This is the deepest team IU has had by far in the Crean era. IU lost four prominent players from last year’s team, yet it doesn’t feel like they are rebuilding. That said, I am looking forward to a few questions being answered over the coming months.
1. How effectively can Yogi be replaced? My assumption is this will come down to primarily Robert Johnson and Josh Newkirk. Yogi’s A/TO ratio at PG was 2.21-1. Robert Johnson’s was 1.84-1 and Josh’s 1.95-1 while at Pitt. Can Robert maintain or possibly improve that ratio with an increased ball-handling role? Josh Newkirk lost his starting PG spot to a freshman before transferring to IU. Has the year to sit back and observe Yogi as well as work on his game left him better prepared for a PG role? Yogi always had the ball in his hands at the end of games and when fouled shot FT’s at a mid 80’s clip. Last year RJ hit 64% of his FT’s. At Pitt his soph year, Josh hit 66.7% of his FT’s (44.7% his freshman year). Blackmon hit 85% of his FT’s, but is loose with the ball and not the greatest passer. What will be the impact now that teams no longer have to concentrate on controlling Yogi?
2. Can Robert, JBJ and Collin maintain their proficiency from 3-point range with an increase in number of attempts? JBJ’s stats are inflated from last year as he only played in the pre-con against poor competition. Yogi, Nick and Max accounted for 50% of the takes and 49% of the makes for last years team. Each also hit clutch shots throughout the season. OG, Juwan and TB all hit threes at a decent clip last year, but in limited attempts. Can they step up?
3. IU would appear to have 6 possible starters….Newkirk, Johnson, JBJ, OG, Collin and TB. Does CTC stick with the same starting 5 or mix it up? My guess is he stays with the same. If so, who is the odd man out? If you remove Newkirk from the starting lineup, that means more ball-handling for JBJ, which I don’t think is a good thing. If you remove RJ, you have removed IU’s best on-ball guard defender and ball-handler. If you remove Collin from the starting lineup, you remove someone who makes others around him better, and is kind of the glue on the team. If you remove OG, you lose his defense and ability to make big plays. It should be interesting.
4. How frequently will De’Ron Davis and TB play together? Does IU try and use it to their advantage or only as a counter measure when playing teams with two bigs? I like TB’s passing ability and interested to see if IU might use some high low action with the two. Also works with OG and Juwan as they are fairly adept at post entry passing.
5. Can OG live up to the hype? Going from an unknown to a potential NBA draft pick is quite a journey. How will OG’s game be affected as teams start to scheme for him? OG is a humble kid and I am not concerned about him getting a big head or anything, just can his game handle more focus from the other team. Can he improve his FT %? On a side not, it is amazing to me how much ground OG covers in a single stride. He had a few breakaways and it didn't appear he was moving that fast, but he went right by people.
6. How much with Troy Williams be missed? Troy was a polarizing individual. He could start a rally and kill a rally. There were times he took over a game in both a positive and negative way. There weren’t many better at working the baseline, but his driving into traffic, taking bad/crazy shots (which occasionally went in) and looseness with the ball had me shaking my head.
7. Will IU become more inside out, versus outside in. With the “luxury” of having IU’s deepest frontcourt in years, will the focus be getting the ball to TB, OG, and DD? TB scored a lot of baskets off slams after penetration by the guards. Can he create his own shot? TB is an effective passer out of the post, so I hope IU leverages that.
8. Where the improvements seen in coaching a 1 yr. anomaly or a change for the positive? I heard/read CTC shortened practices and walkthroughs, took more input from his assistant coaches, etc. Gone were the crazy substitutions, switching from man to zone in the same defensive possession (later in the season). There was at least some accountability for bad play as Troy would sit after some of his crazy plays and JBJ would be on the bench at the end of games for defensive purposes. IU appeared to be much more effective after time-outs and in late clock, but again not sure how much of that was the improved leadership and decision making of Yogi. The defense was better, but was it because JBJ got hurt and the insertion of OG and Juwan elevated the level or something the coaches changed? It was not easy to play good defense with JBJ and Troy on the court at the same time. One got lost and had little interest in playing D and the other fell for every pump fake and jab step his opponent made.
