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Indiana Basketball: 3 Areas to Improve in 2021

By Danny Friedman

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, UNITED STATES - 2020/02/08: Former IU basketball player Mike Woodson (42) walks on the court of Assembly Hall as NCAA basketball coach. Bob Knight, who took the Indiana Hoosiers to three NCAA national titles, returns to Assembly Hall, Saturday, February 8, 2020 in Bloomington. Mike Woodson was named as the new IU basketball coach this Monday Mar 29th. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, UNITED STATES - 2020/02/08: Former IU basketball player Mike Woodson (42) walks on the court of Assembly Hall as NCAA basketball coach. Bob Knight, who took the Indiana Hoosiers to three NCAA national titles, returns to Assembly Hall, Saturday, February 8, 2020 in Bloomington. Mike Woodson was named as the new IU basketball coach this Monday Mar 29th. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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IOWA CITY, IOWA- JANUARY 21: Forward Trayce Jackson-Davis #23 and guard Anthony Leal #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrate on the bench as their team pulls ahead in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on January 21, 2021 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- JANUARY 21: Forward Trayce Jackson-Davis #23 and guard Anthony Leal #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrate on the bench as their team pulls ahead in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on January 21, 2021 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

Indiana Has to Solve its Scoring Draught Issues

Far too often, Assembly Hall and Big 10 arenas alike have become the worst nightmare for the Hoosiers’ offense.

For the past three seasons, Archie Miller’s team was often defined by long stretches of not scoring with missed baskets, wasted opportunities, and frustrating turnovers. It’s become a common theme for the Hoosiers to be in a close game early or even for a long portion of the game, but its offense runs out of gas and loses all of its steam as the team can’t buy a bucket.

In Archie Miller’s four seasons with the team, Indiana’s scoring drought per game numbers increased exponentially. Indiana lost major opportunities to beat Big 10 powerhouses last season such as Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio State.

The team struggled inside with the lack of a true center without Joey Brunk playing all year. Trayce Jackson-Davis is likely better suited to play the stretch-forward role where he can find himself more favorable matchups using his size, length, and touch near the rim. Trayce is the team’s go-to option on offense and often struggled by getting contained due to a lack of spacing and opportunities created inside the paint during the second half of games in 2020.

The team needs to do a better job to find ways to score consistently, avoid taking bad shots, and giving up careless turnovers. The team’s backcourt needs to do a better job taking the ball up the court, commanding and running the offense, and hitting more jump shots.

Cold streaks will always happen. It is inevitable for every team at some point in every game. It’s the teams that end up on top that can break these cold streaks and put an end to them quickly before they get out of hand and the game’s momentum is completely flipped.

If Indiana can figure out a way to grind through their tough offensive stretches down the game with a clutch basket here and there, it could do wonders for their psyche and confidence. Finding a way to hit more contested shots, making shots at the end of the shot clock/possessions, and hitting their open shots will help Indiana basketball make its return to its longstanding prominence in the Big 10.

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