The two new big men on the IU men’s basketball team are different.
Max Bielfeldt is a 22-year old senior who has won Big Ten titles at Michigan and is graduating with a master’s degree in the next year or so.
Thomas Bryant is an 18-year old freshman with a young face and a boat load of expectations.
Despite differences in their situations, both are adjusting to a new program and are tasked with improving the IU frontcourt. No one denies IU can shoot the ball with the best of them, but we can all remember teams with size, like Purdue, bullying IU down low last season.
Add in the departures of other big men like Hanner Mosquera-Perea, Emmitt Holt and Devin Davis, and the job becomes even more important.
But, again, the struggles of adapting are different.
Bryant was the prized recruit for IU in the 2015 class. IU Coach Tom Crean compared him to Cody Zeller in terms of the pressure put on a freshman to change the dynamics of a team. Senior point guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell acknowledged Bryant needs to be the Hoosiers’ rim protector.
“He’s got to have a defensive mindset to protect that rim if somebody tries to come in and lay it up,” Ferrell said.
But he still is adapting to being away from home for the first time and has another issue — health.
Crean said Bryant has practiced once this season due to a sore arch in his foot. He also said he isn’t particularly worried about it in the long term.
Ferrell raves about Bryant’s work ethic, getting in extra shots after practice. Crean also noted that the team can feel him not being at practice because of the energy he brings.
Bielfeldt, on the other hand, has the struggle of adapting to the role of being a leader who still has to learn plenty about the team.
“They were really willing to have me be in there and be that veteran voice that can have that ability to show how it’s done,” he said.
The transfer from Michigan has to catch himself from time to time, though. Like when IU was learning the post-to-post screen recently and Bielfeldt was teaching younger guys how to do certain things.
He stepped back and realized IU runs it much differently than Michigan, so he should figure things out himself first.
But what he does bring is experience. He teaches guys, like Bryant, the way things are done and how to handle the emotions of playing a long Big Ten basketball season. He tells them not to go into a drill without knowing what they are doing. That only wastes coaches’ time.
And specifically with Bryant, Bielfeldt understands the struggles of coming to a new place. They share a similar burden of trying to complement a talented scoring offense with a strong presence down low.
Bryant already has a reputation as a motivator on the team as a freshman. He has already increased his vertical by nine inches. The talent is all there. He just needs to adapt to Big Ten basketball — and get healthy.
"From me to him, he has so much potential and so much talent," Bielfeldt said. "The most valuable thing I have to offer to him is just kind of being a big brother."
brodmill@indiana.edu
