Indiana Basketball: Where do the Hoosiers go from here?

Problem: O.G. Anunoby’s confidence on the floor

The excitement around sophomore forward O.G. Anunoby pre-season was overwhelming. His performance in the final month of the season in 2016 brought tremendous expectations. Anunoby thrilled college basketball fans with his suffocating defense and electric throw downs. The problem is, that was 2016 and their was little pressure on the young forward.

This season, he was drawing comparisons to former Hoosier and now Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo. His athleticism and pure dominance on defense mimicked the type of player Oladipo was for Indiana. Attention from a national standpoint and the comparisons to NBA talent could be enough to mess with a young player mentally.

Pressure coming from feeling like you have to live up to those expectations and more. This translates directly to the floor. Anunoby at times this season has shown inconsistency with handling the ball. He has shown flashes of greatness with posterizing dunks and blocks, too.

How does Indiana build a consistent confidence level with Anunoby?

Solution: Give O.G. more opportunities to score

Although O.G. Anunoby has had a few average scoring nights this season (5pt vs. Maryland, 7pt vs. Butler), his uncanny ability to drive to the basket, posterize opponents, and knock down the three should hold enough merit to allow him more offensive looks.

While his stat line against Maryland was not all that impressive, he did find a way to get people talking about him:

He has been doing this consistently all season. Driving to the basket and making defenders petrified of getting in his way. So the simple solution to O.G.’s confidence on the floor, let him drive. Indiana has a talented trio of guards that can do more than enough to find O.G. opportunities at the bucket. If he keeps doing this, defenses will be forced to pay closer attention to Anunoby and drawing them away from Indiana’s strength. Three pointers.

Moving forward, O.G. Anunoby’s confidence will parallel his production on the floor. If Anunoby is truly the next NBA ready talent on the floor, Indiana needs to start facilitating him more as such.