Column: Hoosiers’ 3-point shooting will improve; will its leadership?

In a season that won’t live up to the standard expectations of such a storied, tradition-rich program such as IU, it’s imperative to maintain a proper perspective.

During and after the Hoosiers’ humbling 69-52 loss at Syracuse, the youth and inexperience of IU Coach Tom Crean’s team that has been discussed ad nauseam for the better part of the past few months reared its ugly head, leading some to believe that the 2013-14 season will be a long, slow, unenjoyable grind.

But buying into that notion at such an early juncture would be asinine.

Yes, this season’s team certainly isn’t anywhere near the caliber of last season’s group that spent the better part of its journey to the Sweet 16 as the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.

Yes, this team lacks the veteran poise and experience necessary to win consistently against quality competition.

However, there exists legitimate hope for sophomore point guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell and Co. to reach unexpected heights despite their perceived shortcomings and weaknesses.

The most pressing issue facing IU is its lack of shooters, an area that doomed its offense against Syracuse’s pesky 2-3 zone defense; the Hoosiers converted just four of 14 3-point field goal attempts, each of which were drained by Ferrell.

While a plethora of fans have dreamt of current IU commit and lethal shooter James Blackmon Jr. being present on the roster, no such dream will become reality. Crean offered a few comments following his team’s loss to Syracuse that should quell any and all worries about IU’s perimeter shooting.

“We’ll get better shooting the ball,” Crean said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Our teams always do. A year ago at this time, Victor Oladipo was shooting 29 percent from three and ended up shooting 44 percent on the year. We're gonna get better."

The difficultly surrounding the situation is identifying which player will experience a similar meteoric rise in shooting percentage as Oladipo did.

For now, Ferrell is IU’s lone consistent 3-point threat. The most likely candidate to join him is senior wing Will Sheehey, who is in the midst of an uncharacteristic shooting slump, shooting an abysmal 22 percent from beyond the arc this season.

The Stuart, Fla., native is a career 33 percent shooter from three, though steady improvement in that department is inevitable, as Crean explained.

Fixing the tangible aspects such as shooting is a quantifiable task, but the same can’t be said for IU’s other ultra-concerning issue: leadership.

The Hoosiers, whose most common starting five includes four underclassmen, are sorely lacking the type of commanding presence(s) they possessed last season, whether it was Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford or Oladipo.

"We were too quite," Crean said following the loss to Syracuse. "Our leadership took a step back tonight. I don't know if it's the inexperience of a team...but there's no excuse for it."

Whether the leadership Crean expects will materialize remains to be seen, though if it appears in a timely fashion along with consistent perimeter shooting, the best will be yet to come.
 
­— ckillore@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Connor Killoren on Twitter @IDS_CGKilloren.