IU has no time for sophomore slumps

Tom Pritchard started every game last season. Verdell Jones averaged 15.5 points in the team’s last 10 games. And in one game in particular, Matt Roth dropped 29 points on Ohio State in just 27 minutes.

“One thing that Coach (Tom Crean) said last year was freshmen halfway through the season were already sophomores, since we were already playing so much and we had to take big roles,” Pritchard said.

In 31 games last season, the five freshmen from Crean’s 2008 recruiting class accounted for 60 percent of the team’s total minutes played and 68 percent of the Hoosiers’ scoring. Following the season, however, Nick Williams and Malik Story opted to transfer.

But IU returns its leading scorer in senior Devan Dumes, and former Georgetown transfer Jeremiah Rivers is now eligible. Crean also brought in a talented group of freshmen.

The addition of Rivers and the six freshmen make this team significantly better, and naturally, most of the hype in the offseason was about those seven players.

In that regard, there isn’t as much pressure on Jones, Pritchard and Roth as one might expect. Yet playing on what is still one of Division I basketball’s youngest teams, none of those three can afford a sophomore slump.

In fact, with just a few returning upperclassmen, the play of this sophomore trio is crucial to IU’s success this year. 

Here’s a look at what Jones, Pritchard and Roth will bring to the court:
 
Verdell Jones
Of all the sophomores, Jones had the biggest season in 2008-09.

He filled the stat sheet with 18 points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals and three blocks in his first regular-season career game, and he finished the year with 11.0 points, 3.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game.

Perhaps more significant, the lanky guard averaged 15.5 points on a 51.5 percent shooting clip during the last 10 games and scored 23 in each of the last two contests.

“He improved in a big way,” Crean said. “When you’re going through a season like we had last year, to improve like that, to have numbers like that, from Feb. 1 on, that’s a big deal.”

In addition to his stellar shooting, Jones was also 10th in the Big Ten in assists and was very aggressive with the ball, getting to the foul line more than any other Hoosier except for Pritchard.

Yet Jones’ aggression also led to many mistakes. Despite 100 assists, his team-high 99 turnovers came at a rate of 3.5 per game. 

While he admitted he prefers the point and two guard positions, Jones could see significant minutes at the wing. No matter where he plays, however, he will benefit from the depth at the guard position, especially with Rivers joining him in the backcourt.

“I’ll be able to take pressure off of him, and he’ll be able to go out there and do his thing out there,” Rivers said.

At a preseason press conference, Crean said Jones has significantly improved since last season, and part of that relates to his added strength. The skinny Jones has gained more than 20 pounds during his time at IU. 

Rivers even likened Jones’ frame to that of eight-year NBA veteran Tayshaun Prince.
“You can’t tell me that guy’s not strong,” Rivers said of Prince. “I think that’s the type of body Verdell has. “He might not appearance-wise, look like he put on 30, 40 pounds like we wanted him to, but when he’s got you on the post you’re going to feel it.”
Keys for Jones: Being smart with the ball, not forcing too many shots, finding a way to effectively play off the ball.

Tom Pritchard
Not only was Pritchard the only Hoosier to start in all 31 games last year, he also became the first freshman in IU history to record double-doubles in the first two regular season games of his career.

Pritchard handled his role well last year as the big bruiser down in the post, despite only being a freshman with hardly a supporting cast to help lighten the load.

Overall his numbers were solid – 9.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, the latter ranking eighth in the conference – but he wore down as the season progressed.

Despite recording 10 or more points 13 times in the first 18 games of the year, he hit double figures just twice in the last 13 games. Meanwhile, he was held to five rebounds or fewer in 13 of the 18 Big Ten games. 

Still, if there was one player hit the hardest by lack of depth and size on the team, it was him. 

“Last year it was just me and Tijan (Jobe) fighting down there,” Pritchard said.

But among the six freshmen, three are 6-foot-9 forwards and one is a 6-foot-11 center. Add in an improved Jobe, as well as the help of assistant coach Roshown McLeod in practice, and Pritchard’s job is significantly easier. 

“With our new offense, he’s getting a lot of dump downs, he’s dunking, and I think he’s getting his points a lot easier (in practice) than last year,” Jones said of Pritchard. 

Pritchard has also improved his mid-range jump shot, but Crean said the sophomore is not getting as many opportunities to score. But he has been “more efficient when he gets the ball,” Crean said.

The big man’s conditioning is also “the best it’s been in my whole life,” he said, while Pritchard has added some muscle and should be able to move bigger guys around.

“I’ve been able to do things that I wasn’t able to do last year,” Pritchard said. “Being 6’8”, there’s a lot of 7-footers out there, a lot of bigger guys, and I’ve got to use my lower body and get them out of the way.”

Keys for Pritchard: Staying strong the entire year, staying out of foul trouble, improving free throw percentage.
 
Matt Roth  
While Pritchard and Jones started a combined 56 games last year – and will likely start this year – Roth played just 21 minutes per game and started just seven times a year ago.

His role still remains a bit unseen, as the depth at the guard position does not guarantee him any playing time. But this is the guy who scored 7.8 points per game in Big Ten play last year, including a 29-point outburst versus Ohio State in which he hit 9 of 11 3-pointers.

Roth hit 37 percent of his threes in 2008-09, but he was often a liability and struggled defensively. He has become stronger and quicker, he said, and he has been taking steps to expand his game.

“Matt’s trying to do more than just shoot threes,” Crean said. “We’re actually trying to get him to move his range in, so that he has a quicker release and at points in time can break you down off a shot fake. He’s trying to get to the offensive boards.”

Last season, just 21 of Roth’s 153 field goal attempts came from inside the arc. He also shot a team-high 80 percent from the free-throw line, but on only 25 attempts. 

Bringing in his range will certainly help him get to the foul line, while it should make him an even greater 3-point threat than before.

With a number of scoring threats at the guard position, as well as versatile forwards in freshmen Christian Watford, Derek Elston and Bobby Capobianco, it will be harder for opposing defenses to key on Roth as they once did.

“If those guys get in the lane and people have to collapse on him, Matt Roth is always out there for the open shot,” Pritchard said. “His shot is looking better than ever. He’s been knocking down things in practice, and especially in that Hoosier Hysteria 3-point contest, he was really hitting those shots.”

While Roth said he needs to do “all the little things” – grab rebounds and loose balls and take charges – he knows his greatest weapon is still his outside shot. 

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I did last year, keep shooting the ball, keep making shots,” he said. “That’s something that the coaches look for me to do, and that’s what my teammates expect me to do.”

Keys for Roth: Utilizing other players to get open, getting to the free throw line, becoming more versatile by stepping inside the arc.