Indiana Basketball: Don't Throw in the Towel Yet; Hoosiers Will Be Fine

The Indiana Hoosiers have certainly digressed the last couple of weeks. There is no secret about that.

The reasoning behind the recent collapse and two-game skid is all a lack of effort on the defensive end, and the poor play of starters Christian Watford and Verdell Jones III.

The defense in non-conference games only gave up 58 points per game. I know most of you would say, "Well, they didn't play anybody." I'll fire back, "You're dead wrong," and make sure you save your breath. Kentucky, Notre Dame, NC State and Butler are certainly somebodies.

In Big Ten play, Indiana has forgotten how to defend, especially in the last three games. There's no reason why Penn State and Minnesota should get over 60 points in a ball game. Against Indiana they scored 82 and 77 respectively.

The Hoosiers looked like they got too full of themselves, like they didn't think they needed to defend with pressure and play team defense. The last three opponents have made open shots and penetrated to the lane with ease.

If anything, the defenders became matadors and spectators.

The last three opponents of Penn State, Minnesota, and Ohio State have shot an average of 48.8 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from behind the arc.

That's way too high.

If you look at the last two games, the opponents have shot 50 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the arc. Combat that with the lack of shooting from Indiana's stars, and you're going to lose every time.

Indiana as a team has shot a reasonable 45 percent from the field the last three games and 42 percent from threes. If you take out the Penn State, game where Jordan Hulls and Matt Roth single-handedly led the Hoosiers, Indiana is only 43 percent from the field and a dismal 28 percent from behind the arc.

The key to the bad shooting is the inability of Christian Watford to score.

Watford is a very athletic power forward and is a huge matchup problem for defenders. His 6'9" frame gives him a height advantage, so teams must play a less athletic big man on him. Watford is smart enough to bring his defender out of the lane and use his athleticism to dribble drive and find open shots over them.

There's literally no one in the Big Ten that's good enough to guard Watford when he decides he wants to play.

Lately, though, Watford has struggled to shoot, and it's allowing defenses to put pressure on other Indiana players. Instead of teams helping on Watford, they're allowing one guy to guard him and put pressure on Cody Zeller and the three point attack from the guards.

Watford and Verdell Jones III are a combined 11 for 46 from the field the last three games including 6 for 19 from behind the arc. That's terrible.

Eventually, their shots will begin to fall again, and that will change the whole dynamic of this Hoosiers offense.

Once their shots fall and Indiana becomes hard to guard again, then that puts a lot of pressure on the other teams to try and outscore them. When the Hoosiers struggle to shoot, opponents can take their time and get good looks at the basket.

But when you don't guard them, and shoot poorly, you really give yourself no hope.

I think Indiana will turn this around as early as this week. They play the bottom feeders of the Big Ten in Nebraska and Penn State this week. There's really no excuse to lose either of those games.

Once you get back to winning, your confidence comes back up. I think Indiana can give Wisconsin a run for their money next Thursday night with the Badgers struggling this year. After that they get a home game with Iowa that should be a win, then travel to Michigan and Purdue.

Those two against Michigan and Purdue can be tough, but after that the schedule favors Indiana. Illinois, Northwestern, and North Carolina Central travel to Bloomington, and the Hoosiers travel to Iowa City sandwiched in the middle of there. I don't see a loss in any of those games, then Indiana gets their revenge against Minnesota and Michigan State after that.

I think if Indiana gets back on a roll and figures out to defend like they have, then they may only lose a total of two or three games the rest of the season.

Indiana's season just rides on the ability of Tom Crean to motivate this team to defend and get their shots to fall. If so, they will be okay.

If not, then it will be like the last few years, and this collapse will continue. It's that simple.