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GloryDays

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    GloryDays reacted to hmhernan for a article, Freshman Tracker: Duke   
    1. Thomas Bryant
     
    IU needed a big performance from Bryant Wednesday night if it had any chance at running with Duke, and unfortunately Bryant fell short. Very short.
     
    He had just six points. He did add two assists, two blocks and one steal, but the most unimpressive category for him on Wednesday night was his zero rebounds.
     
    There were too many times on defense where Bryant was caught standing around and guarding empty space- if you can even call it guarding. Although one can argue size was a factor, he let many Duke players continue to drive and score in the paint. The height of the Blue Devils did not matter. Their guards, centers and forwards all had uncontested layups and were given too many second, third and fourth chances to score with each possession.
     
    Bryant wasn’t boxing out, he wasn’t rebounding and he wasn’t playing defense. The lack of his boxing out tonight was something concerning for me. Even if your shots aren’t falling or you’re not getting good looks or if you get lost on defense for a second, the easiest thing to do is find someone to block out to get a rebound. It looked like Bryant had given up after the game started to go sour and no one made any effort to correct him.
     
    Against less-competitive teams, he has shown he does have the ability to play a significant part of the IU starting lineup, but against Duke, he was just not a factor.
     
    He scored all six of his points during the first half and didn’t help the Hoosiers after things started to drastically fall apart after halftime. Bryant shot 2 of 4 from the field with a short jumper and after receiving a nice pass from James Blackmon Jr., Bryant finished with a dunk.
     
    Bryant added two free throws, and now averages 58.3 percent from behind the line. Bryant had spurts of hustle and was fouled into a cameraman on the baseline, but thankfully wasn’t injured. Overall, Bryant moved up and down the court fairly well but at times it was evident he was tired after long stretches of play.
     
    I only noticed a few times during Bryant’s 26 minutes of play where he was getting the team together to bring up the tempo. Part of this could be attributed to the fact that it wasn’t shown on television, or just the fact that he didn’t really know how to handle the opposing energy on and off the court.
     
    If Bryant is to take away anything from this game, I would hope he realizes how important he is for IU in all aspects- rebounding, defense and offense. When he watches the game film, maybe someone will tell him that feeding a bounce pass to the feet of his teammate cutting backdoor won’t get him anywhere the first time, or the second time.
     
    This was Bryant’s first experience with a true road game for IU and maybe it is just bad luck that this first test came in Cameron Indoor Stadium. I’m going to go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt saying maybe his nerves and inexperience got the best of him. Wednesday night he showed he still has a lot to learn, but the Hoosiers are just eight games into their season. I hope that Bryant is just getting started and that he doesn’t get complacent. With the pressure and high expectations for this season, he will need to show he can handle the pressure.
     
     
    2. O.G. Anunoby
     
    Anunoby entered the game for the first time pretty early on for Collin Hartman with 9:31 left in the first half. In 7 minutes of play, he had a good layup right off the bat and looked promising at times on defense – he was moving his feet. Although on Wednesday night, any attempt at playing defense would look better than some of the performances from IU’s starters or off its bench.
     
     
    3. Harrison Niego, Quentin Taylor and Juwan Morgan
     
    Niego and Taylor did not have any playing time against Duke, while Morgan still remains injured and in a walking boot after IU’s game against UNLV back in Maui.
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