INDIANA BASKETBALL 1998-99 PREVIEW
9/23/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
INDIANA BASKETBALL 1998-99 PREVIEW
Last season the Indiana Hoosiers finished 20-12 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for its 13th consecutive NCAA appearance. With a core of four starters returning, another successful year should be on the horizon for head coach Bob Knight and his team.
Seven letterwinners return to this year's team and while the Hoosiers lost a great deal of size in the four graduated seniors ­ 6-8 Andrae Patterson, 6-7 Charlie Miller, 7-0 Richard Mandeville and 6-10 Robbie Eggers ­ the team does return 77 percent of its scoring, 71 percent of its rebounding and 87 percent of its assist total from a year ago. Of those four players, Patterson was the only one who was a starter throughout the season and the only one to play more than 400 minutes last season. The roster will be completed by three players who redshirted last year as well as four first-year players.
The returning starters are an experienced core of players led by 1998 first team all-conference selection guard A.J. Guyton (right) and honorable mention All-Big Ten pick Luke Recker plus forward William Gladness and guard Michael Lewis. These four combined to average 45.5 points and 15 rebounds per game last year. Throughout the season, this quartet played a great deal of minutes so the experience factor is high leading into the season.
Indiana finished the non-conference season 9-3 but then lost its first two league games. The team rebounded and then won nine of its next 11 games before finishing the regular season 18-10 overall and 9-7 in league play. After a narrow loss in the Big Ten tournament, the team defeated Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament before pushing second seed Connecticut to the end to finish the season at 20-12.
While most coaches would like to have four starters returning from an NCAA Tournament team, Knight may turn to some of his newcomers to push the veterans. It would not be a surprise to see any number of the newcomers on the floor at any given time. "I think we'll have the work ethic that we have to have with these new players to push the returnees," Knight said. "I like what I see. I like the aura that is around this team. All this is conjecture, but these guys seem to give us a lot more things we can do."
The strength of this year's team will be on the perimeter with Guyton, Recker and Lewis as the most experienced players. Gladness, at 6-8, is the only returning frontline player who started last season, so there is a spot to be won by someone at the other forward position or Knight may turn to a committee of players to man the position.
The Hoosiers were most effective last season when the team used two bigger players inside and played with three perimeter players. Although Recker was introduced most games as a forward, he handled the ball a great deal and Knight used his passing ability from the perimeter to help get the ball inside. If Knight can find someone to be effective inside, this perimeter-style attack should once again be implemented.
Indiana was one of the top scoring teams in the conference last season as they finished second in the league in scoring. IU was 10-1 when they scored 80 or more points but just 10-11 when they failed to reach that mark. The team was also the top shooting team in the conference at 49.2 percent and was third in free throw percentage and fourth in 3-point shooting. The Hoosiers proved that good shooting helped win games as they were 12-3 when they shot better than 50 percent and 20-4 in games when they shot better than their opponents. The team also led the league in assists.
While those were the high water marks, the team does need to improve its rebounding as they were 10th in the league in that category. That is why it is important for Knight to find some combination of inside players to help shore up that stat. The Hoosiers were 12-3 in games they outrebounded its opponents but was just 8-9 in games it did not. The Indiana defense also allowed more than 70 points per game and that also needs to be improved as IU held its opponents under 70 points just 13 times a year ago but won 12 of those games.
Whatever might transpire this season will most surely depend on the performance of Preseason All-American A.J. Guyton. The junior guard had one of the best seasons of any Hoosier in recent memory as he averaged 16.8 points per game. He was a first team All-Big Ten selection as he increased his scoring average in league play to 17.1 a contest. He once again registered more than 400 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists to become only the second player in school history to accomplish this (Isiah Thomas is the other) in their first two seasons.
