Cork’s thoughts on IU’s week

Indiana University’s (IU) mens’s basketball team just wrapped up a two game week yesterday with a win at home in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (SSAH) against Nebraska in the Big 10 Conference (B10) opener for both teams. The win gave IU a split of the two games following Tuesday’s loss in the ACC/B10 Challenge on the road in the Carrier Dome to the Syracuse Orange.

Tuesday night’s game against the Orange was a roller coaster to say the least. It saw the Hoosiers dig themselves a huge hole early on and fall behind by 18pts. They then came storming back and actually took the lead, only to then fall in in double overtime. And not to take anything away from Syracuse, but when I say the Hoosiers dug themselves a huge hole I’m just telling it like I saw it. While the Orange did come out aggressive, as you would expect from the home team, it was more IU’s own ineptness on both ends of the floor that was the cause of the early deficit that continued to grow during the first half.

Slow starts due to missing shots happen sometimes. In Tuesday’s loss, while less than stellar shooting early on contributed to the large first half deficit, the turnovers, most of them unforced, really compounded the problem. For as good as IU has looked at times this year, they looked equally as bad, if not worse, in the first half of this game. Indiana’s defense, the one area that has shown the most promise from a consistency standpoint, also seemed a step or two slow compared to earlier games.

I know there is almost an aura of mystique around Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s famed zone defense, but having watched them play a few times this season prior to Tuesday’s game I feel comfortable saying that this is not one of his better defensive teams. Sure, it’s a different look and approach than most teams see even semi-regularly, but they don’t have near the athleticism and length that most of his best defensive units have had. So from a boxscore perspective one might think that it is a great defensive unit based on the 26 turnovers that IU had, but anyone with half a brain and that watched the game know this was more of IU’s doing than the Orange.

Either way, new IU head coach Mike Woodson made some adjustments at halftime. The turnovers went down, the shooting and the defense picked up, and the Hoosiers were right back in the ballgame and went toe to toe with them for the rest of the game. Both teams had their chances to win it only to falter until Syracuse finally took advantage of their last chance.

The fact that IU made some adjustments at half time, coupled with the fact that they showed some toughness and fight in battling back to give themselves a chance to wins are a few examples of positives that they can take away from the game and build on. The lackluster effort and the turnovers early in the game will need to be addressed and addressed pretty quickly or IU will dig themselves into a hole they can’t get out of. The B10 is just too competitive from top to bottom that there is so little room for errors like giving possessions away with unforced turnovers, and not digging in on the defensive end to help fight through slow shooting starts to games.

On Saturday the Hoosiers welcomed the Nebraska Cornhuskers into SSAH for an early season conference game. A lot of my, and many other Hoosier fans focus was on how would they start the game. While it wasn’t as bad as Tuesday nights start, it still wasn’t good. Cold shooting mixed in between…yep, you guessed it, turnovers…once again saw IU playing from behind. It was 16-6 Nebraska when some substitutions were made and the 2nd unit turned up the pressure on both ends of the floor and quickly got back into the game. From there they seized control and steadily built the lead.

It’s obvious to me that when IU is locked in on defense and is challenging shots, pressuring the ball, and communicating EVERYTHING becomes easier for them. They take better care of the ball, they get better spacing, they make the extra pass, and the shots aren’t rushed and they start to fall. Which is why I feel that while all aspects of their slow starts need to be addressed, defensively it where it all begins. If they can somehow learn to come out of the gate with at the defensive aggressiveness that they seem to find inside of the game, the other end will come more naturally.

The have the depth to have the next man up mentality. They seem to get a spark and positive contributions from someone different each game, which is a huge asset. But if they ever learn to start games the same way they finish them, while still getting those positive contributions from what some would consider unlikely sources, IU will be a tough game for any opponent.

Anthony Leal, Tamar Bates, Rob Phinisee, Michael Durr and Jordan Geronimo turned the tide yesterday. Led by Leal being active and pinpoint passing as well as burying a 3, and then freshman Tamar Bates showing glimpses of why he was a 5* recruit, the Hoosiers took control and set the table for what was to come when the starters came back in the game. From that point on play on both ends of the floor picked up and the Hoosiers pulled away.

IU has a lot of new faces, from coaches to players, as well as a new system, so a little up and down play on the offensive end can be expected at times, which is all the more reason to hang their hat on having a defensive identity. Because offensively it’s coming. Trayce Jackson-Davis is an All-American…period. Race Thompson is a player that any coach in America would take. He does what it takes to win basketball games, and he’s arguably the toughest guy on the floor. Parker Stewart has as pure a looking shot as anyone in Candy Stripes has had for awhile. He basically had two years away from the game and therefore struggled some earlier in the year. But as he gets more comfortable on the floor you can see that the “hype” was real…this young man can shoot the basketball. Xavier Johnson is a tough, hard nosed point guard that dictates the pace at which IU will play both offensively and defensively. He can seemingly get to the basket at will. He is struggling with picking up cheap fouls right now and it’s effecting his attitude, which is effecting his and others play. Because let’s face it, we are better when Xavier Johnson is on the floor. Miller Kopp has had games where he has looked completely comfortable and he also has an awfully good shooting stroke, but there have been games (Nebraska) that he struggled mightily at times. When the offense is flowing and the spacing is good, he along with Stewart give IU two capable shooters to open the floor for Johnson to drive or for Trayce & Race to do their thing.

IU heads to Wisconsin sitting at 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the B10, and just as easily could be sitting at 8-0. So when you think about the fact they haven’t had it all clicking at the same time yet, the excitement for the potential of this team goes way up for me. The opportunity is there, but some of these things have to be addressed rather quickly as the schedule just gets tougher as we move forward.

I’m not much on predictions but in looking at the schedule before a game was ever played I kinda felt like their first road test at Syracuse could be their first loss due to it being on the road and the Carrier Dome being notorious for being a tough place to shoot if you weren’t used to it, so the loss didn’t surprise me. The lackluster defense and the 26 turnovers did however. Both of those things are fixable and I think we saw a step in the right direction on Saturday against Nebraska. 7-1 and progress from game to game, as well as the there seemingly being a willingness to get better sits well with most IU fans I would think.

So how about we feel good about where we are at. Feel better about where we’re going to be if we continue to improve. And great about going to Wisconsin on Wednesday and get a win vs. the Badgers and move to 8-1 (2-0).

GO HOOSIERS!!!!!!!!