What to Watch For - Duke Keys

There was a renewed excitement around the Indiana (5-2) to start the season. After losing two games in Maui, to unranked opponents, that excitement became fleeting at best. At worst it became not only anger, but in many cases, apathy.

Beating Alcorn State by 42? That is what the fans expect. That isn’t what will win their support back. Beat Duke? Now we’re talking.

No. 7 Duke (6-1) is the next team up on IU’s schedule, which looks substantially weaker without the anticipated matchups of No. 16 Vanderbilt and No. 4 Kansas. With a talented, athletic and tall roster, Duke presents various challenges that Indiana may not be equipped to handle. A front line of 6’9” 6’9” and 7’ will almost certainly cause headaches for an IU team that struggles in the paint. The Blue Devils have not lost on their home court to an out of conference opponent since February 26^th, 2000. On paper, there is a lot of reason to believe Duke runs away with the victory and Indiana fans continue to get more frustrated.

The same problems that did in the Hoosiers last year are the ones that plagued the team during their Maui trip. Around twenty turnovers and matador defense isn’t going to get the job done against the defending champions, Duke. To win this game, Indiana will have to play their best game of the year and do the following:

1) Yogi Ferrell has to Expose Duke’s Lack of a True Point Guard

Duke has shown themselves to be vulnerable this year. They dropped a game to No. 1 Kentucky and have found themselves in some close games. A large part of that is because of defense, but they also are lacking a real offensive identity to this point of the season because nobody has taken the reigns as a true point guard. Ferrell has shown great ability in his time at IU and if he can score, facilitate and defend like fans know he can for a complete game, he will be the reason Indiana wins this one.

2) Indiana Must Successfully Penetrate and be Fundamentally Sound Defensively

Duke’s perimeter defense thus far isn’t typical of Mike Krzyzewski teams. This isn’t a game that Indiana can win by sitting back and shooting threes when they aren’t in transition. If they can get some easy buckets inside in their half court offense, IU can compete. Look for Troy Williams to shine in this area. It is of the utmost important that every Indiana player boxes out and plays fundamentally sound defense. They haven’t shown that ability too much this year, but if they are ever going to need it, it is will be this game.

3) Indiana Has to Hit Threes

The Hoosiers have to do what they do best. Like it or not, a lot of Indiana’s offense depends on someone getting a hot hand from behind the arc.

If those shots fall, as analyst Jay Williams has said, this team can beat anybody.