That’s A Wrap: Mike Woodson
Welcome to “That’s A Wrap,” our recap of the 2023-24 Indiana Hoosiers. Today we conclude the series with a look at head coach Mike Woodson.
Previous recaps: Gabe Cupps, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Kel’el Ware, Kaleb Banks, CJ Gunn, Payton Sparks, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Anthony Walker, Xavier Johnson, team offense, team defense
The contention began earlier than you may remember.
The scene? The annual Huber Winery event on May 31st of last year. To close out the media session, longtime IU radio voice Don Fischer tossed Mike Woodson what seemed like a humorous softball about his recent knee replacement surgery.
“How does it feel, post-surgery, to stand 6’5″ again?”
The assembled media laughed. Woodson said he felt blessed to be standing there after going through a tough time. He had to go back to the hospital due to complications and lost a significant amount of weight. Woodson wasn’t done there, though. He also used the opportunity to respond to criticism of the surgery’s timing during the spring recruiting period. A period where he still managed to land a five-star Duke de-commit (Mackenzie Mgbako) and the No.1-rated portal transfer (Kel’el Ware) despite the surgery.
“I was still working, guys,” Woodson said, pointing with his right hand at the media members to make sure they got the message. “When you guys wondered ‘Well why am I having knee surgery during recruiting time?’ I had no choice because I put it off all these years and struggled to get around.”
Should Woodson have directed his words toward social media and message board naysayers instead? Maybe. Maybe not. In this day and age, the fire hose of information never turns off. It’s relentless. Keeping track of each slight is a fool’s errand for a person in Woodson’s position. At a certain point, you either need to make peace with the fact that getting wet is part of the deal or you’ll forever be looking for a wrench to turn it off. Good luck with the latter.
Some 284 days later on March 10th of this year, Woodson held a microphone in his right hand on Branch McCracken Court. His team had just beaten Michigan State on senior day, Indiana’s fourth straight win to close out the Big Ten season.
Woodson took the opportunity to address fans directly this time around. While rattling off a list of thank yous at the top of his remarks, Woodson ended with one for the fans. It wasn’t what they were expecting.
“And most of all our true fans, true fans,” Woodson said, the second “true fans” with a little more zip. “I’ll say that again, our true fans.”
Woodson’s inflection and delivery made it easy to spot the subtext. He was distinguishing between those who stood by him during a disappointing season and those calling for his head. It was a statement that hurt and angered many.
It was also a line that came to define the acrimonious 2023-24 campaign. Woodson’s talk of Big Ten titles and national championships rang hollow for a fanbase dying for both and instead observing a team that never was in the mix to make the NCAA tournament. One that many felt wasn’t playing modern offense.
It wasn’t all bad.
Woodson started the season by pulling Mgbako from games because he was lost on defense. It ended with Mgbako winning co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Ware shed his reputation as a lazy player and is primed to be a first-round NBA draft pick this summer. When all seemed lost, Indiana rallied to pull off a five-game winning streak near the end of the year. Trey Galloway emerged as a strong playmaker against the right matchups. Anthony Leal, long a rider of the bench, stepped up and won Indiana two games with clutch plays late. Malik Reneau took a step forward as a sophomore, at times unstoppable off the right low block.
But Indiana finished the season at No. 91 on KenPom, its lowest rating since 2009-2010, Tom Crean’s second season as head coach. Its offense finished outside the top 100 on KenPom (No. 105) for the first time since 2013-2014, when Crean’s team finished 17-15 and wrapped up the season turning down an invite to the CBI. The Hoosiers shot 66.4 percent from the free throw line (No. 333 nationally) and only 11 teams in the country used the 3-pointer less in their offense. Against elite teams, save for Kansas, Indiana got crushed. UConn (20), Auburn (28) and Purdue (21, 20) all beat the Hoosiers by 20 points or more. Indiana ended the season getting blown out by 27 against Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament.