Guyton became more aggressive last season from his freshman campaign and looked to drive to the basket. When teams stopped his driving abilities he was able to get the ball to his teammates recording 118 assists. Consistency might be the word to best describe him as he scored in double figures 27 times. Each time he was held to single figures, which was only five times, he returned in the next game with a chip on his shoulder as he scored 20 or more points four times after a single figure contest and averaged 21.2 points per game in those next five games overall.
"The thing we have to do with Guyton is we have to get him to play without the ball," Knight said. "He's tough with the ball. But he has to learn to play without it at both ends of the floor."
Sophomore Luke Recker's performance this year will also be equally important to the success of this season's team. As a freshman, he was the team's second-leading scorer at 12.8 points per game. Recker was second on the team in minutes to Guyton and played well in his first year. The enthusiasm he brought to the court always seemed to pick up the rest of his teammates.
He started 30 of 32 games last season and scored in double figures 19 times. He has the ability to be a big-time scorer as he tallied 20 or more points five times. He also proved he could shoot the ball last season as he spent most of the season over 50 percent from the field before finishing at 49.8 percent from the field. He also shot a respectable 36 percent from 3-point range and 78 percent from the line. Besides scoring, Recker led the team in steals with 48 and was third with 88 assists.
Another returning starter is William Gladness. The 6-8 senior continued to improve as the year progressed last season after coming into the program as a junior college transfer. Although he averaged 8.6 points per game overall, he averaged 10.1 per game over the last two-thirds of the season. He also led the team in rebounding in conference games at 5.9 per contest. One of the better shooters in the league, he shot 59.8 percent from the field in conference games.
Gladness is a quick, agile player who has a variety of moves around the basket. He led the team in rebounding 10 times and twice recorded double figures in rebounds. He also showed a knack for playing well in big games. He had 13 points and 9 rebounds in the season-opener at Temple, 21 points and 6 rebounds vs. Purdue and a 14-point, 12-rebound performance against Michigan.
The other returning starter is guard Michael Lewis. The junior had a career-high last season with a team-high 150 assists which included tying a school record with 15 against Iowa. Lewis averaged a respectable 6.2 points per game and had a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio.
Besides running the offense, Lewis picked up his scoring output from his freshman year, especially in Big Ten play. He averaged 7.8 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and from 3-point range. Always a good free throw shooter, he was at 83 percent overall and 86 percent in league play. He also had two double-doubles last season with points and assists as he had 16 and 10 vs. Minnesota and 10 and 15 in the Iowa game.
Depth and experience return in the backcourt in senior Rob Turner and junior Luke Jimenez.
Turner came to IU as a junior college transfer last season and averaged 7.3 points per game. He showed what he is capable of early in the year as he scored 25 points against Kentucky which included 19 first half points. He did manage to score in double figures 10 times and finished the year shooting over 50 percent. He has the ability to score a great deal of points in a short time, so his offensive production will help the Hoosiers in 1999. "Turner is going to be an interesting player for us," Knight said. "He has to work hard to do that but he can help."
Jimenez is a former walk-on to the program who appeared in 30 games last season and averaged a career-high 3.0 points per game. He is a steady ball-handler who has only 31 turnovers in his first two seasons in 600 minutes of action. He played better as the year progressed and started the Hoosiers' final game against Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament. He is also a good defender who has the ability to guard quicker players.
As the season progressed, Jimenez became a weapon from behind the 3-point line. He made 16 of his last 28 3-point attempts over the last 20 games of the season and made at least one in 11 of the last 12 games. His experience should help this year.
Two freshmen enter the program to press the returnees in the backcourt in prep All-American Dane Fife and Kyle Hornsby.
Fife is a tough, aggressive player who can either run the offense or play as a shooter. He comes from a bloodline of basketball players as his father Dan and brother Dugan, both played at Michigan. He was a Parade and McDonald's All-American last season and was Mr. Basketball in Michigan. As a senior he averaged 25.9 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He is one player who should be able to step in and contribute in some fashion immediately.
"Fife is a tough kid," Knight said. "He brings that before anything. Before you can talk about his skills, you have to talk about how tough the kid is. He wants to win. We need what this kid can bring to our program. When I think of him, I don't think about his basketball abilities, I think of what he brings to us in terms of wanting to win and knowing how to win and knowing how he's got to play. He's obviously going to be a real key."
Kyle Hornsby comes to Bloomington with the reputation as a great shooter and that is where he will help. He made close to 60 percent of his 3-point attempts last year in high school as he averaged 24 points per game. He scored 3,200 points in his high school career and he will be looked toward to provide scoring for this year's team. Many people who have seen him play say they reminds them of former Hoosier Pat Graham.
"I don't know where Hornsby is going to play," Knight said. "He's probably the best shooter we have. He can jump. He has an anticipation that makes him quicker than he is. And he loves to play."
Antwaan Randle El also redshirted last season after joining the team following the football season. He is perhaps the quickest player on the team and a great ball-handler. If he does play, however, it would be after the football season is completed. At Thornton High School in Illinois he led his team to consecutive state runner-up finishes as a junior and a senior and led the state in assists his senior year.
"Randle El is a competitive guy who has a personality. And having a personality is very important in sports," Knight said. "I enjoyed seeing him on the floor last year after he came out following the football season. I think he could be a real asset to us."
"I think all of our guards give us a great deal of quickness and speed," Knight said. "They should also give us the ability to get after people on the defensive end. We could put a lineup out there with guys who are 6-4, 6-5, 6-6 and play hard and go after people and play defense like our good teams have done, it might be very interesting."
The frontcourt is where the question marks lie with this year's edition of the Hoosiers. Besides Gladness, only junior Larry Richardson has seen action at IU. Richardson played in 28 games last season and scored a career-high 81 points. He should be counted on this season for many more minutes than he has played in the past. "There were times last year when Richardson did some pretty good things," Knight said. "We have to get him playing consistently."
Redshirt freshman Kirk Haston is ready to play his first season. At 6-10 and 230 pounds, he has the size to be effective inside and Knight called him one of the most improved players on the team last season. In practice last year, he showed a knack for coming up with the tough rebound or getting the ball off the floor. He is also a good intermediate range jump shooter.
"Haston has really good hands," Knight said. "Every night in practice he would make two, three or four plays that are beyond what the average player can do so we have to get him doing that on a consistent basis. Haston is a skilled kid who wants to play and really has a desire to play. We're all really high on him."
"A good combination of Haston and Richardson is another thing that is important to us," Knight said. "We'll try to get as much out of Haston and Richardson as we can. I think it could be pretty good."
Junior college transfer Lynn Washington enters the program to join the list of players looking for time at forward. A physical player, Washington is known for his rebounding and he should fit well into the Hoosier plans for this season. He was an all-state junior college selection last season at San Jose (Calif.) City College.
"I really like Washington," Knight said. "Everybody that saw Washington play told us how hard he played and what a tough kid he was. And that's something I don't think we've had in great quantities over the last couple of years. He'll be a really good addition to what we are trying to do. With him we can do different things. We can play a quick lineup with Gladness at center and Recker at forward."
Tom Geyer, who sat out last season as a redshirt after joining the team as a walk-on, will add depth up front. Geyer played well in practice and should be able to help in spots this year.
Recruit Jarrod Odle is the final frontcourt player. The freshman was one of the top scorers in the state of Indiana over the last two years and scored close to 1,500 points during his prep career. At 6-8, he might be able to break into the lineup somewhere. "When I saw him play in high school, I really liked him," Knight said. "He's big, he can put the ball on the floor, and run up and down the court."
The season gets underway quickly as the Hoosiers play Seton Hall and South Carolina Nov. 7 and 8 in the NABC Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Indiana will also play in the Maui Invitational and has December games against Notre Dame, Temple and Kentucky.
© Indiana University Athletics, 1998
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