An IU guard was running side-by-side with his man up the left side of the court. He decided to go for the steal, reaching in to poke the ball away halfway through the first half.
After a couple attempts he was called for a foul, his second, and had to be taken out of the game. But as sophomore James Blackmon Jr. went to the bench, there were cheers.
The fans were applauding Blackmon Jr.’s hustle and effort on the defensive end during IU’s 92-59 win against Morehead State on Saturday at Assembly Hall.
The play began with Blackmon Jr. tipping the ball into the backcourt and chasing his man to the opposite free throw line, then running side-by-side with him until he committed the foul. While he wasn’t able to force the turnover, the Hoosiers were still able to force 23 turnovers Saturday night.
“Tonight we played with more aggressiveness. We were a little more connected in our coverages, especially with switching,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “Their mindset was excellent.”
Thirteen of those turnovers came during the first half, after which IU had already built a 24-point lead. Coming into the game, Crean called Morehead State’s offense a “dribble-drive system on steroids.” But Saturday, the Eagles couldn’t seem to find their way into the lane.
A lot of this was due to the pressure the Hoosiers used and the aggressiveness they played with, the same pressure and aggressiveness Blackmon Jr. used in the first half.
Senior guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell said the more the guards can pressure the opposition, the more the game plan gets easier. Pressure takes an offense out of its rhythm and can make it harder to get the ball into the paint, both by driving and passing into the post.
“The coaches always preach on the ball pressure just to make it harder for them to get post-ups,” Ferrell said. “Make it easier on our big men so they can get around and not make that post catch easy.”
Another way the Hoosiers forced turnovers, and just played better defensively than in recent games, was through connectedness. Senior forward Max Bielfeldt said the past couple practices were focused on playing as one unit rather than five defenders trying to execute their own assignments.
This connectedness is necessary because, sometimes, a player is going to get beat defensively. What’s important is shifting over and helping your teammate, Bielfeldt said, and switching onto a different man to help the team defensively.
Bielfeldt said Saturday night was fun because of how well the Hoosiers were playing together. He enjoyed watching his teammates intercept passes and steal the ball repeatedly.
As the game was winding down, with IU up by a big enough margin, there weren’t any thoughts of a comeback; the Hoosiers were still playing connected. A Morehead State player was able to penetrate IU’s perimeter defense and get into the lane. Bielfeldt saw the ball handler driving toward the basket and shifted over.
He slid a few feet to his left and took a charge, adding another turnover to the count. He was helped up by his teammates with a smile plastered across his face and slapped hands with Ferrell, whose man Bielfeldt just took a charge against. Ferrell was also smiling, because the Hoosiers were connected on defense.
