Indiana University Athletics
McSwain More Comfortable In Practice and Looks To Carry That Over To Games
10/16/2017 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
A hustling Freddie McSwain dived after the loose ball that was headed out of bounds but couldn't quite retrieve it.
And despite that sort of overall effort, the game also slipped away last Feb. 9 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, 69-64, to eventual Big Ten champ Purdue.
McSwain hit both shots from the field he took that day, adding a free throw, five rebounds, an assist and a shot-block in just nine minutes of play.
He was already in the process of becoming a more pronounced presence on Indiana's basketball team, headed toward his first career start Feb. 28 against those same Boilermakers.
But by that time the season's promise – after a 10-2 start featuring a 103-99 overtime win against Kansas in the opener and a 76-67 triumph over eventual NCAA champion North Carolina – was basically beyond retrieval despite anybody's best efforts.
McSwain had entered that season, having transferred in from Neosho County (Kan.) Community College, unable to contribute fully. He'd missed the summer workouts while finishing up academic work, and had knee surgery to address some lingering issues soon after he got to Bloomington.
And as it was, the talented 6-foot-6 athlete was still a hoops neophyte, having only begun playing organized ball while a junior at Liberty County (Ga.) High School.
Now as an IU senior, McSwain is fully healthy and fully intent to help make new coach Archie Miller's debut campaign successful.
"I feel great, actually," McSwain said Wednesday evening. "I feel more comfortable about what I have to do, more knowledgeable about what I'm up against.
"I just can't wait to get ready and play with this team, our new team. I've had more chance to put in the time, learn the game, from last year into this year. I feel more comfortable in practice, am doing some things well, and I hope that translates to the game, too."
Last season, McSwain didn't score in eight of his first 19 games, averaging just 7.2 minutes of action. He averaged 10.2 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds over the last nine games, shooting .588 from the field during that span.
Over the last seven regular-season games, he hit 12 of 17 shots and claimed 19 offensive rebounds.
"Just got confident at the end of the season," McSwain explained. "The game slowed down at the end of the season, and I just believed in myself, and I knew I could play this game at this next level."
IU saw three of its top four scorers depart – a combined 41.2 points per game on average from James Blackmon, Thomas Bryant and O.G. Anunoby, with the latter two stalwarts on the Hoosier frontcourt before injury ended Anunoby's season. Bryant was the team's top rebounder.
Former IU coach Tom Crean likened McSwain's athletic 6-foot-6 physique akin to a football tight end, and Coach Miller will look to keep McSwain active on the glass and contributing to a Hoosier frontcourt that needs to develop depth.
"When you look at our frontcourt depth, that's definitely something you have to keep in mind," Miller said during IU's Media Day. " … How deep are we really in the games when it comes to the frontcourt with fouls and whatnot?
"So developing a rotation there and having guys that can maybe play multiple positions is something that we're considering."
McSwain could well help fill that bill.
While his size might seem more suited to the wing, McSwain played a lot of 4 (power forward) and 5 (pivot) positions for IU last season. And he could again support both 6-7 junior Juwan Morgan and 6-10 sophomore DeRon Davis up front.
"I might spend time at the 4 or even the 5 sometimes," McSwain acknowledged. "It all depends on what is needed. I'm just trying to be myself and play basketball the way I'm being coached.
"I'm just trying to do whatever the team needs me to do – rebound, defend, try to make a play offensively. I've been working on my mid-range jumper a lot. And I'm working on my post game, to get down to the post and try to create."
At the defensive end last season, McSwain found himself assigned to bigger players down low at times – Purdue's Caleb Swanigan, for example. But he learned some things about how to approach that.
"Use my quickness," he said. "Just try to front them. Not let them get the ball, not let it get entered to the post. I can use my vertical, sometimes, to tip away a pass or get the steal and give us another offensive possession."
McSwain sees potential frontcourt reinforcements coming in freshmen Clifton Moore and Justin Smith.
