Friday, December 23
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Kennesaw State
For High-Flying Gunn, Best is Still Ahead
12/23/2022 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Did you see it, the rim-rocking dunk, the emphatic way CJ Gunn generated half-ending buzz against Elon?
ESPN Sportscenter rated it No. 5 on its Tuesday night highlights.
In case you missed it, when senior forward Miller Kopp's 3-point attempt bounced high off the rim, Gunn sprinted from beyond the 3-point line, leaped between two Elon players and jammed the ball with his right hand.
The Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall crowd erupted into cheers. Hoosiers congratulated him as only the young can, none more enthusiastically than teammate Tamar Bates.
But it was more than that.
We got the chance to see what might be ahead for this freshman guard. There's the hustle and hops and work ethic that for now, come in limited doses. In 10 games, he averages 2.8 points in 8.6 minutes.
Against Elon, Gunn got a bigger opportunity. On Friday night against Kennesaw State (8-4), with senior point guard Xavier Johnson out indefinitely due to foot surgery, he might get another.
In a career-high 20 minutes, Gunn had a career-high 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting, including that dunk. He added three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
In the aftermath, coach Mike Woodson called Gunn "solid."
Kopp goes deeper than that.
"One of the hardest things to do when you're coming in as a freshman, is you want to please, you want to do well. At the same time, you have to learn what the coaches are asking of you and what the guys need from you.
"His role, just like when I was a freshman, might be different now than it is in two years. But right now, one of his goals, and he'll tell you, is just to get on the floor and get in the rotation."
The 6-4 Gunn was a high school superstar at perennial state power Indianapolis Lawrence North. As a senior, he averaged 23.5 points. He once made nine 3-pointers in a high school game.
As it is for most freshman, the college transition meant a diminished role. Gunn understands that, just as he understands Kopp's press-conference word-of-the-day challenge.
"I'm just playing the game the right way," he says. "Last year, I was used to playing against tiddlywinks, so now it's a different level. It's a different level of ball.
"I've got to adjust to the game. It comes with practicing hard and meshing with the guys. That's how I look at it."
Against Elon, injuries and IU's high-level performance produced a big lead that led to more playing time for the bench.
"Coach always tells me and the other guys to stay ready and be ready to hoop," Gunn says. "I feel like that's what I did.
"Obviously, I wanted to get in the game, so when I get the opportunity, I'm going to play the best ball I can and do the things Coach asks me to do."
Woodson will likely ask for more after Wednesday's announcement of Johnson's surgery. The hope is Johnson will return before the end of the season. He averages 9.9 assists and has a team leading 54 assists and 13 steals. A Pitt transfer, he has 1,674 career points.
Woodson wants Gunn to be stronger with the ball and make key basketball plays.
Kopp sees that coming, and more.
"Every day in practice, he plays hard as ever. He talks. He tries to do the right things. Yes, there are mess-ups, but at the same time, it all comes from a good place, and he's doing things at a thousand miles an hour.
"It makes me happy to see a guy like CJ work so hard and continue to do things the right way because eventually it's going to build up, and he'll see the benefits."
Gunn wasn't the only bench player with a Tuesday night opportunity.
Injuries and illness have limited sophomore forward Logan Duncomb's playing time. Against Elon, he set a career high with 10 points (on 5-for-6 shooting), plus added five rebounds and two assists, all in 16 minutes.
"He's not in great shape," Woodson says. "He's had his ups and downs, but I thought he responded. It seems like every time I throw him in there, he does something positive, but you can't play him for long stretches. He's had problems in terms of illness and things of that nature that have put him behind from a physical standpoint."
Besides Johnson, IU was without forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis (precautionary reasons) and Jordan Geronimo (dislocated finger) on Tuesday night.
"I don't know (when they'll be back)," Woodson says. "My job is to make sure the guys who are in uniform are ready to play. We'll welcome back (the injured players) when that time comes."
As far as Geronimo's return, Woodson says, "It's basically how much pain can he tolerate."
The Elon victory wasn't all positive for Woodson.
"I don't like the fact we gave up 72 points. That's something I always seem to watch. We've got to get better in that area."
Woodson wants the No. 18 Hoosiers (9-3) to regain last season's shut-down defensive focus. They have allowed an average of 81.7 points over their last three games. Elon, with only eight available scholarship players, made 10 3-pointers against them.
"We've got to do a better job on the ball and guarding the ball," Woodson says. "We have quite a few fouls called in guarding the ball in one-on-one position. Then, we've got to do a better job in our pick-and-roll defense in getting over the screen and getting into the ball. We were terrible in that area."
As for Friday night's game, this is the fastest Kennesaw State has ever reached eight victories. It is road tested with losses at Florida and at VCU, and a road win at Mercer.
It is led by guards Chris Youngblood (14.2 points. 4.3 rebounds) and Terrell Burden (11.3 points, 45 assists).
