IU-PSU: WIN#2



On an absolutely beautiful Fall afternoon in Bloomington, Indiana the Hoosiers took to Branch McCracken Court to take on the Portland State Vikings. This game would offer up a completely different challenge than Tuesday nights game against Western Illinois University did.

Whereas the Leathernecks on Tuesday couldn’t match IU’s athleticism, the Vikings came closer. IU had a clear size advantage, but PSU countered by starting three guards to go along with two athletic forwards trying to negate that advantage. And for stretches in the game, it worked. 



PSU head coach Barret Peery is a very solid coach, and with the 3/4 court defense, that is affectionately referred to as “Peery Pressure” can create problems for teams. It is designed as much for creating turnovers as it is for both wearing teams down, and speeding teams up. Spending time getting the ball up the floor doesn’t allow for as much time to set up your sets and utilize your size advantage.

That defense, coupled with starting guards Holland Woods and Matt Hauser hitting some tough, tightly defended shots, kept the Vikings within striking distance for basically the entire game. For about 2/3 of the game the Hoosiers had trouble keeping the guards from penetrating the lane and either being fouled or kicking out for open looks. This is something that the return of Devonte Green will help with, but it needs to be shored up going forward, or that’s the way teams will try and attack IU.



The Hoosiers were seemingly in control the entire game, but glances at the scoreboard showed that a miscue or two in a row could have changed that quickly. The positive in that was the Hoosiers dug down and got stops on the defensive end and would stretch the lead back out to a little more comfortable cushion. The negative in that is the Hoosiers weren’t able to put their foot on the gas and put the game out of reach until late in the 2nd half.



As mentioned earlier, senior co-captain Devonte Green is still sidelined with a hamstring injury so IU was once again without a leader, and a player who we expect to have a lot to do with their success this year. But there were still a lot of bright spots in this game for the Hoosiers. One being the obvious in winning their second game of the young season without Green being in uniform.

 Freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis was another. The 5-star forward/center racked up his first double-double of his young career. The first of what I believe to be many before he leaves Bloomington, solely based on his basketball instincts and basketball IQ. His defense is ahead of his offense right now, but he’s shown glimpses of what his offensive production can be going forward. Plain and simple, TJD has the potential to be special.



Race Thompson showed a workmanlike attitude to his game, and I think that will be Race’s niche for this team. He finished with 10pts. & 9rebs. In just 16 minutes of action. Those are pretty impressive numbers and in putting them up, Race not only looked completely comfortable, his rebounding technique is very good. Jerome Hunter finishing with 9pts. & 3rebs. In his 15 minutes may not jump off the page at you, but the two 3’s he hit were completely in the flow and unforced. He didn’t have any hesitation, stepped right into them and I for one could almost envision how much of an additional weapon on offense he will be a month from now.

 Justin Smith continues to show improvement and maturity in this young season. He finished with another impressive stat line of 16pts. & 8 rebs. Justin still has a few possessions a game that leave you scratching your head, but they are much fewer and further between than in the past. He is much more in control and engaged in the game on both ends of the floor. Consistency is probably what we all want most from a Smith. Thus far he’s shown that.



Al Durham led the way for the Hoosiers with 18pts. On 7-11 shooting from the field. But he was just 1-4 from 3pt. Range. He wasn’t the only one who struggled from deep though as the Hoosiers shot just 3-14(21.4%) from outside the arc. Indiana once again showed an improved free throw shooting touch though in finishing 22-30(73.3%) from the line. I personally believe that attempt total is about where it should be, and I’d like to see that percentage closer to 80%, but compared to the struggles they’ve had the past few years, they have shown a vast improvement so far this year.



The double headed point guard of Robert Phinisee & Armaan Franklin the Hoosiers have shown thus far didn’t fill up the stat sheet in totaling 11(pts) & 7(assts) between them, but when the Vikings cut to the lead to 5 mid-way through the 2nd half, they buckled down on “D” and made life tough for Woods. He got tired and a little frustrated with the constant pressure that Phinisee and Franklin were applying. It was another example of the ability to accept it as a personal challenge and defend that IU has shown the ability to do at times. I personally believe that if/when they all get “locked in” defensively, that will be the identity of this team.



Redshirt junior center Joey Brunk and senior center De’Ron Davis combined for 8(pts) & 5(rebs), with all coming from Brunk. The smaller quicker line-up of PSU caused problems for the IU big men on the defensive end. They were simply “out-quicked.” That may happen some games, having the bodies to match that quickness inside is an advantage this Hoosier team may have over some in the recent past. Keeping guards out of the lane is a much bigger concern for me personally. Thompson, Brunk, Davis, Anderson, and to some degree Hunter, are somewhat liabilities guarding out on the floor right now, so the brunt of the perimeter defense is going to fall on Durham, Franklin, Green, Phinisee, Jackson-Davis. They are all very capable though, it’s just a matter of getting 100% healthy and having a willingness to do it.



All in all, a pretty good win for the Hoosiers. Facing a team with a different talent level and a different philosophy than the first opponent of the year and coming away with a win, all while struggling for 3pt range, is a good learning tool, as well as a good teaching tool. 

 Aside from the win itself, and seeing some personal improvement from some players, the small glimpse of a little Bob Knight coming out of Coach Miller in his press conference was another highlight of the day. I don’t fully understand “load management,” but I DO fully understand that Coach Miller isn’t the one to ask about it. I’m old school. Hell, I’m just old, so I grew up on Bob Knight coached Hoosier teams, so seeing something that reminded me of those days gave me another reason to believe we have the right guy leading “our” team.



The Hoosiers are back in action on Tuesday night when they take on the North Alabama Lions in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at 6:00pm CT. I’ll be there covering it and watching for more improvement from what we’ve learned thus far. Hope to see you there as well. 



GO HOOSIERS!