"They've been doing good in practice, have been doing very well," McSwain said of the 6-10 Moore and 6-7 Smith. "Cliff lends his versatility and is getting strong. He is long, tall and can block shots. He can stretch the floor at the other end, too. He can shoot the 3.
"Justin is using his quickness and his athleticism, kind of like me. He can get up, too. I enjoy watching Justin play. He's going to be a special kid here."
McSwain feels Bloomington is a special place to play.
"Bloomington is a great place," McSwain said. "It's wonderful. I enjoy the community. The fans. Everybody is so nice. When I first got here, it was just as I'd hoped.
"I love Indiana. I would tell anybody to come up here, enjoy the college town and all the nice people. I'd tell them to go to Assembly Hall, just see how great it is, see how the game of basketball can bring a whole group of people together to have a good time here."
Just how good a time the Hoosiers and their fans will have this season is speculative at this juncture. IU finished 10th in the league last season and that's the general area in which most preseason prognosticators have the Hoosiers pegged.
"We don't pay any attention to it," McSwain said of the predictions. And he thinks, once the squad gets more fully acclimated to how Miller wants to play, the Hoosiers could surprise.
"Coach Archie and the staff are just a great group of guys," McSwain said. "Coach Archie just knows what he's doing. From him being a player (a standout point guard for North Carolina State), from him being able to see the game as a player, he knows what to do, and how to pick and choose how the game is played out.
"He's very approachable. Some people might say his expression, the way he looks all the time, looks mean, but he's a great guy and a great coach."
McSwain said Miller hadn't specified everything regarding the role he wants McSwain to play this season, but knows that the coach wants hustle.
"He didn't talk about my role, really," McSwain said about the preseason weeks. "Just me coming in being prepared, just me coming in the game and playing defense … just be a rebounder and just play with energy as soon as I get in the game."
An energy guy.
The sort of guy who'll dive out of bounds after a loose ball.
Maybe McSwain and the Hoosiers will grab what they're after this time around.
A hustling Freddie McSwain dived after the loose ball that was headed out of bounds but couldn't quite retrieve it.
And despite that sort of overall effort, the game also slipped away last Feb. 9 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, 69-64, to eventual Big Ten champ Purdue.
McSwain hit both shots from the field he took that day, adding a free throw, five rebounds, an assist and a shot-block in just nine minutes of play.
He was already in the process of becoming a more pronounced presence on Indiana's basketball team, headed toward his first career start Feb. 28 against those same Boilermakers.
But by that time the season's promise – after a 10-2 start featuring a 103-99 overtime win against Kansas in the opener and a 76-67 triumph over eventual NCAA champion North Carolina – was basically beyond retrieval despite anybody's best efforts.
McSwain had entered that season, having transferred in from Neosho County (Kan.) Community College, unable to contribute fully. He'd missed the summer workouts while finishing up academic work, and had knee surgery to address some lingering issues soon after he got to Bloomington.
And as it was, the talented 6-foot-6 athlete was still a hoops neophyte, having only begun playing organized ball while a junior at Liberty County (Ga.) High School.
Now as an IU senior, McSwain is fully healthy and fully intent to help make new coach Archie Miller's debut campaign successful.
"I feel great, actually," McSwain said Wednesday evening. "I feel more comfortable about what I have to do, more knowledgeable about what I'm up against.
"I just can't wait to get ready and play with this team, our new team. I've had more chance to put in the time, learn the game, from last year into this year. I feel more comfortable in practice, am doing some things well, and I hope that translates to the game, too."
Last season, McSwain didn't score in eight of his first 19 games, averaging just 7.2 minutes of action. He averaged 10.2 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds over the last nine games, shooting .588 from the field during that span.
Over the last seven regular-season games, he hit 12 of 17 shots and claimed 19 offensive rebounds.