In the non-conference slate, the Hoosiers didn’t put lesser opponents away with ease, which started them off on the wrong foot with the computer ratings. They never found the wins to help them recover and inch towards the bubble or better. In those early games, Woodson often tried his heavy bench lineups for stretches, which didn’t help matters.
As Indiana lost eight of 10 during a stretch in January and February, things turned toxic. Fans seemed to be looking for accountability from Woody. They weren’t getting it. Woodson just said the team was young. Missing Xavier Johnson was hurting them. The team just needed to keep working. But no one was having it. The masses assembled larger, stronger, with more vitriol this time around. They fanned the flames of reports that Woodson’s job was in jeopardy, that decision-makers at Indiana were at odds about how to proceed. The silence created a void and a negative discourse rushed in.
Finally, Woodson broke the seal. After the eighth and final loss during that stretch, a defeat at Penn State on Feb. 24, he offered this.
“I’m upset with the way we’ve played and the way I’ve coached this team,” he said. “… All coaches that coach think they can win. I’ve struggled this year. I won’t blame my players. I’ve always put it on Mike Woodson and that’s how it should be. I’m a big boy.”
But on a Monday Zoom call with media after that Saturday loss, he hedged, putting some of it back on the players.
“Even though I don’t miss jump shots, wide-open shots, and don’t miss free throws, I’m still a big part of it and I take a lot of responsibility,” Woodson said.
The simplest explanation for why Indiana performed the way it did this season? Roster construction. Woodson didn’t recruit over Johnson in the transfer portal and bet on the best version of him. Injuries took their toll on the sixth-year senior and he was unable to stay on the court. When he did play, the results didn’t measure up. Johnson’s addition to the Hoosiers was always a gamble after he flamed out at Pitt. In his final season, things came up snake eyes.
Gabe Cupps wasn’t a playmaker. So Indiana often turned to Galloway as their lone creator who could break down a defense, a role he excelled in at times but didn’t come by naturally. Outside of Mgbako, Indiana had no volume 3-point shooters it could trust, and it took him a while to get going. CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks never materialized as consistent contributors off the bench, so Woodson started playing Leal instead. The team lacked dynamic backcourt players and it limited their ceiling.
As such, Woodson leaned more heavily on his frontcourt, as Reneau (first) and Ware (third) had some of the highest usage rates on the team. With Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson departed Indiana fans thought they’d moved on from a two-big system that often went down low as its first option. But Woodson, despite speaking to the contrary at times before the season, seemed to think that was his best option, even if it meant his offense had poor spacing and got bogged down as a result.
After a 20-point loss at Purdue on Feb. 10, when asked twice in a row in various ways about the offseason and the future, Woodson let this slip.
“We’re gonna have to add some pieces,” he said, before quickly recovering. “But the season’s not over with, guys. We still have seven more games to go.”
In an interview with the Hoosier Hysterics this week, Scott Dolson, Indiana’s vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics, offered this when pressed about Woody’s style of play.
“I think that’s what he’s been trying to do in the portal,” Dolson said. “Making certain that we can have a roster that supports the offense he wants to run.”
Bottom Line: Dolson appears to be on to something. For all the talk of a mass exodus in Bloomington, all the doom and gloom about the state of the program, Woodson and his staff have knocked it out of the park in the transfer portal. They’ve added Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle to the backcourt, two dynamic players the offense was sorely missing last season. Oumar Ballo, the No. 1-rated player, replaces Ware up front. Luke Goode brings 3-point shooting. And they’re still after other shooters, which could come in the form of a backup big.
Indiana has also retained key pieces in Mgbako, Reneau and Galloway, not always so easy in this new NIL era. While externally there’s negative chatter, internally, Woodson seems to be maintaining a culture that’s attractive to players. There’s buy-in. But plenty remain in wait-and-see mode for how the team performs on the court. After a disappointing third season, it’s fair to maintain some healthy skepticism.
Filed to: Mike Woodson