Freshman Tracker: Duke

[hmhernan 90]

Many people hoped the Maui trip was the wake-up call that IU basketball needed, but in the Hoosiers' Wednesday night 94-74 loss at Duke, it is clear they just aren’t ready for this sort of a matchup. It was the same story all over again with tragic defense, although this time it was magnified. Here’s the latest installment of the freshman tracker done by IU student Hailey Hernandez.

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.

[url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/freshman-tracker-duke-r278]Click here to view the article[/url]

[BlueDevil 9,544]

Excellent write up. I was really looking forward to the Plumlee/Bryant matchup in that I thought Plumlee would be a good test for Bryant. I also saw people saying that Troy/Jefferson would be a huge mismatch for Troy and I thought that as well. I could not believe it when it seemed that on every loose ball and every rebound, Jefferson was right there to make the play. 19 offensive boards is a massive stay. Really think it's time to give OG a shot in the starting 5. What can it hurt? He reminds me of Holt last year.

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

I think you're right. Bryant was wilting under the "away game" pressure mixed with the recent losses. He didn't have any of the fire we saw in him earlier in the year. You noted him not pumping up the team as much, but he didn't seem pumped himself either.

 

I wish Juwan had gotten to play to complete the data set, but our Freshman looked like they were following the lead of the upperclassmen. Try until things stop being easy and then quit. I hate that this is the culture at Indiana. Our freshman deserve better.

 

And Niego and Taylor should have starting spots next game. And Juwan. Are you allowed to play in the boot? Like Gronk and his cast?

[WayneFleekHoosier 51,001]

Good analysis. We need another rebounder and OG is our best bet. Max lacks length as I said all offseason. WAY undersized 5. Bryant is just not a great rebounder at this level due to ????? Positioning? Athleticism? Want to? Scheme? Fear of fouling? Strength? Whatever the reason he isn't a good rebounder against those his size.

I knew Dukes Bigs would dominate offensive glass and guards drive at will. We lose virtually every defensive individual battle. Need to just give OG extra minutes at this point.

[8bucks 7,476]

Good analysis. We need another rebounder and OG is our best bet. Max lacks length as I said all offseason. WAY undersized 5. Bryant is just not a great rebounder at this level due to ????? Positioning? Athleticism? Want to? Scheme? Fear of fouling? Strength? Whatever the reason he isn't a good rebounder against those his size.

I knew Dukes Bigs would dominate offensive glass and guards drive at will. We lose virtually every defensive individual battle. Need to just give OG extra minutes at this point.

I don't see much from OG to think he will do much this year. Our next several games are against weak teams so now is the time to let OG try and find his groove. I will be sorely disappointed if we win these games by 15 or more points and OG does not have a ton of minutes

[IndyHutch 1,718]

I don't see much from OG to think he will do much this year. Our next several games are against weak teams so now is the time to let OG try and find his groove. I will be sorely disappointed if we win these games by 15 or more points and OG does not have a ton of minutes

 

 

I think this is an important stretch for O.G. as well. Eight games in we haven't seen a lot but I really thought I saw a few things against Duke that I hadn't seen in other games. Maybe the bright lights woke him up a little bit.

[biteoftheapple 4,115]

Thank you for the evaluation. I expected much more. But, it must have been unrealistic expectations. But rebounding and being an interior presence is his main job. C'mon man!

[NRT137 316]

I don't see much from OG to think he will do much this year. Our next several games are against weak teams so now is the time to let OG try and find his groove. I will be sorely disappointed if we win these games by 15 or more points and OG does not have a ton of minutes

I'm just the opposite. I will be sorely disappointed if we don't win these games by 15 or more points.

[coonhounds 10,515]

I'm just the opposite. I will be sorely disappointed if we don't win these games by 15 or more points.

he said and og has alot of minutes. He is expecting blowouts and want crean to get og alot of experience

[cjvz20 896]

I think this is an important stretch for O.G. as well. Eight games in we haven't seen a lot but I really thought I saw a few things against Duke that I hadn't seen in other games. Maybe the bright lights woke him up a little bit.

he needs to get minutes in real games. He's a freshman and needs to see what the college game is about so he can adjust and we can see if he is legit or not. You will not see the intensity of the college game in a practice setting. Let them play.

[8bucks 7,476]

I'm just the opposite. I will be sorely disappointed if we don't win these games by 15 or more points.

I expect us to win by 15 but will be disappointed if OG does not get a ton a time. Too often Crean pounds the pansies and keeps the regulars in for most of the game

[hmhernan 90]

Excellent write up. I was really looking forward to the Plumlee/Bryant matchup in that I thought Plumlee would be a good test for Bryant. I also saw people saying that Troy/Jefferson would be a huge mismatch for Troy and I thought that as well. I could not believe it when it seemed that on every loose ball and every rebound, Jefferson was right there to make the play. 19 offensive boards is a massive stay. Really think it's time to give OG a shot in the starting 5. What can it hurt? He reminds me of Holt last year.

