Davis sees depth in backcourt

When asked who his go-to guys will be this season, coach Mike Davis doesn't name one or two players, he mentions several.\n"We have (senior Kyle) Hornsby, who stepped up in the championship game last year and played big," he said. "(Freshman) Bracey (Wright) can score, (freshman Marshall) Strickland can score, (senior Tom) Coverdale can score, (junior A.J.) Moye and (sophomore Donald) Perry, all those guys are ready to play."\nBesides their scoring ability, all six of these players have one thing in common -- they are all guards. \nThrow freshman guard Roderick Wilmont into the mix, who averaged 31.9 points per game as a high school senior last season, and Davis has seven players who will vie for minutes in the backcourt.\nSome may see this as a logjam, but Coverdale said it will work to the Hoosiers' advantage.\n"I think that's a good thing," he said. "Everybody talks about me and Kyle being seniors and a lot of talented guards coming in behind us. But that's gonna push us to be even better and the main thing is we all get along. It's competition on the court but after that we're all just good friends and like to have a good time.\n"So having that deep of a bench and backcourt, no matter who starts and who doesn't, it's gonna make us a really good team."\nAt the point guard position, three players are expected to see significant playing time.\nCoverdale held the starting position last season, averaging 11.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. \nPerry saw limited time as Coverdale's backup, averaging 13.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. \nStrickland enters the season touted as one of the best freshman point guards in the country. A Maryland court ruled that he used up his eligibility before his senior season at South Carrol High School in Winfield, Md., but as a junior he averaged 30.5 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.\nPerry said a three-guard rotation at the point will give IU options. \n"In a game we don't have to just count on one or two guys," he said. "If one guy's struggling, you just take him out and put the other guys in and there's no letdown and that way the team can continue to roll on."\nAt the shooting guard and wing positions the Hoosiers have four alternatives in Hornsby, Moye, Wright and Wilmont.\nHornsby saw the most playing time last season at 24.9 minutes per game. \nBut Davis said Moye who was IU's sparkplug off the bench last year, has shown strong leadership in the pre-season. He added that Moye's role will not strictly be as a guard.\n"Our weakness will be the inside positions. We will probably play Moye some inside," he said. "This year (Moye) is a leader. If I had to pick one leader right now it would be AJ Moye. He has worked hard."\nWright, a McDonalds All-American last year, will bring athleticism and a pure shooting touch to the shooting guard position. He shot 56 percent from the field as a senior at The Colony High School in Texas and balanced that with solid defense, averaging seven rebounds and four blocks a game.\n"My personal goal is actually to start," he said. "I really do have high expectations of myself and that's one of the big things for me -- being one of the best on the team."\nWith seven options in the backcourt, Coverdale said the Hoosiers won't necessarily have just one point guard and one shooting guard on the floor at a time.\n"I can even see us playing four guards at a time during a game just because we're so guard heavy," he said. "It's all up to what Coach Davis wants to do."\nDavis said he hopes the frontcourt can draw enough defensive attention that it opens up the offense for his backcourt players.\n"What we need to do is just have our big guys have a presence in the paint," he said. "If they can do that, then we will be decent.\n"We are going to space the floor out with our guards and be able to shoot the ball from the outside. If all them average 10 points a game, then that is pretty good"