Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO: For #iubb It Comes Down To This - Find A Way
1/23/2019 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana can't give into frustration.
It just can't.
Losses mount, pressure grows and the Hoosiers can't cave.
They have to be better than that.
Better than this.
The latest misery came with Tuesday night's 73-66 loss at Northwestern. The Hoosiers (12-7 overall, 3-5 in the Big Ten) lost their offense at the end of the first half, and then the lead and then the game.
That's five straight defeats for a team that once had visions of Big Ten glory.
Disappointing?
Absolutely.
Hopeless?
Not even close (did you see IU's down-the-stretch battling?), but it comes with this caveat:
Find a way.
You can blame injuries, suspensions, bad luck, bad hair, whatever.
Nobody cares.
Find a way.
Play with pride, fight and resolve. Play as if nothing is more important than wearing the candy stripes and doing what needs to be done.
Hit the open shot, for goodness sakes.
As battered as they are, the Hoosiers have talent to do that.
Sure, blows keep coming. IU officials announced before the game that veteran guard Devonte Green was suspended for not meeting program standards. They didn't say how long he would be out, or what his transgression was.
Oft-injured forward Deron Davis also didn't play, the consequence of a lingering bad ankle.
That leads to this fact -- the Hoosiers won't ever play with their full roster this season.
Yes, it's hard. So what? It's supposed to be hard. That's major college athletic life.
Every team faces some kind of in-season adversity. Good teams overcome it.
Indiana still has a chance to be good.
It does.
A chance.
Beating suddenly vulnerable Michigan at Assembly Hall on Friday night would be a great start.
The Hoosiers won't need divine intervention to do it.
They will need to play up to the program's tradition-rich standards – pride, hustle, passion, toughness.
Specifically, IU needs better offense against defenses that pack the middle to take away the drive and force a perimeter approach. It is just 8-for-41 from the three-point line in its last two games.
"We have to continue to find more movement," coach Archie Miller said in his post-game press conference. "We have to be harder to guard."
A bigger player rotation might help. On Tuesday night, six Hoosiers played at least 19 minutes, four played at least 32.
"Until we find more off the bench," Miller said, "that's the way it has to be."
IU's losing streak has ripped away most of the euphoria from the 12-2 start and a return to the national rankings. But even if the Hoosiers had kept winning and jumped into the top-15, it wouldn't have altered this fact:
They need to regain their consistent championship-winning ways.
Miller is building for that.
That requires stacking quality recruiting classes together. It likely means bringing in at least one good shooter per class.
Miller's recruiting success suggests good times are coming, and will last a long time.
This freshman class of Romeo Langford, Jerome Hunter, Rob Phinisee, Jake Forrester and Damezi Anderson rated among the nation's 10 best.
Langford has mostly played to his elite status, and bounced back from a sub-par Purdue showing with 12 points and six rebounds. Phinisee, still on the way back from a concussion, projects as a Big Ten star by his junior and senior seasons. He had 13 points against Northwestern.
Forrester and Anderson have seen limited action this season, but could develop into key contributors in the future.
If they want it enough.
We shall see.
Injury and surgery have sidelined the 6-7 Hunter. His impact won't come until next year. Given he was rated a top-60 prospect nationally in the Class of 2018, expect big things from him.
Next year's freshman group is also promising. IU has signed all-state guard Armaan Franklin out of Indianapolis, and projects to sign an elite player in the spring.
There is also plenty of promise from 6-7 sophomore forward Justin Smith, whose gradual improvement -- and occasional flashes of difference-making plays -- bodes well for his final two seasons. The same is true for sophomore guard Al Durham.
And if 6-8 forward Race Thompson can get healthy, well, there's a reason why he was once a four-star prospect coming out of Minneapolis.
In other words, there is reason for future optimism, which doesn't negate the fact the Hoosiers need to start playing to their present potential ASAP.
That means finding their former don't-give-up attitude, getting their defensive mojo back and figuring out a way to find consistency from the free throw line and the three-point arc.
You don't need a roster full of one-and-done guys to do that.
The Hoosiers can make a huge statement by doing it against Michigan.
The No. 5 Wolverines (18-1) have shown vulnerability in recent days, losing at Wisconsin and barely surviving Minnesota at home on Tuesday night.
IU had a chance at a Crisler Arena upset, building a big early lead before fading in the second half.
Now that the Hoosiers are back at Assembly Hall, well, there used to be magic there.
With six of their last nine games at home, there can be again.
