It was a brutal week for the Indiana basketball program, and that might be the nicest way to describe it. Losses to two highly-ranked teams are somewhat understandable. Everything that has gone with it? Not so much.
Here's the painful recap of the last week:
•21-point loss at home to rival Purdue
•12-point loss at Wisconsin despite shooting 54/43/81 for the game
•Two more flagrant fouls and another ejection
•An injury to Kel'el Ware
•Don Fischer "embarrassed for the program."
And the cherry on top:
•Tamar Bates dropping 36 points and averaging 48% from 3 for the season at Missouri.
Thankfully, the Hoosiers have eight days in between games. They won't play again until Saturday at Illinois, and this program badly needed this time off. This will hopefully give them a chance to heal some injuries, and work on the "disconnection" that sophomore Malik Reneau described after the Wisconsin loss.
"We got a long way to go man, we really do as a ball club," said Mike Woodson on Friday night. "I gotta go back and get this fixed." Woodson also said he's still "learning his team," and again repeated how many new players Indiana has. Friendly reminder: It's late January. This team is running out of time to learn each other. And plenty of other programs are doing just fine with the same amount of roster turnover. The Hoosiers will need to adapt, or get left behind.
Looking ahead, Saturday's game in Champaign will give Indiana another opportunity to get things turned around. They need multiple "Quad-One" wins, and are still looking for their first in that category. The Illini have games on Sunday and also Wednesday at Northwestern, while the Hoosiers can prepare all week at practice. Indiana then gets two winnable games at home after the date with Illinois, bringing even more importance to Saturday's game. If they can't play with a sense of urgency after a week of preparation, the hopes for significance this season will continue to dwindle.
An unexpected win is also desperately needed for these players, this coaching staff, and this fan base. Mike Woodson teams have shown the ability to get hot later in the season, which can still give the optimistic fans a glimmer of hope. For that to happen, however, it's fair to ask where the leadership is going to come from. The Hoosiers lead the nation in Flagrant fouls. They've had ejections in two of the last three games. They've only won one game away from Assembly Hall. And five of their seven losses have been of the blowout variety.
This team has to use this week to their advantage in more ways than one. They need to re-focus. They need to connect. They need to heal. They need some players to step up and lead. They need the coaching staff to figure out what adjustments are needed, and how to motivate this group. They need a lot of things, and they need them now.
Last week was a punch to the gut. It's time for this team to punch back.
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