Three reasons I love Tijan Jobe

In a move weeks ago that hearkened back to the glory days of Ewe Blab, IU coach Tom Crean added a piece to the men’s basketball team the Hoosiers have not seen the likes of in many years. Realistically though, Tijan Jobe should probably count for a few pieces. \nJobe, all 7 feet and 255 pounds of him, comes to IU after a stop at Olney Central College in Illinois. His numbers are far from staggering: The big man from Gambia averaged just 4.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and a single block per game in his time at Olney. \nPerhaps haunted by the nightmare of watching Marco Killingsworth try in vain to play defense, some Hoosier fans have raised the question: What does this guy do for us if he can’t score or rebound prolifically? Won’t he just be a big, slow, walking first-half foul-out? But I see more than that, and here’s three reasons why:\n1. Jobe is a body the likes of which the Big Ten rarely sees. He isn’t Brian Butch or any of Butch’s clones at Wisconsin, no. He will not be asked – nor should he be asked – to carry any sort of offensive load. \nRather, he should and will be a space-filler, and a very good one. The man is positively gigantic, and driving the lane against him will be an enviable task for no one.\nSo what if he racks up fouls at a clip worthy of Mike Davis-era A.J. Ratliff? So what if he scores two points a game? Jobe fills a need in a rather large hole that the Hoosiers haven’t had in the time – albeit short – that I can remember watching them. \nNever discount the immense (no pun intended) value of a big body in the paint. \n2. There seems little doubt that IU will go next year as its young guards go. Nick Williams, Verdell Jones, Devan Dumes and even Matt Roth will be key to any success, and I mean any success, IU might find in late 2008 and early 2009.\nI confess I’ve never had the chance to see any of these young men play, but I can tell you Crean likes his guards to drive the paint, and why shouldn’t he? It’s an absolute necessity in an offense without a proven big man to get into the lane and collapse the perimeter defense, thus creating better outside looks. What’s more, it’s one of the easiest ways to get to the foul line – just ask Eric Gordon.\nBut you can’t drive the lane if there isn’t a presence in the lane already there in need of defensive respect. All due credit to Tom Pritchard – and we’ll come to him in a moment – he won’t command the same respect at 6-foot-8 that D.J. White could at 6-foot-9 without at least two years of development. \nHaving Jobe in the middle, while not creating many offensive options, does place a burden on any opposing defense. Simply put, he’s too huge to be ignored, because with his 7-foot-5 1/2 wingspan, he can dunk standing up. Defenses will have to leave at least one big body on Jobe even when a guard comes into the lane, because if they don’t, the Hoosiers will probably have the easiest two points in basketball history. \n3. Finally we come to Pritchard. I’m high on Tom Pritchard. He impressed me in the way he carried his high school team on his shoulders after the loss of their other star, Michigan State-bound Delvon Roe. I like his range, and I like what little I’ve heard from him about coming to IU after the debacle that was last season. \nHowever, I think we can all agree that Pritchard, only a three-star prospect coming to college, will need some development. Further, I believe it safe to say Pritchard’s 6-foot-8 frame makes him a natural power forward, not a center. \nHere’s where Jobe again proves his worth. Having a 7-foot, 255-pound center lets Pritchard develop at his natural position – power forward – and allows him to operate and grow into Crean’s system without being keyed on or doubled down as the Hoosiers only low-post presence. \nNothing scared me more for the future than the idea of Pritchard playing center, but it’s something he would have had to do had Jobe not brought his game to Bloomington. \nNow I will grant you that all of these positives are predicated on Jobe learning how to be effective, both offensively and defensively, without fouling. That is the key to this not-so-little experiment. If Crean can teach Tijan Jobe to play effectively within himself and avoid racking up silly, needless fouls, the big man can be a truly important member of this team. I still wouldn’t expect many points.