Two Talented Freshman Classes - Only One is Healthy
1/11/2019 9:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Maryland coach Mark Turgeon has watched his celebrated five-man freshmen class grow into regulars who, among other things, helped fashion Tuesday's impressive 82-67 victory at Minnesota.
Indiana coach Archie Miller would just like to have more of his celebrated five-man freshman class healthy.
Maryland's 35-13 run to close out its Minnesota game was fueled by frosh Jalen Smith, Aaron Wiggins, Eric Ayala and Ricky Lindo in conjunction with junior point guard Anthony Cowan.
"Don't sleep on the fact that, when we made our run, we had four freshmen in there with Anthony," Turgeon said post-game. "Those guys just keep getting better and better. Great win for us.
"The young guys were just out there playing, just playing, and helping Anthony do his thing … that's where we've really grown the most. Our bench has really grown since we came back from Christmas, and that's really the difference in our team."
Injuries have made it more difficult for Miller to similarly grow his young team, and its rotation and depth, over that same span.
IU again figures to play without starting freshman point guard Rob Phinisee for Friday's 7 p.m. tipoff at Maryland, and Phinisee – who is in concussion protocol – is hardly the only hurting Hoosier.
Freshman guard Romeo Langford leads Indiana in scoring (18.2 points per game) and has tallied double-figures in every game this season, but half his true-freshman classmates are presently sidelined.
Joining Phinisee on the shelf is Jerome Hunter, whose ranking among IU's recruits was behind only McDonald's All-American Langford according to the rating services. Hunter, who had surgery in mid-November, has missed the entire season.
And freshman frontliner Jake Forrester is presently out with an ankle injury.
The Hoosier injury list doesn't stop there.
Junior center De'Ron Davis, after rehabbing an Achilles tear during the off-season, is currently dealing with an ankle injury that held him out of Sunday's 74-63 loss at No. 2-ranked Michigan.
Indiana got just one appearance out of redshirt-freshman Race Thompson before he went down with a concussion that has sidelined him since.
Senior co-captain Zach McRoberts has recently returned despite recurring back issues.
"Like every coach, you want to have a great environment in practice," Miller said Thursday. "It's where you get better. The ability to work hard every day prepares you to play in the game. You just can't play in the games (to improve).
"It's been difficult … to, kind of, balance the reps and the rest (and) recovery, versus the actual ability to have to prepare to play in the game. We've had very few days where we've had our full allotment, so I think our guys on the team are used to it, and we have to back our time up a little bit, as well. Can't go as long. But every coach in the country is dealing with guys in and out of practice every day at this time of year."
Indiana now has to deal with a 13-3 Maryland team that is already 4-1 in Big Ten play.
Nobody has beaten Maryland by more than five points all season. The Terps' losses this season have come against unbeaten and No. 4-ranked Virginia (76-71), a 12-4 Seton Hall club (78-74) and by a bucket at Purdue (62-60).
Cowan, who leads the Maryland scoring this season with a 17.2 average, tied his career-high with 27 points at Minnesota, adding six rebounds and five assists.
Smith, a 6-foot-10 freshman who averages 13.0 points, posted a career-high 21 and also claimed eight bounds Tuesday.
Maryland's other 6-10 frontliner is 240-pound sophomore Bruno Fernando, who averages a double-double (14.2 points and 10.1 boards) and gives the Terps an undeniably physical presence in the paint at both ends. The NBA courted him as a freshman but he opted to return to College Park.
There is real length throughout the Maryland rotation and the Terps are currently out-rebounding the opposition by 11.2 per game, and have almost as many shot-blocks (84) as steals (85) on the season.
"I would say the two things that are very concerning is their inside attack on offense – they have the ability to go to two guys, not just one – and rebounding," Miller said. "They're plus 10 on the glass right now, I think, through their Big Ten games.
