UNC @ Indiana Takeaways: - No Denis for UNC - First time on a game w/ a team we’ve already reviewed so will focus more on Indiana but have a few notes to UNC with a larger sample size (on the road this time). - I don’t care about shooting in a one game sample size and don’t normally touch on shooting, especially in an exhibition, but I think that it has been one of the main arguments I have heard against this Indiana team, and I just don’t think it’s going to be a weakness at all. I will touch on it though bc of this: - Harris is capable of being one of the best 3pt shooters in the country. He has more in his bag, but this system they want him to let the 3’s fly, he has the middy’s in his bag too, I’ve seen it in Duke pracitices and exhibitions. Does need to get stronger w/ the ball though. - Lindsay is a gamer and we’ve seen him so much everywhere, and he’s always been a guy that gets you buckets when you need it from any level, and is some one you can count on when the scoring goes dry, plays tough, plays physical on the perimeter. Such a great fit on almost any team, and a veteran leader, never fazed. Great college player. Enjoy him IU fans. He’s a big time floor raiser, and one of my favorite players to watch, so competitive can’t emphasize how important the intangibles are here. AND another legit deep threat. - Burton too. Indiana’s got great balance on this roster in how they score at each level. You have slashers like Mustaf, you have 3pt threats. And you have a few guys Sherrell, Samet, who can do it in the post. And most of these guys are not one trick ponies and can do a little of both, like Sherrell is going to keep bigs honest from 3 and at least make you think about him out there, and he crashes the offensive glass hard. - Love that the roster is strong enough where Alexis can come off the bench. Better role for him, he can be a spark, and come in and run a high motor and do dirty work when opponents are tired and force them to box out. Good connector/glue guy. Can protect rim, all the things you want in your first big off the bench. - I think Denis’s creation and spark was really missed for UNC. He could be their best creator. - I thought Keita looked better, more confident, better hands, like how he handled the ball. A great sign, if he keeps this up each time we see him. Sustained the rim protection. - Stevenson, again showing why what I said last game is true, he’s great in his role, but he’s not going to be one of your top options. He is best in a 3rd/4th option and getting to work off the gravity of other players drawing more attention. - Sherrell, always been very underrated on Defense. Physical guy, takes up a ton of space. Things that don’t show up on stat sheet, like fighting hard against giving up good position in the post. His matchup rarely gets deep position on him. Hoosier fans, don’t just box score watch or count stats w/ him. Watch him kick bigs out of the paint, nightly. He is a huge asset, even when he doesn’t score. There was a possession at end of 1H where he’s battling Stevenson down low. And then just using his quickness and size to get two boards and finish the play. And it’s just a beautiful thing to watch that IU has been missing. - Terrible announcing in this game. Heard them say “Sherrell and Samet only 3-10 for the game, thought they would be better.” Well they ate the whole paint. This is like winning the lines of scrimmage in Football. This is why box score watching doesn’t always tell you the whole story. They are dominating the boards battle without looking at the box score, how about that you dummies, had to put them on mute. - Schematically love what IU is doing on defense, if you have the personnel this is how you should play in modern day cbb. They said we’re gonna stop you at the 3 pt line, deny passes on the perimeter, we have 3 strong rim protectors, we are taking away looks at the rim. And the middle is open, go ahead and take the mid range if you want it. And UNC either put up a contested 3 or over penetrated many times. This is why the mid range still matters. The middy was open all day. If everyone else zigs, some teams should zag. UNC looks coached to give up the mid range look for one at the rim. Passed when they had an open shot several times. - Able was better today. Shots will fall, his shot diet was good, he was maybe the only guy for UNC taking open looks. (and Young). - UNC loves running that snake screen. Avdalas’s good looks at the rim all came from this action. Thought he forced too many shots that were contested. Repeating that I think he’s a mixed bag. Maybe Malone can get him to be more of the good. But I just think he puts up a lot of bad shots. And then he doesn’t always defend well on the other end. - Tough day for Maximo. He’ll be back. First road environment. Feels like the home crowd fueled that energy in game 1. Can he learn to manufacture that juice on the road too? I think he will. Just learning experiences, this is why you play these before the season. - Burton with several great paint touches in 2H, Alexis gotta be ready for the ball. He’s getting him some great looks. - Didn’t get to see much of IU’s young guys today, but it’s going to be tough for them to carve out a role. If Sisley and Manhertz can figure out how to be a solid role player off the bench, this can lift the ceiling of the team. Need more depth in front court. Think it’s very reasonable that they can. Still think the same about UNC. 5th in the ACC. There was good & bad in this game. Think shot diet will be a concern against balanced teams with the personnel to take away the rim and 3s. But there are a lot of teams who can’t do that. Keita looked better which is a great sign. Gotta just keep getting better, lot of coachable issues on both sides of the ball. Indiana is another live wire 🔥. Love the balance, love the multiple ways to score on the offensive end. Love Sherrell continuing to eat in the paint on 1st, 2nd and 3rd downs (it’s football season after all). Indiana and Maryland watch out Big Ten these two teams are scarily approaching, I think both are going to be top 6. There has to be casualties though with these new up and comers. I think Nebraska, Wisconsin will make room for Maryland and IU. And Michigan falls below them as well.