Mike Woodson’s first Indiana team was based on defense.
According to KenPom, the Hoosiers finished the 2021-22 season with the 24th best defense in the country. The defense allowed IU to overcome a subpar offense in Big Ten play.
This Indiana team finished the Big Ten with the league’s best defense, allowing 1,008 points per possession. The Hoosiers finished third in the conference in 2-point field goal percentage defense (46.7) and first in block percentage (13.3).
Defensively, this season was the high point so far during Woodson’s tenure in Bloomington.
Indiana’s defense has deteriorated over the past two seasons. In the 2022-23 season, Indiana finished the season with the 45th best defense in the country, allowing 1,041 points per possession in conference games.
Last season, the Hoosiers slipped to 84th nationally in defense, allowing 1,079 points per possession against Big Ten opponents.
The last two seasons have shown that the team has weaknesses on defense. In the 2022-23 season, Indiana ranked 11th in defensive turnover percentage, 12th in defensive rebound percentage and 14th in opponent free throw percentage (FTA/FGA) in conference games.
Last season, the Hoosiers ranked 10th in league games in defensive turnover percentage, 9th in defensive rebounding percentage and 8th in opponent free throw percentage.
Turnover percentage in Big Ten game: 14.3 percent in 2022-23; 14.3 percent in 2023-24
Percentage of defensive rebounds in Big Ten play: 29 percent in 2022-23; 30.5 percent in 2023-24
Opponent’s free throw percentage in Big Ten game: 32.6 percent in 2022-23; 34.3 percent in 2023-24
Opponents’ free throw percentage has been consistently poor over the past three seasons — 31.1 percent in his first season — but defensive rebounding and turnovers have gone downhill over the past two seasons. In IU’s first season under Woodson, the Hoosiers had the league’s fourth-best defensive turnover percentage (17.5) and seventh-best defensive rebounding percentage (26.1).
As the Hoosiers prepare for the 2024-25 season and expect to be at the top of the Big Ten, getting the defense back to anywhere near the form it showed in Woodson’s first season is critical.
Rebounding should be at the top of Indiana’s priority list. Despite having the fourth-best team in the country last season, Indiana only ranked 211th in defensive play. Indiana lost its best rebounder from last season – Kel’el Ware – but replaced him with Oumar Ballo, who is even better around the basket. Ballo will once again be one of the best rebounders in the country, but Indiana needs to do better around him at the basket.
Reversing the decline in forced turnovers would also give the defense a boost. After Woodson forced a turnover on 17.7 percent of his possessions in his first season, that percentage dropped to 16.3 in his second season and 14.9 last season.
With no shortage of talented guards entering the season with Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Trey Galloway, potential areas for improvement include better ball pressure and creating more opportunities to score in transition. Rice, in particular, looks to be able to help in that area. He finished last season with 56 steals and a solid 2.9 steal percentage. Trey Galloway led Indiana last season with 36 steals.
Indiana would also be wise to improve its foul problems. Getting to the free throw line has always been a strength under Woodson, but the Hoosiers also send their opponents to the free throw line too often. 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, too high a number for such an important player in the frontcourt.
Indiana is not expected to be an elite defensive team next season, as the Hoosiers enter the season with the 51st-best defense according to Bart Torvik’s current projections. But modest improvements on defense, forcing more turnovers and reducing fouls could reverse Indiana’s decline of the past two seasons as the program tries to return to March Madness.
Filed under:
