Indiana’s defensive decline: Will the Hoosiers find a way to fix it?
Mike Woodson’s first Indiana team was built on defense.
According to KenPom, the Hoosiers finished the 2021-22 season with the nation’s 24th-best defense. The defense allowed IU to overcome a below-average offense in Big Ten play.
That Indiana team finished Big Ten play with the league’s top defense at 1.008 points per possession allowed. The Hoosiers ranked third in the conference in 2-point field goal percentage defense (46.7) and first in block percentage (13.3).
Defensively, that season was the high point so far during Woodson’s tenure in Bloomington.
Indiana’s defense has moved backward in the last two seasons. In the 2022-23 season, Indiana finished with the nation’s 45th-best defense and allowed 1.041 points per possession in conference games.
Last season, the Hoosiers slipped to 84th nationally defensively while allowing 1.079 points per possession against Big Ten opponents.
The past two seasons have shown deficiencies defensively for the program. In the 2022-23 season, Indiana ranked 11th in defensive turnover percentage, 12th in defensive rebounding percentage and 14th in opponent free throw rate (FTA/FGA) in conference games.
Last season, the Hoosiers ranked 10th in defensive turnover percentage, ninth in defensive rebounding percentage and eighth in opponent free-throw rate in league games.
Turnover percentage in Big Ten play: 14.3 percent in 2022-23; 14.3 percent in 2023-24
Defensive rebounding percentage in Big Ten play: 29 percent in 2022-23; 30.5 percent in 2023-24
Opponent free throw rate in Big Ten play: 32.6 percent in 2022-23; 34.3 percent in 2023-24
The opponent free throw rate has been consistently poor over the last three seasons — it was 31.1 percent in his first season — but defensive rebounding and turnovers have taken a step back the previous two seasons. In IU’s first season under Woodson, the Hoosiers had the fourth-best defensive turnover rate in the league (17.5) and seventh-best defensive rebounding percentage (26.1).
As the Hoosiers prepare for the 2024-25 season and expectations to compete near the top of the Big Ten, returning the defense to the near the form it exhibited in Woodson’s first season is crucial.
Rebounding should be near the top of the list of priorities for Indiana to shore up. Despite having the 4th tallest team in the country last season, Indiana ranked just 211th in the country on the defensive glass. Indiana lost its best rebounder from a season ago – Kel’el Ware – but replaced him with Oumar Ballo, who is even better on the glass. Ballo will again be one of the nation’s best rebounders, but Indiana needs to do better around him on the glass.
Reversing its fall in forcing turnovers would also provide a boost defensively. After forcing a turnover on 17.7 percent of its possessions in Woodson’s first season, that percentage fell to 16.3 in season two and 14.9 last season.
With no shortage of talented guards entering the season in Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Trey Galloway, better ball pressure and producing more opportunities to score in transition is a potential area for improvement. Rice, in particular, looks capable of helping in this area. He finished last season with 56 steals and a solid steal percentage of 2.9. Trey Galloway led Indiana last season with 36 steals.
Indiana would also be well served to improve its fouling issues. Getting to the line has been a consistent strength under Woodson, but the Hoosiers also send their opponents to the line too much. Last season, Indiana attempted 696 free throws (21 per game) and its opponents attempted 637 (19.3 per game). Malik Reneau averaged 4.3 fouls per 40 minutes, a number too-high for such an essential piece in the frontcourt.
There’s no expectation that Indiana will be an elite defensive team next season, as Bart Torvik’s current projections have the Hoosiers with the 51st-best defense entering the season. But modest gains on the defensive glass, forcing more turnovers and cutting down on fouls could reverse Indiana’s fall the last two seasons as the program seeks to return to March Madness.
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