IU’s lack of preparation, plan and adjustments exposed in 28-point loss to Louisville
NASSAU, Bahamas – As Indiana basketball trailed by 30+ points in a thumping against Louisville to open the Battle 4 Atlantis Wednesday, head coach Mike Woodson stood still, arms on his hips, before taking a seat on the bench for the remainder of the game. All the while, first-year Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey continued to bark orders and directions to his team.
In an 89-61 game whose final score generously understated the true product, Woodson’s Hoosiers looked hopelessly unprepared and unable to make key adjustments. With another two games to play in the next two days, this raises concerns about how competitive Indiana will be in closing out the neutral-site tournament.
“It was beyond schemes,” Woodson said postgame. “As a coach, I’ve got to get this team more ready to go, and I’m talking beginning to end.”
Louisville opted to start smaller and more perimeter-oriented than usual – although Kelsey later admitted starting big man James Scott didn’t start due to being late to shootaround – and Woodson stayed with his usual two-big lineup. When Oumar Ballo was stripped by Chucky Hepburn, which led to a transition layup on the game’s first possession, it was a bad omen of what was to come.
Hepburn and Louisville’s guards had Indiana’s backcourt locked up in chains and the Hoosiers’ size was the only offensive facet keeping them alive. Despite the size advantage, Indiana still struggled to keep up with the Cardinals, even in areas where its only advantage should have shown. For example, Louisville completely outhustled the Hoosiers for four offensive rebounds on one possession early.
It was prevalent early on that Kelsey and the Cardinals had a plan of attack on how to shut down the Hoosiers: space the floor, get out in transition and control the pace of the game. Defensively, it was to prevent Indiana from getting transition momentum.
“We just thought our advantage was being able to space the floor, play with great pace and generate offense that way,” Kelsey said. “You know, every team is going to play to their strengths.”
On the contrary, Woodson and the Hoosiers did try to play to their strengths and relied on the post offense. However, even once it became clear that adjustments were needed in order to compete with Louisville, there was no change in approach.
Despite looking outmatched and being outplayed in nearly all areas of the game, Indiana still managed to enter halftime trailing by just 8 points. Woodson was graced with an opportunity to regroup at the break and figure out how to run with Louisville or slow them down. Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.
The Hoosiers scored first to open the half, then in the blink of an eye, an 11-0 Louisville run busted the game open. One run after another and it became too late for Indiana to stop any bleeding. With seven minutes remaining, the biggest concern was to not lose by 40+ and get embarrassed on national television.
Indiana’s four-guard rotation combined to shoot 0-for-18 with eight turnovers before a Myles Rice 3-pointer received a generous bounce off the rim and went in. Outside of Ballo and Malik Reneau, the Hoosiers shot 9-for-43 from the field. The team shot 4-for-19 on layups and finished with more turnovers (23) than field goals (21). Whatever your choice of stat from Indiana, it was so pathetic it didn’t even seem possible.
And despite all of it, Woodson’s only response was the team “didn’t play Indiana basketball” and needs to learn from its mistakes and prepare for tomorrow. While he at least took accountability for the result and owned his responsibility to prevent another similar performance, he had no explanation for how the team was outcoached, outhustled and outplayed.
Even Reneau – who was the Hoosiers’ sole bright spot with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists – could only cite a lack of execution.
“We had a great scout going into the game,” Reneau said. “We just didn’t execute the game plan that Coach Woodson had, especially on the defensive end. It was just, like, a lack of focus towards the scout we had and not giving it all out when we were on the court.”
Wednesday’s result marks four consecutive 20-plus point drubbings in Woodson’s past four losses in a neutral-site contest. When the lights have been the brightest in a square environment – even though there was a clear edge of Hoosier fans in Atlantis – the Hoosiers have failed to show up by any measure.
With the loser of No. 3 Gonzaga and 3-1 West Virginia up next, Indiana has some serious evaluating to do. One game won’t define this team’s season and the direction it’s going in, but that’s only if some sort of adjustments are made. And based off Wednesday afternoon, when it was apparent adjustments were needed, there’s no guarantee what will happen next.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Louisville Cardinals