Indiana Basketball: Lack of Bench Production for the Hoosiers

Indiana Basketball jumped into the season with a remarkable 12-2 start, but injuries and more have since derailed the Hoosiers, dropping five straight games.

The lack of bench production has been an issue all season long for Indiana basketball, and with the recent injury to De’Ron Davis, the suspension of Devonte Green, and other lingering injuries, the Hoosiers may need to expand their rotation in order to keep their NCAA hopes alive.

In the 78-75 loss to Maryland, Indiana’s bench production was nonexistent. The non-starters played for a total of 53 minutes and recorded just two points, five rebounds and three assists as a bench unit.

In the most recent game against Northwestern, the bench played 33 minutes with Zach McRoberts getting 19 of them, and these 33 minutes contributed for only two points going 1-for-4  on field goal attempts.

Archie’s unwillingness to play the bench and stretch his starters has led to rotational players losing confidence in their shots and ultimately turning the ball over or hesitating when they receive the ball.

Over the course of this season, only six players have eclipsed the 20 minutes played per game average. Justin Smith, Aljami Durham, Devonte Green, and Rob Phinisee are all averaging 25 minutes per game while Juwan Morgan and Romeo Langford average 30 and 33 minutes.

Bench play is now more important than ever, with the recent news of Devonte Green and De’Ron Davis, limiting their rotation even more.

As of now, there are three players on the bench who average double-digit minutes, Zach McRoberts (18.0 MPG), Evan Fitzner (13.4 MPG), and Damezi Anderson (11.8 MPG – who has only played 10 total minutes in three Big Ten games).

The players on the bench have a lot of promise and need an opportunity to be able to showcase their skills more than ever.

One such player that can shoot the basketball is preferred walk-on Vijay Blackmon.

Blackmon, a redshirt sophomore by NCAA standards won the 3A state title at Marion High School scoring over 1,500 points in his career. In 2016, Coach Tom Crean offered Blackmon a scholarship but he ultimately committed to USF and later flipped his commitment to St.Francis.

The team is shooting 26 percent from deep during big ten play which can be averted if a sharp-shooter like Blackmon is inserted in the lineup, exactly what the team needs right now during this drought.

Though De’Ron Davis has only seen 9.7 minutes a game this season, and only 4.7 in conference play, his minutes can be used for younger players as spot minutes for Juwan Morgan to rest around media timeouts.

Jake Forrester saw playing time in the Northwestern contest but for him to be a threat, he needs more experience on the court especially with his ridiculous athleticism. Race Thompson has just been cleared for contact as of today so expect him to see the court once he is cleared for game action.

Another player that should see more court time is Clifton Moore. Moore has seen the court more frequently lately and has certainly proved that he belongs.

If Coach Archie Miller is willing to give the deep bench opportunity, Johnny Jager shot 46 percent from behind the arc in his senior year of High School while Quentin Taylor can bring a lot of energy to a team that hasn’t played with much emotion lately.

With the amount of minutes the starters have played this season, Archie has to look at the bench to create more production with more frequency.

The starters, albeit talented, appear lackadaisical and some energy off the bench would help the Hoosiers come together as one instead of being on a five to six man rotation.