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What to Watch For - Keys vs Creighton


KelleyHoosh
  • Make no mistake; this is not Eastern Illinois or Austin Peay.

The Indiana men’s basketball team (2-0) will host the Creighton Bluejays (2-0) tonight in a Gavitt Tipoff game. Creighton isn’t quite the same program since head coach Greg McDermott’s son, Doug, left for the NBA. Last year, the Bluejays were just 14-19. This season may not be that much better as they return only one starter in 6’10” forward Toby Hegner.

 

That doesn’t mean this game won’t be a challenge. Hegner may be the only returning starter, but this team has quite a lot of young talent and is adept at spacing the floor. Additionally, McDermott’s sixth squad at Creighton is very efficient and fast, averaging 1.226 points per possession, which on average lasted merely 12 seconds in their last game.

 

Make no mistake; this is not Eastern Illinois or Austin Peay. This will be the Hoosier’s last chance to prepare before the Maui Invitational where they will play some of the best teams in the nation. This game will give everyone a better opportunity to evaluate what needs the most work going forward. The key areas for Indiana’s game against Creighton are:

 

1) Indiana Setting the Pace

 

Another 20-turnover performance isn’t going to cut it in this game. The guards don’t need to play a perfect game, but they must control the speed. If they try to play Creighton’s style, which has allowed them to average 98 points per game this season, they run the risk of tiring out their limited big men and opening themselves up to potential foul trouble. Creighton has more post players and if IU has to rest their taller players for extended periods of the game, the Hoosiers will be relatively helpless down low. Indiana is good in transition, but they’ve already shown to be turnover prone this year, which is the exact opposite of Creighton, who have just 22 turnovers this year.

 

2) Play Sound Defense

 

This is probably going to be one of the keys you see a lot when previewing an IU game. It is common sense that defense needs to be good to win a lot of ball games, but for Indiana specifically that has been a struggle. There are definitely signs of progress on this front from last season, but giving up 76 points to Austin Peay isn’t confidence inspiring. Making Creighton work for their buckets as opposed to playing matador defense just to get the ball back will pay huge dividends. They don’t have to do anything fancy, just bring intensity and desire that Hoosier fans love so much.

 

3) Taking Advantage of Height

 

The Hoosiers don’t necessarily have a height advantage in this game – Creighton has quite a few bigs – definitely more than Indiana. Creighton however starts three players 6’3” or shorter so IU’s lineup of Yogi Ferrell, James Blackmon Jr., Troy Williams, Max Bielfeldt and Thomas Bryant compares to that quite favorably. Coach Tom Crean spoke to the need for rebounding to improve especially from the guard positions.

 

This is a game where there is no reason for them to not have a good performance. Of course, that is predicated on Bryant having a strong performance, as he will be needed to box out Creighton’s big men for the guards to crash the boards. Bryant got his feet wet in the first two games, but this will be his first legitimate competition as a college basketball player. He has to prove that he can play at a high level against Creighton, because in about a week he will be playing against the best of the best.

 

Over the next two weeks, after going through Duke and potentially Vanderbilt as well as Kansas, there will be a much clearer picture of if Indiana belongs among that best of the best category or if they are still chasing it.

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This game is going to be so outrageously fast paced. I wouldn't be shocked if we had around 90 possessions. Both teams love to run and they'll run each other ragged.

 

Great analysis, I think you nailed what we need to do. The big part on defense is the way both teams like to play, we can't expect many good, long, defensive sets. This game will be all about the transition D and the ability to get back to your position quickly, find the shooter, and disrupt the shot. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see us switch to a small-ball style like last year either. Give up some size in order to push the pace and secure some shooters. Definitely will if Bryant is still on a minutes restriction.

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This game is going to be so outrageously fast paced. I wouldn't be shocked if we had around 90 possessions. Both teams love to run and they'll run each other ragged.

Great analysis, I think you nailed what we need to do. The big part on defense is the way both teams like to play, we can't expect many good, long, defensive sets. This game will be all about the transition D and the ability to get back to your position quickly, find the shooter, and disrupt the shot.

I wouldn't be surprised to see us switch to a small-ball style like last year either. Give up some size in order to push the pace and secure some shooters. Definitely will if Bryant is still on a minutes restriction.

You're absolutely right. Transition D is going to be huge. I like that for Indiana's chances since we all know how they do with half court defense. I think it's really important that they don't try to get into a track meet, especially with a packed two weeks in front of them.

I like your idea about playing smaller to push the pace. If we can beat them at their own game, that's great.

I'd like it if we can control the boards, run our offense so that they can't get out and run how they like to. Obviously get into transition when it's there, but I'd prefer our set offense so we can make them play our style.

It's going to be an exciting game. Seth Davis said on Twitter first team to 100 wins. IU is fun to watch, but that's not the rep I want them to have

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You're absolutely right. Transition D is going to be huge. I like that for Indiana's chances since we all know how they do with half court defense. I think it's really important that they don't try to get into a track meet, especially with a packed two weeks in front of them.

I like your idea about playing smaller to push the pace. If we can beat them at their own game, that's great.

I'd like it if we can control the boards, run our offense so that they can't get out and run how they like to. Obviously get into transition when it's there, but I'd prefer our set offense so we can make them play our style.

It's going to be an exciting game. Seth Davis said on Twitter first team to 100 wins. IU is fun to watch, but that's not the rep I want them to have

I think you're right about all of that. I think we need to be able to show we can defend teams like this if we're going to be a serious contender this year. While I do think there's a good chance we go small because TB isn't 100%, we can't always rely on scoring just because the other team wants to do the same.

 

Controlling the pace is just huge for the team. Whether that's slowing the Jays down or speeding us up, we have to show we can set the pace of a game instead of allowing the other team to (that's why Wisco always beats us).

 

I hadn't really thought about how tiring this game will be going into next week. This is not the night you want to spend at a full sprint getting onto an airplane tomorrow and playing again on Monday. Shows how important pace will be.

 

Does anyone know the travel timeline? I assume we're flying out tomorrow to give the team the night to rest after the game but we need to get out there quick to start adjusting to the time difference (5 hours) and work out stiffness from the plane.

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Terrible article...... :)

I agree. I think the two big focal points for he fans will be turnovers and defense. Our offense will almost always put up 70+, but we need our defense to take care of business!

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