There is not much, as far as analysis is concerned, that can be said with regards to yesterday's tilt with Northwestern. A more talented Indiana team dominated an inferior opponent in the first half. This was promptly followed up by a hard to watch second half whereby Bill Carmody made adjustments and the Hoosiers just stayed the same. I've already made my opinion known regarding Tom Crean's in-game coaching ability, here. But, at the end of the day, one can not argue that the Hoosiers are currently 4-1 with three road wins in the toughest conference in the country.
Those three road wins are tops in the Big Ten. Schools with two road wins include Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Northwestern. On the other side of the spectrum, the only teams that do not have a Big Ten road victory on its resume are Illinois and Penn State. Of course I know the Hoosier hater's response to the above statistic, "Well, look who they have played!"
As only a Hoosier fan could, allow me to find the silver lining in each of Indiana's Big Ten road victories:
at Iowa - Iowa just beat Wisconsin. That is the same Wisconsin team that was coming off of an unbelievable victory on the road against the number two team in the country (at this point the fact that team was Indiana is irrelevant to me). Wisconsin simultaneously made Indiana look amazing and awful in the same game. It proves that Iowa City is indeed a tougher place to play than most people realize. Of course, that is in my completely unbiased opinion.
at Penn State - It is quite simple. Penn State beat Bucknell at home. Purdue lost to Bucknell at home. Purdue sucks.
at Northwestern - Northwestern was coming off of its signature win of the season at then-ranked Illinois in Champaign. That is the same Illinois team that beat Ohio State. Illinois's other signature win? Follow me through this semi-tangent:
Illinois also beat a top ten team that lost to Butler, has a stud seven footer, an inconsistent veteran forward that has a history of showing up for big games, a do it all guard and a young inexperienced point guard that shows flashes of brilliance. No, Illinois hasn't already played Indiana, I'm referring to Gonzaga. The more I thought about the similarities between the Zags and Hoosiers it began to scare me. For this reason, I'm already concerned about the February 7th game at the fake Assembly Hall. Someone please tell Crean that if they watch any tape in preparation for that game that it be the early season match-up between the Illini and Bulldogs.
My overriding point is any three road wins in this conference at this point in the season is impressive. Indiana has done a lot of things right. To this point, I do feel that this young team has handled the lofty preseason expectations well. In order to end up where Hoosier Nation would like them to be at the end of the season, they still have a of work to do. With that being said, I have identified three areas that I feel will dictate just how successful this team can be:
1. Yogi needs to find his confidence. Everyone knows what kind of point guard he is. His ball-handling skills and court awareness are second to none on this team. But when you look down Indiana's starting line-up, who are opposing teams least likely to game plan for? This certainly isn't a knock against the freshman. The fact is, you're beginning to see how teams are going to start playing Indiana. They're playing off Yogi to prevent him from getting to the basket and to make it hard for entry passes into the post. People from Indiana know he can score. I have heard analysts say that his lack of confidence in his shot stems from the fact that he has gained so much muscle mass since arriving in Bloomington. As such, his shot has yet to conform to his new body. As soon as he trusts his shot, the number one offense in the country just got a lot better.
2. A healthy #BenchMob. One of the biggest advantages heading into the season was the fact that Indiana was going to be legitimately 13 players deep. Of course, the Hoosiers have already lost Austin Etherington for the season at a time when he was beginning to provide quality minutes. Add in injuries to both Maurice Creek and Derek Elston and you have a team that has had to deal with more injuries than most teams. Creek provides another scoring threat that can come off of the bench for short bursts in order to provide others with rest. Elston is a battle-tested veteran that brings an element of toughness to the Hoosiers second unit. Given the up and down style that Crean uses, it cannot be stressed how important a deep bench is for this team; which also leads me into my final point:
3. A rested Victor Oladipo is a stellar Victor Oladipo. This isn't to say that the other players don't play hard and deserve rest, but realistically speaking, no one else for the Hoosiers has the motor that Oladipo has. Because of that, I am already worried about how much his effectiveness could potentially diminish late in the season if we can't find him more minutes of rest. Of course, the above point regarding a healthy bench (specifically Maurice Creek) can help this situation. I honestly do think that Oladipo's newly formed habit of fouling jump shooters could have something to do with fatigue. At any rate, he thrives in this system, as evidenced by many calling "snub" on the fact he didn't make The Wooden Award mid-season 25 list. In order to maintain his production, however, the Hoosiers need to find ways to sustain for longer periods of time without him on the court than they have shown so far this season.
Like this Hoosier team, the Big Ten season is still young. This is certainly going to be one of the most entertaining and unpredictable seasons in recent memory. Although a lot has to go right in a season like this, Indiana is more than capable of being the last team standing. Three conference road wins are three steps in the right direction, but the three areas above are going to go a long way in determining how far this team can dance.
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