Let’s talk about expectations. Expectations change the way we value success. The No. 1 team and the No. 68 team have very different opinions about getting knocked out in the Sweet 16.
So what, exactly, are the expectations for IU this season? A No. 15 ranking in both the AP and Coaches Polls marks where people believe the Hoosiers stand currently. The question becomes how far the team must go to keep themselves and the IU faithful happy.
Senior point guard Yogi Ferrell likely sits and thinks about how this season should go more than anybody else on the team. He has been a part of a team that was preseason No. 1 and has been a part of a team that didn’t even make the NIT.
Ferrell said he wants a Big Ten title and to make a deep NCAA Tournament run from there.
I’d agree with the Big Ten title. You would imagine that is the goal for a Hoosier squad that most have as the second or third best team in the conference. That would be a huge success.
How deep of a run in the NCAA Tournament are people expecting?
The strength of IU last season was a mostly young and exciting backcourt that could run the floor and shoot the lights out. That whole crew of Ferrell, sophomore guards James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson and senior guard Nick Zeisloft returns.
The weaknesses of turnovers and defense should be alleviated to some extent by a second year playing together as a backcourt.
Size — and more importantly quality size — was the biggest issue for IU down low last season. Adding freshman center Thomas Bryant is the obvious fix, and he looks very impressive.
The move makes IU more well-rounded, but that still doesn’t quite answer how good they will be.
Regardless of what we decide those expectations are, I asked IU Coach Tom Crean about another season in which expectations were the highest they can be — the 2012-13 season in which IU was preseason No. 1.
He talked about needing guys who can score and also play lockdown defense. He talked about the chemistry that team possessed.
However, Crean said he didn’t believe he necessarily learned anything about how to handle expectations. He coached nine years at Marquette prior to coming to Bloomington and took the Golden Eagles to the Final Four. What he thinks he learned is simple.
“What wins is what wins everywhere,” Crean said.
Here are those things he believes leads to winning: communication, commitment to defense, poise under pressure, making big plays in big moments and — maybe most importantly — keeping guys in line.
“And that is the hardest thing, by far, to do,” Crean said. “And I’ve learned about that.”
Many of those “bad eggs” are gone. The personnel weaknesses have been addressed. What comes next is improving with the capable foundation that is in place.
That may be the thing. The pieces are there, and the x’s and o’s are really starting to come in place to work, but that says nothing about where the team goes from there. It is still a pretty young team.
Aside from Ferrell and junior forward Troy Williams, most of the real x-factors are freshmen and sophomores.
Crean said he has a notebook of things he knows the team needs to get better at. What I would do to see that notebook.
I would imagine it contains things like team defense, controlling the ball when playing at a high tempo and protecting the paint.
That notebook could be what says everything this season. What is in that notebook and how well are those topics addressed?
“We have a long way to go,” Crean said. “The more that they understand that, the better we’ll get.”
So back to those expectations. I still don’t quite know what those are. This is a team that could absolutely find itself gelling and fighting for a national title, but who knows how likely that really is.
As your columnist, I’ll give you some expectations — staying out of trouble and not losing any gimme games.
brodmill@indiana.edu
