Column: Without Michel, IU left with thin frontcourt

When Guy-Marc Michel scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the team’s open scrimmage Halloween weekend, fans chanted his name.

When he received rave reviews from players this summer, we figured he was different — and better — than centers Tijan Jobe and Bawa Muniru, who had limited success.

When he was sidelined for the beginning of the season when the NCAA began investigating his amateur status, it was assumed IU would succeed without him during the team’s easy early-season schedule.

But Michel gave us enough glimpses that we know IU will now miss his presence on
the court.

IU has started the season 6-0 against a weak schedule. There are positives to the team’s first six games — a defensive identity, for example — but there are also some warning signs. Warning signs that, against better Big Ten competition, might haunt the Hoosiers.

Near the top of the list of concerns: IU lacks size. Four players — Christian Watford, Tom Pritchard, Derek Elston and Bobby Capobianco — are listed at 6 feet 9 inches, but none of those guys really act as true centers.

In fact, an emphasis this season was to slide Watford to the three position this year with Michel anchoring down low.

Now IU is faced with juggling Pritchard, Capobianco and Elston in the post and playing small ball with three-guard lineups.

Offensive production from Pritchard and Capobianco has been limited. Pritchard averages two points per game and Capbianco has only taken nine shots all season. Combined, they average 7.2 rebounds per game — a respectable number for one big man.

Defensively, Michel’s wingspan and blocking ability would have at least threatened opponents.

Even with Michel, it was a relatively thin frontcourt to begin with — without him, freshman walk-on Jeff Howard might see some unexpected minutes if those players get in foul trouble. In fact, Howard played six minutes against Evansville while Elston sat out because of an injury.

Nothing against Howard, but when a freshman walk-on is needed, it’s pretty apparent the frontcourt is thin.

Adding insult to ineligibility, the Big Ten has plenty of good big men. (Shocker, I know.) While Michel might have not stopped guys such as JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Mike Tisdale (Illinois) and Ralph Sampson III (Minnesota), based on sheer size, he had a better chance at containing them than current options.

I don’t want to over-emphasize Michel’s significance. We never saw him play a minute against a real opponent, and he was very much a mystery coming out of North Idaho College — not even a YouTube video to see whatever highlights there might have been.

Will his loss significantly alter IU’s final win-loss standings? Maybe he never would have panned out against better competition. But that’s hard to believe just with what he displayed at the open scrimmage. He looked like an influence on the court.

He could’ve been the guy (no pun intended) that pushed the Hoosiers over the edge to some unexpected victories against better competition in the Big Ten. But one last thing to remember: IU fans might not need to worry too much. There’s a big man on the way next year. His name is Cody Zeller.


E-mail: nmhart@indiana.edu