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The 2015 Haunted Hall of Hoops featured two 10-minute periods and a third period that was about six minutes. Collin Hartman, Juwan Morgan, Thomas Bryant, Tim Priller, Nick Zeisloft, Yogi Ferrell and Robert Johnson made up the white team while the red team had James Blackmon Jr., Troy Williams, Max Bielfeldt, Harrison Niego, Ryan Burton and Josh Newkirk. This event likely provided a better glimpse of who can provide what this season than Hoosier Hysteria, though it should still absolutely be taken with a grain of salt. With that said, after about 25 minutes of basketball plenty of observations and logical deductions can be made. While Blackmon Jr. was the leading scorer with 17 points, Anunoby stole the show with his active hands on defense and athletic finishes at the rim that netted him 15 points. Bryant and Ferrell also finished with 15 points while Williams had 11 and Bielfeldt scored nine to go along with nine rebounds. What can we expect out of Anunoby this year? He wasn’t highly rated coming out of high school. Most of the fan base has no expectation for significant contributions to be made by him in his first season. But after a scrimmage where he intercepted passes, tipped balls, defended well AND showed the ability to run the floor well, that may change. Associate Head Coach Tim Buckley said for Anunoby to see the floor he must understand his strengths and weaknesses. “The speed of the game is something every freshman has to get used to,” Buckley said. “You see how guys listen and how they understand… I think there will be development thanks to practice, the film room, and things like that.” It would be silly to expect the kind of production he had Saturday afternoon during the regular season, but if he can even just bring the same intensity to the defensive side of the floor, Anunoby could find himself getting quite a bit of playing time. Fellow freshman Bryant scored 15 points as well. He, however, did not have the dominating performance he had during Hoosier Hysteria. There are two ways to look at Bryant’s display at Haunted Hall of Hoops. On one hand, he didn’t play anywhere near his best game and still scored 15 points. He was sloppy at times, committed fouls, and looked a bit uncomfortable. If he can grind out a performance like that during a bad day, he could exceed his freshman expectations. On the other hand, the first game is 13 days away. Bryant is by far the best big man IU has and he was taken advantage of at times by fifth year transfer Bielfeldt who was never overly impressive at Michigan. The question has to be raised: how much of Bryant’s development was stunted by all the time he has missed in the preseason at the hands of a foot injury? For this team to have any success, Bryant must find his groove by the time conference play starts. As previously mentioned, Bielfeldt more than held his own against a five star talent who is taller than him by two or three inches. Any fan who agonized over the Hoosiers’ defensive woes in the paint last season will appreciate a smart player who knows the ins and outs of the Big 10 play. He was one point and one rebound away from recording a double-double against the team’s best post defender. That presence, which Buckley called poise in the post, will be needed to add depth in the front-court. It cannot be understated how valuable the perspective of a fifth year player is in an otherwise very young group. Blackmon Jr. looked smooth bringing the ball up the court against pressure from Johnson. He looked even smoother hitting several threes. Buckley says Blackmon Jr. is still recovering from his injury. “He has done a terrific job bouncing back mentally and physically,” Buckley said. “He is playing more at the point where he is initiating the offense and getting used to guys getting into him, but he has always had a really nice stroke and that hasn’t changed much.” Blackmon Jr. also appeared to be more aggressive, driving with much more strength than he did at times last season. Conversely, Williams didn’t look like the Hoosier Hysteria 3-point shooting contest winner. While he played well by all accounts, fans may want to temper their expectations for him this year. While the athleticism is undeniable, he still doesn’t look to have taken the same sophomore to junior year leap of Victor Oladipo that fans have been clamoring for. The scrimmage also showcased one look that fans begged for at times last year- a press. There was plenty of full court pressing, albeit soft at times. Buckley said it is a strategy that makes the most of Indiana’s athleticism. “We want to be able to use our athleticism and our length,” Buckley said. “But we don’t want to get out of position so we really have to keep our chests in front of the ball handlers and not let them into the paint.” There were plenty of opportunities last year where a press would have been beneficial, but it never came to fruition. This year, Buckley says, it may be an option. “The guys are starting to do a much better job of covering for each other,” Buckley said. “Our guys are understanding those rotations better.” Part of why so many fans wanted a press was the distinct height disadvantage Indiana often found themselves in. This year, that may not be such a problem as the staff believes their personnel allows them to matchup with teams much better. “Basketball is becoming more and more of a matchup game than a position game, so you pretty much are who you can guard,” Buckley added. “You could see Max and Thomas on the floor at the same time along with Collin (Hartman) and I think we have a lot of possibilities to be a versatile team.” At the end of the day, this is another scrimmage and it certainly won’t be indicative of how the season will go. However, there were some refreshing changes in philosophy and a lot of growth in player’s individual games. There is a lot of reason to believe that this team won’t be the same as last year’s with a few different faces. Indiana has two more exhibition games before it kicks off its season against Eastern Illinois on November 13 in Bloomington.