Having suffered his first loss as Indiana head coach, Darian DeVries came into the neutral site matchup facing a number of questions that could define his first season at the helm of the Hoosiers. Could he have his group ready for such a consequential game so early? Can this team punch back against somebody other than Marquette or Kansas State? Is this team good?
While the answer to the first question was a resounding “no,” with Indiana falling behind by 16 points before scoring, Indiana absolutely did fight back from such a miserable start. With such a spirited effort over the final 34 minutes of play, the answer to the second is a “yes,” while the third is probably not answerable.
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Coming up empty after such a hard fight that brought Indiana within striking range will not feel good to a group that was court-stormed earlier this week, but it was overall a better performance than Indiana showed earlier ths week.
There are things to fix and build on, following this one, as opposed to an effort Indiana should forget at the Barn on Wednesday.
Here are 3 Takeaways from the loss:
Slow Starts
Indiana lost today’s game before ten minutes of the first half had expired. There’s no way to avoid that, and the fact that Indiana was able to pull within seven to eight points throughout the game only felt like salt in the wound.
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Take away that lopsided start, and those are eight point leads rather than eight point deficits.
This is something that Indiana REALLY has to improve on as the season progresses, but it’s one thing that probably deserves a little more nuance and patience from the fanbase. Among players that see regular minutes for the Hoosiers, only three have played a season of high-major college basketball before.
Coming out of so many years of mediocrity while also witnessing the football program’s meteoric rise to relevance will make this harder to swallow, but there were going to be bumps in the road this season for Indiana, especially with how this roster is constructed.
Athleticism
Height aside, the biggest problem with this roster on paper coming into the season was the lack of athletic burst in what was projected to be the starting lineup. This issue has only been compounded by the injuries that have limited the bench to two or three players.
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In each of the last two games, Indiana’s offense has been flustered, if not stymied, by opponents who were willing to press out on the Hoosier ball-handlers, challenging players to win individual matchups. Outside of Tayton Conerway, who struggled tonight, it’s not clear who can beat somebody off the dribble with any regularity.
Coach DeVries was able to disguise this early against lesser opponents with quick ball-movement and a high-volume of transition buckets. In two games against teams with the length and athleticism to clog up the passing lanes, Indiana has not had an answer.
Until Indiana can figure out how to get the opposing defenses rotating with its limited athleticism, DeVries is going to need his group to generate more transition opportunities to keep the offense afloat.
Effort
Take that atrocious opening segment away and Indiana was able to outscore Louisville for the remaining 34 minutes because the team refused to give up and fought well past when most thought the game was over. That’s not nothing.
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Assuming Louisville is the top-10 team they came into this game as, which they very well could be, Indiana just stuck around with an elite team for essentially 80% of a basketball game. A 100% effort obviously could have given the Hoosiers a win, but this team’s willingness to fight and adjust should not be taken for granted.
Struggling all night from deep, Indiana was able to generate good second half looks in the paint to claw its way back on a number of occasions. The interior scoring leaves something to be desired, but there were at least glimpses of the off-ball motion and screen games that led to Indiana looking so efficient offensively through seven games.
DeVries will need to translate this effort to wins sooner than later to keep this group from quitting on him. The way they fought today though is a sign that they’re still bought in as a group, something that will help them keep it close when they can avoid 16-0 starts in the wrong direction.
