When senior guard Nick Zeisloft first transferred to IU two summers ago, his defense needed improvement.
But even IU Coach Tom Crean hasn’t expected this. After sophomore guard Robert Johnson went out with a nagging ankle injury, Zeisloft became a starter and was forced to defend a variety of perimeter players.
Zeisloft has answered the challenge in every way.
With Johnson questionable for IU’s Sweet 16 game against North Carolina on Friday, he may need to do it again.
“We wouldn’t have taken him if we didn’t think there was an upside to his defense, and I think it’s gotten even better than I could have imagined,” Crean said this weekend.
In IU’s win against Kentucky last Saturday, Zeisloft was one of the players who spent time guarding Jamal Murray, an offensive threat widely regarded as a top-10 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.
Murray struggled most of the game from the field, in part because of Zeisloft.
“He watches his own film and he talks the game but he’s getting more athletic,” Crean said. “I think that’s one of the great things about the development of our guys and what we’re doing at Indiana is that they keep getting stronger and more athletic during the year.”
This is really the main difference, Crean said last weekend.
Zeisloft is watching more film than he used to.
He is even requesting to watch his own film after a long film session with the rest of the team.
He’s spending more time practicing defending 1-on-1 with guard Josh Newkirk.
The Pittsburgh transfer is sitting out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA rules regarding transfers.
“He and Josh have been going at it and Josh isn’t exactly the slowest person on the perimeter, so it’s nice for him to be going against some speed and quickness,” senior forward Max Bielfeldt said.
But it all comes down to Zeisloft improving in his physical game.
The improvement also includes other parts of his game like driving to the basket and getting more defenders to bite on his shot fake.
And with Zeisloft’s improved athleticism seems to come improved confidence.
Not only can Zeisloft defend these type of players 1-on-1, but he believes he can defend these types of players.
“I think he’s gained confidence and he knows the matchups he has are absolutely crucial,” Crean said. “At the same time it’s not as much the matchup as it is just being in position to switch help, guard the man, block out and do those type of things.”
Those other things are important.
Zeisloft is now able to sag off his man to help defend opposing players and help out with IU’s team defense.
Crean said it’s that team defense that really helped put Zeisloft over the top defensively.
He had become more athletic, and he thought he could defend those players 1-on-1.
But it was when he heard his teammates and knew he could be aggressive defensively that he really made the switch to a player the Hoosiers could count on.
“I think again he’s a product of connected defense,” Crean said. “When there’s good help behind and guys are talking I think that gives him even more courage to be the defender he needs to be.”
The defender Zeisloft needs to be is a defender capable of holding his own against some of the best perimeter players in the country, like Murray.
In a way, Zeisloft saw the challenge of becoming a reliable defender and took it. His mentality toward defense shifted.
“He’s just wanting to go out there and get a stop and when he has that mentality he can be a great defender,” senior guard Yogi Ferrell said.