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Did you see it, the rim-rocking dunk, the emphatic way CJ Gunn generated half-ending buzz against Elon?
ESPN Sportscenter rated it No. 5 on its Tuesday night highlights.
In case you missed it, when senior forward Miller Kopp's 3-point attempt bounced high off the rim, Gunn sprinted from beyond the 3-point line, leaped between two Elon players and jammed the ball with his right hand.
The Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall crowd erupted into cheers. Hoosiers congratulated him as only the young can, none more enthusiastically than teammate Tamar Bates.
But it was more than that.
We got the chance to see what might be ahead for this freshman guard. There's the hustle and hops and work ethic that for now, come in limited doses. In 10 games, he averages 2.8 points in 8.6 minutes.
Against Elon, Gunn got a bigger opportunity. On Friday night against Kennesaw State (8-4), with senior point guard Xavier Johnson out indefinitely due to foot surgery, he might get another.
In a career-high 20 minutes, Gunn had a career-high 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting, including that dunk. He added three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
In the aftermath, coach Mike Woodson called Gunn "solid."
Kopp goes deeper than that.
"One of the hardest things to do when you're coming in as a freshman, is you want to please, you want to do well. At the same time, you have to learn what the coaches are asking of you and what the guys need from you.
"His role, just like when I was a freshman, might be different now than it is in two years. But right now, one of his goals, and he'll tell you, is just to get on the floor and get in the rotation."
The 6-4 Gunn was a high school superstar at perennial state power Indianapolis Lawrence North. As a senior, he averaged 23.5 points. He once made nine 3-pointers in a high school game.
As it is for most freshman, the college transition meant a diminished role. Gunn understands that, just as he understands Kopp's press-conference word-of-the-day challenge.
"I'm just playing the game the right way," he says. "Last year, I was used to playing against tiddlywinks, so now it's a different level. It's a different level of ball.
"I've got to adjust to the game. It comes with practicing hard and meshing with the guys. That's how I look at it."
Against Elon, injuries and IU's high-level performance produced a big lead that led to more playing time for the bench.
"Coach always tells me and the other guys to stay ready and be ready to hoop," Gunn says. "I feel like that's what I did.
"Obviously, I wanted to get in the game, so when I get the opportunity, I'm going to play the best ball I can and do the things Coach asks me to do."
Woodson will likely ask for more after Wednesday's announcement of Johnson's surgery. The hope is Johnson will return before the end of the season. He averages 9.9 assists and has a team leading 54 assists and 13 steals. A Pitt transfer, he has 1,674 career points.
Woodson wants Gunn to be stronger with the ball and make key basketball plays.
Kopp sees that coming, and more.
"Every day in practice, he plays hard as ever. He talks. He tries to do the right things. Yes, there are mess-ups, but at the same time, it all comes from a good place, and he's doing things at a thousand miles an hour.
"It makes me happy to see a guy like CJ work so hard and continue to do things the right way because eventually it's going to build up, and he'll see the benefits."
Gunn wasn't the only bench player with a Tuesday night opportunity.
Injuries and illness have limited sophomore forward Logan Duncomb's playing time. Against Elon, he set a career high with 10 points (on 5-for-6 shooting), plus added five rebounds and two assists, all in 16 minutes.
"He's not in great shape," Woodson says. "He's had his ups and downs, but I thought he responded. It seems like every time I throw him in there, he does something positive, but you can't play him for long stretches. He's had problems in terms of illness and things of that nature that have put him behind from a physical standpoint."
Besides Johnson, IU was without forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis (precautionary reasons) and Jordan Geronimo (dislocated finger) on Tuesday night.
"I don't know (when they'll be back)," Woodson says. "My job is to make sure the guys who are in uniform are ready to play. We'll welcome back (the injured players) when that time comes."
As far as Geronimo's return, Woodson says, "It's basically how much pain can he tolerate."
The Elon victory wasn't all positive for Woodson.
"I don't like the fact we gave up 72 points. That's something I always seem to watch. We've got to get better in that area."
Woodson wants the No. 18 Hoosiers (9-3) to regain last season's shut-down defensive focus. They have allowed an average of 81.7 points over their last three games. Elon, with only eight available scholarship players, made 10 3-pointers against them.
"We've got to do a better job on the ball and guarding the ball," Woodson says. "We have quite a few fouls called in guarding the ball in one-on-one position. Then, we've got to do a better job in our pick-and-roll defense in getting over the screen and getting into the ball. We were terrible in that area."
As for Friday night's game, this is the fastest Kennesaw State has ever reached eight victories. It is road tested with losses at Florida and at VCU, and a road win at Mercer.
It is led by guards Chris Youngblood (14.2 points. 4.3 rebounds) and Terrell Burden (11.3 points, 45 assists).
Players Mentioned
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