" … I think they're the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the league right now, in league games. They don't take a ton, but they take good ones. Anthony Cowan, he's really, really good, and Eric Ayala as a freshman is really good. Aaron Wiggins off the bench shooting the 3. So they've got a lot of different things that they're doing well.
"I think they're coming together at the right time. That Minnesota win was obviously very, very impressive, but what stands out the most is obviously their ability to hammer the ball inside and their ability to pound the glass, and those are two big concerns."
IU's injury situation is a reason, besides their excellent play, that Langford has averaged 33 minutes per game and 6-8 senior Juwan Morgan 29 – and Morgan (averaging 16.7 points and 7.8 boards), a warrior on both ends, will have to deal with the challenge of Maryland's size inside.
"Defensively, around the basket, things will be very hard," Miller said. "Jalen Smith, Bruno, they bring in (6-9 senior Ivan) Bender, as well, who's got great size. So around the rim is going to be tough.
"Rebounding is going to be really, really tough. But Juwan knows how to deal with that … I think he's pretty comfortable in terms of being able to do what he needs to do. But we'll continue to move him around and we'll continue to try and get him the same quality a shot that he's been getting because he's shooting a high percentage (.639)."
Morgan didn't score inside with his customary success early at Michigan, and Miller felt Morgan might have gotten a bit tired while carrying the battle to the Wolverines after halftime (finishing with 25 points, but just 9 of 22 shooting).
"Juwan uncharacteristically didn't finish as well as he has normally done, and maybe Michigan had a little bit to do with it," Miller said, "but the shots that he missed weren't challenged at times.
"At the beginning of the season, when we had our depth, (we emphasized) offensive rebounding, with the amount of depth that we had and the amount of different guys that we had coming in with great size and length.
"We're definitely not built right now to just pound the glass. The amount of minutes sometimes that Juwan has to play … you're asking him to do everything."
So Miller is looking to get Morgan more help inside. With Davis still hobbled, that might mean more minutes inside for grad transfer Evan Fitzner and sophomore Clifton Moore.
"De'Ron is still struggling a little bit with his mobility," Miller said. "His ankle is sore. He's sort of in and out of practice, and some things he can do, some things he can't do. I'm hopeful he'll be available to play on Friday, but if he can't go, Clif Moore has got to get in there and Fitzner has got to give us more right now, and we have to find ways to get those guys more involved early in the game.
"You know, hopefully Jake (Forrester) coming off his ankle – he still isn't doing real well right now in terms of being out for practice. I wish he was available because we could use another body right now just in terms of the size that we're going to be dealing with. But it is what it is."
Indiana (12-3, 3-1) might need to get some good perimeter shooting, too. Miller said he's looking for more assists from Devonte Green and Al Durhan, in lieu of Phinisee – but Phinisee not only has the best assist-to-turnover ratio among IU's regulars, by far, he also has the best 3-point percentage (44.8).
Maryland is normally a man-to-man team, but its Minnesota game turned when the Terps turned to a 3-2 zone. The Gophers' offense bogged down and a lot of their perimeter shots clanked.
"We couldn't guard them (early)," Turgeon recalled. " … It was like they scored on every possession from about the first five minutes of the first half till six minutes were gone in the second half.
"So, out of desperation, we went zone. And it worked. Had some good possessions in it, they missed some shots, and it kind of carried over. And we rebounded out of it. That's your biggest worry, rebounding out of a zone.
"On the other end, we were just terrific. We just keep getting better. In close games, we hadn't played the last seven minutes really well. Today we finally did. A step in the right direction."
Miller's team has excelled in winning close games down the stretch. But it didn't get or stay close enough at Michigan.
"Disappointed in the way that we played at Michigan," Miller said. "There were some things that clearly stood out on film that we didn't get done on either end of the floor, and we went sort of hard back to work on that (in practice this week).
"Had a few good days of preparation and practice and getting ready to play against a really talented, big Maryland team that's playing very well right now."
