Column: Flawed Hoosiers not ready for Big Ten play

In nonconference play, IU faced four teams close to or at a Big Ten level.

The Hoosiers lost all four times.

Now as IU sets to open its conference slate today against Penn State at Assembly Hall, it’s hard to believe anything other than that the Hoosiers are not quite ready for their Big Ten schedule.

At first, it was rather easy to dismiss the losses – all four away from Assembly Hall.

It was “lessons learned” at Boston College, and it was “good try” against Kentucky in Rupp Arena.

But the team’s most recent pair of losses – against Northern Iowa and Colorado in the Las Vegas Classic – at least confirmed this much: this is a flawed basketball team.

No fatal flaws, to be clear. Just a bunch of little ones. Ones that add up, show up, flair up, and expose IU.

The list is long:

No true center.

Lack of offensive production from big men (sans Christian Watford).

Verdell Jones’ turnovers.

Maurice Creek’s slow progression to full recovery.

Perimeter and dribble-drive defense (or lack thereof).

Slow starts.

Poor shooting (at times) from key players.

Poor stamina.

(IU wore down against Kentucky. Sophomore forward Derek Elston played very little in second half against Colorado, which IU coach Tom Crean first partly credited to being worn out but later said via Twitter that Elston was sick.)

These flaws don’t all come out in the same game (I can only imagine a horrific score if they did, say, against Michigan State at the Breslin Center).

Against Boston College, it was a slow start and very weak play from the post players. It was a stamina thing against Kentucky. Poor shooting and poor perimeter defense doomed the Hoosiers in Las Vegas.

The IU schedule to date hasn’t been much help to work out these flaws. The Hoosiers have played the weakest non-conference schedule in the Big Ten, according to statistician Jeff Sagarin. He lists IU’s as the 331st toughest schedule out of 345 Division I teams.

So far, it has been easy to cover flaws simply with superior talent. Take recent games against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Savannah State, contests in which IU won by a combined 56 points but still committed 36 turnovers.

Crean said many times that those sorts of games serve a purpose – to teach the team how to win (something it hasn’t done the last two years).

But after awhile – nine games, in which IU averaged to win by 25.4 points – it becomes a little redundant. Winning such games only lulls fans into a false sense of improvement. Dare I say it’s like the IU football team’s almost annual early-season success?

And now, it’s Big Ten time. A Big Ten that is the toughest conference in the nation. A conference loaded with teams that will smack the Hoosiers around if their flaws persist.

Even Penn State (7-4), not the toughest team in the conference by any means, will give the Hoosiers all they can handle. Senior guard Talor Battle, the conference’s second-leading scorer at 20.6 points per game, has the ability to do the exact thing Boston College’s Reggie Jackson did (scoring 27 points on IU).

And while not very deep, the Nittany Lions have two senior forwards, David Jackson and Jeff Brooks, that combine for 22 points and 12 rebounds per game.

If IU loses to Penn State, it’s easy to see the Hoosiers fall into a conference funk. An 0-4 start (Ohio State, at Minnesota and at Northwestern are up next) would be a safe bet. The schedule doesn’t lighten up after that, either.

Any Big Ten win will be an accomplishment for the Hoosiers. And with the way the season has gone, an early conference win – even against Penn State - should count as a surprise.

Many have said we won’t learn much about this IU team until Big Ten play.

That time is here, and we’re going to learn a lot.