half in the first half and then see what happens. So I got to keep working with them and see if I can get them playing two halves.” – Woodson after Indiana’s 14-point home loss to Nebraska on Feb. 21.
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