Thanks for the read, I appreciate it. Bryant knew he was going to be tested against Plumlee, and not only did he fail that test, but I think he failed to compete against any of the Duke players, on the defensive end especially.  I thought the Hoosiers just showed a huge lack of effort and that was disappointing. As for O.G., hopefully in the next stretch of games he will get more of a chance to develop himself into a player that Crean would consider using as a threat off the bench. I did like the idea of Johnson possibly working his way into the starting lineup, though.  

[hmhernan 90]

I think you're right. Bryant was wilting under the "away game" pressure mixed with the recent losses. He didn't have any of the fire we saw in him earlier in the year. You noted him not pumping up the team as much, but he didn't seem pumped himself either.

 

I wish Juwan had gotten to play to complete the data set, but our Freshman looked like they were following the lead of the upperclassmen. Try until things stop being easy and then quit. I hate that this is the culture at Indiana. Our freshman deserve better.

 

And Niego and Taylor should have starting spots next game. And Juwan. Are you allowed to play in the boot? Like Gronk and his cast?

 

The players even talked after the Alcorn State game about being ready to go and Troy mentioned he came to Indiana to play big-time games like this, but they simply just didn't have the energy or momentum and I haven't been able to figure out why. Bryant can only do so much, and I think part of that responsibility of getting the team in the right mindset falls on guys like Yogi, Troy, Zeisloft or even Hartman. 

 

I agree with you that Bryant was following the lead of the upperclassmen, and he quit when they did. It will be a tough cycle to break if a lack of motivation keeps circling around this team. The group of freshman do seem like a good group of guys who are eager to play, so maybe some fresh bodies will be what IU needs to help get over all of the frustration so far this season. 

 

It should be interesting to see if they get anymore playing time during IU's next three games before it faces Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic. I certainly don't think Niego or Taylor can do any worse than the performance the starters had against Duke, but that will just be a matter of whether Crean is willing to give them a chance. 

 

Thanks for following the article.

[hmhernan 90]

Good analysis. We need another rebounder and OG is our best bet. Max lacks length as I said all offseason. WAY undersized 5. Bryant is just not a great rebounder at this level due to ????? Positioning? Athleticism? Want to? Scheme? Fear of fouling? Strength? Whatever the reason he isn't a good rebounder against those his size.

I knew Dukes Bigs would dominate offensive glass and guards drive at will. We lose virtually every defensive individual battle. Need to just give OG extra minutes at this point.

 

I'm not sure either why Bryant has struggled so much in the past few games, but then again, so has the rest of the team. If he can get back to how he was playing against Creighton, then I can see him taking some much-needed steps in the right direction. I think it's just a matter of someone enforcing the fact that if he doesn't rebound- he is useless and he will be sitting. There isn't any reason to have him on the court if he's not going to do his job.

 

The bad air all started in Maui, and I don't think IU has had time to recover yet. I'm really hoping they pick up the intensity a little because this season is far from being over. 

 

I agree with the fact that O.G. could potentially be the missing piece that IU drastically needs, but in his defense, he hasn't had enough time to prove himself yet. I hope he gets some significant minutes in the next few games, because at this point, the Hoosiers really don't have that much more to lose. 

[hmhernan 90]

I don't see much from OG to think he will do much this year. Our next several games are against weak teams so now is the time to let OG try and find his groove. I will be sorely disappointed if we win these games by 15 or more points and OG does not have a ton of minutes

 

I certainly agree with you. There is no reason why O.G. should still be sitting the bench when IU has a lead. There really isn't a reason why he is sitting when the starters are doing so poorly either, but I think its the easy way out for Crean to just depend on a few players to do the job.

[hmhernan 90]

Thank you for the evaluation. I expected much more. But, it must have been unrealistic expectations. But rebounding and being an interior presence is his main job. C'mon man!

Thanks for reading. I also expected Bryant to want to come out and play well. His energy and emotion played a part in some of IU's early games, and I thought that would be demonstrated against Duke, but I was wrong. He has ability and talent, so there's really no excuse for his performance Wednesday night, except lack of effort. Bryant needs to learn quickly that if he isn't doing his job, he will sit the bench and IU will be without a big man again. But first...on the other hand, coaches need to enforce that if you aren't doing your job, you will be sitting the bench.

[hmhernan 90]

he said and og has alot of minutes. He is expecting blowouts and want crean to get og alot of experience

If IU is winning by that much, I think O.G. should definitely be getting a chance to play more minutes. I would expect the Hoosiers shouldn't have much a problem the next three games, but then again at this point I really don't know what to expect from them anymore

[Dalton26 17,207]

I don't see much from OG to think he will do much this year. Our next several games are against weak teams so now is the time to let OG try and find his groove. I will be sorely disappointed if we win these games by 15 or more points and OG does not have a ton of minutes

I agree. I've not seen anything from OG that makes me believe he would be an improvement in our starting lineup but as you said these next few games are the perfect chance to get him some serious minutes.