The objective of this season is simple: IU needs to get back in the NCAA Tournament.
Will it?
That might be the most difficult question facing this season. But it’s also the most important one.
After losing in the Sweet 16 to Syracuse in the 2012-13 season and missing the NCAA Tournament and the NIT with a talented 2013-14 roster, this could be a make or break season for IU.
So let’s take a look at some key questions.
Scoring
Breaking news here, but scoring helps you win basketball games. The Hoosiers last year had very limited options as far as scoring goes.
It was basically junior guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell and a bunch of guys who couldn’t shoot.
Noah Vonleh was great when he was able to get the ball, but defenses could help so much off of Will Sheehey, Evan Gordon, Troy Williams and Stan Robinson because they weren’t great shooters that their defenders would pack the paint, which left Vonleh with no room to operate.
IU will be better at scoring this year. Much better.
James Blackmon Jr. is a scoring machine. The Ferrell-Blackmon backcourt could be the best in the Big Ten.
Robinson and Williams are a year older. Their games should mature. Vonleh is gone, yes. But the additions of Nick Zeisloft, Max Hoetzel and Rob Johnson will also help the offense.
Defense
Once again, I don’t believe this will be an issue. A big issue, I should qualify.
Hanner Mosquera-Perea is listed at 6-foot-9, but with his athleticism and wingspan, he plays bigger than that.
He can be a viable, maybe even above average, rim ?protector.
But the Hoosiers could at times play a four-guard lineup to play with Mosquera-Perea. So naturally, you’d think this lack of size would leave them vulnerable in the post.
Oh, on the contrary.
Think about how few big men actually have refined post games with an arsenal of post moves. The Al Jefferson or Zach Randolph types just don’t exist very often.
There aren’t a lot of good post games in college basketball because such an emphasis has been placed on the big men spacing the floor being able to shoot from the outside.
A small number of big men actually have good post games. That number drops off even more severely when you look at guards.
Think about it, how many guards actually have a good post game? So if a smaller Hoosier defender is matched up against a slightly bigger player, it’s not like that player will be able to back them down and throw their post moves at them.
IU will have good perimeter defense.
Ferrell, Robinson and Johnson will be great defenders this year. Blackmon and Zeisloft don’t have the lateral quickness to keep up, but you can hide them on the other team’s least offensive threats.
Williams has the athleticism to do pretty much anything he wants to do on the court. He just needs to put it all together and work on his footwork and technique.
Long story short, when IU goes small this year, it won’t be as big of a deal as you might think defensively. It will be a good defensive team.
Chemistry
I like to think 50 percent of basketball success comes from talent, and the other 50 percent comes from team chemistry.
Last year IU had the talent, but the chemistry just wasn’t there. You could see it when they played together. Save for a few great games, such as against Ohio State and Iowa, they just didn’t click.
Will they click this year? I have no idea.
That’ll be the biggest question for this year’s team.
They have the talent. They just need to learn how to harness those talents into one cohesive unit instead of five talented guys playing basketball.
My predictions
This team goes 10-8 in the Big Ten and makes the NCAA Tournament.
I really am excited about the makeup of this year’s team. It’ll be a fun team to watch, and they’ll run a lot and score a lot.
Let’s just see if they learn to play together and actually reach their potential.
Nov. 14 vs. Mississippi Valley State W
Nov. 17 vs. Texas Southern W
Nov. 20 vs. SMU W
Nov. 22 vs. Lamar W
Nov. 24 vs. Eastern ?Washington W
Nov. 28 vs. UNC Greensboro W
Dec. 2 vs. Pittsburgh W
Dec. 6 vs. Savannah State W
Dec. 9 vs. Louisville ?(New York City) L
Dec. 13 vs. Grand Canyon L
Dec. 20 vs. Butler ?(Indianapolis) L
Dec. 22 vs. New Orleans W
Dec. 27 vs. Georgetown ?(New York City) L
Dec. 31 at Nebraska L
Jan. 5 at Michigan State L
Jan. 10 vs. Ohio State W
Jan. 13 vs. Penn State W
Jan. 18 at Illinois W
Jan. 22 vs. Maryland W
Jan. 25 at Ohio State L
Jan. 28 at Purdue L
Jan. 31 vs. Rutgers W
Feb. 3 at Wisconsin L
Feb. 8 vs. Michigan W
Feb. 11 at Maryland L
Feb. 15 vs. Minnesota L
Feb. 19 vs. Purdue W
Feb. 22 at Rutgers W
Feb. 25 at Northwestern W
March 3 vs. Iowa W
March 7 vs. Michigan State L
Overall record: 19-12
Conference record: 10-8
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