After putting on an offensive clinic against Providence, Indiana played one of their worst games in Archie Miller‘s coaching tenure, falling to Texas 44-66. The Hoosiers looked sluggish from the get-go and had one of their worst offensive performances in recent history. Here are some tidbits in the aftermath of a humiliating loss in their second game of the Maui Invitational.
Same old story on offense
The coaches and players made a lot of hubbub this offseason about their new offense which featured more up-tempo play and pick-and-roll actions. The Hoosiers showcased this offense in their first two games of the season but went back to their old tricks against Texas.
If I had to summarize the Hoosiers’ offense, in two words, I would call it “abundant nothingness.” There was no off-ball movement, no meaningful pick-and-roll action, and no in-game adjustments from Archie Miller. It was brutal to watch from jump ball through the closing buzzer.
Indiana scored just 19 points in the first half, the 2nd-least in the Archie Miller era at IU. This dismal performance included an eight-minute scoring drought. The Hoosiers finished the game with 44 points, the lowest mark for single-game points scored in the Archie Miller era.
For more about how bad the offense was today, check out my Twitter film review:
A quick mid-game film study of why Indiana’s offense has been so bad this game. This comes down to scheme, not player skill. 🔊🔊🔊 #iubb pic.twitter.com/zBC2pxNhnN
— Trevor Gersmehl (@trevorgersh) December 1, 2020
No standouts
There really wasn’t a single player who succeeded for Indiana. Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 17 points but had just 4 rebounds and turned it over 5 times. No other player finished with more than 8 points. There isn’t much more to say than that. No one in a cream and crimson jersey played well today.
Al Durham injured
In the dwindling minutes of the game, Al Durham drove into traffic and hurt his ankle after stepping on a defender’s foot. His ankle bent sideways a good amount and could result in the senior guard missing a decent chunk of time.
We will have to wait and see what the official diagnosis is for Durham, but Khristian Lander and Trey Galloway should fill the void in the meantime.
Conclusion
What was the most concerning thing about today’s game was how similar it was to the prior seasons Miller has coached. Anyone who has ever watched this team play knows they must improve on offense to compete, and they showed a complete inability to do that today.
Make no mistake about it, this is a coaching issue through and through. Players are stagnant on offense, but they are simply following the design of a play. If their lack of movement was insulting to Miller, he would take them out of the game. Everyone involved with this team needs to take a good hard look into the mirror after this performance.