Todd’s Opinion: Football at a “Basketball” School Should Make Indiana Fans Happy

Writing a Thanksgiving essay on how the Indiana football team has given Hoosiers supporters something for which they have never been grateful was something I had in mind. Given that the Hoosiers are 10-1, you would think it would be easy, but I had trouble deciding how to proceed today.

I attempted to write a column twice, but neither of them succeeded. I had to put it on hold for a while.

At Hoosiers On SI, we’ve split the work between basketball and football this week due to Indiana athletics’ hectic week of important events. As usual, Jack Ankony is performing admirably while covering basketball at Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

With the Hoosiers on the verge of the College Football Playoffs, I have football responsibilities during Old Oaken Bucket game week. Even though I’ve been obsessed with football this week, I’m still keeping up with basketball. I decided to put the column aside at 2:30 p.m. when I watched No. 14 Indiana play No. 3 Gonzaga in the Battle 4 Atlantis consolation quarterfinal.

Inspiration can often come to you in the most peculiar and bittersweet ways.

I assumed Indiana’s basketball team wouldn’t perform as badly as it did in Wednesday’s 89-73 opening loss to Louisville.

The Gonzaga game wasn’t as terrible by the score. The Bulldogs defeated Gonzaga 89-73, defeating the Hoosiers by just 16 points. Hello! That is an improvement of 12 points over Wednesday! I’m grateful for gallows humour on Thanksgiving.

Naturally, Indiana’s journey to the islands has been a complete failure. Due to their sluggish schedule, Indiana had to put all of the pressure on themselves to improve their resumes in just three games.

In an odd turn of events, Gonzaga also lost their Battle 4 Atlantis opener, so Indiana kind of got what they wanted. But simply being a part of strong teams is insufficient. Additionally, a purportedly better Indiana had to prevail. The Hoosiers, of course, fell far short.

Sometimes clarity can be found in the world’s opposites. The Hoosiers’ incredible football season was brought home to me as I saw basketball struggle.

Mike Woodson, the coach of Indiana, stated that his squad is “not connected defensively” following the Gonzaga game. Woodson’s statement that Indiana is “a new team that’s got seven new players that we’re still trying to work things out” was also encouraging. Football was able to be outstanding right out of the box with 27 new players, which makes you grateful.

In Battle 4 Atlantis, Indiana’s basketball defence has performed appallingly. Louisville’s shot conversion rate was 56.9%. Despite Gonzaga’s 48.4% shooting percentage, the Bulldogs easily defeated the Hoosiers with 57 points in the first half.

“Going down here to The Bahamas, I felt like we were on point defensively. Woodson remarked, “I believed that our defence was where we wanted it to be.” Our perimeter play has been exposed over the past two games, and I need to address that. Guys need to sit down and stop making mistakes with our defensive coverages.

You are grateful for Curt Cignetti’s instillation of a never-satisfied mindset in his Hoosiers. Cignetti never once showed signs of satisfaction, even when Indiana’s football team was defeating Western Illinois by 74 points or Charlotte by 38 points. That group is always expanding.

Getting down the floor in transition early in the game against a slow-reacting Indiana defence was one of Gonzaga’s strong points. Additionally, the Bulldogs were adept in drawing Indiana players away from the hoop, which gave cutters open scoring opportunities. The Hoosiers have a lot of issues with communication and execution.

Our faith in one another is largely responsible for it. having faith in our rotations and staying in the areas where we have played in order to escape and preserve the paint. The past two games, we’ve performed horribly in that area,” Woodson remarked. From the first game of the 2024 season, Indiana’s football squad was able to establish a defensive connection.