A new era of Indiana hoops officially tips off tomorrow as Darian DeVries’ new look Hoosiers will take the floor for a game that will officially count in the win/loss column for the first time. After an offseason that included an entirely new roster and coaching staff, a trip to Puerto Rico, a couple of scrimmages, and all the other aspects of an ever-changing college athletics landscape… it sure will be nice to get actual games underway.
One thing we have picked up on through the two exhibition games in Puerto Rico and the one against Baylor thus far is this team has opted to use the entire 40 minutes to get their footing, rather than get their work done early. Though all three games ended in victory, Indiana got themselves into a bit of a hole in all three matchups and had to claw their way back.
The bright side? This team will fight for 40 minutes. The teaching point? Get things started a bit earlier.
“I think number one we just want to set the tempo for both sides of the ball for a full 40 minutes,” said DeVries on Tuesday. “We’ve talked about the three games we got behind. You can’t put yourselves in those positions over and over again and expect to be successful. We’ve got to put a better full 40 minutes together and specifically a better first half, getting off to a better start. That’s going to be huge for us all year.”
As for the specific cause of these slow starts, numerous factors come to mind. Indiana has yet to play a game with a full bench due to nagging injuries. The team is still building chemistry with one another. Whatever it may be, DeVries has shown a good ability to make adjustments and rally his team.
“Sometimes it’s hard to figure out why, whatever it may be,” he added. “All three of those games, it was more kind of in the middle part of the first half where some of those leads really grew. That’s something that we’ll keep an eye on. I don’t think you want to overreact when you have some different circumstances. It’s something we’ll look at, see how you can try to prevent it and things, but there’s certainly a lot of areas we can clean up that led to that lead that I think we did a good job of fixing in the second half.”
Indiana had no issue getting their footing in the first half in the Marian exhibition, building a 67-22 lead before the first half buzzer sounded. They’ll likely experience a similar competition level tomorrow with Alabama A&M, the 318th ranked team on KenPom. But if DeVries takes any advice from across the street at Memorial Stadium, it’s not about adjusting your standard to the opponent you are lined up against. As soon as this one is finished, they’ll head to Chicago for a big-time matchup against Marquette in the United Center.
But first, a comfortable one back home in Assembly Hall. I’m excited. So is Coach.
“I’m really excited,” said DeVries. “I know our players are excited, but I think myself and our staff would be kidding if you didn’t recognize the significance of your first regular season game in Assembly Hall. We can’t be more pumped up to get out there and showcase what our team’s been working on and to have them go out there and play the way that we expect them to.”
The Hoosiers tip off Wednesday against Alabama A&M at 8PM EST on BTN.