Find a way.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana can't give into frustration.
It just can't.
Losses mount, pressure grows and the Hoosiers can't cave.
They have to be better than that.
Better than this.
The latest misery came with Tuesday night's 73-66 loss at Northwestern. The Hoosiers (12-7 overall, 3-5 in the Big Ten) lost their offense at the end of the first half, and then the lead and then the game.
That's five straight defeats for a team that once had visions of Big Ten glory.
Disappointing?
Absolutely.
Hopeless?
Not even close (did you see IU's down-the-stretch battling?), but it comes with this caveat:
Find a way.
You can blame injuries, suspensions, bad luck, bad hair, whatever.
Nobody cares.
Find a way.
Play with pride, fight and resolve. Play as if nothing is more important than wearing the candy stripes and doing what needs to be done.
Hit the open shot, for goodness sakes.
As battered as they are, the Hoosiers have talent to do that.
Sure, blows keep coming. IU officials announced before the game that veteran guard Devonte Green was suspended for not meeting program standards. They didn't say how long he would be out, or what his transgression was.
Oft-injured forward Deron Davis also didn't play, the consequence of a lingering bad ankle.
That leads to this fact -- the Hoosiers won't ever play with their full roster this season.
Yes, it's hard. So what? It's supposed to be hard. That's major college athletic life.
Every team faces some kind of in-season adversity. Good teams overcome it.
Indiana still has a chance to be good.
It does.
A chance.
Beating suddenly vulnerable Michigan at Assembly Hall on Friday night would be a great start.
The Hoosiers won't need divine intervention to do it.
They will need to play up to the program's tradition-rich standards – pride, hustle, passion, toughness.
Specifically, IU needs better offense against defenses that pack the middle to take away the drive and force a perimeter approach. It is just 8-for-41 from the three-point line in its last two games.
"We have to continue to find more movement," coach Archie Miller said in his post-game press conference. "We have to be harder to guard."
A bigger player rotation might help. On Tuesday night, six Hoosiers played at least 19 minutes, four played at least 32.
"Until we find more off the bench," Miller said, "that's the way it has to be."
IU's losing streak has ripped away most of the euphoria from the 12-2 start and a return to the national rankings. But even if the Hoosiers had kept winning and jumped into the top-15, it wouldn't have altered this fact:
They need to regain their consistent championship-winning ways.
Miller is building for that.
That requires stacking quality recruiting classes together. It likely means bringing in at least one good shooter per class.
Miller's recruiting success suggests good times are coming, and will last a long time.
This freshman class of Romeo Langford, Jerome Hunter, Rob Phinisee, Jake Forrester and Damezi Anderson rated among the nation's 10 best.
Langford has mostly played to his elite status, and bounced back from a sub-par Purdue showing with 12 points and six rebounds. Phinisee, still on the way back from a concussion, projects as a Big Ten star by his junior and senior seasons. He had 13 points against Northwestern.
Forrester and Anderson have seen limited action this season, but could develop into key contributors in the future.
If they want it enough.
We shall see.
Injury and surgery have sidelined the 6-7 Hunter. His impact won't come until next year. Given he was rated a top-60 prospect nationally in the Class of 2018, expect big things from him.
Next year's freshman group is also promising. IU has signed all-state guard Armaan Franklin out of Indianapolis, and projects to sign an elite player in the spring.
There is also plenty of promise from 6-7 sophomore forward Justin Smith, whose gradual improvement -- and occasional flashes of difference-making plays -- bodes well for his final two seasons. The same is true for sophomore guard Al Durham.
And if 6-8 forward Race Thompson can get healthy, well, there's a reason why he was once a four-star prospect coming out of Minneapolis.
In other words, there is reason for future optimism, which doesn't negate the fact the Hoosiers need to start playing to their present potential ASAP.
That means finding their former don't-give-up attitude, getting their defensive mojo back and figuring out a way to find consistency from the free throw line and the three-point arc.
You don't need a roster full of one-and-done guys to do that.
The Hoosiers can make a huge statement by doing it against Michigan.
The No. 5 Wolverines (18-1) have shown vulnerability in recent days, losing at Wisconsin and barely surviving Minnesota at home on Tuesday night.
IU had a chance at a Crisler Arena upset, building a big early lead before fading in the second half.
Now that the Hoosiers are back at Assembly Hall, well, there used to be magic there.
With six of their last nine games at home, there can be again.
Find a way.
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Forward
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/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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