IU looked bad against a bad team Friday night as it beat the University of North Carolina at Greensboro 87-79.
This was four days after IU had a bad loss against Eastern Washington 88-86.
Coming into this season, the talk was about how this year’s team was going to be much better than last year’s disappointing squad.
The shooting is better.
The chemistry is better.
The consistency is better.
The answers to those declarations: definitely, too early to tell and nope.
Last season IU had some good talent. But it went 7-11 in the Big Ten just one year after being one of the top dogs in the country. Last season was possibly the most inconsistent team I’d ever seen.
Last year, IU beat No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 10 Michigan, No. 20 Iowa and No. 22 Ohio State. But it also lost to Penn State and Northwestern, and it got beaten twice by the good-but-not-great Nebraska and Illinois teams.
IU would beat up ranked opponents one game and then look downright awful against Big Ten bottom feeders.
After watching UNCG outscore IU 45-37 in the second half, that same thought came back into my head: This year’s team won’t be any different than last year’s team.
Earlier this season, the Hoosiers outscored a very quality opponent in SMU — ranked No. 22 at the time — 64-46 in the final 30 minutes of that game for a win.
In the three games since then, against very weak opposition, IU has outscored its opponents by an average of just 6.3 points per game.
Like last year, this team is talented. It might have the best backcourt in the Big Ten with junior Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell and freshman James Blackmon Jr.
Against Pitt on Tuesday as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Assembly Hall will be rocking because the opponent is well-known and the team will play much better.
But then IU has Savannah State. How the Hoosiers respond will be important.
Because in the Big Ten, they’ll play Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State. The players will play hard because the lights will be bright and the game will be on ESPN.
But given the evidence we have of IU basketball, it’ll play poorly against teams such as Penn State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Iowa, teams that won’t garner the national spotlight.
But to be a great team, IU needs to put down less-talented teams more often, which is what great ?teams do.
Because IU is better on the court this season, it might make the NCAA tournament. I predicted IU to finish 10-8 in the Big Ten this year, and I’m not ready for a few bad November performances to derail that line of thinking just yet.
But until it gets some consistency, IU won’t be great. And great is not an unreasonable thing to expect at a basketball institution such as Indiana University.
How is that consistency developed? Like anything else, reps. There are no seniors on this team. Nobody who has been through the ropes for four years, showing the young guys how to act on — and off — the court.
IU’s problem isn’t talent. It’s leadership that demands consistency on the floor. Gone are the days of Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller, who were great pillars of the program.
Until IU gets some of those pillars again, the ceiling can only go so high.
ehoopfer@indiana.edu
