Indiana Basketball: Could the Hoosiers’ offense be better without Yogi Ferrell?
Indiana basketball’s offense was outstanding in their Friday night victory over Kansas.
The Indiana Hoosiers began a new era at the point guard position on Friday night in Hawaii. For the first time since the 2011-12 season, Tom Crean’s squad played without Yogi Ferrell wearing a red and white uniform.
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While they will greatly miss one of the greatest winners and lead guards in the program’s history, Indiana didn’t seem rattled by Ferrell’s departure in an Armed Forces Classic game against Kansas.
Instead, the Hoosiers left Hawaii with a 103-99 overtime victory over the third best team in the country. They knocked off Bill Self and the Jayhawks thanks to a potent offensive attack that was firing on all cylinders.
The Hoosiers were led by James Blackmon Jr., who scored 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting in his first game back from a serious knee injury that wiped out half of his 2015-16 season. Blackmon received help from Thomas Bryant (19 points), freshman Curtis Jones (15 points), OG Anunoby (13 points) and Robert Johnson (10 points).
Despite 18 turnovers, the Hoosiers shot 44 percent from the field overall and drilled 48 percent of their three point shots.
Kansas’ strategy of attempting to slow the game down and keep the Hoosiers out of transition worked successfully for the majority of the game (a plethora of foul calls also factored in). But the Hoosiers just have too much fire power, skill and shooting.
They looked so sharp on that end of the floor that there are positive questions regarding whether they can be even better offensively despite the departure of Ferrell.
It’s almost impossible to make up for Ferrell’s leadership, and their lack of a true point guard could catch up to them at some point in the season. However, it’s still rather impressive how many weapons this team truly has.
The Hoosiers made a concerted effort to run their offense through Thomas Bryant on Friday night – at least until he got into foul trouble. And Bryant looked terrific.
Even though he wasn’t highly efficient, he looks more comfortable playing and shooting from the perimeter, which should give Indiana even more spacing for their true long range snipers.
Indiana can play in the half court due to Bryant’s ability to operate in the post and in pick-and-roll situations, but they are even better in transition. They are fast and possess players who could make a living by filling a lane and launching uncontested threes.
Blackmon and Jones both made clutch shots down the stretch against the Jayhawks, and OG Anunoby and Robert Johnson are also respected outside shooters who have to be guarded.
When an opponent has to worry about your 6’11” big man, your transition offense and a wide-range of “bucket getters,” it’s nearly impossible to get consistent stops.
In terms of ball handling, the Hoosiers don’t have one ball-dominant point guard. What they do have is multiple flexible pieces who can be interchangeable.
On Friday, Indiana used Blackmon, Johnson, Jones, Pittsburgh transfer Josh Newkirk and four-man Juwan Morgan as their primary ball handlers in certain situations. Blackmon impressed with his playmaking skills, Johnson shot the ball well, Jones has a fearless attitude, Newkirk is quick and strong and Morgan is versatile.
None of these players are anything that Ferrell was, especially as a leader and on the defensive end, but together as a group they could possibly make up for the lost production.
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Indiana looked a whole lot better than their preseason ranking of 11 against KU. If they continue to play this way and show off their full arsenal on the offensive end of the floor, they could not only repeat as Big Ten champs but they could make a long run in the NCAA Tournament.