This season marks 100 years of IU basketball and the 25th head coach in the program's history. Two days after former coach Bob Knight was fired, interim head coach Mike Davis was hired. About a week later, his staff was complete. This year, it's Davis' team, and things are a little different.\nIU is running a new offense, with the strategy of playing an inside game to get open shots for the guards. There are more set plays and unlike the motion offense, players know where to take the ball. This year's question is who the go-to man is. IU finished first in the conference in scoring last year, averaging 77.1 points per contest. But that was with guard A.J. Guyton, who led the team and the conference with 19.7 points per game. Guyton was drafted by the Chicago Bulls.\nWith five freshmen, no seniors and only three players with ample playing time experience, the men's basketball team is obviously young. But with a McDonald's All-American, a Parade All-American and the top rebounder in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers have the potential to succeed. \nLook for this year's team to hit peaks and valleys, sometimes within games. The team has shown flashes of promise, but its success will be determined by whether or not the defense can stay strong through the second period. IU finished eighth in the conference last year in the defense category, giving up 71.4 points per game.\n"No matter how big or how small my part is, I want to be part of a winning team," said freshman guard A.J. Moye. "We all do. We definitely have the talent to just kill teams, but it's a matter of kicking teams when they're down. Good teams know how to do that."\nJunior forward Kirk Haston, guard Dane Fife and forward Jarrad Odle are the team leaders. Haston is the team's top returning scorer (15.3) and one of the conference's best defenders. He averaged 8.3 rebounds per game last season, the top in the Big Ten. Fife is one of the team's best defenders and distributors. He shot 80 percent (36-of-45) from the free throw line last year and led the team with 49 steals.\n"Expectations are really high," Haston said. "We have a really good team here and I don't think a lot of people realize that. I'm hoping that once we get the season started we'll be able to keep this team together."\nIN THE PAINT\nWith the loss of five seniors, including Guyton and Michael Lewis, Davis has no choice but to delegate a heavy load of responsibility to the younger players. Sophomore Jeffrey Newton has already proved he can handle it. Newton, one of the top shot blockers in the conference, played in every game last year and averaged 6.8 points per game. \nAnd freshman George Leach had a whole season to learn from the bench, as he was redshirted because the NCAA declared him a partial qualifier. With the combination of Leach, Newton, Haston and freshman Jared Jeffries, the front line is capable of dominating.\n"Kirk Haston has proved he can score outside and inside," Davis said. "Jeffries can score inside, Leach can score inside. I want to go inside. I want to play off those guys."\nMuch is expected from Jeffries, a McDonald's All-American from Bloomington High School North. Jeffries averaged 23.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last year. Jeffries displayed his ability against Athletes in Action when he led the IU offense with 27 points.\nOdle and sophomore guards Tom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby are arguably the three most improved players on the roster, and they'll all look for increased playing time this year. Odle's role has changed the most, and he is expected to increase his average three points per game. \nFreshman forward Mike Roberts has worked on mastering the fundamentals. Roberts joins the Hoosiers after a year at New Hampton Prep School in New Hampshire, where he scored 12 points and seven rebounds per game.
ON THE PERIMETER\nOne of the team's biggest problems this year is that it has no true point guard. Much will be expected from Fife at the guard position. Watch for him to become more of a scorer. He started 22 games last season and scored 4.9 points per game.\nFreshman Andre Owens is a gritty, feisty player who is regarded as one of the top guards in the state. He averaged 23.9 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior at Perry Meridian High School.\nFreshman A.J. Moye, a 6-foot-3 guard from Atlanta, has had some difficulty adjusting to the college game. He said he didn't think it would be so physical and he has come to understand that he needs to be more of an all-around player, not just a perimeter shooter like he was in high school. Moye, Georgia's Player of the Year last season, averaged 31 points last season.\n"I feel like we can always move, cut and screen, but to execute an offense takes time, patience and courage to play through it," Davis said. "We don't have a true point guard, we're young. My main thing is for us to come out every game and play each possession tough, like it means something"
