On March 29, 2021, at Mike Woodson’s introductory press convention, an excited Scott Dolson, Indiana’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, painted this image of his new males’s basketball head coach.
“As I did my deep dive, Mike’s generally known as a visionary,” Dolson proclaimed. “Mike’s an X’s and O’s man … I’m speaking to those that weren’t advocating for Mike, that had no concept the place I used to be on this search, that talked about ‘there’s no higher thoughts within the NBA than Mike Woodson.’ It hit me, as we’re on the lookout for the longer term, that was actually, actually necessary.”
Taking Dolson’s phrases at face worth, he appeared to consider he was getting a forward-thinking basketball savant. However lower than 4 years later, with Woodson’s tenure as Indiana’s head coach nearing its completion, the “visionary” moniker Dolson bestowed on Woody ended up a far cry from actuality.
As a result of what finally sunk Woodson on the court docket at Indiana was a cussed adherence to antiquated basketball philosophies, effectivity be damned.
Let’s begin with Indiana’s shot weight loss plan. Woodson’s Indiana groups took too many mid-range photographs and lengthy 2s, probably the most inefficient photographs you’ll be able to tackle a basketball court docket, and the Hoosiers didn’t make them at a excessive clip. It’s one thing Alex wrote about in December. At that time within the season, there was no energy convention staff within the nation taking extra 2-point makes an attempt from between 17 toes and the 3-point line. One in all Indiana’s most-used baseline out-of-bounds performs is run to get an extended 2-point jumper on the baseline. A shot chart from the primary half of Saturday’s recreation towards Michigan illustrates all this fairly plainly.
Michigan took most of its photographs from 3-point vary, on the rim or within the paint. About as modern-looking and environment friendly as you’re going to get. Indiana’s, alternatively? It was plagued by photographs from all over the place, together with a paltry 5-of-14 mark on “different 2s” — all its 2-point photographs that weren’t on the rim.
Woodson’s aversion to 3-point taking pictures additionally defied well-trodden trendy basketball logic and his historical past as a coach. In that very same introductory press convention, Woodson mentioned: “The three-ball has modified the sport, there’s little question about that.”
As head coach of the Knicks in 2012-13, his staff shot 2,371 3-pointers and made 981, each new NBA data on the time. The Knicks completed third in adjusted offensive effectivity that season, per Basketball Reference. However you’d by no means guess that trying on the numbers from his almost 4 seasons in Bloomington.
Woodson’s groups sported one of many lowest 3-point shot volumes within the nation all 4 seasons, rating 321st, 354th, 351st and 322nd (up to now this season), respectively. Woodson gave lip service to taking pictures extra 3-pointers the final two off-seasons, however it by no means materialized meaningfully.
In-season quotes from him typically went like this: “We’re taking sufficient 3s, we’re simply not making them.”
Different occasions, he was blunt when requested about particular gamers and their 3-point quantity.
In the course of the 2022-23 marketing campaign, Miller Kopp shot a team-high 44.4 % from 3-point vary coupled with the staff’s highest offensive score (125.2, forty third finest within the nation), however he additionally had the bottom utilization charge amongst regulars (10.9). Moreover, it was Indiana’s finest 3-point taking pictures season underneath Woodson (36.8 %).
Mentioned Woodson about Kopp’s low utilization, although: “I run a pair performs for him right here and there, however my focus isn’t simply on Miller … I’m simply not right here to create numerous photographs for simply Miller. I imply, I’m not right here to try this.”
Okay then.
Each Woodson and Dolson additionally spoke of a 4-out, 1-in offense within the introductory press convention, which Dolson slapped the “visionary” label onto. It could have been seen as novel on the time to Indiana followers popping out of the Archie Miller period. However the issue? By the point Woodson stepped to the mic in March of 2021 in Bloomington, 5-out basketball was already proliferating the trendy recreation — particularly on the NBA stage, although it was no stranger to the faculty recreation, both.
Apart from this season when he was pressured to start out and play Luke Goode on the 4 for prolonged minutes due to Malik Reneau’s harm, and when Indiana flirted with some 5-out Princeton ideas from time to time, Woody’s groups merely weren’t structured in a option to maximize spacing and permit a number of guys room to chop, drive, cross and shoot 3-pointers. As an alternative, two-big lineups — from Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, to Jackson-Davis and Reneau, to Kel’el Ware (the one Indiana large that would actually play on the perimeter, although Woodson selected to not use him there as a lot as he may have) and Reneau, to now Reneau and Oumar Ballo, Indiana had frontcourt gamers who wanted the ball within the submit to attain. And Woodson was blissful to oblige. Indiana’s main scorer in every of his 4 seasons was his heart: Jackson-Davis in his first two seasons, Ware in his third and Ballo at present this season.
So, Indiana was pressured to defend the 5-out revolution as a substitute. And groups with lesser expertise, however with extra connectedness, objective and identification, typically used it to nice impact to beat the Hoosiers. Chris Collins and his Northwestern Wildcats pitched an ideal recreation towards Woody (5-0). Fred Hoiberg and Nebraska have received their final 4 towards the Hoosiers. The Micah Shrewsberry-led Penn State groups bested Woodson in three out of 4 matchups. The Iowa Hawkeyes, who not less than sported some NBA expertise throughout Woody’s tenure, went 5-1 towards the Hoosiers.
