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Season on the Blink? Indiana Hoosiers’ Poor Play Could Cost Them a Ticket to the Dance

By Hashim R. Hathaway

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With last night’s loss to Northwestern, and inconsistent play, the Indiana Hoosiers are in danger of having their NCAA Tournament bubble burst.

At some point during Indiana‘s 65-72 loss to Northwestern, one of the top five national trends on Twitter happened to be #FireTomCrean. While that may not be particularly surprising during what could best be considered an embarrassing loss, it’s also served an overarching theme for the past couple seasons among Hoosier fans.

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That said, what should make such an outburst concerning is that not more than a month ago, after beating #14 Maryland by a commanding 19 points in Assembly Hall, many in sports media (particularly Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde) loudly opined that Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean should be in the running for Coach of the Year honors in the Big Ten.

Since the Jan. 23 win over the Terrapins, the Hoosiers are 4-6 with two games left to go in the Big Ten season at home against Iowa and Michigan State. The Spartans are enjoying a four-game win streak, and the Hawkeyes just won their third in a row against Illinois. Even at home, the Hoosiers are vulnerable.

Now at 9-7 in the Big Ten, Indiana sits in sixth place; with an overall record of 19-10, without at least one more win, they are in serious danger of not making the NCAA tournament.

While it’s easy to lay the blame at Crean’s feet, and to some extent it is, a significant amount of responsibility for the lackluster performance as of late must be laid squarely at the feet of the Hoosiers themselves. Crean had nothing to do with Indiana shooting a dismal 44 percent from the free throw line last night. Crean had nothing to do with team leaders Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon, Jr. combining for five of 19 from the field totaling 17 points. One can even say that Crean had nothing to do with the team’s inability to perform any sort of a defensive scheme to success, allowing Northwestern to shoot 50 percent.

But it isn’t just an issue contained to last night. The problems have been a trend.

Since Jan. 25, Indiana is giving up an average of 46.2 points over the last 11 games. In the last five games, Blackmon, Jr. is shooting 38 percent; before that, he was shooting somewhere around 44 percent. As a freshman, spotty play can be forgiven, but usually poor play begins at the start of the season, for Blackmon, he’s showing off his worst at the worst possible time.

If Indiana is shooting well, the defensive woes can be overlooked, but when the shots aren’t sinking and the free throws are being missed, the defense, or lack thereof, sticks out like a sore thumb, and alarm bells are now ringing.

In all honesty, now is not the time to pass final judgment on the Hoosiers or Tom Crean, however, water finds its level, and a team that was predicted to be mediocre at the beginning of the season is looking to be exactly that. It’s difficult to think that Indiana, given their recent erratic play, can muster enough to do what’s necessary to surpass expectations in a way that fans certainly hope for.

Make no mistake, the Hoosiers are still firmly in control of their own destiny, but they are a program in freefall. A win against either of their remaining games, or a win against both has Indiana in the tournament, likely as a eight or nine seed. From there, anything can happen. However, if they can’t get it done it’s hard not to think that Tom Crean’s race could finally be run in Bloomington; from there, an entirely new battle for the soul of Indiana Basketball will begin.

Next: Atlantic-10: Who Has The Inside Track For A Tournament Bid?

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