Grades for the season

With the close of the regular season upon us, it’s time to hand out grades.

Yes, that’s right – this is perhaps the most cliche column I’ll ever write. But read it for me, will you? Have pity on a working man. Or something.

Guards
Offense
IU’s guard situation was a complete enigma going into the season.

Junior Devan Dumes was expected to lead the pack, and as the team’s leading scorer, he has. A quartet of freshmen – Matt Roth, Malik Story, Nick Williams and Verdell Jones – all improved as the season went on, hashing out roles within the offense.

They still turn the ball over far, far too much, and free-throw shooting, while it has improved, is still costing them games.

Grade: C+

Guards
Defense
It’s hard to place a real grade on any of these guards’ defense because they’ve been asked to play so many different positions. Story and Williams have at times had to guard larger players, and Story has played probably four positions on the floor at times.

Dumes is the best on-ball defender on the team, and Williams and Story have learned to play better on that end of the floor. So has Daniel Moore, the fiery walk-on from Carmel, Ind., who’s also been an asset at the point.

However, Roth can still be a liability – as evidenced by Crean’s willingness to sub him in and out late in games for offensive vs. defensive purposes – and Jones has struggled against smaller, quicker guards.

Overall, however, this group has improved noticeably during the course of the season.

Grade: B

Forwards
Offense
The frontcourt, thin as it is, has made a significant impact this year.
Tom Pritchard was this team’s best scoring option through much of the non-conference season, and Kyle Taber has improved his reactions and quickness well enough to become a legitimate contributor on the offensive end.

Pritchard is second-best in the conference in offensive boards per game as well, and Taber is 14th. As a team, the Hoosiers pull down 10.2 offensive rebounds per game, good for fourth in the conference.

At the same time, Taber is still no better than a role player, and Pritchard hasn’t adjusted well to being the focus of opponents’ low-post defense later in the season.

The freshman from Ohio has tried to develop a little bit more range, but his away-from-the-basket game is still far from its needed effectiveness.

Grade: B-

Forwards
Defense
The Hoosiers’ low-post defense hasn’t been quite the liability people thought it would be, and IU has been surprisingly strong on the glass (fifth in the conference in rebounding margin).

Inside defense was always going to be a problem for such a small team, but IU has adjusted well. Most of the teams that have really hurt IU defensively have done so with mid-range jumpers or 3-point shooting.

There have been lapses, and a serious lack of personnel has let fatigue bleed through recently, but overall, the Hoosiers’ inside defense might be the most impressive part of their season.

Grade: A-

Coaching
Tom Crean and his staff were handed the most difficult task I’ve ever seen back in May, when it became clear the team needed to be rebuilt full-scale.

With the tools they have and what they’ve done with them, this is about what I expected.
It hasn’t all been roses, especially in late-game situations, where it seemed like timeouts needed to be taken sooner – if they were at all.

Crean has been able to negate the Hoosiers’ height disadvantage in rebounding and develop IU’s guards while also trying to implement and tailor a complex offensive scheme.

It’s hard to judge a coach’s pure ability based on a season as twisted as this one, but I’ll give Crean the benefit of the doubt.

Grade: B+