The pieces are in place. The potential is there. The hype and hot air is enough to make steam pour out of Dick Vitale’s ears. But what are realistic expectations for the 2007-08 IU men’s basketball team?\nA national championship? Maybe. A Big Ten championship? Most definitely. \nLadies and gentlemen, your 2008 Big Ten men’s basketball champions, the Indiana Hoosiers.\nBased on IU’s exhibition games (which don’t give much of an indication at all), the Hoosiers are extremely athletic and can score at will. They also appear a bit raw on defense, and we still haven’t seen how they respond when their backs are against the wall in a hostile environment. Patience, young grasshoppers. All will be revealed in good time.\nHere’s saying IU responds to adversity like piranhas in a submerged butcher shop. Here’s saying D.J. White and Eric Gordon combine for the best one-two punch in the Big Ten. Here’s saying Kelvin Sampson leads IU to a Big Ten Championship in his second season. Here’s how:
1. Defending home court\nIn the Big Ten, the mantra is to win at home and take what you can on the road. IU enters this season with a 17-game winning streak at Assembly Hall and needs to keep that streak alive if it hopes to take home some hardware this season. Last season, the Hoosiers were up to the challenge, defeating all visitors, including No. 2 Wisconsin. Few sports allow the crowd to affect the ebb and flow of a game quite like college basketball. IU will need the support of every fan that squeezes into Assembly Hall if its streak is to continue.\n \n2. Playing team defense\nIf there is one noticeable change since Sampson took the helm, it’s the tenacity with which the Hoosiers defend the basket. With six newcomers looking to see significant playing time – including four freshmen – the Hoosiers must adapt their defensive scheme to fit the strengths of their team. Defense will especially become a critical factor on the road, where easy baskets occur about as frequently as sincere compliments, and referees tend to favor the home team.\n \n3. Embracing team roles\nWell-defined roles give individual players an identity, something to hold onto when the rest of their game goes down the water closet. Some roles have been defined before the season started: White is the vocal senior leader and post presence, Armon Bassett initiates the offense and controls the tempo, Adam Ahfeld signals the crowd to head to the exits. Who will be shot of adrenaline off the bench? Who will do the little things that don’t get noticed but play just as important a role in the construction of a championship season?\n \n4. Finding a go-to scorer\nIf you look at teams that have been successful in the past, almost all of them had a guy they could rely on to make a shot when they needed it most. Who is that guy going to be for the Hoosiers this season? Will it be a newcomer like Gordon or Jordan Crawford, who have shown a flair for creating their own shots? Or will the team go down low to D.J. at crucial points during the season. The emergence of a clutch shooter will have a significant impact on the team’s confidence and take IU to another level in tight spots.\n \n5. Avoiding injuries\nIt’s an obvious element to a championship run, but one worth mentioning. Anyone remember the beastly tandem of Marco Killingsworth and D.J. White that was going to run roughshod over frontlines across the country? I bet Mike Davis reflects fondly on this several times a day. Injuries can alter fairy-tale scripts in a heartbeat. Let’s hope athletic trainer Tim Garl has an uneventful season.
