IU - WIU: My Thoughts
I (@chriscorley_3) was back in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday night to start my 43rd year as a fan, and my second year covering the Indiana men’s basketball team from a media standpoint. As always, no matter how many times I’m there, the excitement never wanes. In fact, it may amp up a little each time.
Tuesday’s season opener against the Western Illinois Leathernecks did nothing to change that trend either. Even with it being obvious from the get go that WIU was outclassed from both a talent, and physical aspect, the Hoosiers came ready to play. Which hasn’t always been the case I might add.
Sometimes teams play to the level of their competition. Sometimes they have a hard time playing hard because deep down they know it won’t take anywhere near their best effort for them to leave the game with a “W.” But last night, even with a somewhat slow start offensively, they came out ready to play defense.
Slowly but surely as the roster finally takes shape with coach Archie Miller’s recruits, you can start to see the way Hoosier teams of the future are going to defend. They have good length, quickness, awareness, and maybe more importantly, a willingness to play defense.
IU was able to push the Leathernecks out on the floor about five to six feet further away from the basket to try and run their offense, and it turn made them uncomfortable in trying to do so. Indiana was active, had good spacing, was communicating, and was able to generate some offense from their defense. Doing so seemed to rev their engines even more and when it did, they were rolling from that point on.
Freshman guard Armaan Franklin (@unkle44artty) is a young man that will be hard to keep off of the floor. He was extremely solid against WIU with 5 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 0 turnovers in 27 minutes. 0 as in NONE! For a freshman playing in his first real collegiate game I think that speaks volumes of not only how good he is, but also how good he can be. Oh yeah, he flat gets after it on defense too.
Juniors Justin Smith (@justinsmith3_ ) and Al Durham (@aldurham01) led the way for the Hoosiers with 24 & 21 points respectively, and sophomore point guard Robert Phinisee (@robphinisee1) was his usual solid self as well, finishing 14 points and 3 assists in 18 minutes. Fellow sophomore Damezi Anderson (@AndersonDamezi) finished with 2 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists, but more importantly, he looked A LOT more comfortable on both ends of the floor than he did last year.
Junior transfer Joey Brunk (@JoeyBrunk) had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Race Thompson (@RaceThompson1) added 4 points and 6 rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. Senior center Deron Davis had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 8 minutes.
Redshirt freshman Jerome Hunter (@j_hunter35) pitched in 7 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes of play. His first REAL 16 minutes in over a year. I focused on him a lot while he was on the floor and you could see him becoming more and more relaxed and comfortable with each possession. Something else that stood out to me in regards to Hunter was the fact he was patient and let the game come to him. After a year away from the game, kids with as much talent as him sometimes tend to force things. Not Hunter. I am 100% convinced that once his comfort level reaches the level it was prior to him being sidelined, he will be a HUGE part of IU’s success this year and going forward.
Highly touted freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis (@TrayceJackson) had 8 points, six rebounds, and 4 blocks in his 22 minutes. He is very athletic and he has basketball instincts you just can’t teach. And when Mike Schumann (@daily_hoosier) said, “Trayce Jackson-Davis hedges the high ball screen better than anyone #iubb has had in awhile,” he was spot on. TJD hasn’t even scratched the surface of how good he will be, but you can damned sure see that he will be good. As will this team in my opinion.
Yes, there will be some bumps along the way, there always are. And no, I’m not anointing them Big10 champs after beating a clearly outmatched team, at home. But I did see enough to know that they seem to be a cohesive unit that doesn’t rely on one player to carry the load, and one that also shares the ball. They appear coachable and they look like they enjoy playing together. AND…they play defense!
When senior captain Devonte Green (@ChefBoyArGreen) returns from his injury he brings another weapon both offensively and defensively, and also another seasoned leader to the mix. With him the fold the Hoosiers could throw a lot of different looks at opponents as well as use their depth to keep guys fresh without much drop off in production.
It’s only one game, and yes it was against a subpar opponent, but I saw enough to know that this could be a fun year in Bloomington. So much so I can hardly wait until Saturday’s game against Portland St. Hope to see you there.
GO HOOSIERS!