Column: Defining 3-0

Perfect. Undefeated. Dominant.

All three words describe the Hoosiers up to this point in the season, but how much weight do those labels actually carry?

Last year, IU Coach Tom Crean and his staff designed a schedule that would help a growing squad learn to win. This included nine lightweight opponents that had the privilege of getting spanked by the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall.

Entering Big Ten play, the Hoosiers were 9-0 at home and 0-4 on the road.

At the time, I understood the psychological strategy behind the schedule. Take a team that had compiled a record of 16-46 in the past two seasons and boost their confidence by way of cupcake opponents like Northwestern State and South Carolina State.

Well, turns out the “learning to win” part of the plan didn’t stick, with IU finishing 3-15 against a loaded Big Ten conference en route to a 12-20 season.

Once again, IU fans find themselves trying to keep expectations in check for a team that has plowed through early opposition. Statistically, this season and the previous one are not that different. The Hoosiers have won their first three non-exhibition games by an average of 25.3 points, whereas that mark was at 22.6 after three games last year.

So, why is this trio of victories different? Has the performance of this group of
Hoosiers warranted renewed hope of watching Selection Sunday with purpose for the first time in four years?

The pessimist says no. Regardless of a particular standout player or decent conference finish last season, non-BCS opponents such as Stony Brook and Chattanooga are useless measuring sticks for a team’s performance.

The Evansville game was equally meaningless. The Purple Aces had defeated a down Butler team at the mercy of poor officiating and without two bench players who would have added depth in the overtime loss. Yes, the Hoosiers picked up a win on Evansville’s floor — a floor that was surrounded by a half-crimson crowd that hardly made a sound.

The optimist sees things differently. You have to learn to tread water before swimming, and the Hoosiers’ true road victory Wednesday was their first since January 2010 and is a step to winning consistently away from Bloomington. The 51-27 halftime lead in that game was the largest since 2000.

And it’s not just IU fans who have taken notice of the added talent and depth on this year’s team, as experts across the country project the Hoosiers finishing in the middle of the Big Ten.

Against Evansville, I saw Indiana play the best basketball it ever has under Crean.
I could blather on and on about several aspects of IU’s game that I found impressive throughout the past week, like shutting down its opponent’s leading scorer, never letting up after a big lead or playing an effective up-tempo game.

But I think my biggest takeaway point from the Hoosiers’ first three games, and the factor that will help decide whether they play into March, is team play. Against Evansville, five players scored in double figures, nobody attempted more than eight shots and 24 of 33 baskets came off an assist.

That cohesion, on both sides of the ball, is not something dictated by the opposing team. Creating opportunities for teammates, finding the open man and making that extra pass are things IU can execute, regardless if it is playing Savannah State or Michigan State.

These lopsided victories are no reason to reserve tickets for the Final Four in New Orleans. But what fans can take away from the Hoosiers’ 3-0 start is the potential to surprise some people when conference play begins.

That is when superlatives like “dominant” begin to have more meaning.