"Just got confident at the end of the season," McSwain explained. "The game slowed down at the end of the season, and I just believed in myself, and I knew I could play this game at this next level."
IU saw three of its top four scorers depart – a combined 41.2 points per game on average from James Blackmon, Thomas Bryant and O.G. Anunoby, with the latter two stalwarts on the Hoosier frontcourt before injury ended Anunoby's season. Bryant was the team's top rebounder.
Former IU coach Tom Crean likened McSwain's athletic 6-foot-6 physique akin to a football tight end, and Coach Miller will look to keep McSwain active on the glass and contributing to a Hoosier frontcourt that needs to develop depth.
"When you look at our frontcourt depth, that's definitely something you have to keep in mind," Miller said during IU's Media Day. " … How deep are we really in the games when it comes to the frontcourt with fouls and whatnot?
"So developing a rotation there and having guys that can maybe play multiple positions is something that we're considering."
McSwain could well help fill that bill.
While his size might seem more suited to the wing, McSwain played a lot of 4 (power forward) and 5 (pivot) positions for IU last season. And he could again support both 6-7 junior Juwan Morgan and 6-10 sophomore DeRon Davis up front.
"I might spend time at the 4 or even the 5 sometimes," McSwain acknowledged. "It all depends on what is needed. I'm just trying to be myself and play basketball the way I'm being coached.
"I'm just trying to do whatever the team needs me to do – rebound, defend, try to make a play offensively. I've been working on my mid-range jumper a lot. And I'm working on my post game, to get down to the post and try to create."
At the defensive end last season, McSwain found himself assigned to bigger players down low at times – Purdue's Caleb Swanigan, for example. But he learned some things about how to approach that.
"Use my quickness," he said. "Just try to front them. Not let them get the ball, not let it get entered to the post. I can use my vertical, sometimes, to tip away a pass or get the steal and give us another offensive possession."
McSwain sees potential frontcourt reinforcements coming in freshmen Clifton Moore and Justin Smith.
"They've been doing good in practice, have been doing very well," McSwain said of the 6-10 Moore and 6-7 Smith. "Cliff lends his versatility and is getting strong. He is long, tall and can block shots. He can stretch the floor at the other end, too. He can shoot the 3.
"Justin is using his quickness and his athleticism, kind of like me. He can get up, too. I enjoy watching Justin play. He's going to be a special kid here."
McSwain feels Bloomington is a special place to play.
"Bloomington is a great place," McSwain said. "It's wonderful. I enjoy the community. The fans. Everybody is so nice. When I first got here, it was just as I'd hoped.
"I love Indiana. I would tell anybody to come up here, enjoy the college town and all the nice people. I'd tell them to go to Assembly Hall, just see how great it is, see how the game of basketball can bring a whole group of people together to have a good time here."
Just how good a time the Hoosiers and their fans will have this season is speculative at this juncture. IU finished 10th in the league last season and that's the general area in which most preseason prognosticators have the Hoosiers pegged.
"We don't pay any attention to it," McSwain said of the predictions. And he thinks, once the squad gets more fully acclimated to how Miller wants to play, the Hoosiers could surprise.
"Coach Archie and the staff are just a great group of guys," McSwain said. "Coach Archie just knows what he's doing. From him being a player (a standout point guard for North Carolina State), from him being able to see the game as a player, he knows what to do, and how to pick and choose how the game is played out.
"He's very approachable. Some people might say his expression, the way he looks all the time, looks mean, but he's a great guy and a great coach."
McSwain said Miller hadn't specified everything regarding the role he wants McSwain to play this season, but knows that the coach wants hustle.
"He didn't talk about my role, really," McSwain said about the preseason weeks. "Just me coming in being prepared, just me coming in the game and playing defense … just be a rebounder and just play with energy as soon as I get in the game."
An energy guy.
The sort of guy who'll dive out of bounds after a loose ball.
Maybe McSwain and the Hoosiers will grab what they're after this time around.
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