Indiana Basketball: 5 possible lineups for the 2020-2021 season

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PISCATAWAY, NJ – JANUARY 15: The Indiana Hoosiers logo on the back of their warm up jacket before a college basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 15, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Indiana 59-50. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Most Likely Lineup

Point Guard: Khristian Lander

Shooting Guard: Al Durham

Small Forward: Justin Smith

Power Forward: Trayce Jackson-Davis

Center: Joey Brunk

This is likely the lineup Archie Miller will go with based off of what we know from this past season’s team. He wants to utilize his roster’s size and strength, and values Justin Smith’s defensive contribution.

Al Durham is a great player who helps his team win in a variety of ways, but before the 2019-2020 season, Archie Miller wanted Durham to play point guard. It’s very clear that the experiment didn’t work. Although Durham can play point in a pinch, he doesn’t possess the playmaking skills to thrive as a floor general. This was made apparent by Rob Phinisee’s appearance in the starting lineup halfway through the season.

Here, we just replace Phinisee with Lander. Phinisee is a solid point guard, but Lander is more talented, more athletic, and is a better scorer. Phinisee will still have a significant role, and significant minutes, just not as a starter.

Lander will be able to create for others off of pick and rolls better than anyone else has been able to in Archie Miller’s tenure. His offense features a lot of ball screens, most of which go unused or just go nowhere. Khristian Lander will help fix this.

The perks of this lineup are that it will be a higher scoring lineup than with Phinisee (albeit not by much) while still maintaining solid defensive skill. The negatives are the shooting. Having only two shooters on the floor has hurt Indiana many times before, and it will continue to hurt them with this lineup. That’s why I don’t think this is the best lineup for the Hoosiers, although it is the most likely to happen.

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