Who Stops Indiana's Anunoby?
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Six foot, eight inch forward OG Anunoby(#3) has been Indiana’s top scorer this year. He shoots a lot of threes, but also drives it. Sixteen points against Hope College with 4/7 from three range. Against Bellarmine, he had 25 points, with 3/4 on 3 balls.
This seems like too much of a beginning defensive assignment for Jackson; I’d hate to see Jackson get into foul trouble early. He needs plenty of court time to adjust to D1. So, perhaps coach starts Svi to guard Anunoby, then alternates with Vick. I’m anxious to see how our guys play in Hawaii. RCJH
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@stoptheflop I remember anunoby - very solid player. Unless Svi starts, it will be Josh. He’s going to have to toughen up and play smart.
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Crazy that this kid wasn’t even a top 200 recruit.
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We will have to mix Jackson/ Svi or Vick on him. Anunoby is very athletic and is showing a more complete game this year. Recruiting services really missed the ball with this one just like Oladipo. Crean has always been good about finding recruiting diamonds.
Indiana is very similar to KU this year. They have 1 really good post player, 2 young post players with promise (Morgan & Davis) and 3 really good guards (Newkirk, Johnson & Blackmon).
I’m hoping our advantage is that Newkirk is running the show for the first time after transferring from Pitt and needs time. Yogi was a very good leader for IU and that will be tough to replace. Blackmon is returning from injury and Johnson has always been a complimentary wing that can have big games and shoots the 3 really well.
I expect we will struggle guarding the perimeter and stopping them from jacking 30 3’s which is there MO and only way of winning. You stop them from making 3’s and you stop Indiana. Hopefully I’m wrong but perimeter defense has not looked good in the exhibitions so this is going to be 1-2 possession game I believe.
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When you play the Hosers, you’re always struck by their lack of intensity on defense. Roy Williams 2 will try to run, run, run, and give up a slew of easy buckets. They also have an aversion to being ground down in the halfcourt, although Bryant helps mitigate that somewhat. To me, IU style of play is UNC Jr., and we all know what happens when Coach Self plays Roy and company.
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Hosers picked to win the B10:
Scouting reports (Teams listed in consensus predicted order of finish)
- Indiana Hoosiers
Strength: Pure, beautiful shooting offense The Hoosiers were a 56.1-percent team from 2-point range last season and a 41.6-percent team from 3-ball range. Tom Crean’s going to get James Blackmon Jr. back, which will amplify IU’s efficiency and smooth offense. This can be the best team with the ball in the Big Ten.
Weakness: Too many turnovers
The inconvenient fact about Indiana’s offense: it turned the ball over almost 20 percent of the time last season. That’s got to be curbed. Yet, Yogi Ferrell is gone. Will we see IU get pressed a lot? I doubt it, but I’d love to see some teams try to push this team and disrupt its halfcourt offense. If the Hoosiers can’t keep the turnovers down, they’ll have a hard time winning the conference. X-factor: An unbeatable environment in a renovated, classic arena The new Assembly Hall looks terrific. When you’re re-opening a building, it can bring a sense of renewed life, too. IU as a program does not need it, but I bet the fan base is a little louder and more confident this season. Knocking off a talented, offensively savvy Hoosiers club on its home floor is going to be a big ask for any opponent this season. Indiana did right by not knocking down Assembly Hall and building something new. This seems like the better option. Basketball-loving fanatics in that community agree.
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@KUSTEVE it will remain to be seen how well they do without yogi ferrell. He was extremely important for them last year
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@HawkChamp But his name was Yoggi there’s no replacing that!
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I’ll take our back court for sure. Front court I think is a toss up.
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Definitely. Newkirk was decent at Pitt, but he was never the full-time starter. So this is his first gig as a starting PG. 4th year Junior so I expect he’ll be okay with a year in the system. Mason should have his number.
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Right, our back court is better but we’ll see how we guard their action chucking style. We won’t lose the game because of their post players so its going to be all about how we beat them with our strength
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@stoptheflop isn’t this when you see what Jackson can do? If we are going to be able to run the 4 guard, we need him to be able to guard this type of player. Test him early and let him learn. I’m not looking for us to go undefeated this season. I just want us to pull a Nova and hit our stride late in the season.
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Good point. If Jackson is the competitor he’s known for he’d take this challenge willingly and we’d see that fire that every coach that’s been around him says he has.
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KU has a knack of letting opposing players go for career highs; let’s hope this is not one of those games.
