Indiana basketball has faced its fair share of obstacles and struggles this season, from losing streaks to losing players to injuries to not being able to close out close games. It all seemed to start when the Hoosiers lost leading scorer Malik Reneau against Rutgers to a knee injury. The Hoosiers were able to find a way to win some games without him, but it reached a point where the offense just wasn't getting it done.
Reneau, before he was injured, was averaging 15.0 points per game and 26.3 minutes per game on the court. Since coming back from his knee injury, Reneau has averaged just five points per game and 14.3 minutes per game on the court.
The loss of Reneau seemed like it was going to be detrimental to the Hoosiers, but it forced other players to step up, like Mackenzie Mgbako, Myles Rice, and Oumar Ballo, who is the new leading scorer on the team with 14.5 points per game. They found a way to win some games using small ball, just feeding Ballo in the paint, or setting up Rice and Mgbako with big shots outside.
There were some games in there where it definitely didn't work, like against Iowa and Illinois, the biggest losses of the season for Indiana. However, against Penn State, USC, and Rutgers, it worked pretty well.
Since his return to the court, however, Reneau has not had the impact he used to, which was expected, but not to this degree. Reneau only played 11 minutes in his first game back against Northwestern, which again was expected, but he scored just 2 points off of free throws and went 0-6 from the floor. He picked it up against Maryland with 24 minutes on the court, going 5-14 from the floor and scoring 10 minutes, but against Purdue, he was only on the court for eight minutes, scoring three points and having three of Indiana's 20 turnovers.
Reneau is a great player; there is no question about that, but he seems to be a bit of a hindrance on the court as of late than helping. He was put in the starting lineup against Maryland and Purdue, but it just seems like his knee isn't fully there yet, and his shot has definitely fallen away since his time off the court. Reneau has a unique ability to get to the basket and finish, and that has yet to be seen as much since coming back from injury.
Right now, instead of forcing Reneau back into the lineup, leave him on the bench for a bit and bring him in slowly to get him acclimated back in. Ballo, Rice, and Mgbako have been keeping this offense running as of late with the help of Luke Goode, Anthony Leal, and Trey Galloway. Don't force something that isn't working, Woodson.