Playing well, in part, because it helps to have a freshman class that is not only talented but available.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Maryland coach Mark Turgeon has watched his celebrated five-man freshmen class grow into regulars who, among other things, helped fashion Tuesday's impressive 82-67 victory at Minnesota.
Indiana coach Archie Miller would just like to have more of his celebrated five-man freshman class healthy.
Maryland's 35-13 run to close out its Minnesota game was fueled by frosh Jalen Smith, Aaron Wiggins, Eric Ayala and Ricky Lindo in conjunction with junior point guard Anthony Cowan.
"Don't sleep on the fact that, when we made our run, we had four freshmen in there with Anthony," Turgeon said post-game. "Those guys just keep getting better and better. Great win for us.
"The young guys were just out there playing, just playing, and helping Anthony do his thing … that's where we've really grown the most. Our bench has really grown since we came back from Christmas, and that's really the difference in our team."
Injuries have made it more difficult for Miller to similarly grow his young team, and its rotation and depth, over that same span.
IU again figures to play without starting freshman point guard Rob Phinisee for Friday's 7 p.m. tipoff at Maryland, and Phinisee – who is in concussion protocol – is hardly the only hurting Hoosier.
Freshman guard Romeo Langford leads Indiana in scoring (18.2 points per game) and has tallied double-figures in every game this season, but half his true-freshman classmates are presently sidelined.
Joining Phinisee on the shelf is Jerome Hunter, whose ranking among IU's recruits was behind only McDonald's All-American Langford according to the rating services. Hunter, who had surgery in mid-November, has missed the entire season.
And freshman frontliner Jake Forrester is presently out with an ankle injury.
The Hoosier injury list doesn't stop there.
Junior center De'Ron Davis, after rehabbing an Achilles tear during the off-season, is currently dealing with an ankle injury that held him out of Sunday's 74-63 loss at No. 2-ranked Michigan.
Indiana got just one appearance out of redshirt-freshman Race Thompson before he went down with a concussion that has sidelined him since.
Senior co-captain Zach McRoberts has recently returned despite recurring back issues.
"Like every coach, you want to have a great environment in practice," Miller said Thursday. "It's where you get better. The ability to work hard every day prepares you to play in the game. You just can't play in the games (to improve).
"It's been difficult … to, kind of, balance the reps and the rest (and) recovery, versus the actual ability to have to prepare to play in the game. We've had very few days where we've had our full allotment, so I think our guys on the team are used to it, and we have to back our time up a little bit, as well. Can't go as long. But every coach in the country is dealing with guys in and out of practice every day at this time of year."
Indiana now has to deal with a 13-3 Maryland team that is already 4-1 in Big Ten play.
Nobody has beaten Maryland by more than five points all season. The Terps' losses this season have come against unbeaten and No. 4-ranked Virginia (76-71), a 12-4 Seton Hall club (78-74) and by a bucket at Purdue (62-60).
Cowan, who leads the Maryland scoring this season with a 17.2 average, tied his career-high with 27 points at Minnesota, adding six rebounds and five assists.
Smith, a 6-foot-10 freshman who averages 13.0 points, posted a career-high 21 and also claimed eight bounds Tuesday.
Maryland's other 6-10 frontliner is 240-pound sophomore Bruno Fernando, who averages a double-double (14.2 points and 10.1 boards) and gives the Terps an undeniably physical presence in the paint at both ends. The NBA courted him as a freshman but he opted to return to College Park.
There is real length throughout the Maryland rotation and the Terps are currently out-rebounding the opposition by 11.2 per game, and have almost as many shot-blocks (84) as steals (85) on the season.
"I would say the two things that are very concerning is their inside attack on offense – they have the ability to go to two guys, not just one – and rebounding," Miller said. "They're plus 10 on the glass right now, I think, through their Big Ten games.
