Another Monday evening in Bloomington featured IU Coach Archie Miller seated next to IU radio announcer Don Fischer at the Bloomington Holiday Inn for this week's episode of "Inside IU Basketball with Archie Miller."
Here are three takeaways from the show, which included Miller talking about the team's injury situation and the Hoosiers' ability to shoot free throws and three-pointers.
1. Injuries continue to plague this IU team early in the season.
Miller's radio show has consistently provided updates about the team's injuries during the early part of the season, and this show was no different.
Miller said junior guard Devonte Green and senior forward Zach McRoberts are both "hit and miss right now" for the Hoosiers. Green has been dealing with a thigh contusion dating back to the start of exhibition play, while McRoberts has a low back strain that forced him to not play the second half of IU's most recent game against Montana State.
On Sunday, redshirt freshman forward Race Thompson was injured in a collision during IU's practice. Miller said Thompson will probably be out for a little bit of time with concussion-like symptoms.
Lastly, freshman forward Jerome Hunter has yet to make appearance this season due to a leg injury and is out indefinitely. Miller said after the Montana State game Hunter's injury was "not a typical leg injury," and he would be out for a significant stretch of games.
"There's no real reason to worry about what you can't control," Miller said. "Hope is we get these guys back because once we do, obviously we're a stronger, deeper team."
2. Young players will play significant minutes for the Hoosiers against good teams.
Because of the injuries to Green and McRoberts, more will be expected from younger IU players like freshman guards Rob Phinisee and Romeo Langford, as well as sophomore forward Justin Smith.
But, unlike the start to IU's season, these younger players will have to perform against better competition. IU blew out Chicago State and Montana State at home to reach its current 2-0 record, but IU's next two games are against No. 24 Marquette and in a tough road environment at Arkansas.
These games are two of IU's toughest nonconference games, but Miller said he has no concerns with young players having the opportunity to step up in these situations.
"For us, we need to be challenged," Miller said. "If we have guys out, you know the young guys that are in the game, it's sorta like put them in the fire. They'll all benefit from it weeks and months later."
3. Miller expects IU to get better at shooting three-pointers, but still doesn't want his team shooting a lot of them.
The early returns on IU's free-throw and three-point shooting this season don't make for pleasant reading.
After shooting about 66 percent on free throws and about 32 percent on three-pointers last season, it's been a slow start in both categories for the Hoosiers against the Cougars and Bobcats.
IU was 19-33 shooting free throws against Chicago State and 10-19 against Montana State. This is about a 56 percent average for the season so far.
Miller said a concern he has is that poor free-throw shooting can become contagious among team members.
"Early in the season we've spent a lot of time putting our guys in situations in practice and also concentration things," Miller said. "The guys who are getting fouled right now, who are going there, gotta step up with confidence, especially early in the game."
From distance, the Hoosiers were 7-21 shooting threes against the Cougars and 6-21 against the Bobcats. This is about a 31 percent average for the season so far.
But, Miller said he expects IU's three-point shooting to get better as the season progresses.
"I still think the shot quality from the three can continue to get good," Miller said. "The three-point line, we don't aspire to shoot a ton."
