OK, in my previous columns, maybe I should have been clearer.
When I, and so many others, wrote that IU’s success would be defined by its 3-point shooting this year, I didn’t mean by the volume of shots. I meant by the percentage made.
By halftime of IU’s 94-66 victory against Grand Canyon on Saturday, the Hoosiers had attempted 40 field goals. Twenty of those were from behind the arc. This led to a 42-31 Hoosier advantage.
That wasn’t against a Big Ten team where the low post often looks more like a rugby scrum than basketball. Those numbers are against the Grand Canyon Antelopes, a team ranked 174th in blocked shots per game.
In the second half, IU changed its strategy. It came out shooting 11-of-16 on 2-point field goals in the first 12 minutes and had only attempted six 3-pointers. IU Coach Tom Crean said the Hoosiers got the ball inside on 37 of 43 possessions in the second half.
Those numbers are the main reason that at one point IU stretched its lead out to 30.
Compare the first half with that same 12-minute span of the second half in terms of effective field goal percentage, a statistic that takes into account the increased value of a 3-pointer.
In the first half, IU finished with a 46.3 effective field goal percentage. In the first 12 minutes of the second, that number was 54.5 percent.
If the Hoosiers want to have success throughout this season, they’re going to have to work harder and focus more on getting post touches.
With junior forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea showing rapid improvement on the offensive end, those trips inside are producing more and more results.
“We’ve been working a lot on post moves,” Mosquera-Perea said. “(Crean) just goes in every day and tells me to slow down if I’m going too fast. I realized that the best thing I can do right now is just slow down and let the game come to me.”
IU has a load of great shooters on the team, and by no means should Crean discourage his players from taking open threes. But they need to start looking inside first, whether driving or posting up.
Not only does that lead to more high-percentage shots, but it also creates more open looks from deep when they kick it back out. The defense crashes inside to defend the low post, which leaves shooters open for triples.
“Sometimes when you’ve got really good shooters, they forget how easy it will be if they just move the ball, and they move it through the paint,” Crean said. “I don’t have a problem with the attempts, as long as it goes through the paint and as long as they’re rhythm shots.”
In games like the one against Grand Canyon, it’s especially important to get involved down low. The Hoosiers’ best scorer, freshman guard James Blackmon Jr., was of-three from deep in the first half. Everyone, even Blackmon, can get cold.
When that happens, it’s important to be able to employ a new strategy. Blackmon attacked the basket in the second half and converted 3-of-4 2-point field goals and was 1-of-2 on deep balls.
With only one cupcake game left on IU’s schedule, the Hoosiers will have to employ this mindset quickly. Because they lost to Louisville, it’s even more important that IU beats Butler and Georgetown to strengthen its tournament résumé.
And how are they going to beat those teams? Going through the post.
crkrajew@indiana.edu
