JaybobHoosier

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.

The work is certainly cut out for the Hoosiers to improve on last season’s marks of 12-5-5, runner-up in the Big Ten tournament and a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament – the 28th consecutive appearance and 39th overall. Nine opponents on the 2015 schedule qualified for the 48-team field in 2014, continuing the eight-time national champion’s tradition of facing one of the nation’s toughest. Only three of those nine matches – Notre Dame on Aug. 30, Ohio State on Oct. 10 and Louisville on Oct. 20 – will be played in Bloomington.
 
The high expectations were confirmed after Indiana won four of five against a high quality stretch of opponents in the spring, defeating Indy Eleven, Notre Dame, Butler and the Mexico U-17 National Team in addition to netting two on professional side Louisville City FC.
 
The NSCAA’s preseason No. 14 team contains an abundant supply of talented upper and underclassmen led by seven returning regular starters, five of which started all 22 games. That depth hopes to mitigate the departures of defenders Patrick Doody and Kerel Bradford, midfielders Jamie Vollmer and Dylan Lax, and forward Andrew Oliver, a group that scored or assisted on 24 of last season’s 35 goals.
 
The attack will frequently run through the two members of the 2014 All-Big Ten First Team: senior Femi Hollinger-Janzen and junior Tanner Thompson, who was named to the 30-man MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list on Wednesday after finishing as a semifinalist for college soccer’s top award in 2014. Thompson was selected as an NSCAA All-American after pacing the Hoosiers in points (15) with six goals and three assists, while Hollinger-Janzen contributed five goals and two assists of his own.
 
Incoming freshman Rees Wedderburn, who last played for English side West Bromwich Albion U-21, is also poised to be a key contributor to an offense that ranked 45th in the country and atop the conference alongside Maryland in goals scored and goals per game (1.59) last season. Expect graduate transfer Ben Maurey from Brown University, senior Kyle Sparks, junior Richard Ballard, sophomores Michael Reidford, Brad Shaw and Michael Gallulo, and freshmen Cory Thomas, Rece Buckmaster and Austin Panchot to see substantial time in the middle and final third.
 
The defensive side of the pitch is commanded by junior goalkeeper Colin Webb and reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Grant Lillard, the fifth Indiana player to win the award in the past eight seasons. Lillard is currently training with a select group of top college players at the U.S. U-23 College Identification Training Camp that concludes on Saturday. He also trained with Finnish professional side HJK Helsinki for a week in July, so don’t count on the rising sophomore playing in Bloomington beyond 2015.
 
Senior Matt Foldesy and juniors Billy McConnell, Derek Creviston and Phil Fives, who sat out 2014, are also expected to be staples in the Hoosier defense that looks to improve on last season’s goals against average of 0.96, which ranked 60th in the country and sixth in the Big Ten. Look for sophomores Jack Griffith and Trevor Swartz as well as freshmen Tim Mehl, Andrew Gutman and Jeremiah Gutjahr to challenge for starts in the holding midfield and backline positions.
 
Projected starting 11:
 

 
Indiana will play three exhibitions – two in Bloomington with Valparaiso and Western Michigan on Aug. 17 and 20, respectively, and the third against Marquette in the ShinDigz National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne on Aug. 22 – before kicking off the regular season in the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington with St. John’s and Notre Dame beginning on Aug. 28.

