Indiana Basketball: Devonte Green emerges as the main scoring threat for next year

It’s that time again where we take a look at the Indiana basketball roster and break down the season of each player. Today is Devonte Green.

Previous Reviews: Juwan Morgan | Zach McRoberts | Evan Fitzner | De’Ron Davis

One of the biggest love-hate relationships Indiana basketball fans have with a player, is with Devonte Green.

An electrifying player on both ends at times, also brings questionable decision making and poor shot selection at other times.

The brother of 2009 National Champion and current NBA guard Danny Green, Devonte is molding a different path for himself.

Now three seasons down in his college career, Green has one more to cement himself in Indiana basketball history.

With an up and down junior season, a lot of positives came out.

Let’s take a look at his year in review.

2018-2019 Season in Review

What more to say from this season for Devonte Green other than all over the place.

Starting the season dealing with a couple injuries, it snowballed into an eventual suspension halfway through the year. After that, rumors started to swirl about a possible transfer.

Fast forward to the last month and a half of the season and beyond, and now Devonte Green is Indiana’s most important payer heading into next year.

Finishing with a season average of 9.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, the junior guard shot 41 percent from deep, by far the best percentage on the team.

In the last seven games of the season however, Green rose that average up to 15.4 points per game while dishing out 3.9 assists per game. What was even more impressive was his ability to take and make big shots when the Hoosiers needed it. He shot 44.4 percent from three in those games, getting the green light whenever and wherever he wanted.

His biggest game of the season, and career for that matter, was in the Big Ten Tournament against Ohio State. While down 20 points in the second half, Green single-handedly brought the team back in the game and made a late push within the last minute that just fell short.

In that matchup, Green finished with 26 points including going 8-for-10 from deep.

Overall, Green proved that he can be someone who can provide a much needed scoring punch for the Hoosiers who are losing their top two scorers from this season.

What’s Next?

He is the go-to scorer next year, there is no question about it.

We saw what he could do down the stretch this past season, and now he will step into the starting lineup, with the departure of Romeo Langford, and take over the scoring responsibilities.

Discussed earlier, the backcourt of Green and Rob Phinisee has the potential to be extremely dangerous. 

Because Green is more of a combo guard, he is able to focus solely on the scoring aspect of the offense, while a bit of a more pass first Phinisee can worry about getting the offense in the flow of the game and be a playmaker for others.

While Green still holds the ability to make plays for others, he won’t be forced  into it like he was at times this season as a backup point guard.

With a certain swagger that Langford’s calm demeanor didn’t have, assertiveness will not be an issue with a Phinisee/Green backcourt.

Look for Green to have an All-Big Ten type year, and quite honestly, he will need to with a lot of unproven scorers on the roster.