Indiana Basketball: Possible 2020 starting lineups – Experience

The Indiana basketball team should have a lot of options for the 2020-21 season. We take a look at possible combinations, starting with an experienced lineup.

The Hoosiers return a strong nucleus for next year’s team, plus they are bringing in a very good recruiting class. They are bringing in top talent in Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, and Jordan Geronimo. They still are waiting to see if Khristian Lander will join them this year, but either way, they should have good young talent in Bloomington.

With the returners and influx of young talent, Archie Miller could go a lot of different ways with his starting lineup. We will explore his different possibilities, but today we start with the experienced lineup and what that might look like.

Experienced Lineup

PG – Rob Phinisee
SG – Al Durham
SF – Justin Smith
PF – Trayce Jackson-Davis
C – Joey Brunk

The Hoosiers could easily go with a younger lineup and it is one we will highlight in another article, but it might be smart to start the season with an experienced lineup and this is exactly what this would be.

Jackson-Davis will be the mainstay in any lineup so he is an obvious choice and while he is just a sophomore he did great his first year. He still needs to develop some more weapons, but he the centerpiece for the Hoosiers.

Phinisee was the most consistent point-guard for the Hoosiers last year and is a steadying force there. If he could continue to grow as a scorer he could be very dangerous for the Hoosiers. If Lander comes in next year, he will have his shot to lead the offense also, but having an experienced player running the point is important especially at the beginning of the season until the younger guys get their feet wet.

Durham was the Hoosier’s best three-point shooter last year and showed flashes of being able to be a big scorer for Indiana.  The Hoosiers are brining in some shooters, but this again is a lineup of experience and Durham gives you that.

Brunk was serviceable last year, but his motor is always running and that is key to this team. The Hoosiers play better when they are playing hard-nosed inspired basketball and Brunk is going to bring that every night. He may lack in scoring prowess, but he will give you everything he has every night.

Smith, assuming he doesn’t actually go to the NBA, was the third-leading scorer for the Hoosiers last year. He had two games where he scored 20+ points, but needs to be more consistent. if he can show up every night and be a menace then the Hoosiers could be very good next year.

Running out an experienced lineup could help the younger guys get acclimated to the college game and not put as much pressure on them early on in the season. Miller is known for mixing up his lineups, but he could do a lot worse than rolling out this experienced group to start the season.