First, I want to say welcome to the first edition of post game articles I will be a part of. I will be doing about every other game. You will see various stats, graphs, and other numbers to put the game into analytical perspective. Secondly, HOLY HANNER PEREA! That is easily one of the best dunks I've seen during a game in quite some time. The difficulty of that dunk was incredible. Well done Hanner, well done!
Now, onto the game. This IU team were the heavy favorites, but I think most Hoosier fans were interested in how IU would respond after their lackluster performance against a veteran LIU-Brooklyn team. The team answered any concerns about this game quickly within the first few minutes. They attacked the basket and glass with a purpose all game. That is what they have to do every game to be successful.
Besides attacking the basket and rebounding, IU will also lean on Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell, Will Sheehey, and Noah Vonleh. So far this season, these three have accounted for: 130 of 278 points, for a 46.7% of IU's total scoring. Even though most people will remember some of the highlight dunks in this game, but "Yogi" Ferrell had one heck of a game. He led the way with 26pts, 6asts, and 3rebs. This game exemplified how much Yogi has improved on the court, and as a leader of this team. I also can't take away from Noah Vonleh's third straight double-double with 13pts and 10rebs. He is going to be huge for us this season as a Freshman, and I can't wait to see his growth over the course of the season.
One huge improvement from this season to last is blocked shots. Against Samford, IU had a total of 10 blocks, which is impressive, and 25 on the season. To put that in perspective, IU totaled only 130 last season. IU could reach that by the 17th game this season if they average the same amount of blocks in the 1st three games. The defense has been impressive so far this season, and will get a lot better once the Freshman get more adjusted to the college game! The long and athletic IU defense held Samford to just 30% shooting, and 28% from long range. Even though this is not a good Samford team, they love to run and get up shots. I don't remember too many uncontested shots given up by the Hoosiers, and that is a very good sign.
One thing I took away from this game from a bench player is Luke Fischer. He has a ton of upside, and for me, it was great to see him be aggressive against Samford. He really missed some quality practice time due to an injury, but I was happy to see his play in this game. With more practice and game time, I think he will be a good around the basket player IU needs in the future.
All around, it was a very good and pleasing performance by IU. However, there are still a few issues that concern me, and will for the entire season. The main three I noticed: Three point shooting, Free throw shooting, and zone offense. Three point shooting was at a respectable 40%, but if you take Ferrell's hot shooting out of the equation, IU shot a horrid 12.5% (1/8). That has to improve if IU wants to open up the lanes more often for their attacking game. Free throw shooting continues to be a problem, and IU shot 66%. One positive is Noah seems to be getting better in that area, which has to happen. Zone offense continues to look bad with a bunch of standing and no penetration. IU will be seeing more zone unless they can become efficient at it. The Syracuse game could be a bad one if they can't figure out the zone.
On the positive side, the IU bench continues to impress and not be a hindrance. Devin Davis has really been impressive, and a lot further along than what most thought. He will be a very good player for IU this season and on. Hanner Perea is showing a more polished game from what he showed last season. He is a lot more comfortable on both sides of the ball, and this game really showed that. Rebounding, dunking, blocking and altering shots, and even his footwork have really improved.
This game was very impressive from our Hoosier team. They used the last game as a good learning experience, and really went at it against Samford. This game has me excited of what they are capable of accomplishing this season.
(Picture was found on Google, no copyright intended)

Hello all, my name is Justin (Jaybob), and I am one of two new Administrators here for BtownBanners and its forums! We are so excited for this opportunity, and our commitment is to make this the best forum on the web. By doing so, we will work endlessly for you! We know that the keys to a successful and active forum is by taking care of it's members. We promise to do that, and ask that you come and check out what we are doing. You will see some changes soon, and some changes that have already happened.
We hope you are as excited as we are. Here is our team as of right now:
Administrators - NaturalHoosier and myself
Head Moderator - Mdn
Head Recruiter - Ccgeneral
We may add a few more in the very near future, but that is our team as of right now.
My experience with Moderating is this: Moderator on Scout starting during the Kelvin Sampson years. A few of us decided to start a new site dedicated to start our own site, and created the best IU Fan Forum in HoosierSportsNation. After over a year of being there, we merged with 247Sports to try and create the best force in terms of coverage and forums. Unfortunately, a few of us didn't agree with how 247 went about things.
After talking with BtownBanners, we knew this would be the best decision. We left 247 to come make this site the premier site for anything IU.
So please, come join us in this amazing new transition! We will be on the boards a lot, so let's get to chatting!!! :)
Register for BtownBanners at http://BtownBanners.com/register

There are still a couple lose ends to tie up, but expect our official announcement at halftime of the Penn State game tomorrow afternoon!
If you haven't already, this is a GREAT time to sign up for BtownBanners. SIGN UP TODAY, IT'S QUICK AND FREE!
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Go HOOSIERS!