" … I think they're the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the league right now, in league games. They don't take a ton, but they take good ones. Anthony Cowan, he's really, really good, and Eric Ayala as a freshman is really good. Aaron Wiggins off the bench shooting the 3. So they've got a lot of different things that they're doing well.
"I think they're coming together at the right time. That Minnesota win was obviously very, very impressive, but what stands out the most is obviously their ability to hammer the ball inside and their ability to pound the glass, and those are two big concerns."
IU's injury situation is a reason, besides their excellent play, that Langford has averaged 33 minutes per game and 6-8 senior Juwan Morgan 29 – and Morgan (averaging 16.7 points and 7.8 boards), a warrior on both ends, will have to deal with the challenge of Maryland's size inside.
"Defensively, around the basket, things will be very hard," Miller said. "Jalen Smith, Bruno, they bring in (6-9 senior Ivan) Bender, as well, who's got great size. So around the rim is going to be tough.
"Rebounding is going to be really, really tough. But Juwan knows how to deal with that … I think he's pretty comfortable in terms of being able to do what he needs to do. But we'll continue to move him around and we'll continue to try and get him the same quality a shot that he's been getting because he's shooting a high percentage (.639)."
Morgan didn't score inside with his customary success early at Michigan, and Miller felt Morgan might have gotten a bit tired while carrying the battle to the Wolverines after halftime (finishing with 25 points, but just 9 of 22 shooting).
"Juwan uncharacteristically didn't finish as well as he has normally done, and maybe Michigan had a little bit to do with it," Miller said, "but the shots that he missed weren't challenged at times.
"At the beginning of the season, when we had our depth, (we emphasized) offensive rebounding, with the amount of depth that we had and the amount of different guys that we had coming in with great size and length.
"We're definitely not built right now to just pound the glass. The amount of minutes sometimes that Juwan has to play … you're asking him to do everything."
So Miller is looking to get Morgan more help inside. With Davis still hobbled, that might mean more minutes inside for grad transfer Evan Fitzner and sophomore Clifton Moore.
"De'Ron is still struggling a little bit with his mobility," Miller said. "His ankle is sore. He's sort of in and out of practice, and some things he can do, some things he can't do. I'm hopeful he'll be available to play on Friday, but if he can't go, Clif Moore has got to get in there and Fitzner has got to give us more right now, and we have to find ways to get those guys more involved early in the game.
"You know, hopefully Jake (Forrester) coming off his ankle – he still isn't doing real well right now in terms of being out for practice. I wish he was available because we could use another body right now just in terms of the size that we're going to be dealing with. But it is what it is."
Indiana (12-3, 3-1) might need to get some good perimeter shooting, too. Miller said he's looking for more assists from Devonte Green and Al Durhan, in lieu of Phinisee – but Phinisee not only has the best assist-to-turnover ratio among IU's regulars, by far, he also has the best 3-point percentage (44.8).
Maryland is normally a man-to-man team, but its Minnesota game turned when the Terps turned to a 3-2 zone. The Gophers' offense bogged down and a lot of their perimeter shots clanked.
"We couldn't guard them (early)," Turgeon recalled. " … It was like they scored on every possession from about the first five minutes of the first half till six minutes were gone in the second half.
"So, out of desperation, we went zone. And it worked. Had some good possessions in it, they missed some shots, and it kind of carried over. And we rebounded out of it. That's your biggest worry, rebounding out of a zone.
"On the other end, we were just terrific. We just keep getting better. In close games, we hadn't played the last seven minutes really well. Today we finally did. A step in the right direction."
Miller's team has excelled in winning close games down the stretch. But it didn't get or stay close enough at Michigan.
"Disappointed in the way that we played at Michigan," Miller said. "There were some things that clearly stood out on film that we didn't get done on either end of the floor, and we went sort of hard back to work on that (in practice this week).
"Had a few good days of preparation and practice and getting ready to play against a really talented, big Maryland team that's playing very well right now."
Playing well, in part, because it helps to have a freshman class that is not only talented but available.
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