[IUFR] Tony's Candid Analysis of Mike Woodson's Leadership of Indiana Basketball
Coach Adragna candidly discusses the issues he has with Mike Woodson's leadership and why he fears things may be too far gone for it to be remedied.
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Wednesday night’s game against Nebraska was a disaster for Indiana basketball.
I was as frustrated as I’ve been this season watching our Hoosiers lay an egg in the first half to a team that hadn’t won a Big Ten road game all season long.
Indiana valiantly battled back in the second half for a short spurt but ultimately lost another game by 15+ points, a recurring theme in the Mike Woodson era.
Then came the press conference.
I get it: we shouldn’t dissect every word from public pressers. But Mike Woodson gave the same company lines he has for the past month or more.
“We’re young.”
“We didn’t hit free throws.”
“We battled in spurts.”
Never in his public comments has he just said, “This season has been a failure. It is unacceptable and I am going to fight like hell this offseason to right my wrongs.”
It sounds so simple. If he would just say anything even remotely close to that, I think I’d be more on board with him returning for a fourth season.
But the lack of accountability has me questioning if he sees the macro issues with this program … which in turn has me questioning if he should even be brought back to fix them.
As Jerod said in his postgame chat thread:
“I'm not sure how we fix what the coach doesn't think is broken.”
So with my apologies for the visual subject matter of this film room — just my mug for six minutes — here is a candid assessment of Mike Woodson’s leadership as the men’s basketball coach at Indiana University.
And if you think my tone has turned more pessimistic since even just a few days ago when I wrote about the pluses and minuses of Woody’s time at IU, you’d be correct. As well it should!
Double-digit losses by the home team at Assembly Hall should make all IU fans pause and ask what the hell is going on … and Indiana has now lost four of its last five home games, with an average margin of defeat of 13.5 points.
So pause with me and let’s asses what the hell is going on with Mike Woodson and Indiana basketball.
Now over to you:
What are your overall thoughts on the job Mike Woodson has done at Indiana?
Do you believe Mike Woodson get this train back on the tracks — if not this season, then in the future?
What would you need to see down the stretch this season to believe in Mike Woodson’s ability to right the ship in Year 4?
Until next time,
Coach Adragna
Founder, IU Film Room
Absolutely agree. Like you alluded to, it’s not that we’re losing, it’s how we’re losing and the total lack of either accountability or basic understanding as to what our issues are. Like everyone else, what evidence do we have to go off of that would indicate the staff have a grasp on the issues, let alone a plan to address them. If you don’t recognize you’re sick, you’re not going to seek any treatments. To me, Coach comes off as tired and overwhelmed, and is masking it all with canned answers and excuses. We need to turn the page
Well said, Tony. Given Woodson's actions and words, I just have no confidence that he understands or acknowledges the problems with this team or knows how to fix them. Yes, it's only one bad season, but I have trouble seeing how this is going to get better anytime soon. Feels like most of the fanbase is in the same place.