In addition to Woodson’s second 12 months (twenty eighth in adjusted offensive effectivity), Indiana’s offense has been removed from elite. It completed ninety fifth his first season, a hundred and fifth his third season and his self-proclaimed “most gifted staff” sits at a ho-hum 66th this season. The offense featured an excessive amount of particular person play, an excessive amount of isolating and an excessive amount of predictability. It typically felt like guys have been taking turns as a substitute of taking part in as 5 collectively.
On protection, it was a powerful begin for the Hoosiers underneath Woodson. In his first season, Indiana completed first in defensive effectivity in Massive Ten play and twenty fourth in adjusted defensive effectivity within the nation. The Hoosiers pressured the ball and performed effectively as a staff with Jackson-Davis as their rim protector. Their comeback win towards Michigan within the Massive Ten Match, a win that finally obtained them into the NCAA Match, was keyed by their protection. However that defensive identification has pale. In league play, that 1st mark went to ninth in 12 months two, sixth in 12 months three to eleventh up to now in 12 months 4. Nationally, in adjusted defensive effectivity, it went from twenty fourth to forty fifth to 84th to 57th.
After which there’s the much-maligned nail-slot-rim protection on center ball screens.
In November of 2013, early in his final season because the Knicks head coach, this video from Basketball Breakdown particulars the weak point of the technique recreation movie. By sending assist to the ball-handler from one cross away, opponents have been gifted open 3-point seems to be on the wing again and again. A decade later, with groups taking pictures extra 3-pointers than ever, Woodson held agency on the technique.
“I’ll by no means get away from nail-slot-rim,” Woodson mentioned in January of 2023. “It’s what we do.”
To be honest, Indiana eased on the overhelp of the scheme throughout stretches of Woodson’s tenure. It typically got here after getting burned on it in earlier video games. And resulting from its opponents’ offensive techniques and alignments, the protection wasn’t all the time known as for. Nonetheless, it was clearly within the arsenal as just lately as this season. In a win towards Windfall within the Bahamas, the Hoosiers ran round like chickens with their heads minimize off, failing to speak and taking part in extremely confused because the Friars obtained up 30 seems to be from deep.
And it didn’t even take nail-slot-rim for Indiana’s protection to be vulnerable to 3-pointers. Shedding shooters in each half-court and in transition was all too frequent, with Indiana scrambling round in some video games or simply failing to get out on shooters in others. Permitting straight-line drives has been one other defensive problem, too.
Add all this up — the inefficient offensive selections, the odd selections on protection — and it’s no surprise the Hoosiers obtained crushed towards prime competitors on a number of events underneath Woody, one other truth Alex chronicled earlier this season. Certain, you may also level to preparation, not coming able to play, not preventing and scrapping and competing like your opponent is. However don’t low cost Indiana taking part in a unique recreation than its opponents. Different groups have been constructed to maximise effectivity. Indiana’s was not.
It wasn’t all dangerous. Indiana did make the match twice underneath Woodson. The Hoosiers completed second within the convention in 2022-23. They swept Purdue in Woody’s second season. Jackson-Davis, Ware and Jalen Hood-Schifino have been drafted into the NBA. Woodson by no means had a mass exodus of transfers by his prime gamers. Elite expertise was introduced in, even when it wasn’t maximized and match was a problem.
Past the on-court play, Woodson’s “true followers” feedback from final season’s Senior Day created a wedge between him and the fanbase he by no means actually recovered from, regardless of some retaining an open thoughts on this season. The repeated phrases in press conferences after losses additionally began sporting folks paper-thin.
Then add in what you began to listen to happening behind the scenes — chronicled by accounts from the Hoosiers Hysterics and a lot of columns from Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star just lately — and the muse turned much more unstable. To listen to all of them inform it, Woodson’s effort on the recruiting path for prime schoolers was poor and virtually non-existent in comparison with the grinding nature of his friends. A nickname emerged in these circles, “Bigfoot,” as a result of nobody ever noticed Woodson. Wine, cigars and golf took priority. Woodson didn’t hear and didn’t wish to change his methods. And the whispers of him being insulated from an ouster by long-standing relationships — one by the chair of Indiana’s board of trustees, one other by a key donor who doubled as a enterprise companion — appeared to ring true.
That’s, till final week.
With him receiving boos already from the Meeting Corridor trustworthy and lots extra house video games to return, Woodson had misplaced his political capital. Dolson wanted to get out forward of the choice to alleviate him of his duties, lest an already poisonous scenario worsen. The assertion launched was about harm management, concerning the “No. 1 precedence (being) for the eye to be off (Woodson), and as a substitute targeted on uniting Hoosier Nation in help of our student-athletes, coaches, and, most significantly, this system.”
It was a public relations transfer framed as Woodson’s choice to step apart at season’s finish, lest an Indiana legend get outright fired.
The enduring picture of the Woody period? His clean stare into the void on the sidelines, the Hoosiers once more getting crushed, Woodson nonetheless believing he may get the Hoosiers over the hump if he simply stored them working, if he may simply determine what was going improper.
For his sake, for everybody’s sake, it was time to maneuver on.
Filed to: Mike Woodson
