There are many ways to get embarrassed on a basketball court.
You could show up in expensive sneakers and get roasted over and over about how your kicks are much better than you are.
You could get blocked three times at once by three different players because you have no hops whatsoever and can barely get off the ground.
You could spill a Gatorade cooler on yourself before the game begins and have to change because it looks like you had an accident.
I know for a fact that all of these things are embarrassing because they all happened to me.
The basketball court is a brutal place where mayhem and sadness stealthily wait for you to screw up.
Houston Baptist’s Josh Ibarra had a humiliating day. Yes, his team lost. However, that’s not an unusual occurrence. What is unusual is getting a shot blocked off your head in front of an entire stadium.
I don’t know how you come back from that. I’d recommend a name change or maybe a few months abroad to take stock of what’s really important.
The shot-blocker in question is sophomore forward Juwan Morgan, who has been otherworldly during this cupcake schedule. He has 14 consecutively made buckets and double-digits in every game dating back to SIU-Edwardsville. Morgan has been a godsend this season, including during Saturday’s contest against Houston Baptist.
When asked about his first missed shot in the month of December, Morgan said he would usually make that shot and proceeded to describe the small errors that contributed to the disconnect.
“Oh, I just — probably looking at the film, my feet probably weren’t right,” he said. “My left right probably wasn’t as good as it could have been because usually I would have hit that.”
Even though Morgan won’t touch former Yale forward Brandon Sherrod’s Division I record of 30 shots in a row last season, Morgan now has the IU record for made buckets in a row with 14. It’s a relatively meaningless statistic, but it’s now Morgan’s relatively meaningless statistic.
With sophomore forward OG Anunoby’s high ankle sprain, Morgan has become a vital part of the Hoosiers’ game plan. His minutes have increased to at least 20 in every contest, and his significance has followed suit.
With a six-foot-eight frame, Morgan has the ability to work down low and play on the perimeter. A fake hand-off behind the three-point line to fellow big man junior Freddie McSwain led to an easy two-handed jam by the breakout star of this young season.
It’s this type of easy bucket that makes Morgan so dangerous for opponents. He has a plethora of moves and the height to make it look like he Space Jam Monstar talent-drained a skilled guard.
Morgan has carved himself out a nice role on the squad. When Anunoby returns, Morgan will probably be relegated to playing off of the bench.
But, Morgan has shown his worth as of late. Depth in the frontcourt is at a deficient in college basketball. To have Morgan and freshman De’Ron Davis backing up sophomore Thomas Bryant and Anunoby is a strength almost unheard of on this level.
IU is at its best when Morgan is embarrassing those on the opposing side. The positive for the Hoosiers is that this is happening more often than anyone could have possibly expected.
gigottfr@indiana.edu
@gott31
