Column: The Fun Factor

Junior forward Derek Elston lifted his spread arms over his head to conclude his impersonation of teammate Victor Oladipo, who was seated next to him at Monday’s postgame press conference.

Oladipo’s eyes grew wide and the sparkplug guard quickly lowered his head, clapping with a contagious smile that quickly spread around the room.

“That’s what makes it fun,” Elston said of Oladipo’s celebrations. “The ‘know us’ [puts his hand over his face] and ‘ahhh,’ [raises his arms] that’s what’s fun right there. This team didn’t have that last year.”

This demeanor was a welcome change for the Hoosiers from past years. A light-hearted press conference powered by animated players, who were genuinely having fun playing together and winning together.

The jovial atmosphere and team chemistry surrounding the IU basketball program right now is evident on the court, as well as off it.

IU has recorded more assists than turnovers in four out of their five games this season, as the Hoosiers committed 18 turnovers to 12 assists in the Chattanooga victory Nov. 13. Overall, IU Coach Tom Crean’s squad has 92 assists on 149 made field goals this year, good for 61.7 percent.

“These guys have so much faith in me,” Elston said. “Whether they drive and kick it to me, Cody opening it up in the lane, it gives me wide-open jumpers. Me and Jordy [Hulls] talk about it when we go home, ‘why am I so open?’ It’s because Vic [Oladipo] drives, Willl [Sheehey] drives or Cody’s got a double team. And it’s reassuring to know they trust me to knock down any jump shot and that’s what I base my game off of.”

I’ve never taken a psychology class in college, but it doesn’t take Sigmund Freud to see these players trust each other, are being more efficient and playing with confidence as a result.

In their 79-43 win against Gardner-Webb, the Hoosiers fed off and contributed to each other’s play in a manner that was seldom seen last season.

Shortly after Oladipo stole an inbounds pass with 13:17 left in the second half, sophomore forward Will Sheehey scored 10-straight points, seven of which were off assists from three different teammates.

Furthermore, there were several occasions against the Runnin’ Bulldogs when an IU player driving in the post made the extra pass to an open teammate for an easier bucket.

“The 19 assists isn't indicative of how well we the ball moved tonight,” Crean said. “It was at a really good rate. Our interior passing took some real steps forward, and we knew we were playing a good team.”

It’s interesting how quickly we forget that these student-athletes are still of college age. Past the unforgiving press conference lights, front-page headlines and television broadcasts, college basketball is, at its core, a group of amateur athletes playing the sport they love.

It should be fun.

“For [Oladipo] to hype up the crowd and get us all off our feet and throwing the towels, and throwing our hands around –we need that,” Elston said. “Victor’s that guy who can bring us all together and if things are going bad, it all starts on defense for us, and Vic’s our go-to guy. And that, right there, is fun.”