The start of basketball practice is a little over a week away, so some of the answers should start to unfold shortly. Thoughts?
1. How effectively can Yogi be replaced? My assumption is this will come down to primarily Robert Johnson and Josh Newkirk. Yogi’s A/TO ratio at PG was 2.21-1. Robert Johnson’s was 1.84-1 and Josh’s 1.95-1 while at Pitt. Can Robert maintain or possibly improve that ratio with an increased ball-handling role? Josh Newkirk lost his starting PG spot to a freshman before transferring to IU. Has the year to sit back and observe Yogi as well as work on his game left him better prepared for a PG role? Yogi always had the ball in his hands at the end of games and when fouled shot FT’s at a mid 80’s clip. Last year RJ hit 64% of his FT’s. At Pitt his soph year, Josh hit 66.7% of his FT’s (44.7% his freshman year). Blackmon hit 85% of his FT’s, but is loose with the ball and not the greatest passer. What will be the impact now that teams no longer have to concentrate on controlling Yogi?
2. Can Robert, JBJ and Collin maintain their proficiency from 3-point range with an increase in number of attempts? JBJ’s stats are inflated from last year as he only played in the pre-con against poor competition. Yogi, Nick and Max accounted for 50% of the takes and 49% of the makes for last years team. Each also hit clutch shots throughout the season. OG, Juwan and TB all hit threes at a decent clip last year, but in limited attempts. Can they step up?
3. IU would appear to have 6 possible starters….Newkirk, Johnson, JBJ, OG, Collin and TB. Does CTC stick with the same starting 5 or mix it up? My guess is he stays with the same. If so, who is the odd man out? If you remove Newkirk from the starting lineup, that means more ball-handling for JBJ, which I don’t think is a good thing. If you remove RJ, you have removed IU’s best on-ball guard defender and ball-handler. If you remove Collin from the starting lineup, you remove someone who makes others around him better, and is kind of the glue on the team. If you remove OG, you lose his defense and ability to make big plays. It should be interesting.
4. How frequently will De’Ron Davis and TB play together? Does IU try and use it to their advantage or only as a counter measure when playing teams with two bigs? I like TB’s passing ability and interested to see if IU might use some high low action with the two. Also works with OG and Juwan as they are fairly adept at post entry passing.
5. Can OG live up to the hype? Going from an unknown to a potential NBA draft pick is quite a journey. How will OG’s game be affected as teams start to scheme for him? OG is a humble kid and I am not concerned about him getting a big head or anything, just can his game handle more focus from the other team. Can he improve his FT %? On a side not, it is amazing to me how much ground OG covers in a single stride. He had a few breakaways and it didn't appear he was moving that fast, but he went right by people.
6. How much with Troy Williams be missed? Troy was a polarizing individual. He could start a rally and kill a rally. There were times he took over a game in both a positive and negative way. There weren’t many better at working the baseline, but his driving into traffic, taking bad/crazy shots (which occasionally went in) and looseness with the ball had me shaking my head.
7. Will IU become more inside out, versus outside in. With the “luxury” of having IU’s deepest frontcourt in years, will the focus be getting the ball to TB, OG, and DD? TB scored a lot of baskets off slams after penetration by the guards. Can he create his own shot? TB is an effective passer out of the post, so I hope IU leverages that.
8. Where the improvements seen in coaching a 1 yr. anomaly or a change for the positive? I heard/read CTC shortened practices and walkthroughs, took more input from his assistant coaches, etc. Gone were the crazy substitutions, switching from man to zone in the same defensive possession (later in the season). There was at least some accountability for bad play as Troy would sit after some of his crazy plays and JBJ would be on the bench at the end of games for defensive purposes. IU appeared to be much more effective after time-outs and in late clock, but again not sure how much of that was the improved leadership and decision making of Yogi. The defense was better, but was it because JBJ got hurt and the insertion of OG and Juwan elevated the level or something the coaches changed? It was not easy to play good defense with JBJ and Troy on the court at the same time. One got lost and had little interest in playing D and the other fell for every pump fake and jab step his opponent made.
The start of basketball practice is a little over a week away, so some of the answers should start to unfold shortly. Thoughts?
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